{"id":7338,"date":"2021-03-08T15:18:14","date_gmt":"2021-03-08T14:18:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/visitdistrikt.rs\/?p=7338"},"modified":"2021-05-13T13:08:18","modified_gmt":"2021-05-13T11:08:18","slug":"charles-novi-sad-dream-black-coffee-mornings-nights-by-the-danube","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/visitdistrikt.rs\/en\/2021\/03\/08\/charles-novi-sad-dream-black-coffee-mornings-nights-by-the-danube\/","title":{"rendered":"Charles\u2019 Novi Sad Dream: Black Coffee Mornings, Nights by the Danube"},"content":{"rendered":"

Charles Cather has been calling Novi Sad his home for six years. If you ask this American from Illinois what it is about Novi Sad that makes it an ideal place for living, the answer probably couldn\u2019t fit into one sentence. Still, on his YouTube channel<\/a>, he tries to depict the beauty of life in our city.<\/span> <\/strong><\/p>\n

Charles said he had pretty high expectations before coming to Novi Sad and Serbia. Back then, he never thought he would call this city his home and be a Serbian passport holder.<\/span><\/p>\n

– My very first trip to Novi Sad was for Exit Festival 2011. I remember seeing and reading a lot about Novi Sad before organising my very first trip to Serbia back in 2010. My expectations were pretty high after seeing pictures of the stunningly beautiful buildings in the centre of the city, the parks, the fortress, Fru\u0161ka Gora, Danube promenade, and reading some articles about the wine and food culture of this region. You couldn\u2019t have set the bar any higher, but once I arrived in Novi Sad, it was 10 times better than that! It is the second largest city in Serbia, but it still has that small town feel. The cafes are full from morning to late into the night, the locals go out of their way to show you a good time, the city is small enough that you can walk from the centre to nearly everything you want to see in less than 20 minutes, it has bike lanes all over the city, more cafes\/restaurants\/bars than you can count, three malls, fun nightlife, affordable prices, diverse population, lots of history, cheap\/reliable public transportation (taxi from centre to bus station is only RSD 250!) and it\u2019s very safe.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why did you choose Novi Sad and not some other city in Serbia?<\/strong>
\n– I\u2019ve lived in numerous cities in Serbia: Zrenjanin, Sremska Mitrovica, Ni\u0161, Pan\u010devo, Zemun, Nova Galenika, Kote\u017e and Novi Sad. Back in 2014, the owner of a work & travel agency read about me in the newspaper. He reached out to me and invited me to speak to a group of 800 Serbian university students about American culture prior to their departure for America. Afterwards, he asked me to be part of the team! I immediately accepted. I moved here in September of 2014 and the rest is history.<\/span><\/p>\n

You were born in Nantucket, Massachusetts. Can you compare life in Novi Sad with the life in Nantucket? What are the similarities and what are the differences?<\/span>
\n<\/strong>– I was actually born in a little ranch community of around 1500 people in East Central Illinois named Greenup. My father was a farmer and business owner while mom worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Thus, agriculture has played a big part in my upbringing. I moved to Chicago for a couple of years before packing up and moving to Florida, then on to Mexico for one and a half years, and finally Serbia in 2010. My life is different than most people\u2019s lives. I live in Serbia from October to May and on the beautiful island of Nantucket, Massachusetts from May to October. Out of all of the places I\u2019ve called home, Novi Sad would most closely compare to La Piedad, Mexico. They are similar in size, very cultural, La Piedad doesn\u2019t have tamubra\u0161i, but it has mariachi, no rakija, but tequila and the Mexicans are friendly and kind to foreigners. You could also possibly say that my birthplace\u2019s dependence on agriculture is similar to the municipality of Novi Sad. This part of Vojvodina is known as the \u201cBreadbasket of Europe\u201d because of the fertile soil. The same can be said for my part of Illinois. Chicago is also similar to Novi Sad in Serb population. I\u2019ve heard many people say that Chicago has over 200 thousand Serbs living there (I\u2019m not saying it\u2019s correct, but that\u2019s what a lot of people say). It has Serbian restaurants, cafes, and lots of Orthodox churches. If we look at differences from all of the places I listed, I\u2019d say all of them lack the liveliness and outdoor cafe scene that Novi Sad has. It\u2019s amazing to walk down Zmaj Jovina Street in the summer and see both sides of the street filled with outdoor seating and most of the time you can\u2019t find an empty one.<\/span><\/p>\n