The Year Behind, the Year Ahead

     2016 was another busy year. It has been a roller coaster of different events, suprising coincidences and various experiences. Maybe it is a time to summarise all what happened and make a resolution list- list of important lifestyle changes you want to make. Don't be too hard on yourself but rise to the task and treat it seriously!

     I send you warm wishes during this Christmas season filled with love, magic and hapiness. I hope an upcoming new year will be a fresh start for realization of yours dreams and you will never stop achiving yours aims, even the most crazy ;)

I'm glad that we could spend these several months together and I count on your unwavering support in the new year! 

International Ice Sculpture Festival

   The next edition of this two-days festival is happening NOW! Today and tomorrow, on the Old Market Square of Poznan and Wroclaw, the representative parts of the cities, we are able to see live how those incredible sculptures are made. The event is visited by the most talented artists and masters of ice sculpture. These days, two competitions are organisated: 

   The most spectacular is Speed Ice Carving. It's an individual competition for sculptors who have several minutes to copy the model presented during the contest. Everybody must use an identical block of ice. The most faithfully-copied wins.

   The second one is predicted for tomorrow. It is the Main Contest - 12 double teams, several tonnes of ice, free choice of topics. All teams have a whole day to make sculptures of a dozen metres. The contest has its own unique atmosphere of upcoming Christmas.

Visit the Old Market Square

 (in Poznan or Wroclaw, the choice depends on you!)

 and see how quzickly an ice sculpture can be made.

The Second Life of a Book

Haven’t you even received a wrong gift? 

Haven’t you even made a thoughtless buy? 

Don’t you have a book that you grewn out of or which simply bores you? 

You can not let he book lost its magical power!

My advice? Find it a new owner !

     The solution that I propose you is a project of the Krakow Festival Office. It’s a unique action, great free book exchange that is a real find for litterature’s lovers. The rules of participation in the exchange are simple: just bring one to ten books, but … attention …. they must be in good condition! Who will bring a book published before 1995, will be able to exchange them only for other book published before 1995.  These who bring a new book (published after 1995) - can choose any book they want (older or newer). The Second Life of a Books is still developping and is getting more and more interest. Last year, nearly 3 500 inhabitants of Krakow took part in this event exchanging almost 16 000 books, what maked it the biggest book-action so far.

Does your bookshelf need cleaning out?

  If yes, you know what to do ;)

and a wise thought at the end:

You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.

The biggest geography lesson

Explorers festival is a festival of mountains, extreme sports and adventure held in Lodz since 1999.

Each November, the Festival offers numerous meetings with the stars of Himalayan climbing, famous discoverers and travellers. They are asked about presenting theirs films and presentations related to trekking, skiing, traveling, mountain biking, canoeing and other extreme sports that they practise. A part of exhibitions, the quests can also take part in the workshops.

During the Festival, a lot of prestigious awards are distributed. One of them is Camera Extreme which goes to director of the most distinguished extreme film.

Last week, we were able to „take part” :

1. in expedition to South America=Twenty thousand kilometers on the motorcycles

2. in the jurney in requiring North= Discovering the world of dog sledding.

3. in the climbing to the highest peaks of Africa

not enough adrenaline?

It’s COFFEE o’clock !

What makes you feel better in the mornings ?
What gives you an energy for the rest of the day ?

Today i have something for coffee lovers.

I’m going to tell you about KAWA Festiwal Poznan which consists of looking for the best places with the best coffee. I’d like to say also : in the best city, but it would be rather too subjective taking into consideration the fact that I have lived here all my life ;)

Going back to the point, fans of this strong drink can taste it in different editions, proposed by the Poznan cafes. Usually, there is also an additional challenge for the baristas (peoples who prepare and serve coffee drinks) – the recent one was named « a little black « , so the coffees could not be served with a milk.

Between the cafes there is also the symbolic rivalry. Participants of the festival choose the best coffee hause and cast their votes through applications on Facebook and website. After summing up all the votes,  it is awarded the audience award.

However, this is not the end. What seems the most interesting thing is that during the festival,the coffee is available at special price : 6PLN = less than 1,5 EUR. You may also eat the dessert specially prepared for this event. The total cost of this set is .....

10PLN = about 2 EUR

Don’t wonder and

drink coffee to get the energy to drink more coffee!

Saint Martin Day is coming but ...

...is it really so important ?

Yes, because it’s the only name day of the street celebrated in Poznan. Since 1994, the Cultural Centre "Zamek"  has offered a huge range of attractions and thousands of participants of this event witness about the sympathy we have for the main street of this town. Saint Martin Day has grown into a calendar of Poznan’s events and finally proves that this tradition is still alive in the hearts of inhabitants.

... is it really so worth-seeing ?

Yes. The program of the event is changing from year to year, however, there are always a few recognizable elements. Every year, the culminating poing is a colorful procession with our Patron as a spearhead. After the mess, Saint Martin, dressed like a Roman legionary, traverses whole street on horseback, arrives at the square in front of the Zamek where he receives a key to the city gates from the hands of the mayor of the City. This moment is the signal to start the fun (numerous exhibitions, concerts, movies, theater) crowned with the fireworks display.

