Day 7: Excursion to Novi Sad
Updated: Sep 12, 2022
5/13/22
Novi Sad is a town in the northern provence of Serbia, Vojvodina. Here, you can see more strongly the influence of the Austro-Hungarian empire in the architecture, and it's beautiful. Some people say it looks just like Prague or Budapest, and though I've only seen those places in pictures, this one is quite pretty.
Heart of Mary Catholic Church: Neo-Gothic style
Next, we visited Petrovaradin Fort, built by the Austro-Hungarians, and while it doesn't look like much above ground, the real intrigue is below ground. It has a staggering 16km of underground tunnels, and we got to see 1/16th of these! It was a little spooky, and very strategically thought out. During invasion, these were a maze in total darkness. There were dead end tunnels where the invader would be lured forward into crossfire from musket slits in the walls. If they dug enough and reached one of the breaks between the walls, they were trapped in a clearing beneath their feet, soldiers could detonate barrels of gunpowder and blow the whole clearing sky high. We got to stand in one of these places.
The inter-wall clearing, and one of the more well lit tunnels
Had to get a Danube picture!
Then we ate lunch right by the Danube river, what a view! The food was good, but I was confused and a little wary of the many many, (and large!) bones in the fish I just had to put in my mouth. Nonetheless, it was very tasty. I found out about a new plant, the restaurant hung lots of them up and the owner said to our advisor Alex that they are used to make incense and their smell also keeps bugs away. I will have to get one! Find out what it is in the Plant Report 2.
After lunch, we went to a centuries old winery and beekeeping museum. They had the most beautiful clematis, which you can check out in my newest Plant Report.
The professor who founded the museum introduced ways to harvest honey without killing the bees to Serbia.
The cutest part of the museum items was the functional beehive that looks like an Orthodox Church he built. The bees even entered through the front door!! Oh my. That makes me smile.
The wine cellar was built into a hill, and all the barrels and bottles there (there were HUGE barrels!) were covered in the most mold I have ever seen in one place, and a thick layer too. Our guide told us that this mold helps maintain a micro-climate suitable for preservation and fermentation- good mold.
We got to taste the best honey I've ever probably had. The propilis honey made me feel so invigorated! I took some home too.
We walked around more of the old city, and learned how it was the stronghold of Serbian religion culture and academia during imperial occupation. The building with the red trim is the oldest grammar school in Serbia, and it's still a living school today! Here are some pictures of the town, I love the painted buildings along the street with ornamented windows. I drank out of the famous four lions fountain.
Ćao for now!
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