The evening smelled like snow, but once again it failed to arrive. While searching for a parking spot in the crowded city center, I enjoyed the New Year’s music drifting from the main square.The city was glowing — decorated streets, festive shop windows, and an atmosphere that promised a perfect family holiday evening.
Children were already skating on the open ice rink.A children’s choir was singing New Year songs from the stage, while not far from the rink small piles of hay were placed.Very quickly, those neat piles turned into one scattered mess, as children — lacking real snow — began throwing handfuls of hay at each other and jumping into it with pure joy.
Children’s laughter, smiling parents capturing every precious moment on their phones for family albums — I honestly don’t know how much time we spent there with the kids.Time lost its meaning. Then the sounds of the local and authentic pop-rock band Vostok began to rise above the children’s laughter.
Without even realizing how, we followed those familiar sounds — ex-Yu pop-rock hits from a band close to our hearts.I watched my son and daughter dancing to the familiar rhythm and remembered myself, some twenty years ago, as a student in Novi Sad, listening to the same songs with friends by the Danube, on an open-air stage.
My wife’s smile.Children’s laughter.Warm hugs.Frozen feet, red noses, and that unmistakable sparkle in the eyes that says everything.
For a moment, we forgot about the night skating under the projector, which was throwing colorful snowflakes of light across the ice, adding magic to an already joyful crowd of children and parents at the rink.
And now, let me reveal a small secret — my son and I had sneaked out a few hours earlier, before nightfall, to skate together.Just the two of us, before the darkness and before this unforgettable nighttime fairy tale began.
Holidays — gatherings, love, music, wine, children’s laughter, winter joys, and memories captured in the eyes, shining with priceless light.
Thank you for reading and welcome to Vrsac Ski Square-city of wind and wine!