Castles and Monasteries

As promised, we went sight seeing today. We had to stop at the bank first for David. And suddenly Alex let us know that the euro had just dropped. I began to learn more about currency rates and how to play the game than I ever knew. It was awesome to watch David and Florian work the system, watching the rates, and making the right move at the right time. Cool process. 

When that was done, we headed to the hillsides. It is a national forest area and has 17 monasteries. After a scenic drive through rolling hills and sheep pastures, we arrived at our first monastery. It had a courtyard behind the walls you could walk around. Looking at the saints painted on the walls, we found our way to the door inside the building in the center of the courtyard. Women kissed pictures of saints and mumbled prayers. People were gathered around a priest speaking to them. Candles lined the walls and illuminated everyone's way. The walls were painted from top to bottom with saints and designs. Back in the courtyard, David told me this monasteries has seen many fires- some intentional burnings and some accidental. Being built in the early 1300's and in Serbia, I understood. 

Outside of the main walls, on a small hillside next to the parking lot were paths around a water feature down the hillside. I know that's a bad description. I'll let the picture speak for me. 

During the summer flowers line all the paths and the water flows quietly through the stones. It must be beautiful. Beneath the paths, they made a cave an decorated it like Jesus' manger. A well done piece of art for sure! 

We hopped into the car and headed to the next monastery. This one was only for nuns. Although they let male tourists come inside. This monastery was built in the beginning of the 1500's and was in better condition it appeared. It was quieter than the other one and a bit more off the beaten path. Nuns were working diligently in the darkened church as monks walked around talking outside in the courtyard. The layout of building was very similar to the last monastery. 

The gift shop here had honey for sale. Florian had looked at the other one but they said it was only sold during the summer there. He and David bought some and were pretty happy it was sold at the second monastery. While they bought that, I admired the garmet they had for sale. Only 270 euros! 

The next stop was "The Tower" as it kept being referred to by the men in the car. It was a bit of a drive to it. David speedily wove through the blind curves. Finally, at the top of the hill, there was a tall television broadcasting tower. What made this tower worth seeing was the chunk out of the side. NATO bombs had hit it and destroyed part of it. It is intact enough to still be used, but the damage is easily seen. One bomb did not explode and is on exhibit. A seriously melancholy feeling overwhelmed me looking at this site. But it was nothing compared to driving past the old TV station that was bombed to pieces. Bricks strewn about showed the pain there. An incredible site to see. 

Our last stop was the castle. It is right outside of Novi Sad, overlooking the city. The walls are extensive and surrounding a large area. You can drive your car into the courtyard at the top of the hill. By this time the sun had set and the city lights were gorgeous from the top of this hill. First, we went into the castle, which had been turned into a museum. The muesum was focused on WW1, but Florian informed me they switch it out every so often.

The castle had been built in the early 1600's but wasn't finished for a couple years at least. They focused their defenses around the idea of muskets and cannons, but by the time it was done rifles were in high usage. However, their work left a cool site for us to see. Their idea was to have tunnels beneath the castle. Let the attacker enter, get lost, and be ambushed in a trapped corner. There is about 11 miles of tunnels beneath the ground. You can tour it, but you have to reserve a time. Maybe next time I'm in Serbia! But you can go in a little bit and look at the 200 feet deep well that is in the first tunnel. It was enough for me to get a feel of the tunnels and wish I was seeing more. 

Afterwards, we walked the wall of the castle, looking out at the city lights. Mmmm, gorgeous! The walls tower over the road below next to the river. The bridge over the river is lit up in all sorts of colors. Fittingly it is called the Rainbow Bridge. Apparently every year there is a techno music festival there and people always die falling over the wall. Florian laughed and said, "Yeah, but European's don't raise the wall to protect them like Americans." We all got a good chuckle out of that. I loved seeing the city from there no matter what. 

We headed home for dinner at David's house. Sarma! It is rice and meat, wrapped in sauerkraut, slow cooked in a paprika and other spices. It left me speechless. Yes, I had three servings. No, I'm not ashamed. 

Tonight, we are going back into Novi Sad to see the town without 50,000 people. (That's right. Florian and I were 20,000 people off on our guess.) I've no doubt more stories will come from that. Until then, ciao!