The One In The Psychiatric Hospital

Literally.

Today there was a guided walk around the Kobierzyn Palace and Park Complex, which houses the Hospital. It had already been too late since I'd done some sightseeing in Kraków... and it was less than 3km from my place - so of course I went.
The complex is almost 100 years old, there are lots of beautiful, historical buildings, and the surrounding park makes it all look more like a setting for a Jane Austen movie - you'd never guess it's a hospital, if you didn't know.
They organise an event like this every season. You can learn about the history of psychiatry in general and about the history of this particular place. All in all, very interesting - totally worth freezing my buttons off.
(Interesting fact: nobody actually knows why the Hospital was named after Józef Babiński, since he was a neurologist...)

Stay tuned.

The One In The Capital City

And the Warsaw National Stadium was pretty much all I got to see.

Stay tuned.

The One At World's End

Saturday

7.30 a.m. I had found a person going to the Dębno marathon and willing to take passengers. There were eight of us and turned out to be a varied company: Tadeusz, the driver, and his wife, both members of runner's clubs (plus his father as a backup driver); their friend, Monika, participant of half-marathons and marathons all over the world; Andrzej, one the fathers of the Cracovia Marathon (!); his friend, Stanisław, who used to work at Wisła with women's volleyball team; and a nice, quiet guy, whose name I never got...
So the journey was full of tales of marathons and sport events.

Slept at the gymnasium, where I shared the floor with a hundred other runners. And a few of my travel companions - despite them being real, well-known sport VIPs (constantly some officials kept recognising them and starting a discussion), they did not bother to get a hotel room or something like that, but instead they just shared our common area.

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Sunday

Trying to relax before start, I read some running related quotes displayed on a board at the marathon headquarters. Two favourites of mine being:

At the finish line of a marathon you can feel that you are worth the air you breathe.

And if you aren't bone-tired and don't feel like vomiting, then it means you could have run faster...

And to top it all:

Quotations are prosthesis for mind.

Start
Surprised greatly - nobody ran for their lives, nobody tried to get ahead of everyone else and trample me in the process. Amazing.
In company of two of my travel-mates.


5km
Lost my travel-mates. Found my own pacemakers - two guys running at ~6min./1km.


13km
Lost two minutes trying to resolve problems with my mp3player - turned out it was set to repeat one folder and I did not want to listen to the Twilight soundtrack over and over again - I wanted to listen to New Moon (Twilight Pt. 2) and Eclipse (Twilight Pt. 3) as well ;D


17km
The leader overtook us. For him it was 34km - so he was literally two times faster.


25km
Lost my pacemakers when they met some friends who delayed them.


36km
Made it by myself, keeping nice and steady pace. Until my stomach almost betrayed me and I had to slow down.


40km
Saw Tadeusz and Agnieszka heading for the finish line. For me it was still one more turn.


Finish
4:28:20 - my personal best.
And I had seriously feared that I would not finish within the time limit.

After quick shower (no queue - one ladies room seemed to be enough to handle all the female participants), I went to get my recovery meal. A girl - a teenager, one of the many volunteers - immediately came to me and asked if she could get the meal for me, told me to sit down and wait as she would bring me everything. That was so sweet I almost cried. Really, the people were wonderful.

All my travel-mates made it. We got back to Kraków at 3 a.m.

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What you can say about the Dębno marathon:

• At world`s end.
• The oldest marathon in Poland (how come?!)
• Expensive - the registration fee is extremely high in comparison.
• They provide no sport t-shirts (despite the extremely high entry fee).
• There are no pacemakers ("they could not afford it" - despite the extremely high entry fee).
• Small time limit - 5 hours, whereas it is usually 6 or 6,5.
• Route made of four overlapping circles, very confusing, especially at the beginning.
• Hot spot connection at the headquarters kept freezing.

