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.