Travel day to Novi Pazar

We had read about some fortress ruins along our route today. The map showed that there was a trail to the top and it crossed a river along the way. And of course we always follow the map! The bridge did look littles ketchy, missing some deck boards and leaning at a crazy angle, but we were following the map! Made it to the fortress great views. On the way back I took a
picture of the sign next to the bridge. Google Translate comes up with something about "Use of Bridge is Prohibited by the City Inspector". Ignorance is bliss.

Next on our drive we stopped at the Studenica Monastery, founded in the 12th century

Our last stop was the Crna Reka Monastery, built into the side of a cliff

We are staying in Novi Pazar for the next 3 nights. This is our apartment.

Travel day to Vrnjačka Banja

The WWII monument at Kruševac

Kruševac

Fortress ruins in Kruševac

Prince Lazar sculpture

Lazarica Church

Our accommodation for tonight

Our apartment

Vrnjačka Banja is a popular spa town in Serbia with a number of different hot springs and lots of parks. Like many European spa towns, the focus is more on the therapeutic effects of the water rather than pampering. At one spring we saw 4 people sitting on benches with their feet in clear plastic bags filled with the spring water.

One of several springs in town, each with their own building

There are various pavilions throughout the town. This one is a cafe.

The brutalist Hotel Merkur

Belimarković castle built between 1882 and 1887

Supper

Niš, day 3

This morning we visited a former Nazi concentration camp located right in Niš. The camp primarily held Jews, Serbs and Roma. By the end of the war over 30,000 prisoners had passed through the camp. Of those approximately 10,000 were executed in Niš at the park we visited yesterday.

Old style apartment building

Skull Tower was constructed after a battle between Serbian rebels and the Ottomans
in 1809. After the battle, the Ottomans built a monument with the skulls of the fallen rebels. After the fall of the Ottoman empire, a chapel was built around the tower.

Random old buildings in Niš

Niš, day 2

This morning we walked to a park at the edge of town where approximately 10,000 Serbian, Jew and Roma people were executed by the Nazis during WWII

The "three fists" monument commemorating the event

A large open-air amphitheatre next to the monument

On the way back to downtown

The old cemetery of Niš

There were a number of large mausoleums in the cemetery

Niš

This underground "mall" extends for several city blocks under the pedestrian area downtown

Downtown Niš