annabuda

2007

2007-02-14T07:58:00.000+01:00

New Year I will welcome in South Africa!

I have 3 weeks to explore culture of this country with my two very special friends: Dominika and Johann.

Afterwards, back in Europe and again new work, new country, new people...
This time it is Berlin:)

I wish everyone, including myself, to find the right direction in the coming year!

Skiing...

2006-12-04T00:36:00.000+01:00

One of the main things I definitely miss from Vienna is skiing.
Belgium is a very flat country so there is no such a skiing craziness as in Austria...

Some recalls from our skiing weekends in 2006.

Going up.

Sometimes going down.

Getting excited after reaching the top of the mountain.

Some beautiful views...

We went with Roman to buy ski-goggles together. Somehow, even though we have different shapes of heads, we decided on the same kind of goggles:))

Having a bit of rest on the ground.

After skiing, the best you can wish for yourself is relaxing at thermal baths.

Skiing is so much fun...

Sailing

2006-10-01T23:25:00.000+02:00

It is hard to describe how much energy, freedom, power and freshness brings sailing...
Simply spending time on the open sea, can clear your mind and refill you with the new wind:)
It is astonishing how long you can stare at the sea, sinking in your thoughts...

Taking advantage of living in Belgium I went for two sailing weekends in september 2006. One went on in a very calm, quiet, sunny way. The other one was speedy, windy and very shaky;)

Here some of the photos/memories I like...

Sailing 15.09-17.09.2006
Nieuwpoort - Blankenberge (BE).

We organised two teams of friends: 12 people + one professional skipper for one boat.
More or less both boats were sailing together.

Our boat was smaller.

This is the other boat.

Tibor - our skipper (captain of the boat).

Kamila - polish friend.

Jan - cool czech guy:)

Askhat - DHL friend from the very no sailing country - Kazakhstan.

Me:)

It was a beautiful, sunny, lazy day.

Slow, sleepy atmosphere...

We were absolutely creative in finding different (mostly lying) positions on different parts of the boat:)

Here with Kamila and Askhat.

Spotting some boats on the horizon.

Kamila.

Checking our position.

Followin the other boat.

Very lazy but cheerful day...

Getting to the harbour - at this point everyone gets busy.

Sunset walk on the beach.

Party on the boat of course, at the end of the first day.

Welcoming the second day on the boat of course - breakfast together.

This day Nathalie joined our boat.

Tibor and Askhat.

Got a bit grey this time...

Jan, Nathalie, Kamila.

Time for a sailing lesson.

Me.

Last drink after the sailing together:)

Sunset in Nieuwpoort.

Yes, we enjoyed the experience.

Sailing 29.09-01.10.2006
Breskens (NL) - Oostende (BE)

Also this time we created two teams but boats were sailing separately...

Askhat at the helm.

Guys sitting at the top of the boat.

Our skipper - Raul.

Askhat.

Girls of the boat: me, Ilke and Kamila.

Alexander.

Mark - tough guy of this sailing;)

I was passionately taking pictures of every boat that was passing by.

Steering is never easy...me at the helm:)

Sometimes it was very steep on the boat...

...and fast, we were reaching up to 13 knots.
You can see a winch in the picture, everything turns around it:)

Sometimes it was quiet and sunny...

Almost end of the 10 hour sailing day.

Getting to the harbour...

Kamila.

Ilke.

Me.

Fishing boat.

Our boat moored between two other boats.

Walk by the sunset in Oostende.

Next day we got even more of shaky sea.

Teaching how to steer or at least in which direction to go.

Me:)

We got safely to the harbour. Our skipper had to check however the top of the genoa (sail).
That day we got some troubes with ropes. We had to cut two lines during sailing. Once, the boom went out of our control and hit the arm of our skipper... It was not as that smoothe as expected but still amazing experience:)

Flower carpet in Brussels

2006-09-15T00:04:00.000+02:00

Every two years, in the middle of August, the Belgians cover their beautiful square Grand Placa with a magnificent flower carpet.

The first one was created in 1971 by the landscape architect E. Stautemans.
You can check this link with the photos of flower carpets from previous years.

Every flower carpet has a unique theme. This year inspiration was alchemy of the Middle Ages.

Stars are moving:)

Lots of people are crowding around to see this...

The flowers, begonias, are packed together one by one so tightly (no soil is used at all) that they cant be blown away by wind.

Here with my aunt...

...and with Tibi.

Grand Place by night.

Chill out in Milan

2006-09-09T00:19:00.000+02:00

Together with Gosia, Kata and Betty we spent a loong weekend in Milan.
The main aim of the trip was just to have fun:) and for the first time I didnt prepare any extensive sightseeing program... Still we managed to see a bit of this trendy Italian city.

Central station welcome.

Now off to discover the city...

The main attraction of Milan is a beautiful cathedral... currently under reconstruction:/

Still you can climb it up and admire view from the top of it.

This is the main square.

Where you can play with pigeons (or rather they with you:)

Absolutely important to try italian ice cream...

and some local snacks.

Some windows display shopping on the famous boutiques street...

Nice walk through the city...

We found perfect place to chill out...:)

You can also get pregnant in Milan...;)

Castellio.

Triumph Arch.

Grass break.

Concrete break.

Beer break (at promotion of Lancia somehow)

Coffee break

Some walking, shopping...

From shopping to the cemetary...

Church.

Party in the night!

Next day we visited Internationa Furnitures Fairs, using of course every opportunity to lay down.

Dali style drawers...

Somehow it is reminding me this picture.

The last thing we did in Milan, was to miss our flight back to Vienna (me and Gosia).
We had to take night train...:/

My update IV

2006-09-06T00:42:00.000+02:00

Some small changes in my life again:

- changed the job
- taking part in a management program GrOW
- at yellow company again (DHL Express)
- moved out from beautiful Vienna
- live in the centre of Brussels now
- still will change department and country two times within the next year (rotation program)
- single again

Vienna will be greatly missed...

Some memories from my Viennese room.

Bird from Dominika which flies with me everywhere:)

The latest nice news is that we, Vienna friends, managed to organise vacation together, few days in Italy in October:)
It was a quite challenge to get in one place at the same time friends from Vienna, Natasha from Russia, Mariusz from Poland and me from Brussels:)

Naschmarkt in Vienna

2006-09-04T02:20:00.000+02:00

One of my favourite places in Vienna – Nachmarkt.
It is a colourful market located in the centre of the city.

You can find here fresh fruits...

vegetables...

exotic spices...

fish...

cheese...

bread mixes...

and all other colourful food from around the world...

The origins of the market go back to the 16th century. At that time "Asch" was the name for a milk bucket made of wood. In the 19th century people started to call the market "Naschmarkt", a wordplay because of the fresh food and sweets from virtually any place of the world that could be bought.

Current location of Naschmarkt is on Wienfluss, Vienna's second river, which was roofed over during the 19th century. Some dealers put up their stalls on top of this roof and that was that.

The range of vegetables and fruits is outstanding.

Particular specialities include goods from the Balkans, as well as Central European and Asian fare. The Naschmarkt itself is a multicultural place, you can hear any language from Chinese to Turkish and smell any type of food.

It is also a great place to have a beer and lunch at one of the many stalls, coffee shops and restaurants.

On Saturday morning, next to the food market, there is another attraction - Vienna's major flee market, that sells anything from junk to antiques.

Records, clothing of all kinds, jewellery and a whole assortment of odds are on sale.

My aunts having fun...

Naschmarkt and flee market are very nicely located...

by two beautiful art deco houses built by architect Otto Wagner...

close to Karlsplatz...

not too far from Secession - exhibition building of Viennese Secession Group.

