Audaces fortuna iuvat

The ride to Novy Sad was wet and cold, but at only 45 kms, completely manageable. In a small village I stop at a small bakery standing directly in the middle of the town on its own. The whole place cannot be more than 3 metres by 3 metres. The ladies working there found it very amusing that this wet person on a bike would turning up in this little town, talking to them in Russian, eating something quickly and then moving on. I had heard from others that Novy Sad is nice and I was looking forward to arriving early, finding a dry place to sleep, showering and then seeing what this UN exam was all about. 

I found a hostel and instead of taking a room, it had a small apartment in the courtyard build in a free standing house. It looked like a child’s play house and it was great. I could lay out all my things to dry, shower and put on “clean clothes”, by which I mean clothes I had only worn about 3 or 4 times. My little house is located directly in the centre of the old town and I walk just out the courtyard and there is lovely bakery, cafes and restaurants. 

In Novy Sad I felt instantly welcomed and at home. Found a small restaurant with wifi, ordered a beer and some food and downloaded the legal texts. Scanned them quickly and then at 1430 opened the examination that had been sent. It was a real law-school-type essay exam. I had expected some multiple choice questions or something banal like that, but not a real essay exam. I really had no desire and thought of just scrapping the whole thing, but then sense got the better of me and I thought, you have ridden all morning in the rain to come here for this, so concentrate now for two hours. In the end I used the entire allotted time and sent the test off in the last minute. I answered it like the commercial lawyer that I am and not like a civil-service lawyer, so I don’t know what to expect. Since 2001 I have been sending CVs to the UN and even though this is much further than I have ever come before, I won’t hold my breath.

Then chilling in the old town and in the evening, as a reward for my real-world-job-searching-effort I invite myself to dinner in a great beer local in the old town. It is in an underground cellar and has been a beer hall since the mid 1800s, has a great atmosphere and feels to like a beer establishment one would find in the Czech Republic. Tried two versions of the local beer Lav, one blond and one black, and had a great dinner. After dinner I visit the lads in the hostel and we talk about traveling, study maps for various routes and exchange stories.

Next morning I take it easy, drinking coffee and visiting the small old town, which is so small that I have already seen all of it 5 times since the day before. About midday I have the bike packed and set off. Leaving the town proves to be a nightmare. First I cannot find my way out and drive around for about 1.5 hours until I finally find the signs and am on the right track. Then the route out is a long and steep climb along a highly-trafficked and very narrow road. The Serb drivers are very careful and the few times that cars or lorries pass very close I am sure that it is only because there is traffic in the other lane and they cannot swerve out to give me place. It is a frightening experience made more so because roughly every 500 metres or so there is a memorial to people who were killed on the road. This was much worse than the bad road experience I had in Hungary because the road is really narrow and because the climb itself is very hard.

This was indeed a day of crass contrasts. On the one hand there was the frustration of not finding the route out of Novy Sad and the fear of being struck by a vehicle on that climb. On the other hand, on the way I had the fortune to encounter the town of Karlowitz, which is lovely and deserves a longer stay and discovery than I gave it, and also because at the top of that awful climb out I saw a man ahead of me, pushing a bike and trailer up the hill with the cars and trucks screaming past him. Dietmar! Unbelievable. 

I had not seen him in 2000 kms and here he was again. I was thrilled to see him again. He behaved as if it were completely normal that we would meet in the middle of Germany and then again one month later in the middle of Serbia. He had had an accident in Austria, been in hospital for stitches, had taken a few days of recovery and was again charging forward. We road together the rest of the day, fortunately, soon after our meeting the trail swung away from traffic and lead us through beautiful country and lovely villages with very friendly people calling out and waving to us at every occasion.

There is little traffic and we can ride side by side and talk. We pass fruit orchards and stop frequently to pick plums, apples, peaches and corn. Riding alone has its advantages – one does not have to arrange and coordinate with anyone and it is easier to meet locals – but riding with another is also nice on occasion.

Later in the afternoon we are off the bikes, pushing them up a steep hill and my Blackberry vibrates signaling a message. I am awaiting important news that day and am nervous when I stop to look. Indeed, it is a message from CFA Institute. That day CFA 2 exam results come out and I had been trying not to think about it too much. Holding my breath I open the message and have to read it twice before I am sure of what I am reading. “It is my pleasure to congratulate you on passing the CFA 2 exam in June.” I close my eyes, breathe out deeply and take a moment to relish in that feeling. This was the second time around on CFA 2 for me and had I not passed I doubted whether I would try a third time. My preparation had begun in September when I was in Thailand and really intensified in late winter and early spring. Though no record was made by me of total hours studied, a good estimate would be that at least 400 hours went into this second attempt. Your favorite gypsy cyclist is now: university diploma in political science, master in law, doctor in law, licensed attorney at law, CFA 1 and CFA 2…….and unemployed.

Late afternoon we are looking for a campsite. A local man told us of a place near the river and we head off looking for it. We arrive at the spot in which we should turn and head down a steep hill to the riverside. What I had seen of Serbia was very clean but when we arrived at the riverside it was clear why there was little rubbish to be seen elsewhere. It seems that all rubbish from the towns had been collected and dumped there. It looked awful and smelled even worse. A real shame because the scenery was otherwise lovely. 

We pushed back up the hill and no sooner had we stopped to catch our breath a BMW with German plates stopped and the driver came out to greet us. I should mention that Dietmar has a German flag on his bike trailer. Axel was in the area with his Serbian wife, visiting her family and he suggested to us that we carry on 15 kms down the road to their house. It was late but the invitation was too good to pass up. He took my backpack with him in the car which freed me tremendously and the 15 kms passed easily. When we arrived we met the whole family: his Serbian wife and her mother, both from Croatia and forced to leave after the war, the grandmother, his parents from Germany who were also visiting, and the next day his father-in-law. 

We set up in the garden. My tent finished in the rubbish days before and the weather looked good, so Dietmar and I created a simply shelter for me out of the plastic tarp, but mostly I was sleeping in the open. Then we were invited in for dinner. The others, being carnivores, tucked into a huge pot of Maultaschen soup with sausages. It looked great. I had cheese and bread and vegetables directly from the garden. All this accompanied by cold Serbian beer. There were eight of us a table and we had a great meal, great conversation and a great time. 

Next morning at 7 Axel came out to tell us he was going to the bakery to get breakfast and then we would all eat together on the front porch. Again we had a great time, great coffee, palinca (plum Schnapps) and delicious Serbian baked goods with cherries and apples and homemade preserves. They all really took care of us and we very much felt at home there. My phone battery was out so I did not make photos but as soon as I get them from Axel I will place them here.