Shoeshine

source: http://www.retedeglispettatori.it/

I saw a thought-provoking movie some time ago and I strongly believe that it's worth seeing. Its original title Scuscià refers to the Italian pronunciation of the English word shoeshine.

It was directed in 1946 by well-known director - Vittorio De Sica and it is considered one of the masterpiece of Italian neorealism. 

The film's plot concerns two boys who are friends. Giuseppe and Pasquale have a dream. They want to buy a horse. However, their situation is proving so difficult, because their only income comes from shining shoes in the streets of Rome. At a certain point, they get involve in a burglary and they end up in juvenile prison. This experience affects their whole life and their friendship.

What moves me most in this movie is the clearly visible difference between two approaches to life. Children are innocent and just want to realize their dreams in a transparent and fair manner, while adults are connected to other values - dishonesty and scams. 

The movies made at the time of  Italian neorealism present the everyday life after World War II, so the spectator can see poverty, moral approach to life, which sometimes is full of desperation.

So if you want to see something thought provoking, it certainly is a movie for you. :)

One day in Berlin

Living in Poznań has undoubtedly many advantages. One of them is that you can easily and quickly go to Berlin. The one-way trip by bus takes only 4 hours. Moreover, it is possible to plan one day trip, which means that we don't need to have a lot of free time.

I decided to take this opportunity and one day I found myself in Berlin. It was really good and intense time.
One of my goals was to see all the most important places and just feel the spirit of the city. 
It wasn't my first visit in Germany, maybe that's why I wasn't very impressed. I want to be clear, Berlin is a nice town, but I expected something more.  
Of course there were places that caught my attention, for example the remains of the Berlin Wall, Berlin Cathedral or Brandenburg Gate. The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is one of those monuments that has made a huge impression on me.

 

Despite the fact that I had only about 10 hours to explore the city, I made the most of this time. 

I really recommend such a short trip. It's a great way to relax. :)

Modà

In today's blog post I would like to focus on Italian music, especially on one band, which in my opinion isn't known in Poland.

I would like to point out that Modà - that's the name of the band, isn't one of my favorite groups. I just like some of their songs and I decided to share with you one of them.

This Italian pop-rock group, formed in 2002, consists of five members. There are three guitarists, one singer and a drummer.

It is worth mentioning that the band took part in the famous Sanremo Music Festival in 2005, 2011 and 2013.

In 2011 was released one of the five albums, titled “Viva i Romantici” and it has become a diamond disc with over 450,000 copies sold and the second Italian top-selling album in 2011. Many of their songs can be heard on Italian radio stations. The band plays a lot of concerts, not only in Italy, but also in other European cities, and even in the US.

Generally speaking, it seems to me that this group is well known and popular (mainly in Italy), as evidenced by for example the number of fans on Facebook (over 2 milion). 

 This is one of the reasons why I write about it.

And here's a song, enjoy!

SOLO

Some time ago, I had the opportunity to play a card game that I really enjoyed. I'm sure that most of you heard something about a similar card game called UNO, because it is played in many countries.

However, today I would like to focus on another game, which is in my opinion more entertaining, known as SOLO. The rules of mentioned games are very similar, almost identical for those of the game MAKAO, which is played with normal playing cards.

In the case of SOLO, the pack consists of 112 cards. There are twenty-five of each color - green, red, yellow and blue. They have values running from 1 to 9. I just want to describe the most interesting cards, which make the game pleasant.

Generally speaking, the first player who remains with no cards is the winner and for that, the main purpose is to get rid of all the cards held in hand. Unfortunately it isn't so easy.

There are some cards which change the game in a particular way. You can draw a card which invert the direction of the players' turn, or order the exchange of cards between the players. It is also possible to be forced to add more cards to those that someone already holds.

These cards make this game simply unpredictable. You will never know what will actually happen in the next turn, so there is always a little surprise, which causes some funny situations.

I personally believe that it is one of the best card games and for this reason I absolutely recommend it.