Today, Naschmarkt is a unique mixture of Austrian traditions and oriental influences.
Even if you do not intend to make food shopping, the market is definitely a great place to visit, to walk through the streets, to enjoy the smell and colours, to take a glance at the gorgeous Art Nouveau buildings along the streets...

Naschmarkt

What Are The Keys To My Heart?

2006-09-01T02:34:00.000+02:00

Wow, hard to believe how much silly and true it is at the same time...:)

***The Keys to Your Heart***

You are attracted to those who are unbridled, untrammeled, and free.

In love, you feel the most alive when your lover is creative and never lets you feel bored.

You'd like to your lover to think you are optimistic and happy.

You would be forced to break up with someone who was emotional, moody, and difficult to please.

Your ideal relationship is lasting. You want a relationship that looks to the future... one you can grow with.

Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment.

You think of marriage as something that will confine you. You are afraid of marriage.

In this moment, you think of love as something you don't need. You just feel like flirting around and playing right now.

What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

Puebla by night (Mexico)

2006-02-12T02:34:00.000+01:00

Puebla is situated just 2 hours to the east from Mexico city.
It is a very nice city, with lots of churches and colonial buildings.

Many of the colonial buildings are adorned with the azulejos (painted ceramic tiles) for which city is famous.

The city was founded by Spanish settlers in 1531 and named Ciudad de los Angeles.
Soon it became known as Puebla de los Angeles and grew to an important catholic center.

The Centro Historico is on the Unesco Heritage Site.

The image of the cathedral appears on the 500 peso bill.

The city is famous for its fine pottery.

This region is known for its special dish - Mole poblano.
It is a spicy sauce with chocolate, served with the meat (chicken, turkey).

We also tried this controversial mixture of tastes.

Palenque - ancient Mayan city.

2006-01-22T14:29:00.000+01:00

Palenque is an ancient Maya city, settled in the middle of the jungle, in the south of Mexico, in the state Chiapas.

It was first occupied around 100 BC, flourished around AD 700 and largely abandoned after AD 900.
The city was soon overgrown (jungle here is extremely dense) and remained unknown until 1746.

The ruins are made up of some 500 buildings spread over 15 sq km, but only few have been excavated.

In Mayan times all those grey buildings were painted in red, blue and yellow colours.

Everything here was built without metal tools, animals or the wheel.

Many plazas and buildings were constructed during the reign of the greatest Palenques king – Pakal.

Templo de las Inscripciones (Temple of the Inscriptions) is named after long Mayan inscriptions found on one of the interior walls. The inscriptions are saying about the history of Palenque and the temple.

The Temple of the Inscriptions is famed as Pakal's Tomb buried deep inside this monument. Pakals skeleton and jade mosaic death mask were moved to Mexico City. The mask was stolen in 1985...

This is El Palacio (Palace). Large complex with courtyards, tower, a maze of corridors and rooms.

The tower was constructed so that Mayan royalty and priests could observe the sun falling into the Templo de las Inscripciones during the winter solstice.

Hanging out in the ruins...

Relief sculptures in Patio de los Cautivos (Patio of the Captives) probably are representing conquered rulers (because of such characteristic like: jewelery in ears suggesting high positions, damaged genitals – as was done with conquered enemies).

Grupo de la Cruz (Group of the Cross) was built by the Pakal’s son – Kan B’alam. The “cross” carvings here symbolize the ceiba tree, which in Mayan belief held up the universe.

Templo del Sol (Temple of the Sun).

Templo de la Cruz (Templo of the Cross).

Templo de la Cruz Foliada (Temple of the Foliated Cross).

As usual there are some people selling handicrafts.

North of El Palacio there are a ball court (juego de palota) and buildings of Grupo Norte (Northern Group).

One crazy guy – Count de Waldeck, lived for two years in the 19th century on the Templo del Conde (Temple of the Count).

Templo de la Calavera (Temple of the Skull) named for the relief sculpture of a rabbit or deer skull at the one of its pillars.

Palenque - immensely impressive place.

PS. Once I was on the meeting with the swiss researcher Erich van Däniken.
He was presenting one of his theories, saying that the ancient civilizations from Mexico were visited by a space-faring race.
His evidence was the picture from the Paklas tomb lid in Palenque.

Däniken claimed that the human figure portrayed in the relief is an ancient astronaut in the spacecraft.

New Year 2006 - welcome!

2006-01-22T13:34:00.000+01:00

It was the best start of the year I could ever imagine - with my vacations in Mexico, meeting Tania and Sandra and exploring this beautiful country!

Im looking up to the sky, enjoying life and searching for new directions.

Rafting weekend

2005-10-23T17:41:00.000+02:00

Together with my colleagues from work we packed ourselves in 3 cars and went out of Vienna to the nature, for the "rafting weekend", in a beautiful Steiermark (one of austrian regions).

We got to the place directly after work, on Friday evening.
This is our hotel, changed for party zone.

So lets get the party started.

Warming up...

Getting together phase:)

Early Saturday morning we are preparing to our rafting adventure!
Checking up the power of muscles.

Putting on suitable clothes.

Choosing the right helmet.

We are READY!!!

Now just checking our vehicle.

Getting into "tuned" mood:)

Perfect team:)

Last tips from our guide...

...and we are in!

Smile to the camera...

...and off we go!

During the whole day rafting we experienced fast and unpredictable stream of the river offering us lots of water attractions. We also took a break to climb up the waterfalls in the mountains and once to jump from the rocks into the river.
Unfortunately no more pictures from this time were taken.

We also witnessed a rescue action which reminded us about the danger and the need of staying careful all the time.

Afterwards we got into deserved hot bath, placed under the sky.

...with the beer in hands...

Our guide all the time with us, even in the hottest moments:)

Time for food.

Grilled sasuages in the menu.

After grill we moved to the fireplace and stayed till the late night.

...with the beer again...

...and lots of fun:)

Getting ready next morning.

Plan for today prepared by our guide.

The weather is beautiful. That is how it looks around.

We are heading off!

Next to the rafting and walking up the canyon (no pictures) we made a half day hiking up to the mountains.

Getting upper...

and further...

and upper...

It was such a cool, relaxing, exciting weekend!

Spissky Hrad - castle in Slovakia

2005-09-04T00:52:00.000+02:00

Spissky Hrad is one of the most precious cultural monuments in the eastern part of Slovakia. It is a beautiful, impressive castle, example of the architecture development from the 12-th to the 18-th century.
Placed in the middle of nowhere it is one of the largest castles in the Central Europe.

I went to visit it in spring 2005, together with beloved friend Eva.
It was a beautiful day and a beautiful idea:)

Although the castle is listed on the UNESCO world heritage list, it gives an impression of forgotten, lonely place, without mass of tourists, with high grass, no coca cola signs, silent and very charming.

Eva with a tractor.

Some flowers on the wall.

Inside the castle.

As Eva says: it is a place highly recommended!!!

Grass in Vienna

2005-06-27T22:27:00.000+02:00

I really like parks in Vienna...
You start enjoying parks especially if you have friends from cold St Petersburg who are extremely excited about seeing any flower in months like march, april or even may.

Here are few recalls from the time on the grass in different Vienna parks.

Schoenbrunn Park

Volksgarten Park

(me actually more interested in reading guidebook than in flowers:)

Park in front of Hofburg

Belvedere Park

Stadt Park

Another Park

Me and Natasha always prepared with cameras:)

Life Ball

2005-05-28T19:15:00.000+02:00

Life Ball is one of Europe’s largest AIDS charity events.
It took place on the 21st of May 2005, in and in front of the Vienna City Hall.

It is an unbelievable, free-spirited event with extreme dose of open-mindness and tolerance. It is a combination of different stage performances and controversial costume party, everything held in the name of unity for support to HIV/AIDS projects.

Together with some friends we were volunteers to help security during the concert.
That gave us a possibility to watch the show from the closer position:)

"Security team" heading for the concert.

