Hello from Fabio and Ryan, the fabric that makes up The Fabryk. We are an 🇮🇹 and an 🇮🇹-🇺🇸/🇬🇧 mix, respectively, residing in 🇩🇪, but more often finding ourselves in random places around the 🌍.
After we met, we quickly shared the same sentiment that our day jobs are killing us quickly. We decided we needed a project to put us out of our misery and save us.
As we both love travel, we decided to take The Fabryk in that direction.
And here we are today with the current mission of showing gay men lesser-known destinations besides the ones where the circuit party is, because the more corners we can collectively cover on this Earth, the more we can educate others about our community.
While The Fabryk mostly covers gay travel, we defintely throw in a little lifestyle, entrepreneurship, culture, personal development, failures, and stories.
Beh sicuramente mi piacerebbe essere guidata da 2 ciceroni così stupendi e poi devo dire che la storia dell’Albania è molto interessante specialmente spiegata da questi due bei fusti❤❤❤❤❤
Serbia is not LGBT friendly. We just put up with it. We are traditional and God loving. Dont make it as if we embrace those values. Thank you for your video.
@@user-bv2vm9cz7x We met several people, especially the younger generation who do embrace it. But like every country not everyone is the same and not everyone will embrace it and that’s okay. 👌
@@therealfabryk younger ones are influenced by those values trough media, who wouldnt be? Just wanted to make it less misleading about Serbia. Nobody will make it a problem because we are open and accepting people, but the church is still No.1 power people trust, without the church as a country we wouldnt survive such a turbulent history of slavery and destruction;after the church its the army that people trust the most. Tradition is very important to us.
@@user-bv2vm9cz7x Definitely, the sense of tradition and church was undoubtedly strong while we were there (I honestly wish we had it sometimes where I grew up). And agree that everyone we met was open and accepting (and just kind-hearted people). This is what left such a positive impact on us on the time that we were there.
First time was a local border. But second time, it was actually just an insurance reason as our rental company didn’t provide us with the documentation we paid for to allow us to leave the country. We should have double checked this but it all works out in the end 😂
It’s so true! The places that may be a little rough around the edges tend to be the most memorable. Thanks for showing a raw side of a place and not just all the nice things like a lot of bloggers I watch.
Do you think there will still be hidden, untouched places in the world in the coming decades, or will every corner of the Earth have already been discovered?
Loved the video, wall of text incoming! :) If you ever come back I would suggest visiting someplace more rural just to get a sense of what it's really about. Cuisine has a lot to do with our physique and our customs which you won't really get to see in Belgrade as Belgrade is more urban. Back in the rural places you would wake up, get fresh milk from your backyard, bacon from your neighbors pig, eggs from your grannies chickens, kajmak your grandpa made etc. and then you'd go and work your ass off day in and day out. Funny thing is that I see A LOT of neighbor hate online, but a fun fact is that I have NEVER IN MY LIFE endured any kind of animosity from ANY of our neighbors in real life, and I've been all over Balkan. Which is very interesting to me ngl. Also one more interesting thing is that there were findings in this area that date 5000BC, which is crazy when you think about it. Like, there were people here that predate even the Romans. It actually makes sense since Danube river has a delta (kinda like river Nile does), which made these lands very habitable, hospitable and fertile. One more fun fact, Serbia was a Turkish vassal state (or under slavery) for around 400 years, that's why there's a lot of Turkish influence here, with that being said if you really want to know about Serbian Inat and defiance, that's probably somewhere you could start. Imagine a Turkish force going to conquer and plunder Western Europe and some small country named Serbia said "the fuck you are" and stood ground on the Kosovo fields. Kinda like your more recent Persia v Sparta moment. To expand on that, we slaved for 400 people, they enforced "blood sacrifice" on us and took our firstborns to fight for the Ottoman empire, but Serbian mothers had that Inat in them so they often mutilated their sons in a variety of ways, they'd either cut their small finger so they couldn't hold a sabre or they would make a small cut somewhere so they could hopefully recognize them later in life when the Ottomans ordered them to come back to take a new batch of firstborns. Interesting thing about the Ottoman army composition was that they had the Janissary foot soldiers (Serbian children made into Ottoman soldiers) in the front, but the Serbian army always had cavalry in the front. So when they clashed the Ottomans never used Turkish foot soldiers, just the Serbian ones (to fight the Serbs). One last thing to close off the Inat section, as it happened with the Ottomans the same thing happened with the Nazi Germany, they wanted to go through but Serbs, again, said "the fuck you are" and that's how we fought against the Axis invasion and lost the most people per capita in WW1 (I'm not sure about WW2). Trust me you will never hear about my country when it comes to World Wars. Only that we started one. But you will never hear how one small country said fuck you to one of the biggest forces of those times and stood ground when everyone was cowering. Everyone talking about the French Resistance but no one speaks of our resistance for which Hitler himself devised a rule "For every German soldier dead, 100 Serbs will die, and for every wounded German, 50 will die." and we still beat their ass - I am immensely proud at our Inat as you can see.
