From the terrace of Tvrdava café, the city appears under a deep cloud, and the spires and medieval skyline across the Danube is barely seen.
'This is a day more like autumn than sping', said the general manager of Novi Sad's city museum. Currently, foreign visitors are scarce in Novi Sad and all across Yugoslavia. Inquire -on a rainy day like today- about tours of the Petrovaradin underground tunnels, and you will find barely any English-speaking assistant; the staff might even be surprised to run into turists.
'Come tomorrow, at 1.00 p.m., and we will give you a tour. Today there's just a bad weather'. With enthusiasm, the manager proceeds to narrate a little bit of what I'd hear in detail tomorrow morning: 'This fortress was commenced in 1692, whereas Novi Sad dates from 1694; so, it's older than the city itself'.
The general manager faces the challengue of running an old fortress in difficult times. Very nearby, NATO bombs destroyed bridges across the Danube. Blackouts are not rare here in the fortress, and turists commonly end up waiting for electricity before the tour begins. Nonetheless, the 300 yr. old Petrovaradin still makes a mighty sight in this corner of Europe.
'This was the strongest in a chain of Austrian fortresses across Central & Eastern Europe', the manager continued. 'It was so safe that it hosted the Austrian National Bank's vaults during Napoleon', he added.
The next day, I'm welcomed at the museum by an English-speaking escort. Five old people (Dutch I think) will join us in a brief descend into Petrovaradin's underground.
A system of underground tunnels (leading dozens of miles around the region) is one of Petrovaradin's most remarkable -if not misterious- features. Visitors are not allowed to wander through this marvel of architecture, since the guided tour covers a mere 500m of the labyrinth.
To begin with, the guide proceeds to explain the meaning of 'Petrovaradin': it consists of three foreign words, representing three nationalities: Petro, which is stone in Latin; Var, which is 'well defended city' in Hungarian, and Din, the Turkish word for 'faith'.
Although the guide´s speech is previously memorised and standard for every visitor, nonetheless it is iluminating for someone actually descending 300 years in history. Petrovaradin looks very much as it did centuries ago, and the system of tunnels remains intact. The architects managed to keep a permanent 12 degrees temperature underground, regardless of outside weather. This was the setting chosen by Emir Kosturica to do his highly acclaimed Underground film.
Back to the surface, autumn features still persist over Novi Sad. This thriving, modern European city gained world prominence in early 1999, when NATO airplanes destroyed three of four bridges over the Danube. The allies' intention was to cut off the supply of army matérials heading south to support a Yugoslav raid over Kosovo.
But citizens of Novi Sad still don't understand why they were the subject of such an aggression. On the other side of Petrovaradin, a plate in both Cyrillic characters and English boast the legend: 'On April 1st 1999, the allied forces of NATO destroyed the Varadin bridge, killing Novi Sad citizen Oleg M. Nasov (29)'.
Life has never been easy to the Serbian people, but it's amazing to see how Novi Sad, despite the fallen bridges, remains vibrant. All over the city there is an air of modernity not easily seen here in the Balkans. Lorg boulevards are filled with huge state companies buildings, and the Old Centre is colorful enough to attract a young crowd at all times (indeed, a techno music festival was held in Petrovaradin in mid-July).
One thing that actually impressed me is how Serbians go on with their lives despite adversity. A destroyed bridge would certainly make a depressing sight anywhere; but here, people have no problem relaxing in the beach by the cracked Slobode bridge. On a clear, shiny Sunday, the place is packed with people picnic-ing and girls sunbathing or strolling barefoot with sunglasses.
The depresive sight is just there, uninterrumpting the easy mood.