Here with Agnieszka on our positions.

Mariusz, Kasia and Monika.

Some important guests arriving....

...and tons of other costumed participants of the event.

Some strange promotion of bakery Stroeck in the meantime.

Guests were always very eager to pose...

...and photographers to take photos of them.

Mariusz on his position.

We welcoming the guests:)

The audience.

Start with the opera performance of a hanging with Glorietta singer.

Ballet dances.

Liza Minelli singing.

Speech of Sir Elton John. His foundation cooperates with Life Ball.

Heidi Klum on the stage.

Fashion show by Donatella Versace.

Guests watching the show.

Gladiator with a lipstick:)

We having FUN.

After Party in Rathaus (City Hall)

For some more photos you can check gallery at:
www.conny.at
or
www.lifeball.org

Bremen/Hamburg (Germany) - few funny recalls

2005-05-10T18:11:00.000+02:00

Here some few funny moments pictured during our trip to Hamburg and Bremen in spring 2004.

Guys enjoying boat trip:)

Some street music.

John taking a rest;)

Some poses on Peterstrasse in Hamburg:)

Hangy and Ale - two in one.

John found green maluch (irish guy with polish car)

Hangy had to stop on highway to piss:)

My dogs - Asta and Asta

2005-04-19T18:31:00.000+02:00

We have three dogs at home. I will present you two of them now.

Here is Asta

and Asta.

Wondering how it happened that they both have the same name?
Here the story goes....

Me and my brother always wanted to have a dog. Parents didnt agree.
We were getting hamsters instead.

We were growing up and so our persistence did. Parents started thinking about letting us have a small dog, best sausage dog, male of course.

At that time our aunt from Lodz got from neighbours a small female, mongrel. She called it Asta and wanted to give us. Parents refused and my aunt had to keep it for herself.

Few months later I had 18th birthday and got from friends, as a total surprise, a small dog, female, mongrel. There was no other choice then to keep it. We called it Asta:)

Few years later my parents moved to our big house in Lodz, where our aunt lives.
So that is how we ended up with two female mongrels - Astas
:)

Chinatown in SF

2005-03-24T17:41:00.000+01:00

Chinatown San Francisco is considered to be the largest Chinese community outside of China.

Besides the well known Chinatown Gate there are a lot of pagoda-roofed buildings, as well as nicely decorated lamp posts and phone booths in Chinese style. Chinatown also has several temples. Three of them are located in the Waverly Place, which is also known as the 'street of painted balconies'. This street is certainly worth a visit.

Oriental style of this district, street lights, chinese letters, smell of chinese food, traditional chinese music, people (mostly Chinese:) and the general atmosphere of this area make you feel like in a totally different culture.

In one warm October night in 2003 we walked around in San Francisco Chinatown.

The place is pretty crowded and bit chaotic.

Pretty hard to figure out what is in the menu of the bar.

Oriented style architecture.

We liked it much so we came back there also next day.

Chinatown helps Chinese immigrants, especially those who dont speak english to adopt in a new country.
On the other hand it keeps them isolated from the real US life.
The same paradox Ive noticed in other parts of the world (for example in arabic district in London, where arabic people after leaving almost the whole their life in England cant speak english).

Cinema at home

2005-03-16T18:39:00.000+01:00

How to make a cinema at home:
(recalls from Bonn 2004)

1. Get the video projector from the company you work at for a weekend. Friend who knows how to make it work can be a help.

2. Invite some friends.

3. Place them in comfortable positions.

4. Get the movie everyone would enjoy (and some entertainment to warm up;).
Remember to take all the pictures off the wall first

and here we go....

Belvedere and Klimt

2005-03-16T18:36:00.000+01:00

Few steps from the Railwaystation Suedbahnhof in Vienna there is the Belvedere Palace with Kiss by Klimt in its art collection.

Belvedere was built as a summer residence by one (rich enough) prince.
It is a museum now with collection of paintings and medieval art exponents.

There are actually two buildings: lower and upper Belvedere - masterpieces of Baroque architecture, connected by a symmetrical garden.

My favourite and the best known is Kiss by austrian artist Gustav Klimt.

It is just beautiful to walk around, have a view of Vienna, enter the building to admire art works...

Balloon Races

2005-03-06T00:03:00.000+01:00

If you ever have a chance to watch balloon races - dont miss it!

I missed the one in Reno in 2003. I was too lazy too get up at 5am.
Photos took my friend Dorota.

My update II

2005-03-05T23:38:00.000+01:00

Im moving out from Poland for a while. Already this tuesday, 8th march, Im starting my new job in Vienna.
Btw. 8th march is a remarkable date - Day of Women. Here in Europe, in all former communist countries, it is specially celebrated:)

Im almost packed and feel good and relaxed.

I will try to keep this blog going with at least weekly updates.

why my brother is cool:)

2005-03-03T01:14:00.000+01:00

I have smaller brother - Tomek.
I say smaller but he is actually 23 and is much taller than me.

One of the things I like in him is that he can make alot of laughs at himself. Others can learn.
I pictured some examples.

So here we go...

In the cinema.

Making fun while cooking.

Culm goes in one of our heating systems. So few times a year my brother gets this job - and from IT student changes into a worker:)

No mercy even in winter.

Here with his friends in a special kind of "bar". As he says it is close to his university and offers the cheapest beer.
Obviously the place doesnt meet EU standards.

Here after passing his last exam in 2004

Eating pierogi at Christmas Eve 2003.

Here at university wardrobe

Go on brother, world belongs to you!

...and we will always love each other:)

Michael Schumacher Center

2005-02-27T11:43:00.000+01:00

Michael Schumacher is considered to be the best Formula 1 driver ever.
Pretty impressive - he won F1 championship already 6 times. In 2004 was 2nd - still not bad I guess.

He is german, was born in a town between Koeln and Bonn. Close to that place, exactly in Kerpen-Sindorf, there is a Michael Schumacher cart-center. It is here, where few year old Schumacher learnt cart driving.

It is a quite modern hall, with two tracks, equipped with electronic timing register so after the race you get report how good /bad you performed comparing to others.

There is also a shop of Michael Schumacher (everything in red)...

...and his museum. We skipped it though, to focus on racing.

Our team, ready to face carting race.

Getting ready.

Carts.

There are two tracks: out- and indoors.

After 10 minutes of this driving you have a feeling of being very tired and totally wasted. I have no idea how Schumacher stands one-hour races.

Still it was real fun, especially for someone who doesnt have driving licence:)))

Sometimes companies have their team building meetings in this center. Good chance to beat your boss;)

Witkacy - polish painter

2005-02-25T10:21:00.000+01:00

Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (Witkacy)
1885 - 1939

On 24th February we celebrated the 120 birthday anniversary of one of the most famous polish painter.

Just few facts from his biography:
- he was a playwright, prose writer, philosopher, art theorist, painter, artistic photographer;
- son of Stanisław Witkiewicz - famous writer, painter and art theoretician;
- his mother was a musician;
- as his father was against school system he didnt attend a school, just had private lessons at home;
- travelled much, notably in Europe, Russia, Australia;
- was an officer in the russian army;
- had many love affairs;
- experimented with drugs and recorded, in small notes on his painting, the drug that was influencing him at the time of painting;
- claimed that social development and the progress of civilization cause the downfall of religion, morality, art and philosophy;
- was the creator of so called theory of Pure Form - work of art is characterized by the fact that it engages the viewer through its composition, by the sheer construction of its separate elements, and only subsequently through its subject matter and the ideals which it advances;
- committed suicide with his wife after Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939, his wife survived.

Few of his paintings.

self portrait

My city Lodz and its story

2005-02-22T21:28:00.000+01:00

Łódź (Lodz) is the second largest city in Poland, has about 900 000 inhabitants.

