Guca Festival, Serbia riends and I went down to Serbia this weekend to attend the Guca Festival. Music like Goran Bregovic and Boban Markovic was performed both on stage and in small pubs and courtyards throughout the village. It is essentailly Balkan gypsy music played by a brass band, which Serbians consider their national music. If you think you are unfamiliar with it, the music was the soundtrack for such Emil Kusturica must-see films as Underground, Black Cat, White Cat, and Time of the Gypsies.

Our first stop was Novi Sad , about an hour north of Belgrade. Novi Sad rocks! You do not realise it coming into the
city, but the center is beautiful, the people friendly, and the partying extraordinary. On a Thursday night there seemed to be more nightlife than in Budapest on a Friday or Saturday. One pub we visited still intrigues me, Martha's Pub, with "God Save the Pumpkins" on their sign. However, I was too drunk by that point to ask about the signifigance of their campaign. There is the main boulevard which mainly consists of fancy shops, restaurants and coffee terraces, but the real night life is on Laze Telec(kog and another small parellel street off the main drag. Drinks down these side streets are also 30-50% cheaper than on the boulevard. If you are hungover, as we most certainly were, try alla Lanterna Caffe Resaturante  (Dunavska 27 21000 Novi Sad) for the best bargain in Novi Sad - a great breakfast. Ham and Eggs
or Bacon and Eggs, and a basket of fresh hot biscuits for (200 dinar) 2.5 euro, and they will replace the meat with a third egg for you with no complaint. Best of all, they do not charge for ice-cold tap water. Accomodation in Novi Sad
We stayed right in the center in a courtyard off the boulevard for 50 euro/room (2-3 people). Call Radek (?) at +381-612-080-262

In Belgrade, check out the VioletA Restaurant (Toploska br. 4, Beograd, T:011243-1458) Buffet for 10 euro, starting from around 1pm, very friendly service, speak english, very willing to make vegetarian food for you. Also Compania de Vinos (Kaleniceva 3, Beograd, Tel: 0112449407) Large selection of local wines, friendly service, reasonable prices. Both are quite close to the open market, which remarkably, is even open on Sundays until 5pm. A kilo of fresh olives for about 400 dinar (5 euro) or a liter of homemade extra virgin olive oil for about 8 euro. There are plenty of people selling homemade cheeses outside, but even more upstairs and inside the white building close to the olive sellers. Fresh, smoked, feta, and my favourite, a combination cheese from sheep and cow milk.

There was a long wait on the border on Sunday night, with Hungarian customs checking every car trunk because it is an entry point to the EU now. Better to go through very early Monday morning if you can. Some little Turkish girls, among others, started pushing their car to save gas. We eventually followed suit. This seemed to have set off a domino
effect, because suddenly for as far as we could see, 60-70% of the people had turned off their ignition and started pushing their cars. It was almost as if a flash mob  had hit the Hungarian-Serb border. By the way, you can join a flash mob group in Budapest on facebook by joing the Chicken Chokers group. We heartily suggest that the border guards create a "green express lane" for those pushing their cars.