Cartagena - a city Mรกrquez described like an amethyst afternoon. Cobbled streets, colonial buildings, and two-story casas. A rainbow of colors and flowered vines spilling over. As enchanting as he tells it in ๐๐ค๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐ข๐ ๐ค๐ ๐พ๐๐ค๐ก๐๐ง๐ and ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ง ๐ฟ๐๐ข๐ค๐ฃ๐จ.
The importance of ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ช๐ฃ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ง๐จ ๐ค๐ ๐๐ค๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ช๐๐ has been compared to the Bible and ๐ฟ๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐ช๐๐ญ๐ค๐ฉ๐, but I believe the story's brilliance surpasses both. This is the one book everyone should read at least once. As Salman Rushdie put it, "๐๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ขฬ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ป ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ."
In teaching us that travel equated wisdom, Bourdain showed us that the more you do travel the more you learn how much you donโt know and how much more you want to know.. an endless paradox.
I first read Graham Greene when I was 15. I would take British literature and follow him everywhere - from ๐ฝ๐ง๐๐๐๐ฉ๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐ค๐๐ to the whiskey priest through Mexico in his most critically-acclaimed ๐๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ฌ๐๐ง ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ก๐ค๐ง๐ฎ, four weeks in Liberia in ๐ ๐ค๐ช๐ง๐ฃ๐๐ฎ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ช๐ฉ ๐๐๐ฅ๐จ, a failing marriage in Sierra Leone in ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ง๐ฉ ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐ง, ๐๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐ค๐ง๐๐ง๐ฎ ๐พ๐ค๐ฃ๐จ๐ช๐ก in Argentina, then South Africa in ๐๐๐ ๐๐ช๐ข๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐๐ฉ๐ค๐ง, ๐๐ช๐ง ๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐, and the story I love most in WWII London, ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ผ๐๐๐๐๐ง. But it was reading ๐๐๐ ๐๐ช๐๐๐ฉ ๐ผ๐ข๐๐ง๐๐๐๐ฃ, set in 1950s Vietnam, that started it all for me.
"๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ." The reason why I travel? It's because I want to see the world as I have read it. This is my tribute to Orhan Pamuk, his books, and his city.
