Mostar

When you think of Bosnia and Herzegovina, one of the first cities that comes to your mind is surely Sarajevo. However, today I would like to describe another unique town. 

MOSTAR is one of the places where time passes slowly and as you can immagine I was really impressed by it, even if there are still visible the signs of the war, for example buildings in ruins. At the same time, those war remnants are mixed with some charming views.

 

It's a town with a famous bridge called „Stari Most '' - the Old Bridge, Ottoman bridge which was built in the 16th century and completely destroyed during the tragic war in the 1990’s, but then fully reconstructed. It crosses the river Neretva and connects two parts of the city.

Moreover, it is a symbol of Mostar and it is a part of UNESCO world heritage.

It is also a part of the Old City of Mostar, where you can find characteristic, multicultural architectural features and unique atmosphere. 

You can also visit the Mosque (built in 1552) which is open to visitors. This mosque was the first I had ever entered. It was really interesting experience. For me, it was also a kind of learning something about a little-known culture.

 

Počitelj, another town which is really worth visiting, is located 30 km from Mostar. It's a fortified complex, where you can see some remnants of medieval and ottoman times. It is also an example of cultural and religious diversity. This place was named as one of the world's 100 most endangered cultural heritage site.

 

Postcrossing

Have you ever heard of postcrossing?

It's an online project which allows to receive postcards from all over the world. It was a few years ago, when I started my adventure with it. I have had a long break from postcrossing, nevertheless this project is still important to me. In some sense, it gave me the opportunity to ''travel'', without leaving home.

I received many cards from all around the world and I was able to know some interesting information about diffenet cultures and customs.

As it is written on the project's website : ''the main idea is that: if you send a postcard, you will receive one back from a random Postcrosser from somewhere in the world''.

For me, it is always a surprise. One day it might be a view from Germany, the next day for example … Brazil.

I remember that my first received postcard came from one of the states in United States – North Carolina.

It is also so great to get unusual messages from other people.

There is one particular message which I still remember. A man from Netherlands, who is concerned with folk medicine, described me his job, explained where in the Netherlands you can find the appropriate herbs to prepare some medicine. At the end of his story, he even wrote me a special recipe. As you can imagine, I was really surprised. :)

For more detalis visit: http://www.postcrossing.com/

Polignano a Mare

From Bari (capital city of the Apulia) it takes only 20 minutes by train to get to Polignano which is called ''Pearl of the Adriatic sea'' ( and there’s a reason for that!). In my opinion it's one of the most bewitching places in the world, and one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen.

The town beach is lovely, the water super-clear, people really friendly.

 

There aren't a lot of historical or cultural sites to visit in Polignano. The historic center is rather small. You can see some remains of the Roman domination ( for example the bridge on the Via Traiana) or some churches. The seascape of Polignano is characterised by many, partially submerged and small caves.

 It is a place where you can spend a lot of time just relaxing on the beach and admiring the views.

It's good to know that it's a hometown of Domenico Modugno, italian composer and singer, well known for his four victories at the Festival of San Remo and song ''Volare”. There is his mmemorial in the area outside the historical center.

Ostuni

Ostuni is another italian city located in southern Italy, in Puglia.

It is rather a small town, built on top of a hill, still fortified by the ancient walls and at the same time is really charming.

Interesting is the fact that almost all the buildings are white (it gives an unusual effect), for this reason Ostuni is called “La Città Bianca” = “The White Town”. 

There aren't a lot of monuments in Ostuni, but nevertheless you can visit Cathedral and the Bishop's Palace, some palaces of local aristocratic families, or see some baroque-style churches. All these buildings are typical for this south part of Italy and show italian culture in some way.

The column (Colonna di Sant'Oronzo) is a symbol of the city (20.75 m high)

During the summer, it is really popular destination for tourists from all over the world. People arrive here to enjoy good weather, food and breathtaking views. Ostuni is considered to be the city with the cleanest sea (is situated about 8 km from the coast).

Wnuczka do orzechów and my favourite writer.

Today, I would like to present my favourite Polish writer – Małgorzata Musierowicz.

At the beginning I have to admit that I really love to read books, almost all types of them (except fantasy books). For this reason, Thursday was important day for me, because Musierowicz released a new book entitled “Wnuczka do orzechów”. I have waited so long for this book that I almost forgot about it. ;) As you can guess, after my clasess, I went to the bookshop and I bought it. I spent the best part of the day on reading.

It is the 20th part of the cycle called “Jeżycjada” [ the name derives from one of the Poznan's discrict Jeżyce]. Generally, it is a series of books for young people , but in my opinion not only.

I just want to present it in a general way, without going into details, and maybe encourage you to read some of them (Ida sierpniowa is my favourite one ;) )

The main family of Jeżycjada constitutes Borejko’s family, who live at Roosevelt street. Of course, there are also other families. Every book is dedicated to one person, but at the same time you can find a lot of references to other characters. It seems to be difficult to read each volume individually because there are so many allusions to previous parts ( the first one is called “Szósta klepka”).

Some curiosities:

• Interesting is the fact that plot of the books refers to real places in Poznań.

• The books were translated into different languages such as Japanese.

• Two of books have their film versions.

• One of them was awarded the title of "The Book of the Year" by the Polish IBBY department. Another was included in the Hans Christian Andersen Award-Honour List.

Let's visit Matera!

As statistics show Italy is the fifth most visited country in the world. Many people associate this country with for example breathtaking landscapes, delicious food, ancient monuments. On the internet you can find a lot of rankings like ''10 best places to visit in Italy”. The most-mentioned cities are: Rome, Venice, Florence, Milan, Naples … of course, all of them are worth a visit , but in my opinion, these all rankings forget about one of the most beautiful places in the world which is called Matera.

I've visited a lot of different cities but this one is definitely my favourite one.

It is situated in southern Italy in the region of Basilicata. Moreover, it is located in a small canyon. There is a historical part of the city – Sassi. The Sassi of Matera were entered on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1993. 

A few days ago, Matera has won the title of European Capital of Culture for 2019.

The Sassi are originally from a prehistoric settlement, and are considered to be one of the first settlements in Italy. There are so many caverns in these rocks, and there is also an area of rock churches.

Because of the scenery, Mel Gibson decide to make here a movie “The Passion of the Christ”.

Tourists have also a possibility to visit The Parco Nazionale dell'Alta Murgia which is really unusual.

Below a picture of this park, enjoy! :)

hello

At the beginning I would like to say that I haven't written a blog in english before , so it is a totally new experience for me. 

On my blog I want to talk about everything and in my first blog post I want to present my two favourite polish bands.

The first group which I want to present is called Luxtorpeda and was founded in 2010 in Poznań. It consists of five musicians, one of them is Robert Friedrich known as Litza. He was also a guitarist of some other polish bands like Acid Drinkers.

The band has recorded three albums. The first one in 2011 Luxtorpeda, then in 2012 Robaki, and the last one in 2014 A morał tej historii mógłby być taki, mimo, że cukrowe, to jednak buraki.

Luxtorpeda was named  a band of the year. Moreover, the band won some awards for example for music video of their song „Autystyczny”. It is my favourite song which I suggest you listen to. Hope you enjoy it. :)

And the other band plays music which is completly different. Stare Dobre Małżeństwo ( translating into English "good old marriage" ) founded in 1984, makes the music interpretation of poems written by the Polish poets like Edward Stachura, Adam Ziemianin, or Bolesław Leśmian. The lyrics often talk about mountains and feelings. The band has released a lot of albums.