The Do Absolutely Nothing Tour of Nis, Serbia

There's actually plenty to do in Nis, but the best way to enjoy this slow southern Serbian town is by doing absolutely nothing.  Find an outdoor cafe, order a black, Turkish coffee and waste the afternoon away.  After you're done with that grab a cold Jelen beer, sit by the river and waste the night away.  You'll learn a lot...especially if you're with the right people.

This is how I spent my last trip to Nis in 2011 so there's not much to say.  For those ambitious tourists who like to plan ambitious scheduled itineraries (boring), I'll share my big accidental Nis trip from summer 2010.  As follows...

Downtown Nis. What's the antonym for 'bustling'?

Nis seems to specialize in morbid, depressing tourism.  Here's a list of the uplifting, happy locations you can visit when you aren't discussing the uplifting politics of Serbia over coffee:

1. Nazi Concentration Camp which was ironically a Red Cross building
2. Bubanj Memorial where many of the camp prisoners were executed
3. Nis Fortress where Turks and Serbs killed each other
4. Skull Tower which is composed of the skulls of Serbs who were killed by Turks

Sounds like a lot of fun, right?  I only visited the Concentration Camp, Bubanj Memorial and partied at the Fortress. Perhaps the most depressing item is that Nis Fortress has been left in neglect, thereby allowing local Mafia to build - you guessed it - a disco on the fortress.  Serbians accept this as Mafia doing what Mafia does, and in fact the 'historical' disco is a great place to go out in town.

I will describe the places I've visited in more detail in the next few blogs...when I get around to it. People in Nis are never in a hurry, so I will honor them by not hurrying this writing.  When I'm in Nis I simply go with the flow and do what the locals tell me.  They mainly tell me to slow down, relax and drink more.  I'm happy to say that I'm doing that as I write.

So before we take a tour of Nis, here's a big Jelen Pivo toast to all of my wild Serbs:

  "Ziveli!! Aj De Breee!"