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The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity (in Polish called Wielka Orkiestra Świątecznej Pomocy, commonly abbreviated to WOŚP) is an innitiative incomparable to any other European or international charity campaign. Since 1993 this foundation has been raising money for purchasing medical equipment and conducting health care programs throughout the country. As for now, it is the second biggest charity in Poland, giving place only to Caritas.
Each year, in the first weeks of January, the GOCC celebrates its so-called ”Finale”, collecting money on the strrets of most major Polish cities and organising free concerts and cultural events in the whole country. Regadless of the snow and freezing cold, millions of Poles outdoors and celebrate together, all contributing to the foundation's cause. Last year, for example, the GOCC volunteers collected almost 50 mln PLN and - what's worth mentioning - these numbers grow larger each year.
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Poland is a country known for many distinguished individuals like John Paul II, Lech Walesa, Frederic Chopin, Marie Curie, Joseph Conrad or Nicolaus Copernicus. But can you name some commonly known and used inventions that would be devised by Poles? Can't do it? Exatly. Poland is generally associated with things like great beer, beautiful women and kielbasa, but it seems that thoughout the ages it hasn't bred any significant inventors. This, however, couldn't be further from the truth. I will prove you that the Poles have in fact created appliances that I bet you have heard of, or maybe even used. So, there we go:
1. Bulletproof vest
Yes, you read that right. The bulletproof vest was in fact created by a Polish inventor called Jan Szczepanik in 1901. The vest was made of multiple layers of silk that were specifically woven so that they could stop bullets. The invention turned out be quite successful and the cloth used in the vest passed the practical test when it prevented the assasination of the Spanish king Alfonso XIII. In 1906 in Paris, he was travelling in a carriage padded with Szczepanik's special silk when suddenly a bomb exploded. Thanks to the bulletproof material, the king was unharmed and Szczepanik gained himself quite a fame. Everybody should agree that his acclaim was well-earned, right?
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November 1st seemed to be a peaceful day. As it is All Saints' Day, an important Polish holiday, most of us were out visiting graves of our deceased relatives and spending time with our families. Nobody would expect to hear such terrible news – one of LOT's (Polish airlines) Boeings was circling over Warsaw and preparing for an emergency landing on Okęcie airport.
It turned out there was a failure of undercarriage gear and the pilot had to land the machine without wheels. The whole country froze in disbelief and terror, as that kind of landing is extremely dangerous. The situation seemed hopeless. It would be another Polish aircraft tragedy, just a year and a half after the tragic accident in Smolensk, where the president Lech Kaczynski and 95 more died. When the plane's fuel tanks were almost empty the pilot decided to finally attempt the crash landing. We were all crossing our fingers while we watched a live broadcast on tv or listened to an audition on the radio. Fortunately, the pilot managed to sit the plane on the runway so smoothly that only occasional sparks and flames indicated that it wasn't in fact a regular landing. Even some of the passangers say that they were convinced they landed on wheels, not on the plane's belly. Right after the machine came to a halt all passengers disembarked and no-one was injured. This was also the moment that we lauded Tadeusz Wrona, the Boeing's pilot, as our new national hero.
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Celebrating Halloween is a very popular tradition around the world. It stems form a Celtic festival called Samhain, which has been a vital part of Irish tradition since as early as the 10th century and from that time it has been spreading around and gaining fame in a multitude of different countries. Yet, in Poland still hardly anyone dresses up and goes trick-or-treating. Moreover, many people, mainly the elderly, find kids going door-to-door asking for sweets quite annoying and distrurbing.
The reason for this aversion towards Halloween probably derives from the traditional christian character of our country – in the past dressing up as ghosts and monsters was considered a dangerous pagan ritual. That belief has been passed on though the ages and has stuck deeply in the conscience of the Poles. Another factor is that we were always more focused on celebrating All Saints Day, which in our culture is a very melancholic and pensive holiday, so it doesn't correspond well with the festive and joyful character of Halloween. Furthermore, in the past decade or so the festivities of October 31st have been associated with the tacky American pop-culture cliche and regarded as undermining the very principals of the All Saints Day.
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Summer is approaching, so authorities think what to do, to make Polish cities more attractive for tourists. The greatest efforts can be seen in Warsaw. Capital of Poland prepares a lot of new attractions which let visitors to meet every corner of the city that is worth to see. Especially City Transport Management has a lot to offer. Water or retro trams and horse-drawn buses are only few among plenty of vehicles that make travelling around Warsaw easier and much more pleasant.
From the beginning of June Vistula becomes a great attraction, trough water trams and cruises from Warsaw to Serock by Zegrzynski Bay. During hot summer days there is nothing more pleasant than relaxing on the board of a gently swaying boat, listening sound of water and birds singing. Cruise by water tram stays about 2 hours, during which You can hear about the most interesting sights near the river from the audio guide, try some barbecue dishes and also listen to live music playing by on-board orchestra. If it's not enough for You, You can try another cruise, the longer one, which leads to Serock, small town with medieval architecture, placed by the bay. You will be able to marvel landscape park surrounding the town which contains amazing amount of unique birds and other fauna and flora species.
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Less than a month ago Russian Communist Party shouted that Katyn was a Nazi crime. Brain washing and false propaganda would have no end but on Saturday morning unbelievable information shocked the world. Now, there’s no doubt that tragic events of Katyn was a Soviet crime. Russia stops the silence and beat its breast. But why such great sacrifice was needed to stop this lies?
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During the upcoming weekend (from 31th of July to 2nd of August) for the fifteenth time you can experience one of the biggest open air festivals in Europe - “Przystanek Woodstock”. It's hard to imagine that only two scene scenes, a tent field and a few additional attractions will be available to thousands of visitors (in 2008 about 300.000! people attended).
Source: wikipedia
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