It is situated in the center of the country, about 120 km away from Warsaw.

The word łódź means "boat" and also a boat is a crest of the city.
Name Łódź comes from the river Łódka that used to go through the city.

For many centuries Lodz was a small village with population fewer than 1000 inhabitants.

Only in the beginning of XIX century (Lodz belonged to the Russian-ruled section of the partitioned Poland then) the government decided to create industrial city here. The reason for choosing Lodz was a rich underground water supply and plain area. That made perfect conditions to start textile industry here.

To attract investors there was a special economic zone created in Lodz, which btw. still exists. There were also some other allowances, privileges and financial support granted.
Among the immigrants coming to Lodz there were mostly Jews (got money so could afford building factories and manage the business), Poles, German and Russian. That made a multicultural character of the city (different schools, theaters, churches, cemeteries and so on...).

In 1850 Russia abolished a customs border between the Kingdom of Poland and Russia so the industry in Lodz could develop freely with a huge Russian market at a close distance.
Lodz was called Ziemia Obiecana - "Promised Land" as it was developing and getting rich very fast. Already in the second half of the XIX century Lodz became the second largest city in the Kingdom of Poland.

Great industrial magnates, such as Ludwik Geyer, Traugott Grohman, Karol Scheibler and Izrael Poznanski, owned the largest cotton factories transforming them into joint stock family-run companies. Next to every factory there were beautiful villas and palaces. The factory owners built also housing estates for their workers, fire brigades, hospitals, shops, schools and train stations. Everything around their factory. That looked like small, self-supporting towns within the city.

Poznanski factory

Księży Młyn - Scheiblers factory

Dynamic development of the city was brought to the end with the I World War. Both wars ruined also the multinational nature of Lodz.
In years 1940 - 1944 there was Jewish ghetto in Lodz.

In early 1945 Lodz had fewer than 300 000 inhabitants. Until 1948 the city was a de facto capital of Poland since Warsaw had been totally destroyed during and after the Warsaw uprising and most of the government and country administration resided in Lodz.
Lodz was not so much destroyed during the war.

In the communism time authorities nationalised all private companies. When the system collapsed, after 1990, most of them were privatised again, but were in such a desolate state that few survived in the new capitalist reality.

Poznanski's Palace. It is a Museum of Lodz City History now.

Poznanski factory. It is huge. Right now it is being rebuilt into new shopping and entertainment center - Manufaktura.

The palace of Scheibler's daughter and her husband Herbst (who was the main director at Scheibler's factory).

Schebler"s factory. It is empty, in ruin now.

Houses of Scheibler's workers, placed near the factory. They are small and the lower class live there now.

Fire station funded by Scheibler. It is situated opposite to the factory.

The palace of Scheibler. It is a museum of cinematography now.

White factory once owned by Geyer. It is a museum of textile industry now.

The plan of the city is different than in other cities. We dont have central market. The city was planned entirely by government so has more like american structure.
The most famous place is simply a street - Piotrkowska street. It is considered to be one of the longest shopping streets in Europe (4,5 km long). There are various institutions, banks, shops, restaurants, galleries and first of all pubs along this street. You can also take a rickshaw-ride here.

All the buildings are maintained in characteristic art nouveau style.
We call it secesja.

Wall with famous Lodz inhabitants.

Rickshaw ride.

Bricks with names of Lodz citizens and Hangy with Ale.
You could buy the brick with your name.
Money raised in that way covered the renovations costs of buildings on Piotrkowska street.

There are some sculptures of famous inhabitants from Lodz.
Here pianist Artur Rubinstein and Beata.

Julian Tuwim - writer and me.

Former factories owners at the table with Daniel.

Writer Władysław Reymont - Nobel prize winner and Ale.

Lodz is famous also from its film character. We call it even Hollyłódź.
There is a good film school where Polanski, Wajda studied. We have also Camerimage - international film festival of the art of cinematography.

Our walk of fame and Fred with Jenny,

Here in one very popular pub - Łódź Kaliska.

Dont forget to drop in:)

Typogenerator

2005-02-18T10:59:00.000+01:00

What is it?
TypoGenerator is a random generator for 'typo posters'.

What is a typo poster?
It is a poster, created from images (usually overlayed by some effects) and letters/text that doesn´t have any sense, just to look good.

How does typogenerator work?
The user types some text; typoGenerator searches images.google for the text and creates a background from the found images, using randomly chosen effects. then it places the text, using random effects too.

Check it out! www.typogenerator.net

Typo poster for annabuda:

Lets make some fun of it

polish language 2

2005-02-18T09:58:00.000+01:00

Some vocabulary for going out in Poland.

surprisingly:
pub - pub
bar - bar
dyskoteka - disco
restauracja - restaurant
menu - menu
barman - barman
drink - a drink

kelner - waiter
kelnerka - waitress

Women say:
Chciałabym zamówić to - I would like to order this
Men say:
Chciałbym zamówić to - I would like to order this

Traditional meals you should try:
bigos - meat, mushrooms and cabbage
pierogi - boiled dough filled with meat, cheese or sth else

In pubs most people order beer. Normal size is 0,5 l. Small one is 0,3 l.
Poproszę jedno piwo - one beer please
Poproszę dwa piwa - two beers please

so after eating, drinking time for dancing:
man says:
Czy chciałabyś ze mną zatanczyć - would you like to dance with me
woman would say: (we have sometimes different forms of verbs for women and men)
Czy chciałbyś ze mną zatanczyć - would you like to dance with me

Paying the bill:
rachunek - bill
Poproszę rachunek - bill please
Ile to będzie? - how much is it?
Reszty nie trzeba - keep the rest

Bawcie się dobrze - Have a good time!

3 * Planetarium = 3 * different kinds of space trips

2005-02-17T13:42:00.000+01:00

Toruń (Poland)
There is a quite nice planetarium in Torun. I visited it in 2000. The show is a little bit like a lecture at school. You hear one voice, commenting the changing images. It was very educational though and gave lot of information. Visual effects were really nice but the program was not very entertaining. My friend I was with, almost fell asleep but I enjoyed the show.

btw. Toruń is the city where Mikolaj Kopernik was born.

London

Next door to Madame Tussauds you can find the London Planetarium. I was there in summer 2001. The show it presents makes the impression that you are in a spaceship, you hear the voice of the captain and his assistant. There is a countdown in the beginning and then you are starting your space trip through our solar system and the galaxy. You can observe sun, different planets, star explosion and so on. It is a combination of a little of education with a feeling of being travelling in the space:)

It is good to visit it also from practical point of view. If you are also interested in Madame Tussauds Museum and there are usual long lines to it, you can go to Planetariums ticket office, where line is much shorter, and buy tickets for both museum and planetarium there.

Hamburg (Germany)

Planetarium in Hamburg offers its audience completely different experience. There is no voice, no comments, no education info. All you could hear on our show was music from the album of Pink Floyd "Dark side of the moon". Changing pictures, different colours, lasers and other visual effects perfectly synchronized with the music are truly amazing. You dont learn but entertain. I visited it in spring 2004.

"Our four" meeting

2005-02-16T09:36:00.000+01:00

Finally we made it to meet, all four of us, the best school friends:
Beata, Renata, Monika and me.

First at Monikas place in Poznań.
We havent changed if it goes about making fun:)

Monika, her beloved boyfriend - Tomek, and their dog - Boczek..

Then we went to Środa Wlkp, where Renata lives.

Here happy mummy:)

"Najfajniejsza Mama na Świecie" (the coolest mum in the world)

Her daughters name is Zosia.

Alls she does is: sleeping

...and sleeping....

...eating....

...sometimes crying...

...but mostly being happy:)

Here shortly after coming home from the hospital.
Zosia was born on the 9th November 2004.

