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MY WORLD - 4

Simo Jelača, Ph.D.

SOFIA - BULGARIA

Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, at the crossroads of East and West, between Mount Athos, Jerusalem and Mecca, located at the foot of Mount Vitosha, a city with 20% of Bulgaria's total population of 8.8 million. It was founded in 29 AD as the capital of the province of Dacia Mediterranea, and its old name was Serdika, meaning the center, named after the Serdi tribe. During the past six, seven millennia, it was the area of the ancient European civilization, whose roots can be seen in its eastern part of the city. In Sofia, there are a lot of archaeological finds, remains of exceptional cultural importance from the period of antiquity and the Middle Ages, which are under the protection of UNESCO as a world cultural heritage. The roads passing through Sofia used to be used by merchants to transport gold and precious stones, amber, silk, spices and exotic goods, and on those roads Eastern and Western civilizations met. Hence, Sofia today represents a convenient position on the world tourist map. Sofia has thermal healing springs that have been known since the time of the Roman Empire. Today, a large number of metal, textile, leather, printing and electronics factories operate in Sofia, employing many local residents. In Sofia, the most important symbol of the city is the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, the Golden Church, as it is called, which is also the seat of the Bulgarian Patriarch and a national cultural monument. It was named after a Russian prince as a sign of gratitude to Russia for freeing them from the Turks in 1878. Among the important sights of the city is the National Archaeological Museum, which is really worth a visit.

Bansko is a popular ski center in Bulgaria, with excellent infrastructure and a cable car. It is 160 km from Sofia and has tracks for all ages. Bulgaria has several tourist spots on the Black Sea coast, where foreign tourists are increasingly coming. These are first of all: Varna, Burgas, Sunčev breg, Cerevo and Sozopol. Locals usually call them Black Pearls, because they are on the Black Sea and represent the pearl of Bulgaria. The Rose Festival, a symbol of beauty, is held every year in Dolina Ruza. In Dolina Ruza there is also the Museum of Ruza and a tomb with murals. It is under the protection of UNESCO.

The author stayed in Sofia for three days, on an official visit to the scientific institute in 1968, whose director drove them to the Rila mountain.

WINNIPEG - CANADA

Winnipeg is the capital of the Canadian province of Manitoba and the geographic center of the North American continent. It was declared a city in 1873, with 1869 inhabitants. Today, about 750,000 of its inhabitants live in Winnipeg. The city lies on two rivers, Red River and Assinoboya. For many years Winnipeg was considered the coldest city in the world, and now it is Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia. The lowest recorded temperature in Winnipeg was -47.8°S in December 1879. The average length of a snowy winter in Winnipeg lasts 132 days per year. Winnipeg is nicknamed the Windy City, as Winnipeg has daily winter winds of 30 miles per hour or more

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The longest running ballet in North America is the Winnipeg Royal Ballet. Also notable is the Winnipeg Art Gallery, which has the largest collection of Inuit art exhibits. The newest Canadian and international attraction in Winnipeg is the Museum of Human Rights, very attractive both in its architectural appearance and in colors that match the Canadian landscape. Winnipeg has several museums, several theaters and sports clubs. It got its name from the Indian words of the Cree tribe: Win, which means mud and Nipi, which means water.

As Winnipeg lies on a plain, its two rivers often flood it, causing enormous material damage. One of the worst happened in 1997. Winnipeg has the longest skating rink, 8.5 km long. Every year in February, a festival dedicated to the fur trade lasts for 10 days, commemorating the fur trade with the arrival of the first Europeans. Winnipeg is the breadbasket of Canada and the Commonwealth. Wheat, barley, rye, oats and canola are grown in the province of Manitoba. The grain exchange is located in Winnipeg, as well as the famous scientific research laboratory Grain Research Laboratory. Winnipeg also has two universities: the University of Manitoba and the University of Winnipeg.