Whoaa thank you for sharing all of that! It’s really amazing to hear about the deep history and resilience of the Serbian people. That sense of “Inat” is truly something to be proud of. It’s fascinating how history has shaped not just the culture, but the very spirit of the people. I’ll definitely keep all of this in mind when we have the chance to visit again. Also part of the food bit is from the rural areas outside of Novi Sad! Was a really cool farm to plate restaurant but you can tell they were working their asses off to make the dishes 🤣
I read in the comments some objections to your video. Personally, I don't have a single complaint because you did everything with taste, respect and with good intentions. I am an atheist and I am not tied to any ideology that will limit me in accepting different cultures, religions and beliefs of any kind. I am a heterosexual who knows a lot of people and I have never met a single man in Serbia who declares himself to be gay. This is sad in my opinion because I would like all people to feel free to be who they are. Understand those people who are unable to understand you and don't let their ignorance affect your positive energy. The video is great!
Thanks so much for the kind words. Ignorant comments tend not to get us down, but comments like yours is such a boost in morale, really. Agree that it’s so important that everyone feels free to be who they are, without fear or judgment. I’m glad you appreciated the video, as everything was meant to be benign from our side and we truly wanted to express all the positive things we came across when we were in Serbia.
what I'm missing in the vid is the patriotism in Serbia. I just was at the guca festival a few days ago and i saw so much patriotism, so much praise for war "heros".
How interesting that no one gives one dime that bosnian, croatian and albanian war "heros" are widely praised and celebrated. On European stage no less...are we forgetting croats and albanians cheering at Euro cup 2024 "Kill, slauther so that Serbs no longer exist".... I didn't hear anyone saying much few months ago...
I see the the Serbian mentality like a Non-Newtonian fluid. If you force something you´ll feel the resistance and the Inat. Sometimes we are not against something per se, but if it is "showed down our throat" we will not accept (out of Inat). This is from my experience also with the LGBT "topic". Most people have no hate against LGBT people but when it is forced as a "new cool way of living" and presented that if you are just neutral and not supportive you are backwards etc. you´ll face the Inat strongly. I have few gay people in my circle and most are nice people not forcing their private life & views on you. Those who do, are not so positively seen and it has nothing to do with their lifestyle but rather what I wrote in the beginning, it seems forced and we don't like that. Same goes for the ultra orthodox tbh. but there is the threshold a bit higher as the society is a bit more traditional, yet again overstating your beliefs and forcing them will not get you far. However, a nice video. Not a clickbait like so many these days, kudos.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I totally get where you’re coming from-people don’t like feeling pressured into something, and it’s more about the approach than the topic itself. Appreciate the honest feedback, and glad you liked the video!⬤
Yea, it's all a lie. No one is forcing you to be gay, enough with that conservative orthodox nonsense. And we all know you don't have gay friends, you conservatives always talk about your non-existing "gay friends" who are probably in Narnia by now. Serbia is homophobic country, make no mistake.....In front of foreigners it all nice and fun, but in realty ...not so much...
The Victory Tower as you call it is the Victor Monument, placed in 1928, ten years after WW 1, to mark Serbia's victory over the Ottoman and Austrian-Hungarian Empires. The way you explained it is kinda off. The NATO bombings, "the most recent violence in the city", happened in 1999, not early 2000s. Calling the Church of Saint Sava a "monstrosity" was not appropriate. A better word would have been "grand" or "huge". As for the gays, most of the Serbian society is not really appreciative of that and the whole woke thing that's gone too far... but I guess we are learning to accept it. That doesn't mean we like it, so I wouldn't openly be gay in this place. Maybe Belgrade and Novi Sad are a bit more open to the idea, but certainly not the rest of the country. My advice to gay people is - keep it to yourself and not in public. Thanks for the video. Overall well done. But, this was a video only of Belgrade, whereas, judging by the title, we expected to see more of what you saw in the rest of Serbia.
