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MY WORLD - 8

SIMO JELACA, Ph.D.

WASHINGTON - USA

Washington DC, the administrative capital of the United States of America, is officially one of America's oldest cities, dating back to 1790, with close to 700,000 inhabitants, distinguished by several famous institutions and plenty of green areas. Among the most important are the White House and Capitol Hill. The White House is the private residence of the President of the United States of America, and Capitol Hill is the seat of the Parliament. George Washington, the first president of the United States did not live in the White House, the White House was completed only one year after his death, and only the second President John Adams was the first to live in it. The White House has 6 levels, 412 doors, 147 windows, 28 fireplaces, 8 staircases, 3 elevators and 35 toilets. Capitol Hill was built according to the project of the Scottish architect Dr. William Thornton, according to the ideas of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. The first session was held there on November 17,1800. The white house is covered with marble from Serbia.

The Potomac River flows through the city of Washington, and the streets in Washington are named alphabetically and by numbers. Only the streets with the letter "J" are missing, because the designer Pierre L'Enfant left them out of hatred for Johnny Jay, the then Minister of Justice.

Among the sights of Washington, the most important are the Smithsonian Museum, not far from Capitol Hill, and the Library of Congress, the largest library in the world with a collection of about 160 million exhibits and 856 km long bookshelves. The reading room alone has 45,000 books. This library is based on the personal collection of President Thomas Jefferson, which has over 6,000 books. Washington has several museums, "The Art and Space", which houses the moon rock. The Jefferson Memorial Museum is also famous. Worthy of mention is the monument to Andrew Jackson, on Lafayette Square, opposite the White House, made of tools from the War of 1812. The monument to Martin Luther King Jr., an American fighter for human rights, was made in China, according to the project of the sculptor Lei Yixin. The Washington Monument, the Obelisk, 189 m high, built in 1884, was the tallest until it was overtaken by the Eiffel Tower. Also of interest are Arlington Cemetery, where President John Fitzgerald Kennedy is buried; Lincoln Memorial; US Holocaust Memorial Museum; Vietnam Memorial and World War II Memorial. In Washington, there is a park where Japanese cherry trees are planted, as a friendly gift to the inhabitants of America, which are full of beautiful flowers in the spring. More wine is consumed in Washington than in any other state in the United States.

There is a private subway under Capitol Hill, used only by Capitol Hill employees. Worth mentioning for the city of Washington is the Pentagon, the headquarters of the US Army, one of the largest official buildings in the world. About 30,000 employees work in it, it has five floors and two underground. It was built from 400,000 m³ of reinforced concrete, according to the project of Major Leslie Groves, in 1943. It has corridors with a total length of 27 km and 284 toilets. For officers who cannot walk, there are scooters, which cannot go faster than 5 km/h. The construction of the Pentagon began on September 11, 1941, and it was hit by a Boeing 757, American Airline, on route 77, on September 11, 2001, exactly on the 60th anniversary, killing 189 people (135 Pentagon employees and 64 passengers on the plane). The renovation of the building cost 501 million dollars at the time. Civilian visits are allowed in the Pentagon and about 100,000 visitors visit the Pentagon each year.

The author visited Washington in the second half of September 1979, on which occasion he visited the Smithsonian Museum, the George Washington Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, the Lincoln Mausoleum and the Museum of Contemporary Art, walked the bridge over the Potomac River and toured the Pentagon on foot, arriving at Arlington National Cemetery, where visited the grave of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, where he laid a single rose. He had an official visit to the Corn Processing Industry Association. With the directors of the mill from Svetozarevo, whom he took to visit companies in the United States, he was in front of the White House and Capitol Hill, but they were not allowed to visit at the given time. He later traveled through Washington twice more, returning from Florida and making several layovers at the Washington airport. He got the impression that Washington is a nice city, although he would not like to live there.

SAN FRANCISCO – CALIFORNIA, USA

San Francisco is a city in California, located on a peninsula in the bay, on 1285 km², with about 750,000 inhabitants in the city itself and about 4 million in the surrounding area. The city lies on 43 hills, seven of which are larger. San Francisco was Mexican until the Mexican-American War of 1848. The plague appeared in the city in 1900, when a large number of residents died. But the biggest disaster happened to the city of San Francisco on April 18, 1906, when a strong earthquake occurred, and all the gas and water pipes in the city burst and a huge fire broke out.