Manitoba is dominated by two large lakes: Lake Manitoba and Lake Winnipeg, and the total number of lakes is about 100,000. In the province of Manitoba, cattle breeding was developed in naturally healthy conditions, so along with grain, the food industry was developed in the province. In addition to agriculture and the food industry, important industries in the province and Winnipeg are transportation, aerospace, communication technologies, scientific research, financial services, insurance and tourism. There are about 1100 restaurants of many nations in Winnipeg, and about a hundred nations live in the city and about a hundred original languages are spoken.

The author came to Winnipeg in 1968 and spent two years working on his doctoral dissertation at the Green Research Laboratory. He had the opportunity to visit wheat fields in their full maturity by private plane and to see and learn about the many natural beauties of Canada. Later in life, he will immigrate to Canada and become its citizen, during which time he will travel the length and breadth of Canada, and he will present his observations in the following text.

CHICAGO - USA

Chicago is a city that offers visitors numerous sights and cultural events throughout the year, museums, galleries, theaters, parks and more. Chicago is often called the Windy City by its residents. It is known for artistic events, cultural attractions, excellent shopping, numerous sporting events and architectural landmarks.

The art institute belongs to the world class, where hundreds of thousands of artistic details from all over the world are exhibited. Exhibits are from the domain of painting, photography, sculptures, decorative objects, textiles, architectural drawings and others. The painting works of impressionists are particularly prominent. The institute was built in 1893, on the occasion of the World Exhibition.

Millennium Park is located in the central part of the city, where there are fountains and sculptures. Michigan Avenue is one of the most attractive boulevards in America. It has numerous galleries, boutiques and luxury shops. The Shakespeare Theater at Navy Pier has permanent shows. The Museum of Science and Industry is located on the very shore of Lake Michigan, is one of the most attractive museums in Chicago, and presents technological and industrial achievements of all time. It has been open since 1933. The Museum of History has also been operating since 1893 and specializes in collections of biological and anthropological exhibits. The Museum of Oriental Art is located at the University of Chicago and is dedicated to the archeology and art of the Middle East. It has exhibits from Egypt, Sudan, Iraq, Turkey and Israel. The Lyric Opera has been operating since 1954, during the season from October to March.

The 110-story Sears Tower is 441.7 m high, with a visitor platform at 413 m. From it, on a sunny day, you can see a distance of up to 80 km. It has been open to tourists since 1974.

Garfield Park Conservatory is a botanical garden where all kinds of plants are grown, which grow in numerous parks. The Children's Garden stands out in it. The John Hancock Center, a 342 m high building built in 1970, is easily recognizable from a distance by its metal cross girders. It houses all kinds of shops necessary for human life, even a funeral home.

Lincoln Park is 10 km long, stretches along Lake Michigan and is the largest park in Chicago. There is a Conservatory, a Zoo, a Natural History Museum, a History Museum and various sculptures. Paths for pedestrians, runners, and cyclists have been built in the park, and there are beaches by the lake. Many famous buildings of Chicago can be seen from there.

There are countless hotels in Chicago, of all categories. In American cities, tipping (tip) is mandatory for all types of services everywhere, which may be the first surprise for unaccustomed visitors.

The author attended the 54th Congress of the American Grain Chemistry Association in Chicago in April 1969, where he gave a paper. On that occasion, he visited the Museum of Science and Industry and other sights of the city.

MANHATTAN – CITY OF STUDENTS

Manhattan, in the state of Kansas, can rightly be called a city of students, since during the school year in the city, more than 50% of the total number of residents are students of Kansas State University. The town was formed in the middle of the state of Kansas in 1855. A year after that, the local post office was opened, and two years after the establishment of the settlement, it was registered as Mehetn. Today, the town has 37,000 inhabitants, and 25,000 students a year. The surroundings of the city are hilly terrains, which give it a beautiful appearance and conveniences for life. The place is linked by good traffic conditions with the surrounding places, the local airport, only 6 km from the city, has daily flights to the larger city of Wichita.

