Children, Hearts & Rock n' Roll

If you have been in Warsaw last Sunday you have been probably wondering why everybody is wearing a red, heart shaped sticker? What the hell? ...

Every second Sunday of Janunary is a day on which the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity plays all over Poland. In every city, town, village, every corner of Poland they are collecting money for purchasing medical equipment for Polish hospitals. They have been doing it for 21 years and Poles got very into it. You can meet Orchestra's volunteers everywhere. Their characteristic feature is a big, colorful paper can in their hands. And, what's suprising, whole Poland is donating money by putting it inside the can. Every year it gets really crazy - big companies spend thousands of zlotys to buy an official golden heart of the Orchestra, there are concerts and events taking place in every city, all TV channels are broadcasting only materials about the Orchestra, people are spending as much money as they can to take part in the Grande Finale money collection. It's crazy & beautiful. And the person who makes it happen is Jurek Owsiak . It was his idea to found the Orchestra and collect money for specialistic equipment for children hospitals. He also organises Woodstock Festival in Poland. See the website of the Great Orchestra: http://www.en.wosp.org.pl/

This is what you could see on every TV channel on Sunday 13th January. Jurek Owsiak is in the studio of the public television, coordinating the Grande Finale money collection.

Fortune-telling in Poland

If you want to know the name of your future husband or what is waiting for you in future you should know more about Andrzejki, the old Polish tradition celebrated during the night on 29th November, which is believed to be magical. 29th of November is the St Andrew's Day, which is well known also in Scotland, Greece and Russia. In Poland St Andrew's Day is the last day to party before adwent begins. Adwent is the time before Christmas which is meant to be spent in peace and a holy reflexion. Andrzejki is the last chance to have some fun :)

In Poland this night is all about predicting the future. Originally, it was only for unmarried women to gain knowledge about their future husband or the time they will get married. Currently, nobody believes in this all 'fortune telling' and does it only for entertainment. There are several traditional ways to tell the future...

Wax future telling: You take a candle and pour a wax to a jug or a bowl filled with water. There is one condition: you have to pour the wax through a key-hole. When you finish, take the wax out and see what shadow does it give on the wall. Whatever shape you will see, this thing is your destiny.

What is it???
taken from: garnek.pl

Shoe race: Girls gather together in a room (the bigger the better). Every girl taking part in a shoe race takes off her shoe. They put shoes in a line towards the door. Then they take the last shoe from the line and put it at the front. They do the same with the rest of shoes until they reach the door. The shoe which will be the first by the door wins the race and the owner of the shoe is the first one to get married.

Drawing lots: You have to find a box and put different things inside: a leaf, a ring, a beadroll, a coin. Close your eyes and pick the first thing coming to your hand. A leaf means that you'll become a spinster, a ring - that you'll get married very soon, a beadroll - that you'll become a nun and a coin - that you'll be very rich someday.

Predicting future from cards: Take out four aces from a deck of cards. Then close your eyes and pick one of them. Ace hearts means peaceful and calm home you will build in future; ace spade means that your husband will be commanding and strict but very loyal to you; ace club means that you should expect a big suprise in your love life. Ace diamonds is good news coming soon.

Think pink!

Maurycy Gomulicki is a Polish modern artist, making happy and optimistic, but also a bit controversial art.
What is characteristic for his output, is that almost everything he makes, he makes it in pink. It's not only his favourite colour, but it also has its meaning. Pink is a way to demonstrate the ideology of the artist, a kind of manifesto of what he believes in. Pink is for Maurycy a symbol of joy, happiness, gladfulness. It's not a praise for mindless hedonism, but it is meant to be an inspiration for people to get from life what is most important for them. To take what's the best and to treat life as a present to unpack.

Why is it so interesting? Because in Poland many people don't treat life this way, we still have some kind of inferiority complex of developed countries from West. We have a frustrating history, many of us still remember it (ex. the sad and grey days of communism) It sometimes seems that we are a little depressed by it. And so dedicated to our everyday lives; frustrated by all the unhappiness we have to struggle with; problems we have to solve that we lose our optimism and good energy somewhere. Gomulicki tries to inspire, to change people's point of view. Life is simple, you just have to notice that and don't pay attention to bad things that depress you. That you have to think of yourself, be good for yourself, pleasure yourself and make yourself feel happy. That's the true meaning of life and this is what everybody has to learn: be happy even if it's difficult.

And he makes his art with this message. He takes pictures, he makes sculptures, he paints, he makes neons. his works connote simple happiness, all the small things that can bring us joy and remind us that the only thing that is important is our pleasure :)

Take a look at his works in different places of Poland:

fot. Mikołaj Długosz

This neon is called "Światłotrysk" or "A big glass of pink orangeade". It is located in Kępa Potocka park in Warsaw (see it on a map).

Taken from the artist's website

Women's breasts are also a thing that bring joy :) Two swimming breasts you can find by the pier in Sopot, famous Polish seaside town where many people travel to have a good party :) (see it on a map).

 This is a photo taken by the artist to show that even everything's grey there is still beauty to be discovered.

More about Maurycy Gomulicki you can find in his Flickr Gallery and personal blog.




   

Ride a cruiser!

Wow! This is something that Warsaw was waiting for years. It's hard to believe, but we haven't had any 100% backpackers oriented activity so far... There have been some guided tours, of' course there's a lot of pubs, clubs, concerts, events and generally a lot of to do...but nothing so special as ELECTRICTOURS. Now you can simply connect sightseeing with fun. Warsaw seen from the comfortable saddle of a cruiser bike with unique design looks much better, you can see more and bring home pictures with you sitting on a bike, that makes impression on everyone.


See Electrictours - Warsaw Bike Tours for details or ask at the hostel

To see other posts on cycling click here.