The fire lasted for four days, it could not be extinguished because there was no water. About 4,000 houses burned down and about 1,000 people died. And behind that, criminals, vagrants, gamblers and street prostitutes began to roam. From that time, the street names of some prostitutes still remain, such as Clementine Street and similar.

In San Francisco, the most attractive object is certainly the Golden Gate Bridge, built according to the project of John Flimont, built from January 1933 and put into traffic on May 27, 1937. The diameter of the steel ropes is 810 mm, in which the wires with a length of 138,000 km are embedded, which is approximately the length of about 3.5 times around the earth's equator. There, in the San Francisco Bay, on a small island, is the famous and infamous Alcatraz prison, where the most notorious criminals in America were held for 30 years. He stayed in that prison for five years and All Capone, who held concerts every week with his group, played the banjo. Alcatraz was closed on March 21, 1963, by order of Robert Kennedy, who was the Attorney General. It was closed due to the high cost of maintenance. The prison has become more expensive than any hotel in the world. The city also has the famous Golden Gate Park, built by John McLaren in 1860. Queen Elizabeth I gifted the city with a botanical garden in 1887, which was similar to Que Garden in London. The park is 5 km long, from the ocean beach to the city center, occupies an area of 405 hectares, with 43 km of trails. It has about 20,000 types of plants (trees and flowers), including a Japanese garden on about 8 hectares with mostly Bonsai trees. In the city, there is very beautiful California Avenue, through which the trams called "Longing" go, then Knob Hill, which tourist guides call Snob Hill, and of all the most beautiful streets are Chestnut Street (chestnut street) and Lombard Street. Lombard street has eight serpentines, with the most colorful flowers on all sides, in which newlyweds take pictures during their weddings.

In the vicinity of San Francisco, in Napa Valley there are about 250 wineries, and in the city itself there are over 300 cafes. They say that San Francisco is the fourth city in the world for the number of millionaires, after New York, Moscow and London. The first jeans were made in San Francisco, for prospectors who searched for gold during the California Gold Rush. They should be resistant and comfortable enough. During the Great Recession, not a single bank in San Francisco went bankrupt, and then major works were carried out, the Oakland and Golden Gate Bridges were built. The United Nations Act was drafted and ratified in San Francisco in 1945. Mark Twain, an American writer and Tesla's personal friend, once said: "The coldest winter I ever had was during the summer in San Francisco." According to the ethnic composition, about 59.5% whites, 29% Asians, 11% blacks and only about 0.5% Indians (Native Americans) live in San Francisco.

From an economic point of view, the first place in San Francisco is banking. According to official statistics, almost all the largest companies are in San Francisco. In recent times, these are mostly computer companies, electronics and biotechnologies. There is the famous Stanford University and Silicon Valley. About 500 companies in the immediate vicinity specialize in the fields of pharmaceuticals and medical electronics.

San Francisco has 105 public schools, kindergarten through 12th grade, with about 64,000 students and 140 private schools with about 24,000 students. There are a total of 35 colleges and universities. The following universities are known: University of California; San Francisco State University; Golden Gate University and University of California at Berkeley. Specializations: Hastings College of Law and San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

San Francisco has the best health care services in America, with about 5,200 doctor's offices and over 5,000 hospital beds. The largest hospital is San Francisco General Medical Center, with 550 beds and an outstanding emergency center.

Popular sports include baseball, basketball, marathon, and to some extent hockey and equestrian sports. In recent times, tennis has become more and more popular.

San Francisco is famous in America for many artistic activities. Famous are the Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1911, the Opera House, founded in 1923, and the Conservatory. In San Francisco, a public library was founded in 1878, which serves a population of about 800,000. There are 26 departments with about 2.5 million books. It also has a special collection of books in the Chinese language. San Francisco also has the largest Chinatown on the American continent. The art museum has about 17,000 art exhibits, and they also have European paintings and Asian arts.

Tourism is very popular in San Francisco, primarily because of the city's beauty and cultural events. The city has about 30,000 hotel rooms and is visited by about one and a half million tourists every year, and in 1995 alone, 2.5 million tourists visited the city.

The author, with his wife, was on a tourist trip to New York and California, during the second half of February 1988. On that occasion, we stayed in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. In San Francisco, we visited all the sights of the city and enjoyed its beauty, at a daily temperature of 22°C in February. We ended our stay with a visit to Lombard street and a ride on the tram called "Chežnja". I signed up for the offer of the brakeman "Who would like to drive the tram", and when the brakeman saw the looks of the passengers, he gave up his offer.