Together again. Now there are five of us.
From the left: me, Beata, Renata and Zosia, Monika.

Mirror picture.

Crazy, happy aunts.

This is the candle we all four have, gift from Beata.

Tram party

2005-02-12T11:43:00.000+01:00

Tram party is an AIESEC invention, I guess.
Our committee organises it every year.
Together with other SNs we organised Reception Weekend, with this tram party, in spring 2002.

We rent this tram for the whole night and drove on the area of Lodz.

It was pretty crowded...

...but still lots of fun:)

Our guests: trainee from Spain, Ecuador and Canada.

We had our music and were selling beer inside. There was also some bigos to eat and sangria prepared by Diego.
To cover the costs we were selling tickets. But only our friends and guests could buy them, no outside people.

so why not to hang around in a tram:)

few facts about me III

2005-02-12T00:19:00.000+01:00

Part the First: Ten Random Songs

Instructions: Put your MP3 player on "shuffle" and list the first ten songs that play, no matter how embarrassing.

1 . Pianist Chopin "Ballade No. 2 in F Major, Op. 38'"
2. Heather Nova "Avalanche" - im not a big fan of her, just keeping it for my mum

3. Hey "Misery" - polish group
4. AIR " Gordini mix (breaks on mix)"
5. Nick Cave &Kylie Minogue " Where the wild roses grow"
6. Soft Wave "Plenitude Part 2" from Cafe del Mar
7. Joni Mitchel " Both sides now" from the Soundtrack Love Actually
8. Hey "Miglanc" - polish group, the same album as in 3. (what kind of shuffle I have:)
9. Reamon "Supergirl"
10. Miro - "The Cure (Sunshine mix)" - again Cafe del Mar, I guess my shuffle is not working right;)

btw. I have about 1000 positions on my list.

Part the Second: Question and Answer Section

Instructions: Er ... read the questions and answer them. Not rocket science.

What is the total amount of music files on your computer?
My music - 2,51 GB. My brothers music - 6,47GB. Music recently downloaded (my and my brothers) - 3,53 GB.
The last CD you bought is:
I buy plenty blank CDs and burn music I like. The last original CD I bought was about 1,5 year ago. It was Alanis Morissette Unplugged and Lauryn Hill Unplugged - 2 CDs. I bought them together. I almost bought AIR Walkie Talkie one year ago as was amazed after their concert and according to Eva we should support favourite bands, but in the end....no, I downloaded this album as well:)
What is the song you last listened to before beginning this meme?
I dont remember but I have been listening to Wicker Park Soundtrack alot lately.

Part the Third: Write down five songs you often listen to or that mean a lot to you

"Against all Odds" in all versions (by Mariah Carey, Phil Collins and Postal Service)
"Leaving on your mind" by Patsy Cline
"One" by U2
Lauryn Hill "Ex-Factor"
Lenny Kravitz "Again", 5a. "Alone in Kyoto" by AIR

All sad songs about unhappy love - wow, I need a therapy I guess ;)

Part the Third: Name three artists/bands you adore

U2
Alanis Morissette
Lauryn Hill

and a lot of other bands... really alot

Part the Fourth: Pass this stick to three persons and explain why

No. Why? Who cares about that?

Earth from the air

2005-02-10T20:12:00.000+01:00

Earth from the air is s a spectacular photo collection of astonishing landscapes viewed from the sky.
Photos were taken by photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand.

This exhibition makes a breath-taking impact. I visited it in Warsaw in 2002. It still travels around the world so check it out. Im sure those who like floating in the air will appreciate these views:)

Here few examples:

Reunion Island (France). Gorges of the Bras de Caverne.

Morocco. Carpets in Marrakech.

Geyser at Yellowstone National Park, US

Whale off of the Valdes Peninsula, Argentina.

Argentina. Misiones Province. Fields near the Rio Uruguay.

Links to see more:
Earth from the air - homepage
Earth from the air - all photos with country selection
Earth from the air - photos without description
Earth from the air - in polish

Reno - gambling city in lights

2005-02-08T13:32:00.000+01:00

Reno is the second gambling center, after Las Vegas, in Nevada.
It is placed in very dry climate - no drop of rain during the whole summer. Surrounded landscape is truly amazing though.
Among different attractions it offers (like Lake Tahoe, Virginia city, balloon races, Hot August Nights and so on) casinos are still in the main focus.
I spent summer 2003 working in this gambling business there.

Reno is known as the biggest little city in the world.

Lights are the form of attracting customers.

Wedding chapels - at every corner. Fast and easy - 50$ and you are married. All the wedding equipment you can rent at the place. For divorce you have to spend 150$.
For those who are really in hurry there is even wedding chapel drive thru.

Lights and constant sound of slots.

In every casino there are few bars...

... tons of slots...

...different games, like Keno...

...or theme restaurants, here malaysian one.

You can watch some stage performances...

...find waterfalls...

...strange installations...

or fountains.

There are even casinos for children and their parents, where you can win toys and watch circus performances.

You loose sense of time without sunlight in artificially lighted rooms.
Thats actually the idea of keeping customer as long as possible.

Every gambling customer is served with free drinks:)
You are expected to give tips instead.

View on the city form the hill. Thats how you see it after all:)

Polish carnival - our party

2005-02-06T23:46:00.000+01:00

Polish carnival season starts with the beginning of New Year and lasts till Ash Wednesday.
It is the time when lots of parties, disco and balls are organised.

The last part of carnival begins on tłusty czwartek - "fat Thursday" (the last Thursday before the Lent). On that day we eat, as tradition claims, tons of donuts and faworki - special cookies which we make ourselves.
Faworki

During the last days of carnival clubs organise normal discos (mostly).
Still a lot of people give costume parties at homes.
So did we:)))

Out party theme was "Hell & Heaven".
Starring:

angels

contra devils.

For warming up evil Peter prepared absinth. It is a green liquor with extremely high alcohol content and illusion effects, used to be an inspiration for french artists and others. I guess it is still banned in Poland.
Taste is awful.

With blue drinks for angels...

and red drinks for our diabolos.

Here: three in one.

Every angel has two sides...

DJ angels at organising some music.

Devil barmen at kitchen work.

Couples of the night:

There was some dancing...

...some karaoke singing....

...some angel-evil cooperation...

and some getting tired.

Well, what can I say more...
Thanks Gosia and Julek for sacrifying your apartment once again and organisng this party:)

and see you next year!

Personality cocktail

2005-02-04T13:32:00.000+01:00

WOW - Im pretty explosive cocktail person:)

How to make a ania

Ingredients:

5 parts anger

1 part self-sufficiency

1 part ego

Method:
Add to a cocktail shaker and mix vigorously. Add sadness to taste! Do not overindulge!

Check out yours!

Carnival in Germany

2005-02-02T14:54:00.000+01:00

The carnival season in Germany officially begins on November 11th at 11.11 a.m. and finishes on Ash Wednesday.
(The number 11 symbolises unity, the number 1 standing side by side with another 1 is a metaphor for the equality of all Narren - "fools". In Cologne, once occupied by the French, the number 11 even has a political-historical background, standing for the French “égalité, liberté, fraternité” (equality, liberty and fraternity). November 11 originally was the eve of a period of church fasting, and frequently was festively observed. Because the date 11/11 sounded really foolish, the friends of Carnival later took it over as their own holiday. But it is not until after New Year’s and then until Ash Wednesday that the devil really breaks loose in Cologne)

On Thursday the hottest part of german carnival started:))).

Carnival is celebrated especially in the north-west part of Germany. Cologne is the center. The Carnival here is considered to be Germany’s most colourful celebration, everone gets into a costume and goes to party:)

Thursday before Ash Wednesday, is called in this region Weiberfastnacht which means "Women's Carnival" and is a day when tradition says that women take control.