However!
They also have the nicest, the kindest, the keenest, the most helpful, the most dedicated volunteers! I mean it. Had it not been for the crew, I would probably not count it as a memorable event. They made all the difference. They were everywhere they were needed, they knew everything they should, they helped you before you even had thought of asking. And they smiled sincerely.
Plus all the supporters on the way - also very involved, despite their small number (small town, small villages), very engaged.
So the people made up for everything else.

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And why all that? The plan is to finally get the Crown of the Polish Marathons and so the Dębno Marathon is the first step (of five).

Stay tuned.

The One With White Chocolate Coated Blackcurrant Filled Gingerbread

I have visited some interesting places in Europe, but I still have lots of catching up to do when it comes to my home country. The cities are what I want to experience particularly. Last time it was Poznań. This time - Toruń.

Toruń's Old Town consists mostly of timber framing constructions, red brick historical buildings and ruins. Oh, and bizarre doors. You can feel it has different style than the cities of Southern Poland. For me, it resembles some Northern Dutch towns.
Plus there is plenty of nice museums and a great science centre nearby.

Some more photos

Stay tuned.

The Happy One

The look of sheer joy on your friend's face - priceless.

I remember exactly the last time someone told me I had that look on my face. I just got out of a metro station and was heading for the beach at the Amager Island (just a few stops from the Copenhagen city centre).
I had been there already and knew what to expect: a beach - a real, sandy, windy-as-hell beach, with dunes - in a city!! And the sea... I remember thinking that the Baltic Sea was bluer on the other side. I'd never thought I would fall in love with a sea - I had always been into the mountains - but somehow it got me.
So I decided to take my friends there. And while we were walking from the station - already smelling, hearing and feeling the sea - they said I looked like a child who had just been told that all the presents at the Christmas tree are for them.



Stay tuned.

The One At The Birthday Party Of A Three-Year-Old

Agrafka came into being on Sep 10th 2009. Instatntly it became my favourite cinema in Cracow and I have felt this way ever since. So I just could not miss the birthday party. Good wine, good company. And a film, of course.

On the Road

Sal, a writer-to-be, sets off on a roller coaster ride throughout the U.S. with Dean, playboy, easygoing with people, but selfish, irresponsible and lost. On the road they meet the whole variety of characters possible to imagine.

I am not keen on American movies - 'American' meaning set strongly in American reality, having to do with the American dream or other motives strictly related to the U.S., its history, its citizens' mindset etc. And this one, being a portrait of the Beat Generation, is American inside out. Nonetheless, I liked it.

From the first scene where you meet Sal and Dean, and their friends you can feel the tension. And actually, too much of it - I did not know who to focus on: Sal, the author; Dean, Sal's inspiration; all the others - for often they seemed more important than the main characters.
The movie consists of a series of episodes, one after another. Supporting actors at their best in every one of them: Kristen Stewart, Tom Sturridge, Viggo Mortensen, Amy Adams, Steve Buscemi... And somehow, at the end, all the parts add up and make sense.
Interesting music: somewhere between blues (hardly any more) and rock'n'roll (not quite yet).

Stay tuned.

The One Instead

You instead

I went to see this movie about two feuding rock stars get handcuffed together for 24 hours at a music festival where they are both due to perform. Mysteriously enough, there happened to be no copy of the film in the cinema... I was asked if I would like to watch Romantics Anonymous instead (which was also supposed to be screened tonight, only later, but eventually got cancelled due to Olympics - the volleyball quarter-final match). I would.

So... Rewind.

Romantics Anonymous

The story of two pathologically timid and emotionally hypersensitive people, who need to overcome their fears in order to find their happy ending. Well, it is exactly how it seems to be: nothing but predictable. However! the way is has been presented!! A true comedy in French: French language, French wit, French sense of humour. Brilliant French actors (!), who make you overlook, or rather completely forget the simplicity of the story being told.
Caution! Make sure you have some chocolate ready at hand!

How many times have I already said that I love all these small cinemas in Cracow...? For all the commitment, dedication and surprises - even those resulting from a missing tape.

Stay tuned.

