The Most Beautiful City in the World Die schönste Stadt der Welt La ciudad más hermosa del mundo La plus belle ville du monde 世界で最も美しい都市 세계에서 가장 아름다운 도시 Najpiękniejsze miasto na świecie A cidade mais bonita do mundo Самый красивый город в мире เมืองที่สวยที่สุดในโลก Dünyanın En Güzel Şehri Найкрасивіше місто світу 世界上最美丽的城市

Hello and welcome to Green-Eyed English, a podcast for intermediate English speakers. สวัสดีและยินดีต้อนรับสู่ Green-Eyed English พอดคาสต์สำหรับผู้พูดภาษาอังกฤษระดับกลาง Interesting topics, with real, understandable spoken English. Interesting topics, with real, understandable spoken English. I'm Dan Green and today I want to talk with you about the most beautiful city in the world.

Of course, this podcast is my biased opinion, and many people will disagree with me. But today I am going to try and make you agree that the most beautiful city in the world is Ljubljana in Slovenia.

Ljubljana might be a surprising choice… perhaps you haven't even heard of it. I mean, it is a small city in a very small European country. Not many people know where Slovenia is, and even less people have visited Slovenia. Poucas pessoas sabem onde fica a Eslovênia, e ainda menos pessoas visitaram a Eslovênia. To be honest, I probably would not have visited it too, until I read a novel called Veronkia Decides to Die.

Veronkia Decides to Die is by Paulo Coelho, who is a pretty famous author. Veronkia decide morrer é de Paulo Coelho, que é um autor bastante famoso. He is most well-known for a book called The Alchemist. I first read him in my early twenties. I started with The Alchemist and then I read Veronika Decides to Die. It is a really interesting novel about a young woman who tries to kill herself. She takes lots of sleeping pills then wakes up in a mental institution. 她服用了大量安眠药，然后在精神病院醒来。 This is a hospital for people who are mentally ill. 这是一家收治精神病患者的医院。 One of the doctors tells her that her heart is weak and that she will die in one week. Uno de los médicos le dice que su corazón está débil y que morirá en una semana. 一位医生告诉她，她的心脏很虚弱，一周后就会死亡。 When Veronika hears this, she starts to change… she starts really living her life. Als Veronika das hört, beginnt sie sich zu verändern... sie beginnt, ihr Leben wirklich zu leben. 当维罗妮卡听到这个消息时，她开始改变……她开始真正过自己的生活。 Now, spoiler alter, it turns out that she is not actually dying and that the doctor lied to her. Jetzt stellt sich heraus, dass sie nicht wirklich im Sterben liegt und dass der Arzt sie angelogen hat (Spoiler). Şimdi, spoiler bir yana, aslında ölmediği ve doktorun ona yalan söylediği ortaya çıkıyor.

This novel really struck me, which means that I found it really powerful. Bu roman beni gerçekten etkiledi, bu da onu gerçekten güçlü bulduğum anlamına geliyor. In fact, I read it again several times afterwards. Hatta daha sonra birkaç kez tekrar okudum. As well as Veronika's story, I was really struck by the descriptions of Ljubljana, which is where the story happens. Veronika'nın hikâyesinin yanı sıra, hikâyenin geçtiği yer olan Ljubljana'nın tasvirleri de beni çok etkiledi. The city sounded very beautiful and so I read about it online and started looking at photos. Soon, I was looking at flights too. Bald sah ich mir auch Flüge an. At the time, flying to Europe from the UK was quite cheap because we had lots of low-cost airlines like EasyJet and Ryanair. Now, I say ‘we had' because, although these airlines still exist, they are not cheap anymore because of the COVID pandemic.

Anyway, I found some cheap flights to Ljubljana and talked my friend Chris into going there. Jedenfalls habe ich günstige Flüge nach Ljubljana gefunden und meinen Freund Chris überredet, dorthin zu fliegen. We went there for about a week and also visited some other places in Slovenia and Croatia, but I will always remember how beautiful Ljubljana was. Oraya yaklaşık bir haftalığına gittik ve Slovenya ve Hırvatistan'da başka yerleri de ziyaret ettik, ancak Ljubljana'nın ne kadar güzel olduğunu her zaman hatırlayacağım. At the time, we were in our early twenties so spent a lot of time in bars. O zamanlar yirmili yaşlarımızın başındaydık ve barlarda çok zaman geçiriyorduk. But even though we were usually drunk or hungover, I can still remember being struck by Ljubljana's beauty. Aber auch wenn wir meistens betrunken oder verkatert waren, kann ich mich noch gut daran erinnern, wie ich von der Schönheit Ljubljanas beeindruckt war. Але навіть якщо ми зазвичай були напідпитку або з похмілля, я все одно пам'ятаю, що був вражений красою Любляни.

