In which Sid and Doris go in a car and having discounted alternatives, plan a cycle route to Beograd.
The most significant statistic of the day is that taxi fares here are very reasonable. We’ve been everywhere, man. The Petrovaradin Fortress is high above the town on the far bank. This is a rest day and the pavement is glowing hot, so taxi it is. The museum also shows a very well described collection of weaponry used here from about the time the Austrians built the fort, over Roman, Cistercian, Turkish predecessors through to 1918. When Yugoslavia was created there was a phase of knocking down anything Austrian, but the General in charge of demolition saved Petrovaradin. When in 1999 NATO came to bomb Novi Sad to stop the Serbians killing the Kosovars the fortress was not a worthwhile target. Unlike the bridges and refineries.
A rest day is also a planning day. Fortunately Doris has booked the Fontana, which has a splendid courtyard for sitting and planning. If the fountain could just drown out the awful MOR pop rot… I want your love, Chakha Khan I love you with added wahwah pedal, something not as good as Lionel Ritchie (wine and fine, oh good), working my way back to you babe, I shed a little tear for you. And that might be a fitting point to stop the catalogue of global hits.
So, the plan. We had thought to get into Beograd by such underhand means as boat or train. But Lane went to the market and there were none to be had. The railway line into Beograd is not running. There are buses, so Sid and Doris have been up to the bus station to look at the possibility of sneaking on a pair of fully laden neddies. Neddies are not inconspicuous and the belly lockers seem to be full of suitcases. Why are these people moving suits?
So we check again why we had planned not to cycle. On the one paw, against cycling: 1) The Euro Velo 6 guide book says the traffic is terrible and you should get the train, though see above on trains. 2) It is very hot. 3) Our legs are tired. 4) Our upper spines are spooked.
But on another paw : 1) The Euro Velo 6 route to Belgrade got a good review from the Danube biking fanatics Doris met on the boat from Linz. 2) The Novi Sad tourist office produced a recent map showing this to be Serbia’s only bona fide international quality cycle path. 3) Heads and legs can be rested with another day in the maelstrom of activity that is the Novi Sad tourist trail. 4) We could stop on this side of Beograd cutting of five kilometres, which might feel important on the day.
So the new plan is to rest up, get a packed lunch sorted, leave before it gets boiling hot and stop in Beograd once there are hotels, showers, beer, Fusetea and the good things in life.
Tomorrow we’ll be at ease in Novi Sad and for Sid the Museum of Vojvodina calls. If we still don’t want to cycle that route in that heat we can wait until it rains, or hire a van.
But this is to think one day at a time, so tomorrow we will sketch out the plan down the Danube on the Serbian side (perhaps to the Iron Gates) and then across Bulgaria towards Edirne if the big plan holds.