The One With Jazz

I only knew Henryk Miśkiewicz by his daughter, Dorota. However, I never say 'no' to live jazz... So when the opportunity presented itself, I seized it.
I liked the music, I did not like the place - Milestone Jazz Club (too fancy, part of a hotel).

Stay tuned.

The One With The Statue That Wasn't There

I had been wondering if I could find a theme for spending a weekend in Poznań and it finally dawned on me: if in Paris or Rome you can follow the characters from the books by Dan Brown (grrr, I call him: Umberto Eco for the birds), then in Poznań you can search for all the locations from Jeżycjada, a series of youth novels by Małgorzata Musierowicz. And I was right to suspect that this plan would get approval from the friend I was visiting.
We followed some guides, lists and maps found on the web. However, neither of us remembered many details, so there where moments when we did not exactly know what we were looking for. At some point, wandering around the city, we tried to find the monument of a deep-sea diver. We went back and forth, but did not manage to localise it. There was an option that there was no staue at all and it was only a literary fiction; but that was highly unlikely, since Musierowicz always writes about things that do exist. Alternatively, the statue had been removed or somebody had made a mistake placing it on the map. After getting back home, we checked and found out there had actually never been any statue - one little girl used to put flowers underneath a fire hydrant and call it a deep-sea diver...

In general, Poznań tuned out to be a charming city. Before the visit I had not had any great expectations. Yes, Poznań is the capital of Greater Poland and it is a big city, and an old one too. But nobody ever praises it, everyone always talks about other places e.g. Wrocław or Gdańsk.

What I can say to describe the city accurately is that it is anything but flat. And I mean it in both literally and figuratively.
First of all, the ground is hilly. Which makes the city panorama all the more interesting. There are many spots from where you can see various areas and recognise different landmarks, and these views keep surprising you.
What I personally got crazy about were the historical tenement houses. They contribute greatly to the city unique character. They are marvellous and what I find extraordinary about them is that they are truly three-dimensional: so many balconies, roof-towers, bay-windows and all kind of architectural ornaments, slopes and curves, that they seem to be more like living creatures, growing on their own, not just artificial, man-made buildings. Moreover, they are everywhere - not only in the strict centre, but also in the neighbouring districts - and each of them is one of a kind.
The main square is very colourful. Truth to tell, the whole city is.
And the number of fastfood restaurants is very low, you can hardly spot any place of this kind. Instead there are plenty of small cafés, pubs and bistros.
What is interesting the oldest part of the city is not the main square and the area around, but the district on the other side of the river, where the first cathedral in Poland was build and where the first kings were buried.

The full photo-journal can be found, as always, on Picasa.

The one, huge obstacle that currently makes it difficult to enjoy Poznań is that the city is going to host the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship. Which means that at this moment it is one, large construction area and a work in progess. Still, this commotion is going to be over soon and didn't make me like the city less.

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I do love travelling by train. You get a few hours of undisturbed solitude. You can read, listen to music or simply watch the landscape changing. And there is absolutely nothing to distract you. I believe tranquillity is the word best describing my state of mind on such occasions.

Stay tuned.

The One Where Women Take Over

A few years ago I went with a couple of friends to see Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Afterwards, over a glass of beer, we agreed that we felt disappointed with the movie. So we decided to see another one - less mainstream, less popular, more oriental, and supposed to be quite good. That film was Sukkar banat‎ (Caramel), directed by Nadine Labaki, a Lebanese actress. And it was very good. Very, very good. A masterpiece, I would say. It made a proper ending to the evening, since that time we all felt completely satisfied.
It happened so that I went to see Nadine Labaki's next movie with the very same couple. And this one turned out to be as much worth watching as the previous one.

Et maintenant, on va où? (Where do we go now?)

