Saturday 31 December 2011

HAPPY NEW YEAR! EINEN GUTEN RUTSCH! FELIZ ANO NUEVO! FELICE ANNO NUOVO! PROSPERO ANO NOVO! BONNE ANNE! SRECNO NOVO LETO! नये साल की हार्दिक शुभकामनायें!

Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku 2012!

by Wrocław on FB
May this New Year be a good one, full of magic, love, friendship, good health and joy. 
May all your dreams come true!


Wroclaw's New Year's Party in the Market Square will be broadcast on the second channel of Polish TV:-). There will be Polish rhythms, but also Balcan, Basque and Senegal sounds (the only in the world two-person Basque instrument called Txalaparta!). Polish artists Kayah, Brodka , L.U.C., T.Love, Lech Janerka and jazz singer Urszula Dudziak will be performing, not to mention an opera diva Alicja Węgorzewska and Capitol music theatre who will be showing fragments of Hair musical. Should be fun! As we say in Polish: Have a swinging time tonight!

Tuesday 27 December 2011

YUMMY CHRISTMAS

Christmas, Christmas and it’s already after Christmas – that’s what we say in Polish when these long- awaited holidays finish. I hope you had a wonderful time. What makes it so nice is undoubtedly the special yummy food we eat during Christmas. To prolong the festive atmosphere let me recall the delicious food we ate during Christmas  Eve Supper in my family. Most of the stuff is eaten only once a year – just on that special evening.  The absolute hit and the first thing to indulge in is the beetroot soup eaten with little mushroom dumplings called ‘little ears’. It can be replaced by a mushroom or fish soup.  Then the second course is served – in my home it is fried carp with mushrooms, pierogi (special Polish dumplings) with cabbage and mushroom filling, cabbage with mushrooms, herbs and spices boiled for a few days and boiled cabbage with peas. The other things include all sorts of fish – usually herring prepared in different ways - under the ‘duvet’ of  grated apples, onion and cream, marinated one, with walnuts and prunes  or fried fish with vegetables called Fish a la Greek (!).  There is also a tartar sauce and grated cold beetroot, usually prepared with horseradish.  If we add a special compote made of smoked dried fruit there will be 12 obligatory dishes. 12 like 12 months of the year or 12 days of Christmas;-). For dessert you can choose from pasta with poppy seeds and walnuts,  poppy-seed cake, various types of gingerbread and nicely-decorated cookies. One very important traditional Christmas Eve dish in Poland is sweet kutia - boiled wheat with poppy seeds and honey , which, shame to say, I have only eaten once or twice in my life.  The dishes differ a little depending on the region of the country, but main principles are observed everywhere – no meat on that day and a lot of fish, cabbage, poppy seeds and gingerbread.



Mmm…. Yummy….. It’s so sad that I’ll have to wait another year for all these delicacies…

Saturday 17 December 2011

SWEET HOCUS POCUS:-)

Christmas time is the time of coming back to sweet memories of being a kid, don't you think so? Last week I had a chance to feel again the sweet tastes  and scents from years ago and to enjoy my eyes with cute colours of happy and carefree childhood times. 

Slodkieczarymary.pl (in English 'Sweet Hocus Pocus') is a manufacture of handmade sweets, where you can see how these magical sweets are made and then you can create your own candies or lollipops. It's a feast for all senses! The sweetness is all around you:-). Take part in the virtual tour. They are situated in 27 Szewska str, near the market square.
Zuzia and Natalka by K. Szostak
PS. Wroclaw Mayor and the Czech President were also there a few days ago.

Tuesday 13 December 2011

30TH ANNIVERSARY OF MARTIAL LAW IN POLAND

Wroclaw [Wroclove] on FB


Today is the 30th anniversary of introducing the martial law in communist Poland by General Jaruzelski. I was eight years old then and I just remember the terrible gloominess on that day. It was a Sunday and the always impatiently expected TV programme for children at 9am was replaced by the stern face of the General announcing the 'war'. What I will always remember are huge blocks of orange Dutch cheese and salty butter given to kids in church as charity aid and the pride of finding some food ration stamps in      a shop followed by a bitter shame of having to return them after the owner had found me. Nothing in the shops and extremely long queues when suddenly something appeared. Some time ago, in the 90's my English friend's mum asked me how we could live without bananas then? I'm asking myself now how my parents could live then at all? Yet, I had a very happy childhood. No barbie dolls and all that commercial stuff. Our imagination had no limits. 

Let's remember the victims of those times. Today at 7.30pm in the Market Square Wroclaw citizens will light up the lights of remembrance, which will be arranged in the shape of the national emblem.