The name "carnival" comes from the Italian carne- or carnovale, from Latin carnem (meat) + levare (lighten or raise), literally "to remove the meat" or "stop eating meat".

Here some of my recalls from the last year.

My flatmates ready to attack the carnival:)

At the carnival party for Deutsche Post employees.
The band is coming...

The Queen and King of carnival visit every big party.

Best costumed Deutsche Post employees.

There are alot of special carnival songs (of course in german) played and sung during this time.

Brazilian guests bringing samba mood.

Deutsche Post trainees

There are parades in different parts of the city.
Here some spots from Bonn-Beul.

Got some handsome guys on the way:)

Family teams.

Age doesnt matter.

AIESEC Cologne carnival party.

OC

On Monday, called Rosenmontag, a huge parade starts in Cologne.
Word Rosenmontag doesnt come form "rose" but from the word rasen or Raserei which means "get crazy"

Peopole are shouting special german carnivals sayings like Koelle Alaaf which means "Koeln (Cologne) by itself" or "Koeln lives high".

My favourite: lots of sweets, called Kamellen, are thrown to the people gathered around, absolutely for free:)

Carnival songs all the time...

Dear Germany, enjoy the carnival this year as well!!!
:)

Drawsko - town where I grew up

2005-02-01T11:17:00.000+01:00

When I was 7 years old, my parents decided to move out from big, industrial city Lodz to a nicely located, 450 km away from Lodz, small town - Drawsko.

After 12 years I moved back to Lodz for university, 3 years later my brother did the same. Finally, one year after him, my parents came back to Lodz as well.

Still we all share some good memories of this place.
Here are mine...

The heart of Drawsko.
Imagine, there is no need for a public transport or even for a car. You can approach everything in about 10-15 minutes:)
btw. in Lodz I waste about one hour to get anywhere...
main street

main square

church

my primary school

Behind the school there is a park which leads to my old house
river Drawa

My house on the street Staszica 23/2. Almost end of the town:)

Further, after a 15 minute walk through the alley, you are approaching lake Okra.

here I am

Together with my two beloved school friends.
Monika (on the left) is an architect now. Beata (on the right) - still exploring world, currently in England.
There is one more friend missing - Renata. She set up a family and lives in another town, was pregnant at that time, has a daughter now:)

No words can describe our crazy friendship:)))
We are meeting altogether (four of us) in about two weeks - already cant wait.

for no Bush fans

2005-01-30T22:35:00.000+01:00

Paris Paris

2005-01-28T18:54:00.000+01:00

Together with my friends, other Bonn trainees, I spent 5 days in Paris in spring 2003.
Paris has its both bright and dark sides but it is definitely worth to visit every piece of this city.

Here few of my favourite moments and places in Paris…

The Museum d’Orsey placed in the spacious building - old railway station, specializes in modern art, including works by such artists as Cezanne, Manet, Monet, Renoir, and Van Gogh.
It is a must for all art-lovers!!!

We visited also Louver. Huuuge collection – but at least it is the place where quantity goes with quality.

All excited before the tour in Louver.

Here after the Louver tour:)

Street music is sth very charming.
It is so nice to stop and listen to some classics on the way.

Pere Lachaise is a cemetery of many famous artists (like Balzac, Bizet, Delacroix, Max Ernst, Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde and many more).
On the hill, in the green, with remarkable tombs it has its own special charm.
Here is the grave of polish composer Chopin.

It is easy to get lost there so make sure you have a god map with.
Guys, thanks for walking with me there (without a map) till we found this tomb.

Our hostel Woodstock (to my surprise run by a perfectly english speaking british guy) was situated in Montmartre. It is the artists district, with many cafes, on the hilly area...

with a beautiful basilica Sacre Coeur

and Dali gallery.

Pigalle square and the whole Moulin Rouge – red light district is really nothing to recommend.
Be careful there – my friends (guys) were robbed and kicked out from one night club. It was a quite strange story...
Police was not much help then…

I liked the business part of Paris...
La Defense

with a carousel in the middle:)

Walk along the river Seine is unforgettable…

What is so special about Eiffel tower – I don’t know...

but the view from the top in the night is marvelous.

Anne Frank

2005-01-28T16:48:00.000+01:00

Yesterday it was the 60th anniversary of Auschwitz liberation.
This day brought me in a special mood...

Here is the story of jewish girl Anne Frank.

You can visit her house-museum in Amsterdam.
It is a special and very moving place…

It tells the story of 8 jewish people (Anne, her family and family friends) who were hiding in the secret annex for 2 years during the II war.
After being betrayed to the Nazis, they all were arrested and deported to the concentration camps.
At the age of 15 Anne died of typhus only one month before the camp liberation. The same her sister and mother. Only her father survived.

During the whole hiding period Anne was writing a diary which was saved and published after the war.
It has been translated into 67 languages and is one of the most widely read books in the world.
This is the line from her diary:

"It’s a wonder I haven’t abandoned all my ideals, they seem so absurd and impractical. Yet I cling to them because I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart.

It’s utterly impossible for me to build my life on a foundation of chaos, suffering and death. I see the world being slowly transformed into a wilderness, I hear the approaching thunder that, one day, will destroy us too, I feel the suffering of millions. And yet, when I look up at the sky, I somehow feel that everything will change for the better, that this cruelty too shall end, that peace and tranquility will return once more" - July 15, 1944.

Luminale in Frankfurt

2005-01-25T21:03:00.000+01:00

There is often a certain image attached to the place.
Frankfurt is considered to be the most american city in Germany. It is a german financial center, also place of European Central Bank.

However, the image can be changed...

I had a chance to be in Frankfurt during Luminale 2004.
It is a project about putting some artistic lights in the city:)
Different artists were invited to place light installations in different places in Frankfurt (in museums, companies buildings, along the river, on bridges, squares and so on....)
Looked beautiful.

Panorama of Frankfurt.

Central railway station. The colours were changing.

Roemer - on the main square. Three colours: red, white and blue symbolised collaboration with France. At the same time french city Lyon had the same project and president of Lyon came to Frankfurt for a visit.
So as you see this light project was even politically correct ;)

Installation with light, movement and music in Messe.

Three museums with the same light motive.

The companies building. The lights were changing colours.

Museum with changing light images.

View under the bridge.

Picture taken from the bus.

National Geographic - unpublished published

2005-01-23T23:31:00.000+01:00

I was very happy to get a beautiful photo album by National Geographic.
It was 100 best pictures unpublished.

Of course everything is already in internet.
So here is the link.
I recommend especially the part Portfolio, where you can see different Sight&Sounds presentations.

