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.

Games

Some time ago, during one of our English class, we talked about different toys which we liked as a child. While on this subject, I would like to share with you a few examples of games which I found quite entertaining.

I want to focus on three various games.Their common feature is that you can find all of them on the Internet.

Słowotok – as the name suggests, is a word game, involving the making of words. Rules are very simple. The player, having 16 letters to use, has to create as many words as fast he/she can.

The longer the word finds the player, the more points will be awarded. The winner is the player who collects the most points. By the way, there is a mobile app of this game, that allows you to play using your mobile phone.

Just try - https://slowotok.pl/ ! :)

Another game that I highly recommend is Rummikub, which combines elements of rummy and mahjong. Originally, it was a board game, invented in the early 1930s, but now it is also avaiable on the Internet. It is played with tiles. It's worth pointing out that rules aren't as complicated as it may seem at the beginning. Online version of the game can be easily found on the Internet.

The last game is called Quizwanie, in English – QuizClash. It's a a free social quiz game, which contains more than 25 000 questions. You can check your knowledge in different categories, playing with your friends or with other users. It seems to me that this game is only avaiable on the mobile phone, as an application.

Download it here: http://www.quizwanie.pl/

Bored Panda

I have discovered a lovley and amusing website some time ago and I just want to recommed it to you. I noticed that it becomes more and more popular, so maybe you have already heard about it.

One thing is certain, browsing through this site you can waste a lot of time. :)

On the facebook profile we can read that it is ''a leading art, design and photography community for creative people”.

The page is divided into different categories, so everyone can find something interesting, The choice of the category depends on your personal preferences. You can choose for example: travel, photography, food art or simply you can view the most popular posts.

Anyone can add something, so the content is created by different users and what's more, all texts are written in English. I hope it can contribute to improve language skills. :)

I recently read about an Australian artist who uses candies to turn rooms into ''sweets wonderlands''. The pictures accompanying the text showed really fascinating effect. (link below).

http://www.boredpanda.com/candy-floor-installation-pin-and-pop-tanya-schultz

For me, this page is in some way a source of inspiration. Another advantage is that you can find a lot of interesting and sometimes funny information in one place. As I said, unfortunately it can be transformed into wasting time on the Internet.

Check it out – http://www.boredpanda.com/ !

Alberobello

Alberobello is one of the most interesting places in Apulia, in southern Italy. It has been made a UNESCO World Heritage site, because of the unusual 'houses' - trulli . It has a special style of construction. It is a type of dwelling with a conical roof , built from the local limestone.

In the same time it is an example of Italian folk architecture.

You can also stay in one of the trulli. Some of them serve as an accommodation, others are used as small museums, which are furnished.

Alberobello is a small, typical Italian town, with some narrow streets and fascinating buildings.

There are plenty of opportunities for buying souvenirs or tasting local products.

As you can suppose, the major tourist activity in Alberobello is walking between the trulli and just admiring the scenery. :)

There is an area composed of trulli ....  really  picturesque place.

Taizé - Young Adult European Meeting in Prague

At the beginning, I would like to wish you all a happy New Year, and many happy moments in your life. :)

These past two weeks have been full of unforgettable moments. I've just returned from a trip to Prague, where it took place Taizé – European Meeting of Young people from all over the world. Undoubtedly, it was one of the best experiences in my life. 

It was organized by an ecumenical, monastic and international order – the Taizé Community from France, which is composed of brothers from Protestant and Catholic traditions.

Generally speaking, Taizé is a village in France where each year a lot of people from different countries, make pilgrimages for prayer, Bible studying.

Furthermore, every year, around New Year (usually 28 December – 2 January) , is organized a meeting in a large European city called Pilgrimage of Trust on Earth. This year it attracted 30,000 people. 

 

http://www.taize.fr/en_article17415.html

http://www.taize.fr/en_article17415.html

It is really difficult to describe all my impressions. During those few days everything was just ... awesome. :) I was sleeping in the gym, with other 50 girls from different countries. There were for example only two showers, but despite our simple accommodation, or perhaps because of these conditions, all these people showed me their kindness and I felt an incredible unity between us. 

Of course, it was also a great opportunity to talk with others about their countries, cultures, traditions. For our meals we need to travel to one of the exhibition halls. As you can immagine, it was really unusual experience to eat something, sitting on the floor, with other 30,000 people. It was crowded. ;) 

 

Then, each day we were taking part in some common prayers, in small, international groups in one of the parish, or there were some common prayers in the exhibition halls. During the prayer we were singing some short songs in different languages, with just a few words, usually lines from Psalms or other pieces of Bible, repeated again and again, which gives a meditative character to the prayers. It allows to pray all together. I put below some of my favorite canons.

 

 

Obviously, this trip was also a perfect opportunity to explore the city, which is really charming with the Old town and some magical streets. 

  

It's only a small part of my observations and feelings. The next European meeting will take place in Valencia, Spain and I hope I can be there. :)