Ośrodek 'Pamięć i Przyszłość'

Monday 12 December 2011

VACLAV KLAUS IN WROCLAW



photo by Wroclaw [Wroclove] on Facebook
The visit of Vaclav Klaus – the President of the Czech Republic makes me think of Wroclaw’s Czech links.  First of all, the name of the city derives from the Czech prince Wratislav. Under the Czech rule, which started in 1337, the city was second biggest after Prague flourishing politically and economically thanks to many municipal privileges and taxes. The building of the Town Hall was growing and the market square was full of all kinds of stalls with products to buy. Salt was traded on a separate square, whose name ‘Solny’ still reminds us of those times.  One of the main industries was beer production - visit the famous historical Świdnicka Cellar (Piwnica Świdnicka) in the Town Hall and enjoy the funny scene engraved above the entrance. If you are already there, look up and find the 15th-century friezes on the Town Hall’s walls depicting various entertainments of Wroclaw medieval citizens. New churches, buildings and schools appeared. It was the “Golden Age’ of Wroclaw.  No wonder that the Czech football team will probably choose Wroclaw for their stay during EURO 2012 and Vaclav Klaus can feel at home here;-).

Wroclaw has never been a city of one nation. Rulers,  languages, people and religions came and went. What remained untouched, however, was the spirit of city. 

BRAVE KIDS 2011 CLIP ALREADY AVAILABLE

I really love this idea of kids sharing their cultures and building peace and love beyond borders (see previous post).
Enjoy watching the clip !


BRAVE KIDS ARE BACK

Last Thursday I had a wonderful opportunity to see the premiere of the Brave Kids clip made during their last artistic workshops at the Brave Festival in Wroclaw in summer. Though the film lasted only six minutes it aroused big emotions (we watched it three times altogether;-).These kids come from different corners of the world affected by wars, poverty, homelessness and natural disasters. Here they have a chance to forget about their problems sharing their artistic talents and cultures, which are usually so much different from their peers' ones. It's such an excellent project!!! The kids learn how to be tolerant and open towards each other without losing their own identity, they build love and peace in the world and have a lot of fun while doing so! Thank you the organisers of the Brave Festival and Brave Kids for doing such good work!!!!
All about Brave Kids

Unfortunately the clip is not available online yet, but here is an amazing film from the 2010 workshops. Enjoy!




I can't wait for the next edition of the Brave next summer. Hopefully we will be able to host some of the kids:-)

Saturday 10 December 2011

ONE DAY

One day. Two people. Twenty years. Amazing twists of fate. No happy end.


This may be not directly connected with the Wroclaw theme, but I was completely captivated by that book for the past few days. Couldn't stop reading it and didn't want to finish. I think each of us has such one day.The story reminded me of some simple truths that are often forgotten by most of us in our hectic lives: Let us love people, because they may be gone so quickly... Don't hide the feelings, don't let your life pass you by..... At least let's try!:-)

Friday 9 December 2011

THE MOON ABOVE WROCLAW

fot. Marta Kalinowska
Above Wroclaw - full moon today....
Have a great weekend everyone!

Tuesday 6 December 2011

PREZENTUŚ - A LITTLE GIFT GNOME:-)





Isn't he sweet? Famous little gift gnome from the Christmas Market:-)

WROCLAW CHRISTMAS TREE


Wroclaw 22-metre Christmas Tree will be lit up today in the town square with over 19 thousand lights!!! I can't wait to see it:-)
                            fot. Bartosz Malak

HAPPY ST. NICHOLAS' DAY!

Wishing you all Happy St Nicolas’ Day and lots of love and friendliness from the people around you:-)!!!

Were you a good boy/a good girl, my Friend? If yes, you have a chance to get a nice gift from one of the ‘incarnations’ of St Nicolas, whose day is celebrated with revelry in Poland and in Wroclaw today;-). I was woken up today by my girls’ joyful and happy shouts and a relief that their recent crazy quarrelling didn’t prevent Santa from visiting them at night;-).

Wroclaw is proud of its St. Nicolas Street, which was very important in Middle Ages, when the city was growing. It led from the Town Square to the western city gate – the Nicolas Gate. The gate doesn’t exist anymore, the city has moved its western borders far far away, but who knows, maybe you’ll meet St. Nicolas strolling there today, smiling joyfully and giving away small presents? After all, it’s his nameday today!

source: Wikipedia

Wednesday 30 November 2011

WROCLAW CHRISTMAS MARKET

I know it's quite early, but....do you want your Christmas wishes to come true? If yes, come to Wroclaw Christmas Market to meet a charming Christmas gnome Prezentuś – if you touch his hat three times, your wishes will come true, unless you were naughty;-). While there try local delicacies from Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, Holland, Latvia and Lithuania. And if you get cold grab a mug of yummy mulled wine:-). The market is held in the town square until 23 December and open every day from 10am to 9pm.

