For those of you who don't know,
EXIT is a music festival that has been taking place in
Novi Sad, Serbia every summer since 2000. This year's festival starts tonight and tonight also happens to be the night that
MIKA (!!), one of the headliners, is performing. I thought,
Mika is in Serbia...I have to see him! but unfortunately I have no way to get there and no place to stay. I also found out that he performs at midnight, so there would be no possible way of getting back to Belgrade after his gig. I've always been pretty optimistic about things like this, but I have to face the fact that I will not be seeing Mika in Serbia anytime soon.
Anyway, I am blogging about EXIT tonight because it is the opening day and I think it is an under-publicized festival. According to
Wikipedia (I really don't think that people would waste their time changing entries into false information!), EXIT was started by three college students in 2000 as a protest against oppression under Slobodan Milosevic's regime (I'm not going to get into the politics, they're really not my forte). EXIT takes place in
Petrovaradin Fortress in Novi Sad along the world-famous
Danube River.
Over the years, this seemingly humble project began attracted international stars and has earned deserving accolades. Performers have included
Iggy and the Stooges, Goldfrapp, Peaches, The White Stripes, Franz Ferdinand, Billy Idol, the Pet Shop Boys, HIM, The Scissor Sisters, Snoop Dogg, Gogol Bordello, Gossip, the Sex Pistols, Lily Allen, and
the Artic Monkeys. This year's headliners are
Mika, Missy Elliot, LCD Soundsystem, the Chemical brothers, and
Placebo. The thing that suprised me was that the festival doesn't start until 8 PM and then the headliners perform at midnight and the festivities keep going until about 6 or 7 AM. I understand the whole rock and roll lifestyle, but wouldn't you just want some sleep by that point in the morning? I mean, I'm up at 6:45 AM on a weekday, but that's to go to school.
Anyways, as I mentioned, EXIT has received some awards during its existence. The most significant title was given in 2007, when the UK Festival Awards decreed EXIT the
Best European Festival. This title was voted on by regular people: music lovers, festival go-ers and EXIT was chosen amongst 10 other festivals on the continent!
So, hopefully I taught you about a music festival (that isn't Glastonbury) and hopefully brought some more tourists into Serbia! You can't blame me; I learn something new about my homeland every day!
I almost forgot to mention Belgrade's Beer Fest. It is completely free and all of the money raised last time (I believe...don't quote me on this one) went into buying recycling bins for schools around the city. I'll have more about that later.
PS. Mika's on in half an hour!
None of the photos in this post were mine...click on them for their sources!
credit goes to Yanidel for this lovely photo. 
However, if you have time to only visit one I definitely recommend seeing the Galeries Lafayette. This shopping mecca is impressive not only for its 10 floors of wares for almost every pocket, but for its signature Art Nouveau dome. The stained-glass dome ceilng brings in an almost holy ambiance, as if you were in a sacred church and not a busy center of commerce. You can feel free to take pictures of the architecture, but store policy prohibits photos of merchandise.
If you do have time to visit Printemps, you will find that it is set up like any other department store but the rook of its home store has a magnificent panoramic view of the city (more about this later).
If you are blessed with deep pockets, very very deep pockets, Cartier and Louis Vuitton on the Champs Elysees and Chanel on the exclusive Place Vendome will be worth a visit.
However, if you are not royalty or a celebrity, Paris has many "high street" shops found in most cities such as: H&M, Zara, Mango, Uniqlo, etc. I did not find any real bargains in the city, but Paris is known to be very expensive, so if you can, refrain from clothes-shopping for back home. I do recommend browsing through Uniqlo if you have never been in it. It is a Japanese clothing store that only sells basics in every color and nuance of the rainbow: think American Apparell only more affordable, more flattering, and more mellow. This store sells raiment for both men and women.
For those of you who don't know, EXIT is a music festival that has been taking place in Novi Sad, Serbia every summer since 2000. This year's festival starts tonight and tonight also happens to be the night that MIKA (!!), one of the headliners, is performing. I thought, Mika is in Serbia...I have to see him! but unfortunately I have no way to get there and no place to stay. I also found out that he performs at midnight, so there would be no possible way of getting back to Belgrade after his gig. I've always been pretty optimistic about things like this, but I have to face the fact that I will not be seeing Mika in Serbia anytime soon.
Anyway, I am blogging about EXIT tonight because it is the opening day and I think it is an under-publicized festival. According to Wikipedia (I really don't think that people would waste their time changing entries into false information!), EXIT was started by three college students in 2000 as a protest against oppression under Slobodan Milosevic's regime (I'm not going to get into the politics, they're really not my forte). EXIT takes place in Petrovaradin Fortress in Novi Sad along the world-famous Danube River.
The Eiffel Tower from the Military School
The Centre Pompidou
A decorative statue on the Ile de la Cite
The famous Notre Dame, which is also located on the Ile de la Cite