LOS ANGELES, USA

Los Angeles (Los Angeles), the Spanish name of the largest city in California, with about 10 million inhabitants, is probably the seat of all the nations of the world. A city where all aspects of human life take place.

The city of Los Angeles has evidently existed since 1781, it is located on the Pacific coast of the southern part of California. Ethnically, the inhabitants are: about 75% white, 15% black and 10% Asian. The climate is moderate throughout the year, with many sunny days. The city and its surroundings are quite lacking in water supply. Atmospheric precipitation is only about 38 cm per year. Los Angeles and its surroundings occupy an area of 10,515 km², where about 13.5 million inhabitants live. The name of the city of Los Angeles means "Long Beach" in Spanish. There is quite a lot of crime in the city, in various forms.

In economic terms, the aviation industry and the space research industry are developed in Los Angeles. And like in other big cities, here, too, about a third of the employees work in the city's service departments. There are also massive financial services, transportation and construction operations in Los Angeles. The city is quite polluted.

The biggest attraction of Los Angeles is Hollywood, the center of the world film and TV industry, and also the Walt Disney Center, which is the main gathering place for many tourists.

In terms of education, Los Angeles has 420 elementary schools, 72 middle schools and 49 high schools. Around 70,000 teachers and support staff are employed in those institutions. As part of higher education, there are several universities: University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and University of Southern California (USC), and in the immediate vicinity there are also: University of California State University. Besides these there are several colleges.

Of the health facilities, the main hospital is the Los Angeles County/University of Southern California Medical Center, with 1,400 beds, for 46,000 patients and another 745,000 outpatients.

The most popular sports are American football, baseball, basketball and to some extent hockey.

There are plenty of parks. The largest is Griffith Park, one of the largest in America, measuring 1,619 hectares. In that park there is a Zoo, a Planetarium and a Natural Museum. There are other museums in the city: the Museum of Transportation, Automotive, the Japanese-American Museum and the Museum of Cultural Heritage. The total length of all trails in the park is 85 km.

In addition to the mentioned importance of Hollywood, there are also theatrical performances performed on stages in the city. Los Angeles has the Philharmonic Orchestra, the Opera House and the Music Center. The most famous of the theaters is the Henry Ford Theater. Theaters are mostly located in Beverly Hills. Hollywood was a small agricultural settlement until 1910, when 13 surrounding settlements joined the city of Los Angeles, due to a common water supply. Almost at the same time, the film industry began to work there, due to the climatic conditions of the possibility of filming throughout the year. In 1914, the first studio was opened, followed by a rapid expansion of this activity. Thus, the city of Hollywood became a cultural icon in the development of tourism. From the 1950s and 1960s, the TV industry also developed in Hollywood, and as the cost of living there became too high, the headquarters of many companies moved to other cities.

The public library serves close to 3.7 million inhabitants, there are 67 other local branches, with a total of 11 million books.

The author stayed in Los Angeles as part of a tourist trip, during which they visited all the main parts of the city, had breakfast in the garden of a restaurant in Beverly Hills, visited a studio in Hollywood, spent a wonderful day at the Walt Disney Center and took away beautiful memories from the trip. On the way back to New York, during the flight we sat in the first class of the plane, from where we watched the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River for its entire length. The day was sunny and the view was fantastic.

DETROIT - MICHIGAN, USA

Detroit, as a settlement, was founded in 1701, and received city status in 1815. It is located in the south-eastern part of the state of Michigan, along the river of the same name, which separates it from Canada. Now 1,515,000 people live in the city district, while there are about 3.8 million in the Metropolitan area. Of the total population, 21.6% are white, 75.7% are black, 0.4% are American Indians and Eskimos, 0.8% are Asian, and 1.5% are other. The city is in the zone of cold winters and hot summers, with an average annual precipitation of 787 mm. There was a lot of crime, and since the mayor is black, crime has decreased significantly. The number of unemployed has also decreased significantly.

In economic terms, industrial production is the main branch. It is mainly based on the automotive industry. Detroit is the headquarters of American companies General Motors, Ford Motor Company, Daimler-Chrysler, Mazda and Volkswagen. Detroit exports $27 billion worth of products annually. Detroit is quite a polluted city, and the Detroit River is also polluted, which makes it a common problem between America and Canada.

The city of Detroit is home to Detroit University and Detroit College of Law, Henry Ford Technical College, Highland Park and Wayne County College. Annually, Detroit universities promote about 50 PhDs. In addition to the automotive industry, computer production was also developed.

