if your journey ends here please follow the yellow signs for arrivals
welcome to serbia for the final time this is episode 12 of my 2021 serbia series
my fourth visit to one of my favorite countries has seen me visit some absolutely epic and
surprising locations i spent a month nestled in the mountains in and around Uzice and was
especially blown away by the gorgeous countryside settings of Mokra Gora and Bajina Basta as well
as serbia's industrial heart Kragujevac to say goodbye to serbia i'm back in an old favorite
for the weekend Nis where i spent three weeks in the summer of 2020 but today we're focusing on
a different city this video is also my five years of full-time travel anniversary video wouldn't it
be strange if i finally found somewhere which reminded me of my hometown this is Krusevac
good morning everyone it's actually afternoon but whatever i'm starting a bit later today
with my sunday day trip out to another city we're in Krusevac i've been staying in Nis right for
a few days now i was in Nis last year and i've got to say it was weird being back in Nis because even
though it felt like it was very much the same as it was it was also very different in the fact that
back then i'd only been to belgrade in niche but now of course i've been to so many other cities in
serbia and it kind of had a different feeling i don't know what that was
but i think it was about you know um there is more to serbia than
just the main cities if you know what i mean and here we are in another one
i'm right in the center of Krusevac which is about an hour and a half away from niche on the bus with
Nis express i love this building i don't know what it is about it i think it's the signage at
the top extra arabica i guess it's something to do with coffee i don't know and over here
you've got behind that statue a building that kind of looks very retro brutalist on the top
but then underneath it's very modern and you've got this statue here in the middle Krusevac is an
old city as with many in serbia 1371 this city was founded i guess by prince lazar and his princess
melica i'm just moving away from the copyright music yeah basically she fell asleep one down a
hill and had a dream and someone came to her in a dream telling her to build the city here therefore
here we are the city hall is up there it's quite impressive there's something going on up here you
can hear it therefore i'm walking towards it because it might be good for this video
oh sorry it was a wedding sorry for intruding but congratulations
i missed the bit where she threw the bouquet i hope she gets married next that was cool
trumpets drums you name it there are also pink taxis here just like in Kragujevac
now some of the things in this video have been recommended by tatiana who is a local from
Krusevac including something which is around this corner so this street is not on google
maps i'll put the name of it down below while on the screen here we are we have street art
done by local young artists apparently art is not a crime this is cool stand
here and think about someone you love there's audrey hepburn behind that car
and i like this at the i guess the beginning of it street gallery and even like the street sign
is um painted on
for some reason i was thinking that Krusevac would be very similar to niche given that
it's reasonably close right i don't know why i thought that but i feel like it is different
i'm not sure why it's got a bit of Novi Sad it's maybe a little bit more modern in that central bit
um i'm not sure but i'm definitely feeling a different vibe here's a hint
as to where we're going next i think this is Lazarica church yeah let's get moving
it kind of reminds me of being in Skopje Macedonia or should i say north macedonia don't get me
excited on that one but the statues i find in serbia are less kitsch they look more you know
authentic and actually put up for a reason in terms of history not you know to get tourists in
i spy with my little eye something beginning with a market
okay it's quite small not a lot on offer eggs galore
apples yeah just the usual stuff that you find in markets oh chili's
oh we're heading to an archaeological site that ooh was an ooh of interest because i like this
sort of thing ah there is prince lazar there's a lot of these monuments everywhere and um this is
Lazarev glad at least sort of over there is um and when i translated it translated to lazarus
i don't know if that's correct but who knows there's the church over there that i mentioned
on the way to the church you walk past old foundations of buildings
what's this some sort of well or something well there's a tap i guess it's in use now
and then over there which looks amazing is the dungeon
you know what i've put it out of wide mode so you can see closer because it does look old doesn't it
like look at those windows
yeah good old serbia with these old ancient oh wow look at that churches i've finished my
sentence this is how an old church should look it doesn't look like it's been you know renovated on
the outside it all looks very original i could be wrong but i love up the top there that's awesome
okay i've waited for everyone to leave um it's very pretty in here you've got this
circular pattern on the ground very colorful behind me with gold and all the way up there
up to the dome at the top it kind of mine reminds me of that on a street in Bajina
basta that i went to similar size and um similar kind of decoration look at this door it's amazing
i'm not sure what's behind there i've kind of peaked behind the curtain
look at this monumental i think it was um four stories tall
and it was built for defensive purposes so i think this it was part of like a larger structure
all around this hill you can see like walls going around there it's kind of ginormous
when you're close up to it was this like a moat or something around the exterior
i see steps so you can access it oh [ __ ] oh [ __ ]
okay i've climbed up or jumped up as you saw hammer up by this gaping hole
that'll be a good picture if there was something like a bit more pretty
for insta babes to take photos of um i'm quite liking Krusevac so far i didn't think i'd be
blown away but there's some interesting stuff church dungeon archaeological park artwork
already and we've got some even more bonkers things coming up especially if you're a child
look at that impressive i was going to say anyone i've ever spoken to or there's a person about
Krusevac i've always got the impression that people from here are very proud of coming from
here and it's something i don't often encounter in surrey because in many places in serbia i get
the impression that people can be quite critical about not only the city they're from but also
the country they're from and quite rightly so we should be critical we should question governmental
decisions things like that but i definitely feel a def different feeling from people from here
in that there is that pride and whenever you mention prince lazar you know people kind of
go oh yeah that's where our city came from and people are very proud of that
