46 | Knjige » Books KULTURA / CULTURE to dangerous and unsettling situations. For someone who’s spent most of his life as a writer and journalist, these were all blessed opportunities... It’s also interesting how we knowsome cities beforewe even visit them: Paris, Moscow, London, and it’s paradoxical that you canperhaps find yourselfmore excited by a city that hardly anyone wouldwant to visit. One such city is Khartoum, where the Blue Nile flows into the White Nile and courses on to Cairo. It is an incredible experience to watch how that mighty river flows like life itself. There are cities renowned for shoes and fashionhouses, but also those that have something no others have, which isn’t easily described and must be experienced. ON ANDRIĆ I was partly inspired for the strapline ofmy book by an observationmade by Ivo Andrić in his novel Signs by the Roadside, in which he writes: “Our deepest and most vivid desires and their encounters (or clashes) with the world around us – that is what generally determines our destiny”. Andrićwas able to judge that because he also spent most of his life living far from his place of birth. ONROME Rome, just like Italyasawhole, is anopen-airmuseum–becauseof its beautyandartistic treasures, butalso becauseof thecivilisedconductof the peoplewho live there. But Inonetheless experiencedsignificantunpleasantness there.That’swhy I sought an antidote there, continuallyreturning andalways recallingeverythinggood inRome. And there’s somuch that’s beautiful in that city... ON BRUSSELS I worked as a correspondent in Brussels during the time of the collapse of Yugoslavia and I was very lonely, and perhaps also the only journalist from these lands living there, so they viewed me a bit like a Yeti [laughs]. During those years, flights to Brussels headed via Budapest, and I returned to my bleak and gloomyBelgrade, while –on the flip side – the Belgian capital was incredibly brightly lit. That contrast is something I’ll never forget. The roads between Belgian towns and villages are also illuminatedbrightly, and astronauts confirmed that only those illuminated Belgian roads and the GreatWall of China are visible from space. I loved the GrandPlace, Brussels’ central square, with its oldbaroque edifices, whichhosts flower shows onSundays andwhere they drink over 200 types of beer... ONNEWYORK NewYork is exceptional because it is a city thatholds thewholeworld. There you’ll eat better Chinese food than you would in China, buy a rug that youcouldn’t evenfind inTehran etc. But it’s alsoThe CityThat Never Sleeps, so it suffers from chronic hypertension. The constant din of sirens of all types requires time to grow accustomed to. I realised that New York is the belly of the world, all tastes, smells and colours are there, something captivates a person faced with endless possibilities. I like places that are artistic quarters, like Greenwich VilU raznim gradovima istražujemko mi je naneo zlo, ali tražim i protivotrov, uzimajući u obzir ono lepo i dobro što samdoživeo In various cities, I investigate who has done me harm, but I also seek an antidote, taking into consideration good and nice things that I’ve experienced NJUJORK / NEWYORK FOTO: Profimedia.rs / Patrick Batchelder / Alamy
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