The city of Manhattan has eight elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school, it also has one technical college and the famous Kansas State University, founded in 1863. The university has nine faculties: Agricultural, Planning and Design, Science and Arts, Business Administration, Education, Engineering, Ecology, Veterinary Medicine and Technology and Aviation. There are 250 disciplines available to students for studies, 65 for master's degrees and 45 for doctoral dissertations. The university is located on an area of 268 hectares, and it owns 73 km² of its own arable land for experiments. Students can play any of the sports during their regular studies. Hence, this university is among the top in the United States of America. In the 2014/15 school year, studies cost domestic students $9,000, and foreign students $22,600.

During the visit, guests have at their disposal all the facilities that allow them to get a complete impression of the entire complex. Visitors are formed into groups of 10 visitors each and on the route they are shown, among other things, a nuclear reactor and a fire station. All historically significant buildings are certainly seen, information is given about the life of students and at the end of the visit all participants are offered ice cream.

Shopping in the city is very good and interesting. The climate in Manhattan is typical continental, spring and autumn are pleasant. Winter temperatures are between -15 and +11, and summer temperatures are 16-37°S.

The author visited the Kansas State University, Institute of Grain and Industry, in 1970, returning an official visit to Professor John Shellenberger, on which occasion he traveled from Winnipeg on Greyhound buses and saw half of America along the way. He took away very pleasant impressions from the city of Manhattan, which he has preserved to this day. At the time of his visit, Manhattan was smaller than today, it had 25,000 inhabitants, of which 13,000 were students.

MINNEAPOLIS AND SAINT PAUL - THE TWIN CITIES

The city of Minneapolis belongs to the younger cities of America, founded in 1915. It is connected with the city of St. Pole, they are separated only by the Mississippi River, so the Americans call them together the Twin Cities. Now together they have over 2.8 million inhabitants. The City of St. Paul is the administrative center of the state of Minnesota. In the past, the city of Minneapolis was a city of wheat and wood processing, and today it is a business center of the global economy. The city of Minneapolis was formed by teacher Charles Hogue and named after the Sioux Native American word nipi, meaning water, and the Greek word polis, meaning full. The Twin Cities are lake cities, there are 22 of them in the city of Minneapolis, and with St. A total of 31 sections, with a total water area of 143 km². In the state of Minnesota, it is estimated that there are about 10,000 lakes.

In the twin cities, traffic is very developed, both by air, land and water. Surroundings of the city of St. Half of it is hilly and naturally beautiful. Winters in these cities are quite harsh, with strong winds, a lot of snow and low temperatures. From the top of the Foshi tower, it is possible to view the city and its surroundings. Popular places for visitors are: Planetarium, in which the underwater world is in 4.5 million liters of water. Next is the Zoo for about 450 species of animal life, and many exhibition spaces for artistic and historical exhibits, as well as areas for children's parties.

The Twin Cities have a strong industry, including well-known companies such as Cargill, Northwest Airlines, Honeywell, Pillsbury and General Mills. The companies Cargill and Monsanto have become famous as the biggest modifiers of plant and animal life, in other words, food.

The Twin Cities have a combined 120 public and 250 private elementary schools, with 250,000 students. In the city of Minneapolis is the University of Minnesota, located almost in the center of the city and right next to the Mississippi River, where there are opportunities for studies in 150 different fields of bachelor's degree, 200 for master's degree and 100 for doctorate degrees. In Rochester, 129 km away from Minneapolis, is the famous Mayo Clinic, famous in the world for its scientific achievements, a health institution of the highest world level. The city is also home to the Northwestern Hospital, with 1,300 employed doctors, which annually serves around 180,000 patients.

The twin cities with their lakes are surrounded by numerous parks, there are about 170 of them, with a total green area of 2428 hectares. In those parks, there are paths for pedestrians, cyclists and skaters, with a total length of 120 km. The cities have 183 tennis courts, 85 winter ice rinks and 11 beaches.