few facts about me II

2005-01-23T23:06:00.000+01:00

51. I watch sometimes soap opera Bold and Beautiful. I know. No comments.
52. I was a member of AIESEC for four years.
53. I learnt how to play guitar, dont remember anything now.
54. I am in a good mood for 90% of my time.
55. I take thousands of pictures. Mostly from the places I visit and parties.
56. I was robbed in Amsterdam 15 minutes after my arrival to this city. It was my first visit in Netherlands.
57. Still I like this country:)
58. I used to find Patrick Swayze the best looking actor.
59. Now I think it is Brad Pitt. I know - Im typical.
60. I cant take care of plants. Simply forgot to water them.
61. I find Harry Potter boring.
62. I feel relaxed while swimming.
63. I am a little bit naive.
64. I read feministic poetry.
65. I pierced my ears at the age 21, only because my boyfriend wanted it (and gave me earrings first).
66. I have good friends in almost every european country and on every continent.
67. I cry while watching sad movies.
68. I always wonder why the guys who left me, left me. Pretty bad, isnt it?
69. I prefer wine to vodka, even though Im polish-russian mixture.
70. I have never watched porn.
71. I had a huge battle with parents when they didnt let me go for the first time to the night club in another town with friends.
72. I used to play Sims (it is over now).
73. From woman perfumes I like Eternity by Calvin Klein and Sensi by Armani.
74. From men perfumes I like some by Armani.
75. I love sea and mountains. So it is always hard to decide where to go in summer.
76. I cant stand horrors, especially with plastic monsters.
77. I always wanted to have curly hairs.
78. My mother has curly hairs and always wanted her daughter to have straight hairs.
79. My brother got curly hairs. So bad for a guy...haha
80. I like operas.
81. I was in Legoland, as a kid with my brother.
82. I believe I will be a great mother.
83. I got already lost in polish politic (but who didnt?).
84. I couldnt believe that Bush won for the second time.
85. I value values.
86. It is hard to make me angry (but possible of course).
87. I saw Grand Canyon.
88. I have tiny, red mobile - Samsung A400.
89. It happens a lot that I dont hear alarm clock.
90. I want to do MBA, best in english or german speaking country.
91. I would like to have two children (but husband first, of course).
92. I find work in garden extremely boring.
93. But I like flowers very much.
94. I admire explorers.
95. I like black tea and cheese sandwiches.
96. I like strawberry shake from McDonalds.
97. Im self confident and shy in one.
98. Music and dancing is my love.
99. Travelling is a real passion.
100. I love life.

Museum in Bremen

2005-01-21T01:09:00.000+01:00

Last year we visited Universe Science Center in Bremen.

It is an interactive museum - so you read a piece of theory and have a chance to check it yourself in practice.
There are three topics: Mankind, Earth and Cosmos.
Cool for both children and adults.

Here playing with soap bubbles.

Checking the temperature of our bodies.

Seeing the world from the perspective of 3 year old child.

Here watching german movie Balance by brothers Lauenstein.
In 1989 this film won Oscar in the category: Short Film Animated.
Brilliant! It is simple, takes only 8 minutes and is so meaningful....
Check it out on above link (then click small icon in the right down corner).

Checking the waves.

Learning how tornado works.

and many more other things...

polish language 1

2005-01-20T10:21:00.000+01:00

Looking for some challenge? Here goes polish language

btw. we have some special letters like: ą, ę, ó, ś, ć, ż, ź

sth polite and easy for beginning:
dzień dobry - good morning
dziękuję - thank you
przepraszam - Im sorry, also excuse me
proszę - please
cześć - hi, bye

sth to be cool - polish slang:
fajne - cool
spoko - easy
nara - bye

sth to survive:
chleb - bread
woda - water
poproszę chleb i wodę - bread and water please

and sth to get out from the place
bilet - ticket
poproszę bilet do ....- one ticket to.... please

Sledging in Switzerland

2005-01-19T10:38:00.000+01:00

Forget skiing and snowboarding!
It is not even half fun as sledging, especially sledging in Switzerland.

so here the story goes...

We (10 people) went for sledging weekend, project organised by Aiesec students in Bern.
It was in winter 2003, I dont remember the name of this sledging place (Luzia, maybe you can be a help).

First crazy driving,..
Our only map flew through car window on the way:)

Crossing the swiss boarder. We were lucky not being stopped - as our columbian friend didnt have passport with him and of course was not allowed to enter this country without visa.
Our car team.

We got to Bern and were waiting to be picked up by swiss aiesecers.
That is how they were supposed to recognise us.

Eating swiss fondue (first one in my life).
Cheese was really smelly:))

Packing sledges.

Going up...

...and upper...

...still upper...

...and then we climbed even upper.

Here excited sledging group.

It was really cold. Me and Natasha - dream team.

Here greek and indian guy, suffering from extreme (for them) coldness.

Meeting Santa Claus on the way.

Having a break, tired but still excited.

Sorry I dont have any photos from sledging track.
Believe me, sledging was very fast, quite dangerous (one girl twisted her ankle) but PURE FUN.

It took us the whole day long to sledge down this mountain.

We were driving home the whole sunday night. Came home at 6am and went to work already at 9am.

That weekend was great.
Thanks guys for doing this!!!

World Press Photo

2005-01-19T06:53:00.000+01:00

World Press Photo is the most prestigious annual photography contest.
The exhibition of winner photos travels around the world throughout the year
(unfortunately doesnt come to Lodz but you can see it in Warsaw or Poznan).

Every picture is provided with background information about the country or problem it is talking about.
It is the most moving and eyes opening photo exhibition.
Whenever you have a chance to visit it, please dont be unworldly and check it out!

Last year I had a chance to visit it in Frankfurt.
To my extreme surprise the exhibition instead of being held in a quiet gallery, took place at railway station, in the noise of trains and rushed travellers:(
Well, at least it was for free and in the center of the city.

I took some pictures of some pictures.

That is brilliant - Bush and Blair.

I found these photos in the article in National Geographic.

Nick, can you recognise it? It is Chicago.

Indian bureaucracy. It is from Manish's region btw.

Those pictures are from Kamchatka (but not 100% sure).

So it appeared that Manish likes pictures:)

Some other photos...

And after all we went for a walk and found this rainbow:)

Me and Manish.

Sewing in communism

2005-01-18T13:26:00.000+01:00

You must know that people in communistic countries had to be very creative.
As there is not much to buy in shops, people are forced to construct and repair different things themselves.

I saw my aunt sewing the hole in tights today.
She was surprised seeing me surprised.
But, come on, sewing THIGHTS??? I always buy a new pair if I get the hole in old ones.
I smelled here a communistic habit.

I know that in old times my mother used to sew almost all clothes for our family, even coats!
Me myself have even problems with sewing buttons (here helpful link:)

btw. you never know when you might need sewing skills. My russian friend had a ball few days ago. One hour before it, she burnt with iron a hole in front of her red skirt. As she said: "half an hour of hysterical creative sewing, and the updated dress was ready:)"

Maybe it is good to know how to sew also in capitalism:)

Rocky singing

2005-01-18T13:14:00.000+01:00

I couldnt resist and wanted to put some funny stuff here:)

So as I mentioned I cant really sing.
But it is always good to practise.

Check the rocking karaoke here.
;)

My update

2005-01-17T15:41:00.000+01:00

For those who are wondering: what this girl is doing now???

As some of you know, I was offered a job at DHL in Germany.
However, after few bureaucratic battles I was refused work permit for this country.
:((((((

btw. I feel sorry for german economy and hope that german politicians will understand once that protecting their labour market doesnt mean closing this market. I have recently come across an article (How Germany can win from offshoringin in McKinsey Quarterly) about how much Germany loses by its rigid market rules and how much profit US makes on outsourcing. If you want me to send you the article, just email me.

When all frustration moments were gone, I started looking for any other opportunities for me.
Finally, I got a job at LKW Walter in Vienna. I will be an international transport manager, doing simply export-import.
Im going to start there in about a month (as still have to go through applying-for-work permit process)

btw. Any tips from those who know life in Vienna?

btw.2 The first time I visited Vienna was on Taize conference on New Years Eve 1998:)

The best thing is that my two beloved friends live there now: Natasha and Vladia.
Im very excited about being together again:)))

Vladia, me, Natasha

During my last stay in Vienna we found a small piece of Bonn there.
Im sure those who know Bonn will recognise the similarities:)

From other things about me: Im fine, graduated in October, have too much of free time now:)

Netherlands - traditional or unexpected?

2005-01-17T11:31:00.000+01:00

We made a few-day tour across Netherlands in May 2004.
Martijn, my dutch friend, thanks again for hosting and guiding us.
You are great!