Detroit is the first city in America to have asphalted streets and the first city to tunnel under the river to Windsor. Detroit was also the first to introduce the prohibition of alcohol (Prohibition), in 1920, after many people went to Windsor across the frozen river, drank there and transported alcohol to America. Many prominent artists started their careers in Detritus, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross and many more. And the first radio station started in Detroit and the first private telephones were allowed in Detroit.

400 million years ago, there was a sea in the area of today's Detroit, which evaporated and left volcanic deposits of salt in the soil. Hence, salt mines have been operating in Detroit and Windsor for over 100 years. This belt with salt deposits stretches along the states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and New York, on an area of about 450,000 km².

The city is surrounded by hundreds of lakes, and there are also many parks where many residents enjoy recreation. The majority of sports are golf, tennis, skiing and rowing, while professional sports include national football, golf, basketball and hockey. The city of Detroit has several sports arenas: Palace of Auburn, Joe Louis and Commercial Park. Belle Isle is located in the river between Detroit and Windsor, is 397 hectares in size and is the main picnic spot for citizens.

The most famous hospital in Detroit is Children's Hospital, followed by Harper Hospital, Huron Valley Sinai-Grace Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan, International Center, Karmanos Center Institute and Kresge Eye Institute. Detroit Medical Center is in the city itself. Seven hospitals have about 3,000 doctors and another 100 general private practice doctors in the city.

The city has a symphony orchestra and an opera house, and theaters: Fox Theatre, Fisher Theatre, Masonic Temple and Detroit Music Hall. Local theaters include City Comedy Troupe, Attic Theatre, Detroit Opera House and others. The library (Public Library) with 24 other local ones in the community with the Highland Park McGregor Public Library forms the Detroit Association of Libraries. Detroit also has several galleries, such as the Detroit Institute of Arts including the Italian Renaissance Art Gallery,

Detroit is a very visited city, it is even recorded that up to 16 million tourists visit it annually. Many come from the Motor City, Wayne and Oakland. In the suburbs of Detroit is the mansion of Henry Ford, the first owner of the Ford company.

The author first visited Detroit when he led a group of Yugoslav businessmen in September 1978. The second time together with my daughter Anastasia in April 1989, on which occasion we drove our friend Stelkić's boat to Windsor and back. Since moving to Canada I have been to Detroit countless times.

CYPRUS - FLOWER AND FRUIT GARDEN

Cyprus is a small, island country located in the Mediterranean Sea near Lebanon, Syria, Turkey and Israel. Among the members of the European Union, it is bigger only than Luxembourg and Malta. Cyprus is only 7130 km² and has 1.18 million inhabitants. The capital is Nicosia, which has a little over 200,000 inhabitants, and the largest cities include: Limassol 155,000, Larnaca 72,000 and Paphos 40,000.

According to legend, Cyprus is the island of love. A small country with a lot of history. According to legends, the Goddess of love, beauty and protection of family, marriage and the human community, Aphrodite was born from seafoam on the beach of Petra tou Romiou (meaning rock in Greek), which is called Aphrodite's beach after her name. And indeed there on the beach rises a high rock. Goddess Aphrodite is the daughter of God Zeus and Goddess Dione. The archaeological discovery of Paphos dates back to the fourth century BC, so the entire city is protected by UNESCO as a world heritage site. The main tourist attraction in Paphos is the royal tomb, from the fourth century BC, made of monolithic stone with columns in the Doric style. At Paphos, a mosaic in the style of the decorations of rich houses was accidentally discovered. They are considered extremely rare by the United Nations. In the house of Dionysius (God of wine) the four seasons are depicted on the walls.

It is believed that the first wines were made in Cyprus 5000 years ago. Wines are produced in Cyprus on south-western slopes with plenty of sun, they have a sweet taste and a specific aroma. Cypriots have Halloumi cheese, which squeaks under the teeth. It is usually made from goat's milk and is usually eaten with watermelon. It is recognized as a national brand. The national symbol of Cyprus is the wild goat, they are quite timid, they hide in the rocks and are therefore rarely seen.

Cyprus gained its independence only in 1960. Until then, it was under the rule of Great Britain. Now Cyprus is a divided island. The majority of the population are Greek Cypriots, and the minority are Turkish. Since 1974, the northern part of Cyprus has been declared an independent state under Turkish patronage. Most of the population, over 70%, lives in the larger cities of Cyprus. The literacy rate of Cyprus is very high, 98.7%. During the last decade, there has been a very large trend of immigration to Cyprus.