The twin cities also have numerous art galleries, there are about 50 of them, mainly exhibiting European and American paintings, and theaters. There is also the Minnesota Orchestra and St. Paul Orchestra, Minnesota Opera, Twin City Jazz and others. The city has the Central Library and 14 smaller ones, with about 2.5 million books and 2800 magazines. Locally known are the Walker Art Center and the Weisman Art Museum. And tourism, with 18 hotels, is significant in the economic aspect of the city.

In Minneapolis, the author attended the annual meeting of the Operative Millers of America and Canada in 1970, on which occasion he became friends with the publisher of the professional magazine Nordwestern Miller, Mr. George Schwarbek, and met Mija Rašić, who during the Second World War sent a threatening letter to Hitler that he would organize a movement in the South America if he doesn't leave Yugoslavia alone, which made him friends with Tito and Koča Popović.

TORONTO – CANADA

Toronto is the largest city in Canada, with about 6 million inhabitants, it is located along Lake Ontario and is the center of numerous sights and attractions, as well as of economic importance. The most significant attraction is the CN Tower, the world's tallest building structure, 553 m, which can be seen from great distances. They are followed by the Rogers SkyDome, the Ontario Science Centre, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Art Gallery, City Hall, Casa Loma, the Royal Alexandra Theatre, the Zoo, the Aquarium, the Eaton Centre, High Park. There is also Air Canada Arena, Toronto Island, Lester Pearson Airport, Subway, Highway 401 and much more. In Toronto, an international film festival is held every year, in Toronto there are good restaurants with excellent dishes, many nations, in Toronto there are theater performances and music of all genres, in Toronto you can have a good time and have fun. Toronto is a city with an open heart to all well-wishers around the world.

If you are visiting the CN Tower, two elevators will take you up to the platform from which you have a beautiful view of Lake Ontario and New York State. On a sunny day, your view will reach Niagara Falls. There is also a rotating restaurant on the tower.

from which there is a wonderful view, along with first-class dishes. The tower has a glass, transparent pathos, from which the city can be seen from a bird's eye view, and it also has a platform from which, the bravest, observe the city tied by safety ropes.

The Sky Dome, now renamed the Rogers Center, is a sports stadium with a movable, rotating roof, intended for all kinds of sports, and it can also be used for concerts. It was completed in 1989.

The Ontario Science Center is family-oriented for attractions and exhibitions of the latest scientific and technological achievements in all fields of science and technology. It was completed in 1969 and children especially have a lot to see and enjoy. It is located in the Don Veli region, ten kilometers from the city center.

The Royal Ontario Museum has a very modern architectural appearance, which displays exhibits from all over the world and has gained a high international reputation.

The Art Gallery of Ontario mainly contains exhibits from Canada, America, Oceania and Europe. It is located in a modern building.

Toronto City Hall is located on Nathan Phillips Square. It is an architectural work of the Finnish architect Viljo Revell, built in 1965. The building consists of two arched blocks, 20 and 27 floors high, with a swimming pool and a fountain in front, where citizens, mostly young people, skate in the winter.

Casa Loma is an extraordinary mansion, with about 100 rooms and 36 bathrooms, originally built for Henry Pellatt, a multi-millionaire, who first suggested that Niagara Falls be developed and treated as a tourist attraction that would bring them great profits.

The Royal Alexandra Theater is in some ways the equivalent of New York's Broadway, as a center for showing theatrical performances for evening entertainment.

The Toronto Zoo is well maintained, about 40 km from the city center, with about 5,000 animals. The biggest attractions are the Chinese Panda bears and the Canadian Grizzly bears.

The aquarium is located not far from the CN Tower, and its biggest attraction is an underground tunnel with a conveyor belt above which is a water tunnel where you can see all kinds of marine animals.