We agree on historical events and how you corrected it. We don't agree about accepting woke culture and what comes with it. Those guys are impossible not to recognise as part of this LGBT which is claimed to be dangerous here. It's not. What is dangerous is to make it political statement, to provoke feelings and traditions like it was done on organised LGBT manifestations. Those events are covered by up to 7000 cops, helicopters and armoured vehicles and it is the result of their attempt to insult state, nation, patriarch or even football ultra groups. This bloggers were not attacked, same as thousands of homosexuals you can see always, because people are not interested in their personal life. They don't insult or impose on what we have to become and in Serbia it is enough to be safe. Sometimes some Serbs might be confused but it can't last long time. Some might adopt to something on one moment, under media and other pressures but we all return to our basic values eventually. Especially when things are hard. Serbian nation, traditions, heritage, culture, history, Orthodox church, own independent mind will return you to the roots. Time when Kosovo or church will be irrelevant and woke culture spread like in rest of the Europ, USA...it will simply never going to happen. We are not a recent tribe without roots and achievements and nobody will have hard time to be different in any aspect. We don't mess with your opinions, feelings, lifestyle... Others should respect ours and we are just fine
@@bgdabg6769 Kudos for sharing your thoughts. It’s clear that traditions and values are really important, and that respecting each other’s ways of life matters. People here seem to get along just fine as long as no one’s pushing an agenda or disrespecting what others hold dear. Appreciate the honest take!
@@therealfabryk Thanks. When we respect and understand each others more, from that point things can only be better for everyone. You got it right way in such a short time, some people live here but not able to understand things. It seem to me you were honest and video shows things in correct way. Not counting unintentional mistakes. Serbs have unique things to offer if they don't change.
West promotes degeneracy in every way, and its not the issue here, people becoming aware more and more and going toward opposite direction thankfuly. Im not speaking only about homos but sexism in all forms, you can stick it in whatever, in radiator, in car exaust, or in a goat if you want and being a goat sticker like Albanians nobody cares if you do it in your walls.
@@therealfabryk Our school system is colonized by european and gkobakist agendas so we had two learn two alphabets at the same time. The long term idea is to separate Serbian people from their indigenous alphabet,weaken their psycho-ethnic constant and in two generations you can do what ever you wish with them. You can even make them believe they are something which they are not,I think German minister of propaganda spoke about this during ww2 🙂 Best regards,pretty good video of my country! Hope you had great time!
Digraphia in Serbian is rather a curse, not an advantage. It is a construct of communist ideology trying to make a hybrid Serbo-Croatian language that failed. The Croats got rid of it as soon as possible, the Serbs were forced into it and adopted it.
@@therealfabrykit really isnt that deep. I dont think they will change it anytime soon. We use both thats ok also languages are a living thing so changes are natural.
It is rather an adventage, it helps bridging the communication gap. Also "hybrid Serbo-Croatian language" is really just the alphabet, the language is not hybrid at all.
Even before the Communists, there was the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, so the introduction of the Latin alphabet began then, as soon as we mistakenly made the union with the Slovenes and the Croats... The Serbian Constitution from 2006 defines Cyrillic as the only official one. However, the law has left to individuals to decide which one they want to use. Up to the 1990s, the Cyrillic one was more dominant. When you look at old photos of Belgrade, almost all stores were in Cyrillic. When we opened up more to the West after the fall of Milosevic, Latin became more dominant. Also because of computers and the internet. An even worse phenomenon is that English words have become more popular than domestic words, because they seem fancy and sound foreign. Many domestic stores now have English or other foreign names to make the store sound more fancy, which is completely not needed. I am sad to see that the Cyrillic alphabet is slowly dying.
Grindr is definitely the go-to app being used (or at least the only one we've used) -- it is a bit difficult because they put, at most, their torso on and face photos come in the form of expiring photos 😅. Otherwise, people meet at one of the few venues available (listed here: thefabryk.com/blog/gay-belgrade-serbia-guide#gay-belgrade-nightlife)
1:33 I wanted to share a little more about Serbia's unique food traditions and Serbian cuisine. Serbia has a rich culinary heritage that is truly its own, with many dishes and customs not found anywhere else in the world. One of the most distinctive aspects is the tradition of Slava. This celebration, which honors a family's patron saint, has roots tracing back to early Celtic tribes. Serbia also uses over 4000 Celtic words and phrases to this day. It wouldn't be just to connect Serbia to strictly Slavic people, since Balkan as a whole is a mix of different tribes and influences. It's a beautiful tradition that showcases the deep cultural and spiritual ties within Serbian society. Serbian cuisine, centered around hearty dishes featuring mostly and traditionally cheese and meat, has developed independently over centuries. I wouldn't really say that some other country influenced Serbian dishes. Certain names might be similar or same, however the method of preparation tends to be entirely different. This focus on robust and nourishing foods has contributed to the physical characteristics of the people in the region through centuries of genetic growth, known for their muscular builds, height, and athletic abilities. Many great sportsmen came from Serbia. Just look a Novak Djokovic recently. It's important to appreciate that Serbia, despite its size, has a culinary tradition rich in history and flavor, reflecting the resilience and spirit of its people. Not to mention that regardless of how big the force was that attacked Serbia, Serbia is still here and those forces are written as defeated in the history books. Thank you for highlighting the diverse cuisines of the world! I hope you enjoyed your stay.