Summers in Cyprus are long and warm, which favors the development of tourism, which is otherwise the main economic branch of this Mediterranean country. The food in Cyprus is outstanding and very diverse.

The author stayed in Cyprus in May 1990, returning from a visit to Zacharias Kypros in Larnaca. We visited Nicosia, Limassol and Paphos together. Along the way, we stopped at the archaeological excavations of Khirokitia, from the period of 5800 years BC. We were in the small town of Xynophagou and on the beach in the wonderful town of Agia Napa.

SASKATOON - SASKATCHEWAN - CANADA

Saskatoon (Saskatoon) is the largest city of the province of Saskatchewan (Saskatchewan) in Canada. It covers an area of 5215 km², where about 280,000 inhabitants live. It is located in the central part of the province, in the prairie, the granary of Canada, where over 50% of Canadian wheat (the best quality) and other grains are produced: rye, oats, barley and oilseeds: oilseed rape (canola), flax.

Prairie farms also raise cattle and poultry. The province of Saskatchewan is the world's largest producer of uranium, and also among the largest producers of oil, gas and potash fertilizer (nitrate). It is also a significant producer of diamonds, gold and coal. Hence, economic growth in Saskatoon is around 4%, which is among the highest in Canada.

Saskatoon's location along the Saskatchewan River, with seven bridges, at an altitude of 480 m above sea level, is nicknamed the "City of Bridges". The city has over 1,000 hectares of parks, with over 100,000 trees, and the University of Saskatchewan takes care of the preservation and protection of the river and national parks. The university is the main protector of the historical complex Wanuskewin Heritage Park, the first home of the Cree (Cree) Indians, strict up to 10,000 years.

The province of Saskatchewan has over 100,000 lakes, on many of which it is possible to land hydroplanes, so almost all residents have cottages on some of them. The province has a lot of forests, and wild animals in the forests: bear, coyote, snake, chipmunk and squirrel, deer and moose. As the summers are hot, there are many mosquitoes. The city of Saskatoon has a lot of sunny days, about 2730 sunny hours per year.

The author was a guest of the Janković family in Saskatoon in 1982, with whom he visited the Wanuskewin Heritage Park, Lake Waskesiu and the town of Prince Albert. Then he also visited the University of Saskatchewan. The second time, in 1992, during our stay in Saskatoon, we visited the White Cap Sioux Reserve 94, Moos Woods Band and enjoyed watching the Northern Lights in the evening.

EDMONTON - ALBERTA - CANADA

Edmonton is the northernmost city on the North American continent with over a million inhabitants. It is the capital of the province of Alberta, located on the North Saskatchewan River and has the largest shopping mall on the continent, the size of a small town. The city is on a location larger than the country of Cyprus. It also has the highest bridge in Canada, the largest planetarium in Canada and the largest museum in the world.

The city was founded in 1795. There are 275 km of hiking and cycling trails and 460 km of unpaved trails. An hour's drive from Edmonton is Elk Island National Park, home to bison, deer and moose, and nearby is Jasper National Park, 10,878 km², the natural pearl of the Rocky Mountains. Edmonton has about 30 different festivals a year, it has a hotel with a seawater swimming pool, it has a gallery in the city center with an international reputation, which has been around for over 50 years, founded in 1924, but it also has 30 species of mosquitoes. The city of Edmonton is a city with 2300 hours of sunshine per year, but with cold winters, the lowest temperature recorded on January 26, 1972 was -48.3°N, with a wind of -61°N. In July 1987, the city was hit by a tornado with a wind speed of 416 km/h. Edmonton is also among the greenest cities, with over 20 parks. Thousands of skiers come to Edmonton every winter for 55 km of ski slopes. Edmonton has a lot of restaurants with good food. About 4.4 million tourists stay in Edmonton annually.

The province of Alberta is known for its natural wealth and beauty, its prairies, its mountains, canyons, waterfalls and natural deposits of nafta (Crude Oil), gas and its agriculture are gifts of nature created for the benefit of good Canadians.

The author visited Edmonton in 1992, when was a guest of the family of Miljana and Stojan Janković. In the evening he enjoyed watching the Northern Lights, and on the way back he stopped in Winnipeg to tour the Grain Research Laboratory and meet his colleagues with whom he spent two years while working on his doctoral thesis. On that occasion, he also stopped by Lewis and Trevor, where he lived for a while, and found Lewis planting flowers. She looked gorgeous with a huge brimmed hat. We both cried with joy to meet again after 22 years.

It will be continued

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