KULTURA / CULTURE
seo del Prado boulevard, have been included on the UNESCO World Her- itage List since 2021. During the period when the then young Andrić arrived in Madrid, all eyes were on the Prado Museum, which was the only one of the aforementioned three that existed at the time. Commemorat- ing the first centenary of the death of Francisco Goya, this museum organised a major retrospective of his works and exhibited all of Goya’s most important works in one place, as well as numerous other, lesser-known works. If one encounter that marked Andrić’s days in Madrid could be singled out, that would certainly be his encounter with Goya’s work. As he later revealed in an interview, he was fascinated by Goya’s works, which is why he visit- ed the museum almost once a week. It is therefore no wonder that those vis- its inspired him to write a biograph- ical essay on Goya in 1929, and the short story Conversation with Goya six years later. Goya wasn’t the only artist to intrigue Andrić. A special place in his aforemen- tioned travelogue is occupied by Anto- nio Machado, one of the most impor- tant Spanish poets of the 20 th century. Andrić actually began the travelogue by quoting a verse from Machado’s po- em The Iberian God, part of his famous Castilian Fields collection. There’s no doubt that Machado was one of An- drić’s first “guides” through Spain. Fleeing Madrid Like many of today’s tourists, Andrić took advantage of the period that he was resident in Madrid to familiarise himself with its surroundings and to organise several excursions. As such, it is known that he visited the famous royal monastery and palace of El Esco- rial, dating back to the 15 th century, in August 1929. Despite this the world’s largest Renaissance building, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, being visited nowadays by around half a mil- lion people annually, Andrić doesn’t seem to have been overly impressed. There aren’t many notebook entries about the visit, which gives the im- pression that Andrić wasn’t particular- ly interested in that chapter in the his- tory of imperial Spain.
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Plasa de la Lealtad bila je za Andrića među najlepšim trgovima koje je video hodajući po svetu For Andrić, Plaza de la Lealtad was among the most beautiful squares he saw while travelling the world
In stark contrast, one trip to Sego- via left a much stronger impression on him. Andrić toured this charming his- toric city, located to the northwest of Madrid, together with his friend Kalmi Baruh. The two had first met during their school days in Višegrad. And Ba- ruh had just happened to visit Spain during Andrić’s time there as a diplo- mat. In his literary work Remember- ing Kalmi Baruh, Andrić wrote: “The two of us stood there for some time, on that spot. Somewhere, from an invisi- ble church, a bell tolled monotonous- ly and tirelessly like a hammer of dull and merciless time. I did not know what to say. But I sensed - and this is not a romantic figure that I am using - as if the winds of history hovered above our heads and the centuries were miracu- lously approaching and facing each oth- er. I felt like a witness and a mute face in that socio-historical drama that be- gan in that country three-and-a-half centuries ago, and which, as it seems, does not have an ending…” Churros and cider, song and dance Andrić found special beauty and the joy of life on the outskirts of the Ma- drid of the time, visiting the open-air street parties and festivals (las verbe-
nas) that still take place around the city today. There he enjoyed disorder- ly, vibrant and authentic scenes of everyday life, like some modern tour- ist who flees the main attractions on- ly to explore the flavours and aromas of the real Madrid. He records in his notebook that one July evening in the Retiro Park, at a verbena organised by the actors’ union, he tasted home- made apple Sidra, similar to today’s ci- der, while a few days later, in the Cu- atro Caminos neighbourhood, he felt intoxicated by the aroma of the olive oil in which churros was being fried. Writing on a few lines in his small notebook, Andrić recorded a strik- ing detail while he was returning home exhausted after one such ver- bena, feeling amazed by the energy of Madrid and its inhabitants: “The trams constantly bring new groups from the town, and they return com- pletely empty. And when that oth- er group sees you in that empty tram car leaving Cuatro Caminos, it cer- tainly doesn’t understand how a liv- ing person could abandon the beau- ty and happiness of a verbena at the most beautiful moment, at around one o’clock in the morning. They see you as a man who’s unwell or doesn’t know what he’s doing.”
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