My best moment of Winter is when I leave Zurich toward South-East andusually I spend much of my stay in Serbia in the Vojvodina region (the flatnorthern part of Serbia).
There are a lot of pretty towns that are reallyworth visiting, and once when my husband showed me where he went tocollege I had the opportunity to meet Backa Topola (БачкаТопола) a municipality in the North Backa District.(above a postcard from Backa Topola of 1964)
(Backa Topola Postcard from kasina at skyscrapercity)
Dueto its favorable geographical location this place was settled fromvery early on. When in the middle age its inhabitants were all Serbs,after being destroyed by kuruc rebels in 1704, around 1750 it waspopulated by Hungarians and Slovaks and still today its population isaround 60% Hungarians and 30% Serbs (the rest is composed by otherethnic groups).
It'sa picturesque town shaped by its austro-hungarian buildings.
NearBacka Topola is a pretty lake called Zobnaticko Jezero (ЗобнатичкоЈезеро).
There are lots of protected plants, species of insectsand birds around the lake, an oasis of nature and peace.
Onthe other side of the lake are structures for tourism: beaches, arestaurant and possibilities for camping.
Thewindmill (Vetrenjaca; Ветрењача)
Until1969 there were more working windmills that were used for grindingcorn and wheat. The mill was in the ground floor, the second floorwas the apartment of the miller and in the third floor was themecanism of the mill. Now it's used for museum purpose.
Horse-racingwas a popular sport among austro-hungarians, and one of the fewracing-tracks of Serbia is located here. Above one of the peculiar buildings at the entrance of the track.
Here the official website of Backa Topola:
www.btopola.org.rs
Here an older post about travelling in Vojvodina:
http://www.sajkaca.blogspot.com/2009/10/best-travel-tips-for-serbia-ethno.html