Itns center is a shopping center, on several levels, with a large number of shops, restaurants and other shops, and under the center there is a subway with a station of the same name. It was originally opened in 1869 and every year something is added and renovated.

High Park is a huge green area with gardens, nature trails, pools, streams, about 42 hectares in size. It has been owned by the city since 1873. The park has a zoo, picnic parties, a sightseeing train, and plays Shakespeare in the Park during July and August.

The Air Canada Arena is primarily a center for basketball games.

Toronto Island is about one kilometer from the coast, there are recreational trails, rowing, sailing, swimming and various other parties are held there. There is a small airport on the island, from which smaller planes fly to all Canadian cities and to New York.

Leicester Pearson International Airport is one of the world's largest airports, through which millions of world travelers pass.

Highway 401 is the largest highway in Canada, starting from Windsor and going to Quebec City. It passes through the city of Toronto, and in most places it has 16 lanes, with excellent traffic regulation. It is very busy both day and night.

Toronto is also a tourist city with plenty of hotels for all categories of participants.

The author came to Toronto for the first time in 1970, on his way from Winnipeg to New York, after completing experiments for his doctoral dissertation and returning to Yugoslavia. He stayed three days in Toronto, got to know him as well as he could and continued his journey by bus, via Niagara to New York. Later, after immigrating to Canada, he lived in Toronto for ten years.

NIAGARA FALLS

Niagara Falls is the Canadian-American biggest tourist attraction, which is visited by millions of tourists from all over the world every year. They are only about an hour's drive from Toronto. The waterfalls were created by glacial formation 13 thousand years ago. The first inhabitants to inhabit the area around the Niagara River were the Seneca Indians. On Niagara, Nikola Tesla built the first hydroelectric power plant in 1896, with which he first illuminated the city of Buffalo, then transmitted alternating current to New York with transmission lines and illuminated the World's Fair in Chicago, thus finally defeating Thomas Edison. At Niagara it is possible to produce 4 million kW of electricity. Today there are two monuments to Nikola Tesla in Niagara, one on the American side, on Goat Island, and the other on the Canadian side, not far from the falls themselves. Niagara Falls was established as a park in 1885. It covers an area of 160 hectares, of which 56 hectares are under water. Every second, 3160 m³ of water rushes down the cliff of the waterfall, from a height of 57 m.

Visitors to Niagara Falls can view the falls, on the Canadian side, at close range from the top of the falls. On a sunny day, a rainbow of sunlight is constantly visible over the abyss, which beautifies the already beautiful natural landscapes. The majority of visitors take the opportunity to take a boat to the bottom of the waterfall on the "Maid of the Mist" boat, which first takes them to the American side, and then gently pulls them under the waterfall, which makes them a special charm, worth a lifetime. memory. All visitors on the ship receive raincoats, which they cover until they leave the ship. The ship looks small from afar, but in fact it accommodates about 400 tourists in one tour.

Upstream from the waterfall is the tourist attraction Marineland, with many types of entertainment for children. Among the attractions, the most terrifying are the Roller Coaster, the longest in the world, which is truly a horror train, and the Sky Screamer, on which gondolas fall from a great height and participants scream at the top of their lungs.

Downstream, along the Niagara River, you reach the place "Niagara on the Lake", where all the residents are engaged in tourism and live off tourism. The surrounding terrain is hilly, beautiful to the eye, all covered with fertile vineyards, with about 30 wineries, which produce wines of world-renowned quality.

The author first visited Niagara Falls in 1970, on his way to New York, returning from Winnipeg to Novi Sad. Later, he visited them several more times, as a guide of expert groups from Yugoslavia, and since he moved to Canada, visits to Niagara have become frequent.

NEW YORK CITY

New York City is the city they say never sleeps. There are people who consider it the capital of the world. It is best to visit it during the spring and before the Christmas holidays. Its concrete, and more recently glass, skyscrapers are the heart and at the same time the jungle of the city of gin. New York is the center of political, cultural, entertainment and sports events.