A small, secluded village in a country tormented by religious conflicts. A group of women - some of them Christian, some of them Muslim - is determined to calm the tension in their local community. They are willing to do whatever it takes: make up miracles, hire Ukrainian dancers, bake hash pies... They are ready to sacrifice their own happiness in order to keep peace and not loose another son, brother or husband.
Sad and funny episodes intertwine here, forming a story of how not to let yourselves go crazy in this crazy, men's world. Wise, sincere, touching.
Music, as previously, by Khaled Mouzanar. And as it was the case with Caramel's score, very good - warm and brilliantly integrated into the scenes. Quite similar in the way that you can here that eastern, oriental tone. A tad different from what I usually prefer, so all the more interesting to me.


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Pod Baranami is a nice place and I like it but I have never learnt to love it. Before Agrafka opened, I had always preferred Ars. Sad news is that Ars is closing in a month. I still cannot believed it. Even now I have much sentiment to this particular movie theatre, although it feels like lately they have gone mainstream. Nevertheless, it was the first arthouse cinema I had known and loved and I am going to miss it much.

Stay tuned.

The One With The Mountain That Wasn't There

My quest to familiarise with Japanese culture subtly advances.

I visited Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology. Current exhibition comprises a number of colour woodblock prints by artists Hokusai and Hiroshige, from the Feliks Manggha Jasieński's own collection.

You have probably seen this one somewhere:

In general, the fun was to actually find the Fuji Mountain in the picture. And not only in the original prints but also in some less canonical representations and modern works, variations on the theme. Only then you could focus on the picture as a whole.

Something less obvious here:

But my absolutely personal favourite was the one depicting some fishermen at the sea and heavy clouds in the sky - there was no mountain, though... The description below gave an explanation and read something like this: Due to rainy and foggy weather you cannot observe the mountain itself. It was there - you simply could not see it.

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Recently, I have learnt a couple of interesting Japan-related details.
The Japanese people do not swear - at least not as we, Western people, understand swearing. That I can imagine.
What is totally incomprehensible for me, however, is the fact that they do not know the idea of grotesque. The point is they did not have their own Aristotle with his decorum to tell them what was adequate and what was not, which combinations were suitable and which would be unbecoming. As a consequence, they did not learn that certain things do not go together and so they mix all sort of styles with various content as it pleases them.
Curiouser and curiouser.

Stay tuned.

The One Definitely Not In The City

I have always claimed that if I don't live in the city centre, then I don't care much how far from the centre that is - I have to commute any way, so what's the difference?
Moreover, for some time now I have been saying that I definitely prefer my current, further location - if compared to some housing areas that are a bit closer and strictly within the Cracow city boundaries.
Wieliczka poseses many advantages those city estates lack. Among them are the hills. No, they cannot be called mountains, but still - you can hike, up and down you can wander. And it is wild enough to find some woods and fields to walk across, you don't have to stick to the roads; at the same time you don't need to worry that you will get lost, if you sheer off the road.
So I took advantage of the weather and set off to explore the neighbourhood. Over the hills and far away...

Still waters still ice-covered, despite apparent Spring

Left: The Three Witches (or the point where I have absolutely no idea where I am)

Right: Doesn't look like city suburbs from where I am standing, does it?

Finally, we've got some directions!

Jewish Cemetery discovered! In the woods, buried in fallen leaves. Pretty charming.

(Oh, and I think I even got tanned. But I hadn't thought of applying sunscreen... Ouch!)

Stay tuned.

The One With The Hypnosis

Yes, it is true: vampires poses the ability to hypnotise people and I happen to be the conclusive proof.

Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens

At first, it seemed a little funny: theatrical poses , exaggerated gestures, faces frozen in hyper-expression. The audience laughed. I laughed - at least for a while.
Moreover, you all know the story by heart. You all have seen films, read books etc. So there was nothing surprising there either.
Some technical issues, as usual with old movies, e.g. that typical grain and blurriness.
And you could tell they knew little about white balance - or they simply did not have any means to regulate it. As a consequence, the film is actually never black and white: you could literally see which scenes were shot at the bright daylight (these are black and blueish), which when the weather was cloudy (sepia) and where they used artificial lighting (black and yellowish). Or that was what I had been thinking, up until I realised they actually knew everything they needed. In fact, they were brilliant! They put on yellow / blue filters to indicate it was day or that the night had fallen, and they used sepia to suggest candlelight. And it was me who was that stupid not to notice the true beauty and simplicity of that minimalistic yet powerful solution.
Anyway, there came the moment when all those obstacles suddenly disappeared - or rather I stopped noticing them, so they did not interfere with the reception of the film, somehow they did not matter any more. Something shifted and I got so absorbed and drawn into the movie, I got mesmerised, hypnotised, lost. I was not aware that the music and other sounds were live. My god, this film is ninety years old and if you only let yourself you can still get goosebumps watching it! And not because it is scary, but because - in some magical way I still cannot comprehend - it conveys real emotions, creates unique atmosphere and sucks you into its world.
Some of the credit is due to the musicians. This time the percussion, guitar and keyboard got accompanied by the saxophone, which made me all the more ecstatic.

Note to self: next time make a reservation. The last time it was almost full. This time it was sold out. But nobody who really wanted to see the movie left unsatisfied, they made every effort to see to that and used pillows to create a zero raw.
So here is another reason why Agrafka stays my absolutely favourite Cracow cinema: they care.

By the way, I think I have a fetish... Cause it is not normal to be that crazy about and take such pleasure from watching old movies in the cinema. Hmmm...

Stay tuned!

The One With The Book Exchange

Where: Café Szafe, Cracow.

When: Sunday evenings, from time to time - the aim is to make the event happen every other month or so and this was the second edition. They announce it on facebook.

What: the book exchange.
It works simply enough: you bring some books you no longer need or want, for whatever reason. People come and look and if somebody likes a book of yours they offer you one of their own in exchange. You browse through theirs collections and bargain.

Although there were not so many titles, there was a wide variety of genres, so it was not at all hard to find something interesting. I only had one book I could spare with me, but made a good deal out of it. Moreover, I got lucky and incidentally won an additional book. Next time I am going to be prepared more adequately.

The One With The Czech Evening

Samotáři & Knoflíkáři

Classic Czech movies: comedies from the outside, dramas from the inside, hilarious to the point of absurd - you laugh, but you're aware you should be crying instead, and so the laughter freezes at some moments unexpectedly. Both are told in a similar manner: no main plot or main character; instead - many intertwining threads and many people sharing common problems.
If you like Czech movies, you are going to enjoy both Loners and Buttoners.
If you don't know Czech movies, you should definitely try some and these two make good example of the general flow.
(If you don't like Czech movies, you should probably get some pills to cure it).

BTW, Kika, although it is still work in progress, is up and running. To be precise: the cinema is running, the café - not yet, due to some bureaucratic procedures; but will be in the near future. Actually... the café is open as well, but unofficially: if you ask for some hot beverage, you will get it - I was treated with a very nice tea.

Stay tuned!

The One In The Cinema-Café [To-Be]

I usually go to the cinema in order to see a movie. Sometimes to see a few movies. Or some other show. This time I went to see the cinema itself.
People who can take credit for me spending many great evenings in my currently favourite cinema in Cracow are soon opening another one. The curious thing: it is going to take form of a cinema-café.
In general, I have never been fond of the idea. But some time ago I gave it a try (had no choice, really: the café room was the only one where they still screened Midnight in Paris and I did want to see that movie). And it turned out to be a lot more pleasant than I'd expected.
Anyway, it seems that KIKA - the soon to-be cinema-café - is intended to be both a café and a cinema - but not both at once: there is a screening room and there is a waiting room where you can get some beverages and snacks. It already looked charming, so cosy and inviting, on the 'open day', which was organised a week before the grand opening (to tell the truth: instead of the grand opening, which got delayed), even though there were visible signs that some work still needed to be done: no screen yet, no movie projector, crumbling walls and wires poking out, unstuck wallpapers etc. Lovely!

Oh, I can't wait!

Stay tuned!