When You Fall For a City
It was the last day of October 2010, when we first met. I flew in to attend some workshops. I stayed for three weeks and fell in love. The city is old and has low buildings with broken windows. Many of them seem as if they were abandoned. There is nothing fancy about it. The people are nothing special and it’s windy most of the time. The first impression does not convince you. But then, when you are walking down one of the streets, you suddenly realize that they are stone flagged and it hits you and you see. There is graffiti on almost every building and is coloring the city. On these small cozy streets there are small cozy bars and places with good music and funny names like MAMA or SCHWARZER. When you enter one of the buildings that seem as if they were about to fall apart you find out that they are actually cared of pretty well and you realize that nothing is what it seems.
I returned again the same year in the last days of December to spend New Years. The city is cheap, the rents are reasonable and the food is not even nearly as expensive as in Ljubljana. People are simple, kind, smart and young. They all speak English. The public transportation is cheap, easy, fast and diverse. There is not a lot of traffic and the criminal rate is very low. It makes you feel safe and excepted. It makes you feel at home.
I came back last year again for New Years. Every time I come I am amazed by it and I like it even more. Everything in this city is connected to art in some way. It is like coming to an old artist with big, warm, cozy arms to run into and with a lot of wisdom to learn from. I always get inspired here, and here is where I feel free. So one day when I was sitting on one of the benches and I was looking at Spree that was running around an island of museums, wrapping and protecting it, and the wind was blowing through my hair as if it was inviting me to dance with it, I finally decided. The city keeps me coming back. It is like having an affair and every time I come, I fall in love a little bit more. I have to keep coming back. It makes me feel alive and satisfied. And I will be coming back until one day I stay, for good.
