Hello guys! When I got up on Wednesday morning, I checked out of my apartment in Novi Sad and immediately took my amp down to the music store where the owner had offered to look at it for me. Unfortunately, he said everything looks perfect inside, so it seems the issue may be with the battery itself. I guess I’m just going to have to deal with it cutting out from time to time.

While I was waiting on him to troubleshoot the amp, a buddy I met at my show in Novi Sad came down to have a coffee and see me off. Milan was one smart guy (he’s an acoustics engineer) and he had spent a few years living in Florida when he was younger. We had some great conversations about a wide range of topics including US and Serbian politics and I’m glad to call him a friend now. I hope to see him again when I come back through Novi Sad later this fall.

After coffee and the music shop, I set off for Vukovar, Croatia. On the way, I went through Fruska Gora national park, which is just outside Novi Sad. I kind of regretted doing this because I didn’t really have time to make any excursions to see anything in the park and the views from the road were not great. The road was in poor condition and really slowed me down getting out of Serbia. But if I hadn’t gone, I would have always wondered about it, so I’m still glad I took the detour through there.

After entering back into Croatia, it wasn’t very far until I reached Vukovar. In case you don’t know about Vukovar, it is a border city and was the front line of the battle between Serbian Yugoslav army forces and the Croatian defenders after Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia. The city’s 2000 self-organized defenders held out for a long time against thousands of army troops with tanks, artillery and planes while the Croatian army was being formed further to the west. The city was basically completely destroyed in the battle, but the defenders of the city are considered heros in Croatia. The city has rebuilt for the most part, but the scars of the war are still very much visible on some buildings and in the psyche of the city itself, as I was to find out.

My first stop was the cemetery outside the city where many of the Croatian defenders who lost their lives are buried. Here are some scenes from the cemetery:

My next stop was to a small museum at a farm house where the Serbian army took wounded Croatian defenders from the hospital, tortured them for one night, and then killed them all and threw the bodies into a mass grave. War truly turns people into animals.

As I drove through the city, I saw many houses and buildings still bearing the bullet and shrapnel holes from 1991, the most prominent of which is the city’s water tower. The tower was targeted often and basically destroyed, but the government decided to leave it up as a reminder of the war. It is now a proud symbol of Vukovar and to Croatians from all over the country.

My next stop was the outdoor Domovinskog memorial center that houses many weapons and pieces of equipment that were used in the battle in 1991. Here are some scenes from Domovinskog:

After viewing Domovinskog, I had had enough for one day. I decided to head into the city itself and check into my apartment and have a walk around the city center.

After dinner, I went back to the apartment, but my internet was barely working. So I decided to go to the pub that was closeby for one beer and some wifi. That beer turned into two and to the bartender telling me about a place around the corner where there was a summer party going on with a live band, so I decided to check it out. While there, I met some guys that were really interested in hearing me play some music and hanging out, so we all went over to the apartment and hung out for a while by the river. They were a lot of fun and two of them wanted to meet up this morning for coffee and one of them (Mario) was off work today and wanted to show me around town! It’s always good to meet locals!

The highlight of the sightseeing today was seeing the display at the hospital where literal miracles occurred every day during the conflict. The doctors and nurses saved many lives there under constant shelling, lack of supplies, and unbelievable stress.

After visiting the hospital, Mario took me to his favorite cevapi restaurant. Cevapi is a staple food in Yugoslavia and I hadn’t had any since I was in Bosnia last year, so I was down to have some and it was really good!

Our last stop was an archaeological museum near the river. We saw some cool stuff and a nice view of the river.

After all the touring, it was time for us to part ways for now. I had fun with the guys, and they convinced the owner of the bar we were at last night to have me come play a show here closer to the fall when I can make it back here. So I’ll be looking forward to that and to seeing this crew again in a couple months!

Now I’m off to Slavonski Brod to see my good buddy Tin for a couple nights to celebrate his birthday in his home town. Talk to you guys soon!