Hey guys, since I last talked to you I made the drive from Subotica to Novi Sad, then to Vukovar, and have now made my way to Budapest.

On Tuesday afternoon, I went and checked out the lake at Nature Park Palic just outside of Subotica before getting on the road to Novi Sad. The lake was kind of cool and there was a lot of nice farm scenery on the road to Novi Sad, even though the weather was not the best.

Upon arrival in Novi Sad, I got checked into my apartment in city center. It was the same one I stayed at on my previous visit to the city, and since I booked it directly with the owner this time instead of through Airbnb he gave me a discount. I wound up paying only 20 euros a night to be in the most ideal location in the whole city. I love the prices in Serbia.

After checking in to the apartment, the weather began to improve, so I decided to go out and do a little busking. This turned out to be a great idea because I wound up drawing a decent crowd and made a pretty good take in tips (about 45 euros, which is fantastic for Serbia) and even sold a CD. In 2 1/2 hours I made enough to pay for both nights in my hotel and lunch the next day!

While I was playing, a guy selling magnets and souvenirs nearby approached me to say that he remembered me from busking in the same spot a couple months ago and that he really liked my music. His name was Vule, and invited me to have a beer with him after I finished up and I felt glad to oblige! To make a long story short, I met the owner of the bar we went to and got a gig set booked there on November 7 when Bingman and Grant will be with me. So that was a happy coincidence and I’m glad to know that Novi Sad (my favorite city in Serbia) has not seen the last of me yet!

After the bar, Vule and I went for a late night snack and I called it a night afterwards.

The next day, I took my earnings from the previous day and had a nice big lunch before heading back out on the street to busk again. I only planned to do it for about an hour since I had a gig booked Wednesday evening, but some other musicians dropped by – including a drummer – and we all took turns on the mic and wound up playing for closer to 2 hours. It is always fun when somebody comes by and wants to do some jamming!

On Wednesday evening, I returned to the Grafitti cafe where I had played the last time I was in Novi Sad. The show there went well and there was a decent sized and very enthusiastic crowd. I had some guest singers there as well, so Wednesday was a big collaboration day musically I guess you could say. Another neat thing about the show Wednesday was that a lady named Tamara, who I’d previously met at Tara national park and connected with on Facebook, saw that I saw going to be playing there and surprised me by coming to watch with her daughter and some friends. After the show, we worked out another gig in her town (about 45 minutes from Novi Sad) for November 8 – the day after the gig in Novi Sad. Booking 2 gigs in 2 days is a good deal!

The only bad thing that happened in Novi Sad was that I got my wedding ring stolen by a Gypsy kid on Wednesday night after the show! It all started when I was carrying my amp and mic stand to the car and he came up and started singing and asking for money. Normally I ignore the kids begging for money but he got to me with the singing. After I gave him a few dinars, he wanted to do a hand shake with the right hand – which I did. Then he wanted to do one with the left hand – which I also did – but then the little fucker somehow timed it perfectly to pull my ring right off my finger and take off running. I tried to catch him, but I didn’t want to leave my amp behind and I knew I couldn’t out run him. So that was that. I was so pissed off, but luckily Anna Maria took it in good humor, and we are gonna look for a new one while she is here visiting me this week. It’s always something… although this should be a little easier to bounce back from than a car wreck or having all of my music equipment stolen.

On Thursday, I took off from Novi Sad to head out for the 2 hour drive to Vukovar, Croatia to see my buddies I met there on my first visit and to play a show that they set up for me on Friday night at the Kibic Fenster cafe. Along the way, there was some more pleasant farm scenery to take in.

The first place I went in the city was to the Kibic Fenster cafe to work out the details of the show with the owner and get some wifi to let my buddies know what I was in town. I also had no accommodations because everything I found on the internet was super expensive, but the owner’s wife called a nearby guesthouse and found me a room for 30 euros a night. The place wound up being gigantic and really nice, so I was glad that I wasn’t going to have to sleep in the car again 😂

While I was at the bar with the guys on Thursday, I met another local guy, Hrvoje, who is a guitar player and who asked me if he could sit in for my show. I said that I’d be glad to have him if we could practice all my songs first. So on Thursday night, we played for about 3 hours in the courtyard of my guest house and got through about half of my songs. I had mentioned to him and the other guys that there was a special Balkan dish that I had been looking for called cufte (a type of meatballs) and had not been able to find it. So Hrvoje talked his mom into making it for me Friday for lunch, with the plan to go through the rest of my songs Friday afternoon before the show. The cufte was incredible and we did get through just about all my songs before it was time to head to the bar for the show. I was excited to have somebody to throw some lead breaks to for a change!

The show was probably the most fun I’ve had playing music on the whole trip. People were really into it and so many people came up to compliment me on my singing and playing. After the third set, we were even asked to come up and play an encore! So it was a great music experience.

After finishing up the playing, we turned my speaker into a karaoke machine and closed down the bar with a few songs. All in all it was a great experience and I feel like Vukovar (of all places) is now like a second home to me because of all the people there I’ve gotten to know. Hopefully someday I’ll be able to go back there to see everyone and put on another show!

This morning, I headed back over to the bar to get my equipment and car which I left there Friday night. Ned and Hrvoje joined me for a coffee and pretty soon it was time to say goodbye and get on the road for the 3 1/2 drive to Budapest. Anna Maria is arriving at 830am on Sunday morning to the Budapest airport to hang out with me for a week. It was kind of sad to say goodbye, but that’s life – and I’m sure I will see them all again someday!

I arrived to the apartment here in Budapest about 7pm this evening. I’m just relaxing tonight and working on some laundry and recovering from the big string of shows and socialising. Tomorrow I’ve got to get up bright and early to pick up the wife and I’m looking forward to doing some more exploring of Hungary and Slovakia with her over the next week.

Talk to you guys soon!