... is it really so delicious ?

Yes, only in Poznan on November 11, you can eat a croissant made from puff pastry and filled in 35% with a white poppy seed filling. The quality of the Poznań croissants is controlled by a special Chapter, which awards certificates and confirmations of quality certificates issued in the previous year. Bakeries holding such certificates guarantee that they deserve the title of "Poznań St. Martin Croissant".

one day left 

so prepare your stomach 

for the « croissant’s feast » 

« TO KEEP THE CHOPIN CULT ALIVE »

I know that we are young. I know that we just want to have fun! But a little bit of culture hasn’t harmed anyone so far.

‘Culture drives great results’ as said  Jack Welch

     So let’s give it a try ! Today, instead of typical entertainment, I propose you a small dose of culture related to our polish composer. The International Chopin Piano Competition, simply called Chopin Competition, is a piano competition held in Warsaw and devoted to Frédéric Chopin. It was initiated in 1927 by Polish pianist Jerzy Żurawlew and has been held every five years since 1955.

     So unfortunately, for the next edition we are forced to wait 4 years. If I can give you an advice- start save the money, the tickets are not so dirt-cheap. But invest in yourself and your cultural education from time to time ;)

     It is worth also to offert at least a spriritual support to your national participant. For my part, I'm a bit of a greenhorn when it comes to the international winners, but on the other hand, I try to keep up to date with polish ones. The last Polish who won the Competition was Rafał Blechacz who came in first (and very deservedly) in 2005.

     Today, the Competition is organised on a very huge scale and attract the greatest pianistic talents from all the countries of the world. Chopin’s music is gaining more and more popularity and recognition and, what is equally important, people start to share the opinion that :

Popular culture is seductive, high culture is imperious

and for these ones who have already enough of this serious tone of today’s topic :)

Kupala Night

Yes, you have certainly heard about this event. If not, shame on you, because it’s a basic knowlegde about Slavic culture. Let’s start from general informations:

When? Night of 23-24 June

Where? In almost each big city in Poland, also in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia

Why? To celebrate the summer solstice when nights are the shortest. It’s a holiday of fire and water, sun, moon and fertility

How does it look like in Poznan?

Midsummer Night's Dream

First of all, it’s really colourful! On the Warta there is always a colorful procession of boats which lights up the banks of the river and attracts inhabitants of the city and tourists from all over the world. It includes a number of Slavic rituals accompagned with pyrotechnic shows and dance with fire.  As a rule, there are also some concerts in order to make a friendly and convivial atmosphere.

Hovewer, nothing attract people more than the small lights of Chinese lanterns over the river. Unfortunately, since 2014 we can’t no more appeciate this light performance because of the decision of Poznan city council which considers it too dangereous.

Frankly speaking, only a certain percentage of Poznan’s inhabitants really knows the meaning of Kupala Night in polish culture. In most cases, it has nothing in common with symbols of fertility, because nowadays, Kupala Night symbolizes rather happiness and love, especially for the young people.

Bella Skyway

It’s finally time to present you my first advice related to visiting the most interesting places in Poland. The event takes place in Torun, the city of Mikołaj Kopernik (Nicolaus Copernicus), the man who ‘moved the Earth’ and the capital of ginger breads. It’s not just a one day or one night of attractions. The event lasts for whole week during which the old square of the city becomes an immense, illuminated stage. 

Do you know yet  what I am talking about?

Yes, indeed, it’s Bella Skyway festival! Or in other words: festival of lights. You are probably trying to guess what is the clou of the event, so I won’t keep you no longer in suspence. The Festival has been organised in Torun since 2009 and the next editions take place annually in August. It presents Torun in a set of light installations and special shows prepared by artists from different countries. The event is dedicated to the theme of the sky and (like everything in Torun) promotes the science of astronomy.

At first sight, this festival may seem like nothing special, but if you are there with a right person, you will certainly appreciate an amazing atmosphere of this place. I can promise that you won’t be disappointed: BELLA SKYWAY offers a rich experience and let us see the gothic town walls of Torun from another perspective. So take your partner and spend some romantic moments holding yours hands and watching the short performances on the walls of Torun’s buldings. That night, they wont’t be for you just the simple, historical monuments.

Want to know more? www.bellaskyway.pl/en

Light paintings on the wall of historical monument in Torun

Bouquet of Lampshades

Once you take part in this event, you will never miss it again.

Few words of introduction

Are you an Erasmus student in Poland?

Or maybe you are a foreigner whose plan for the future is to visit Poland?

Are you just wondering which period of the year is the best?

You are lucky, you are in a good place :) This blog was created in order to enable you to discover my beautiful country. I won’t tell you about historical places, about the monuments which nobody really wants to visit or tell you the legends ‘at the heart of which there is always a grain of truth.’ No, I’m not really interested in being a tourist guide.

I’d like to propose you a little bit different thing. I will give you a dose of informations about Poland that you haven’t known yet and that even Polish might have not heard of.

I kindly invite you to visit my blog in the nearest future, because the article about the first worth-seeing event in Poland will appear at any moment. 

Don’t let the others read it first!