I wanted to see traditional image of Netherlands.
I found out few interesting, unexpected things and broke some stereotypes instead:)

We visited cheesy town Edam. To my surprise, cheese was never produced here. It was only a town where they used to trade cheese, produced in villages from neighbourhood.
Edam

Edam

1st of May is the Queensday in Netherlands. Dutch celebrate it like crazy, especially in Amsterdam.
Surprisingly, the Queen never comes to Amsterdam on that day.
I also found out that the orange colour, used as a symbol in Netherlands, comes from the name of duke Orange, who set up the town Orange and gave a start to build this country (more or less that is what I remember).
Amsterdam

We went to Keukenhof - to admire the beauty of tulips. The park is open only few weeks in May.
To my huge surprise you cannot buy tulip bulbs there then. I was told that season for tulip bulbs starts in september.
Keukenhof

Keukenhof

Keukenhof

I knew that Netherlands is a small country. I have never expected it can be so small:)
Here we are in Madurodam-miniature of Netherlands.
Madurodam

Well, I never considered Netherlands as a place for holidays at the seaside (with their weather).
Surprisingly, they have very nice resort - Scheveningen. It is quite charming and Im sure it is perfect for those who hate heat in Spain.
Scheveningen

Fishermen village in Volerdam. You would never guess - the fishermen used to sleep in small beds placed in walls, hidden by curtains.
Volerdam

Volerdam

Volerdam

Biking is so cool.
They have special parks for that. There is also the second biggest museum of van Gogh in the park, for a small break from biking:)

National Park Hoge Veluwe

Finally I found my beloved wind mills. It is in a village Zaandam.
Zaandam

The nicest experience I have with Netherlands is to know that Dutch are really lovely and friendly people.
Greetings to Maartje, Arjan and Martijn:)

at dutch party:)

What does your name tell about you?

2005-01-17T01:02:00.000+01:00

A	Amazing
N	Neat
I	Important
A	Appealing

From Go-Quiz.com

Yosemite - valley of wonders or tourist entertainment?

2005-01-16T22:44:00.000+01:00

Yosemite National Park is located in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of central California.
I visited this place with my friends in the summer 2003.
It was one-day drive through the whole park.

Mirror Lake

Tioga Lake

Bridal veil water fall

Giant Sequoias are considered to be the largest living thing on earth. Three groves totaling 700 trees are located in the park.
The Indian name for sequoia is Wawona. The pronunciation of this word is similar to the sound of an owl, considered to be the protection ghost of this tree.
Sequoia

This is El Capitan - on the left (7,569 ft., 3,593 ft. from the valley floor). It is one of the best places to observe climbers in the park. Two cool, german climbers: Thomas and Alexander Huber challenged their abilities on its track – Zodiac. They beat their own records (starting from 3 days and reaching the time beyond 2 hours). I was on their presentation. Impressive. Check their web site www.huberbuam.de (in english) and their relation from new speed record on Zodiac (this only in german so far).

Yosemite Valley

Yosemite valley was discovered by white people in 1851, who chased away the local Indians. I bet not many tourists know about that.
History, however, doesnt forget. The beautiful-sounded name Yosemite comes from the Indian word yo'hem-iteh and means "they are the killers".

More and more tourists visit this unique place, coming often with cell phones, MP3 players, video cameras. Yet within the Yosemite boundaries are the golf course, a refrigerated ice-skating rink, five ski lifts, snowboard runs, a kennel, a sports bar with a big-screen TV… There are hotels, large stores, jail, post office, an ATM, parking spaces for 2,000 cars, and more than 200 miles (300 kilometers) of asphalt pavement.
That is the reality. We expect good service wherever we are.
I have only one appeal: lets try to remember to give the nature its respect and to make more efforts to discover its beauty, hidden in details, its history and remote sites.

Half Dome - the symbol of Yosemite Valley

Monschau - the most charming place in Germany

2005-01-16T20:19:00.001+01:00

I visited Monschau with a couple of friends in spring 2003.
We all fell in love with this place.

Monschau is located close to the german border with Belgium.
It is situated in a beautiful valley, at the river, surrounded by the very green nature.

The architecture makes this small town even more picturesque.

Up on the hill there are some ruins of the castle.
That day, when we were going down the hill, there was an orchestra playing music outside, on the square.

It was a lovely day...
This charming place is highly recommended!

few facts about me

2005-01-16T18:48:00.000+01:00

1. My favourite colour is red.
2. The first language I spoke was russian. Im half polish, half russian.
3. As a teenager I was in a singing band.
4. I really CANNOT sing.
5. My one eye is bigger than the other one.
6. One of my dreams is to live for a while on every continent.
7. We have three dogs at home, two of them have the same name Asta.
8. Ive just graduated but have already worked in 4 different countries and Im going to start work in the 5th one.
9. I believe Barcelona is a dream city.
10. I have never been to Barcelona, just like very much Dali, Picasso, Gaudi, spanish music and sea.
11. I have never smoked cigarette.
12. I tried smoking joints few times, almost burnt my lungs but never felt the effect.
13. I passionately read guide books.
14. My first kiss was at the age 6.
15. I never wear watch.
16. I dont mind people coming late.
17. I do myself so.
18. I dont like cooking and love people who can and like cooking.
19. I am sweets addicted.
20. The most important thing for me is to be a good person.
21. I had few hamsters as a child, finally got a dog for my 18th birthday (from friends of course).
22. My parents love the dog now, even more than I do.
23. I enjoy watching figure skating very much.
24. I won once 120$ in Las Vegas.
25. I have close relatives in cold Russia and hot Australia.
26. If I could choose I would be a theater actor.
27. I was in a drama group for 4 years.
28. I still dont have a driving licence.
29. My parents got married after 3 month of being together.
29a. It took them 2 more years to decide to have me.
30. My small brother is very intelligent and very unorganised.
31. Im in his room and have never seen such a mess.
32. I made a pilgrimage once - two weeks of walking.
33. Im a fan of movies by Almodovar.
34. I lived 12 years in a small town Drawsko (15 000 citizens).
35. For other 13 years of my life i lived in a big city Lodz (nearly 1 000 000 citizens).
36. I like songs in spanish, russian and german.
37. I dont drink coffee.
38. I have the whole polish edition of National Geographic. It is a love at the first page.
39. As a child I always thought that Im too skinny.
40. Now I think that Im too fat. What a life...
41. I like museums and art exhibitions.
42. I dont remember half of my 18th birthday party - got soo drunk.
43. I read the whole biography of Queen Elizabeth I, got really fascinated.
44. I visit World Press Photo Exhibition every year.
45. If I really like the film I go to watch it in the cinema several times.
46. I failed one exam on my studies. It was of course unfair.
47. I like when guys have blue eyes and dark skin:)
48. It is 2am now.
49. I like to have goals and to know what Im doing sth for.
50. I still dont know what Im creating this blog for.

to be continued...

Anna Buda's Photo Galleries at pbase.com

2005-01-16T13:40:00.000+01:00

Anna Buda's Photo Galleries at pbase.com

There are some more photo albums which I created while staying in Germany. You can find it on the following websites starting from the number 1 till 12 (www.pbase.com/anna_buda_bonn12).

Life's a Trip - cool weblog example

2005-01-16T02:10:00.000+01:00

Life's a Trip

Tomek - my brother

2005-01-16T01:45:00.000+01:00

Here with my brother Tomek. He is 3 years younger than me.

Lodz - my city

2005-01-15T18:31:00.000+01:00

This is my city - Lodz.
It is the second largest city in Poland (after Warsaw).
As the only one in Poland (I guess) offers rickshaw drive.

Hello

2005-01-15T18:07:00.000+01:00

Let me introduce myself and my new blog...:)
This picture was taken on New Years Eve 2005.
I hope this year will give my life a certain direction.

Test

2005-01-15T17:41:00.000+01:00

HI
I just want to see how it works.
greets
Ania