I think the reason the city is so beautiful is because most of it was designed by one man: Jože Plečnik – and I apologise if I am not saying his name correctly…! In the time between World War 1 and World War 2, most of the buildings in the city centre were built from his designs. No período entre a Primeira Guerra Mundial e a Segunda Guerra Mundial, a maioria dos edifícios no centro da cidade foram construídos a partir de seus projetos. Birinci Dünya Savaşı ile İkinci Dünya Savaşı arasındaki dönemde, şehir merkezindeki binaların çoğu onun tasarımlarından inşa edilmiştir. So, everything you see works together. Alles, was Sie sehen, wirkt also zusammen. Yani gördüğünüz her şey birlikte çalışıyor. Now, I currently live in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, and Kuala Lumpur is the opposite of Ljubljana. Buildings here are built without any planning or thinking about what is nearby and, so, KL is a mess (sorry to any Malaysians listening, but it's true!). Die Gebäude hier werden ohne jegliche Planung und ohne Rücksicht auf die Umgebung gebaut, und deshalb ist KL ein einziges Chaos (tut mir leid für alle Malaysier, die zuhören, aber es stimmt!). But as you walk through Ljubljana, it is like walking through a dream. Ancak Ljubljana'da yürürken bir rüyanın içinde yürüyormuş gibi hissediyorsunuz. 但当你行走在卢布尔雅那时，就像行走在梦中一样。 The shapes, styles, and colours all seem to connect together.

The main city square was an important place in the book Veronika Decides to Die. A praça principal da cidade foi um lugar importante no livro Veronika Decides to Die. It is named after the poet France Prešeren, and there is a large statue of him there. It is named after the poet France Prešeren, and there is a large statue of him there. So, that was where I went first. Entonces, ahí fue donde fui primero. Então, foi aí que eu fui primeiro. I remember being impressed by the square, but I actually thought that the beautiful bridges, churches, and other buildings around it were more impressive. They felt like they had come out of a fantasy novel like the Lord of the Rings. Sie fühlten sich an, als seien sie einem Fantasy-Roman wie dem Herrn der Ringe entsprungen. Eles se sentiam como se tivessem saído de um romance de fantasia como o Senhor dos Anéis. Yüzüklerin Efendisi gibi fantastik bir romandan fırlamış gibiydiler. As a kid, I used to love the Lord of the Rings, and Ljubljana felt like it could have come out of the book. Quando criança, eu adorava o Senhor dos Anéis, e Ljubljana parecia que poderia ter saído do livro.

To be honest, it is hard to put into words, so I recommend you go online and look at some photographs so that you can see what I mean. Dürüst olmak gerekirse, kelimelere dökmek zor, bu yüzden ne demek istediğimi görebilmeniz için internete girmenizi ve bazı fotoğraflara bakmanızı tavsiye ederim.

When I went to Ljubljana, I wasn't very well travelled, which means that I hadn't visited lots of places. I had been to a few places in the UK and travelled a bit in France but hadn't really seen the world. Since then, I have been all over the place – Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, even parts of the Middle East – and I have seen some beautiful places. Desde entonces, he estado en todas partes: Europa, Asia oriental, el sudeste asiático, incluso partes de Medio Oriente, y he visto algunos lugares hermosos. Desde então, estive em todos os lugares – Europa, Leste Asiático, Sudeste Asiático e até partes do Oriente Médio – e vi alguns lugares bonitos. But I still think that Ljubljana tops the list.

I hope to be able to go back one day to see the city again. And, if I do go back, there is something I must do. E, se eu voltar, há algo que devo fazer. Ve eğer geri dönersem, yapmam gereken bir şey var. You see, in Veronika Decides to Die, it says that the statue of the poet in the city square is actually looking at something. Veronika Ölmeye Karar Verdi'de şairin şehir meydanındaki heykelinin aslında bir şeye baktığı söyleniyor. Розумієте, у фільмі "Вероніка вирішує померти" йдеться про те, що статуя поета на міській площі насправді на щось дивиться. It says that he is looking at the face of a woman he loved that is on another building. Başka bir binada bulunan sevdiği bir kadının yüzüne baktığını söylüyor. Він дивиться на обличчя коханої жінки, яке знаходиться на іншій будівлі. I can remember looking for the face when I was there but, to be honest, I cannot remember if I found it. Oradayken yüzü aradığımı hatırlıyorum ama dürüst olmak gerekirse bulup bulamadığımı hatırlamıyorum. Я пам'ятаю, що шукав обличчя, коли був там, але, чесно кажучи, не пам'ятаю, чи знайшов його. So, I want to go back to look again (of course, I know I could just ask Google, but that would take the fun out of life!) Então, eu quero voltar para olhar novamente (claro, eu sei que eu poderia simplesmente perguntar ao Google, mas isso tiraria a diversão da vida!) Bu yüzden geri dönüp tekrar bakmak istiyorum (tabii ki Google'a sorabileceğimi biliyorum ama bu hayatın eğlencesini kaçırır!) Отже, я хочу повернутися і подивитися ще раз (звичайно, я знаю, що міг би просто запитати в Google, але це позбавило б життя задоволення!)

So, how about you? Have you been to Ljubljana? Or do you want to argue for another city as the most beautiful in the world? Або ви хочете довести, що інше місто є найкрасивішим у світі? If so, send me a message or leave me a comment. I am always keen to hear about places I have never been to, so look forward to hearing from you. Hiç gitmediğim yerler hakkında bilgi almaya her zaman hevesliyim, bu nedenle sizden haber almayı dört gözle bekliyorum. Мені завжди цікаво дізнатися про місця, де я ніколи не був, тому з нетерпінням чекаю на ваші відгуки.

Finally, if you are a language learner, you should visit my website at greeneyedenglish.com where you can download a learning pack for this episode. Нарешті, якщо ви вивчаєте мову, вам варто відвідати мій сайт greeneyedenglish.com, де ви можете завантажити навчальний пакет для цього епізоду. It has a transcript, a glossary of interesting language, and notes on useful phrases and grammar.

Nice talking to you. Bye bye!