Sunday 27 November 2011

WHAT A FILM!

WASTE LAND leaves you speechless. ‘An uplifting feature documentary highlighting the transformative power of art and the beauty of the human spirit. Top-selling contemporary artist Vik Muniz takes us on an emotional journey from Jardim Gramacho, the world's largest landfill on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, to the heights of international art stardom. Vik collaborates with the brilliant catadores, pickers of recyclable materials, true Shakespearean characters who live and work in the garbage quoting Machiavelli and showing us how to recycle ourselves’ (after IMDb). HIGHLY RECOMMENDABLE!!!!




PS. The film 'Wasteland' left a huge impact on me. I just couldn't stop thinking about it, all the people that appeared there and about life in general. It's one of the best films I have ever seen! it won the audience prize at the World Film Festival 'Trzy Żywioły' in Wroclaw.

Saturday 26 November 2011

FROM WROCLAW TO PATAGONIA

Wroclaw loves travelling! Today we moved to South America, Asia and Australia:-) All that in five hours! The World Film Festival is going on. ‘180°South’ is a fascinating story about living in harmony with nature, passion and dreams and about saving our planet and the last wild place in the world – Patagonia. A very beautiful and inspiring film:-)

YUMMY INDIAN FOOD IN WROCLAW

And after the travel festival you can have an Indian feast in a very unique Spice India restaurant:-)
http://www.spiceindia.pl/
They are on 15 Wita Stwosza, very close from the town square in the direction of Dominikanska Shopping Mall.

Friday 25 November 2011

WORLD FILM FESTIVAL 'TRZY ŻYWIOŁY' FOR THE FIRST TIME IN WROCLAW

World Film Festival organised by Travellers’ Club Trzy Zywioły has started today. I can’t wait to see some of the films tomorrow and on Sunday. It was very difficult to choose which to see, because every single one is worth watching. A Polish family leaving Poland for travelling and deciding to leave ‘outside the system’, the Long Walk 70 years later – an unbelievable escape from a Soviet work camp in Siberia in 1941 and the refugees’ long walk down to India across Gobi desert, the fascinating life and work of Jane Goodall in Africa or an Oscar-nominated story about people from world’s biggest wasteland in Rio de Janeiro – these are just a few of the films that are awaiting festival audience (and me). The festival is taking place in Lwow cinema, Hallera street. Hope to see you there!


TELL ME ONE DREAM OF YOURS BEFORE THE SUN GOES DOWN

A short film about dreams, which brought tears to my eyes. If one dream of yours could come true before the sunset what would it be?
P.S. Of course the film takes place in Wroclaw:-) I'm sorry it's in Polish only, but you can sense the atmosphere....

Wednesday 23 November 2011

GUITAR MAGICIAN FORCIONE IN WROCLAW

Antonio Forcione (Wrocław Guitar Festival) is a real guitar magician – he can produce sounds of other instruments using only his guitar. His great Italian-English sense of humour, amazing relation with the audience and outstanding music made last Saturday evening perfect (and warm!!!).

.

WROCLAW LOVES MUSIC!



November in Wroclaw is full of different kinds of music festivals. Jazztopad and Wroclaw Guitar Festival are going on and the biggest indoor reggae festival One Love Sound Fest is starting on the 26th. Something special for everyone:-). I was very lucky to get invited by the drummer Miguel Angel Orengo to the opening concert of the Guitar Festival last Friday. The main star of the evening was Carlos Pinana, who transferred the audience to hot Spain with his passionate Flamenco music and the absolutely fiery Flamenco dance performed by stunning Nadia Marquez. I felt an unquenchable longing to find myself in a little pueblo, where locals enjoy slow life drinking sangria and spontaneously letting their emotions go in captivating Flamenco songs and dances....

Tuesday 22 November 2011

PORTUGUESE SUN IN THE MIDDLE OF COLD AUTUMN

It's been two weeks since Anna Maria Jopek and her Portuguese-Angolian and Polish band had a very special concert in Wroclaw and I still can't and don't want to free myself from their very sunny, energetic and supersoft music.... Pure magic, positive emotions, sensuality – these are the features of this sweet dessert called Sobremesa .… Highly recommendable for all those who struggle with dark afternoons and cold nights – let yourself immerse in their warm tunes!

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