we were here we're going to be heading all the way down here by the end of the video
this place is a place that tatiana recommended for pljeskavica but it's closed so let's forget that
it wouldn't be the final serbia travel video without del boy right only fools and horses
next up i'm at the top of bagdala hill which is just like a oh look at the view a big park right
and if you've seen recent videos you won't be surprised when i say that there was a massacre
here during world war ii i think more than one i think the most deadliest one was in summer of 1943
and there is unsurprisingly a warm war monument down the road um but this first spot i'm at was
once again recommended by tatiana prepare to be shocked because this is the first time in
about 450 odd videos if something like this has ever appeared it's a miniature model village
seriously all of these models of like churches and monasteries and things throughout serbia
is this the saint Sava in belgrade i haven't been there so long i can't remember oh there we go yeah
they are great and each um little flag thingy with the coat of arms on is of a different city
in serbia look it's my favorite Uzice but i don't remember this in Uzice am i going mental
apparently this was in Kragujevac there was only two videos ago but i don't remember crazy
they are quite well done actually look you know it's not
just some cheap crap it's done quite well hello
you okay hun
oh it's doing a piss this reminds me of bristol in the uk there's a hill brandon hill and it's
got the same sort of cityscape you know bristol isn't the most attractive place not whether it's
especially with this weather that place i mentioned in bristol it's an iconic location
from the uk tv show skins and actually almost five years to the day ago i was in bristol it
was just before i left the uk for good in 2016 to travel full-time so again it's kind of poetic
oh there's the farmer guy with all his animals and this poor little thing it's left behind
continuing with the england theme i've just been walking through residential Krusevac and if i
had been knocked out and kidnapped and suddenly woke up somewhere not knowing where i was i would
say i would be in Northolt west london i just live down the road from there this is Northolt
it's also very only falls and horses i think i'm finally understanding this only fools and horses
obsession in serbia del boy rodney cassandra that was her name in it boicey trigger it's like
peckham tower blocks i can't quite believe this and i'm not exaggerating but in five years i've
never been anywhere that's felt any more like where i'm from believe it or not i did not grow
up in buckingham palace or go to hogwarts as many people seem to believe there we are i found it
it was a little bit sort of hidden behind these mounds it's the uh slobodiste war memorial
as you can see slobodiste comes from the serbian word for freedom
that woman has got a crazy laugh i remember now there's these things and one's in the distance as
well sort of dotted around on the hillside i think as well as the world war two point there was also
a battle of kosovo in the 1300s it's certainly a bit different one thing about these war monuments
in serbia is that no one of them is the same as another if that sentence was correct um this kind
of looks like something that lost the tv show you know these mysterious stone shapes in the ground
our final two spots in this video are ahead of us left and right firstly left i mentioned
children when somebody think of the children that was in the simpsons dinosaurs i see a t-rex
okay okay okay okay oh here we go i'm gonna crap myself with excitement because i bloody love
dinosaurs i can't believe it's open 150 dinar until 9pm on a sunday what world am i living in
oh my god it's a t-rex i can't believe it i'm a total dinosaur geek as in like jurassic park i
saw at the cinema when i was like 11. amazing it's a dilophosaurus remember that from jurassic park
apatosaurus sorry if you're not into dinosaurs but honestly i don't care because i am
oh it makes noises too expat gringo shocked in jurassic world is this a baryonyx
that's a spinosaurus they're from the same family oh no it's an irritator i've never heard
of that one the sun's going down golden hour is coming there's a restaurant over there/cafe
there's a playground for your screaming brats and also there's an ankylosaurus that's the one from
jurassic world the indominus rex rolls them over with the gyrosphere as you can tell i'm a geek
it turns out i'm not the only weird man child to come to a dinosaur park in serbia
yeah who knew serbia is full of surprises and not crap ones oh bloody hell copyright music
look at that sky behind me i may have crapped myself at the dinosaur park but you're going to
crap yourself now because if you thought this video was bonkers already it's about to get a
whole lot more bonkers the sun is truly setting on serbia but anyway last night i was on google maps
looking for some other things to do in this video when i turned satellite mode on and i noticed
that where the airport is is actually was because this used to be the airport in Krusevac
it now no longer is there's a new airport being built i think over in that direction
somewhere there's going to be a cargo airport and i read an article from june 21. it's only
a few months ago that that new airport is being built so i think this is relatively
recent and it's another statue of prince lazar i think this is a good use of the space where the
airport used to be and i've read that this airport in Krusevac had similarities and watch out geek
people again it's geek moment um similarities to kai tak airport in hong kong the one where they
had to fly like that in because they had to fly over the city and apparently the runway was quite
short which they then shortened even further um and the one in hong kong has been kind of also
um developed into like a park port um cruise area you know what i mean um so
it'll be interesting to see you know what else is here because obviously right now it's relatively
empty apart from some buildings in the distance which may be sort of old um hanger things i don't
know but at least you've got this statue here is another reminder of the origins of Krusevac
if you are traveling further afield we wish you a safe and pleasant onward journey
it has been our pleasure to serve you and we look forward to welcoming you back again very
soon so thank you Krusevac the light is failing which means it must be time to end this video
and it's fitting i'm at an airport well what was an airport and i'm leaving serbia in a few days
so that was the final video of this year in terms of serbia or is it christian this is the kind of
thing that happens in a video in terms of mishmash all over the place when people recommend things so
thank you again to tatiana this place has actually surprised me a little bit i thought it would be
just dull and boring but actually there's quite a lot to do here shockingly check out the end
screens over there like comment subscribe and um i'll see you in Belgrade next time catch you later