New York is a city with countless sights worth visiting, for those who have enough time for that kind of enjoyment. The trademarks of New York are Broadway, Fifth Avenue and Wall Street.

The Empire State Building is a building over 300 m high, with 102 floors, built in 1931, in just 410 days. Almost all visitors to New York, who come there for the first time, climb to its observation deck, from where they can see the whole of New York as if in the palm of their hand.

The Statue of Liberty, on the small island of Ellis, is a gift from France to America, the work of the French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartoldi, which is a symbol of freedom and welcome for America, from the time when many immigrants came en masse from Europe in search of a better life. Ellis Island was at that time the first port of call for all immigrants since 1892.

Rockefeller Center is a cluster of nineteen skyscrapers between Fifth and Seventh Avenues. Along with Fifth Avenue, Rockefeller Center is the largest privately owned economic asset in the world.

Central Park is an oasis of peace in the mega city, located between 59th and 110th Streets and from Central Park West to Fifth Avenue. It was officially opened in 1857. In Central Park there are several lakes, a small zoo, Belvedere Castle, Botanical Gardens and a summer stage. In the park there are bicycle, roller, skater and pedestrian paths in the length of about 10 km. Traffic that cuts through the park is closed on weekends and holidays.

Times Square is the strict center of New York City and an important intersection in Manhattan, where Broadway intersects with Fifth Avenue. On the facades of all buildings in Times Square there are huge screens on which news, advertisements, stock market information and TV programs are shown non-stop. Along Times Square itself are numerous Broadway theaters, in front of which it's nice to sit on the sidewalk and watch the ladies arrive, bare shoulders.

The Metropolitan Museum is an art museum, founded in 1872, which exhibits the most significant works of the world's fine art collections. Over two million exhibits are exhibited in nineteen spaces, which are visited by over five million visitors annually.

Fifth Avenue is the most important street in Manhattan, where there is the best and also the most expensive shopping in the world. Those expensive shops, between 34th and 59th streets, are a symbol of New York's wealth.

The Brooklyn Bridge is the oldest bridge in America, connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn across the East River.

Among the other landmarks of New York, it is essential to mention the New Yorker Hotel, where Nikola Tesla, the greatest genius of human civilization of all time, lived. There is also the United Nations building, Washington Park and Greenwich Village, which surrounds the university buildings. The Chrysler Building, 319 m high, was the tallest building until 1931.

Among the sports halls, the most famous are Madison Square Garden, the National Tennis Center and the stadium of the New York Yankees. In addition to all of them, ChinaTown and Little Italy are of interest, with pedestrian zones created for shopping and enjoyment. In New York, all taxis are yellow. For longer distances, subway transportation is faster. A ferry is used for transportation to Ellis Island. And it is certainly pleasant to ride the boat, which in three hours goes around the entire island of Manhattan.

And finally, in 2014, the new building of the World Trade Center was built on the grounds of Ground Zero, 541.3 m high, with 104 floors + 5 underground levels, the tallest in the entire Western Hemisphere. The total area of the premises in the building is 325,279 m². The architects of this building are David Childs and Daniel Libeskind and structural engineer Kent Sejnuk. The new building of the World Trade Center was named Freedom Tower, which means "Freedom Tower".

The author visited New York for the first time in 1970, returning from Winnipeg to Yugoslavia. He spent four days in New York, and the whole time he walked, visiting New York landmarks. He took the opportunity to go around the whole of Manhattan by boat. Later, leading professional excursions and while living in Canada, he stayed in New York at least a dozen times and really managed to visit and get to know a lot. He was impressed by the story of a bus driver, a tour guide, who told Harlem that the owners of the buildings, when they failed to collect the rent from the poor blacks, set fire to their building and drove them all out, like rats. A truly democratic procedure for a country of democracy.

It will be continued

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