Warsaw | Charlotte's VVeb

Great Masters In Warsaw

25/05/201022/10/2016 by Charlotte J

This summer a selection of paintings by Dutch masters is open for the public to see and enjoy in Warsaw. Famous “Lady with an Ermine” by Leonardo da Vinci, and the “Landscape with the Good Samaritan” by Rembrandt van Rijn, and dozens of paintings from the collection of Dutch masters of the Princes Czartoryski Museum in Krakow can now be viewed at the Royal Castle in Warsaw.

The exhibition is accompanied by beautiful arts and crafts from Europe, and the Middle, and Far East. Presentation of these masterpieces in Warsaw will allow completing the renovation of the building of the Princes Czartoryski Museum in Krakow (30 September 2010).

Due to the exceptional nature, the exhibition is presented in the exhibition halls on the first floor of the castle. The tour was designed so that you can also see Rembrandt’s paintings “Scholar at the desktop” and “and the “Girl in the picture frame” belonging to the collections of the Royal Castle It is therefore a unique opportunity to see in one place all the Polish Rembrandts.

For more information go to www.warsawtour.pl

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Chopin Museum Renovation in Warsaw, Poland

19/03/201019/10/2016 by Charlotte J

Chopin Year 2010 will signal a number of important cultural events in Poland. One of the key events will be the opening of a new museum dedicated to the life and works of Frederic Chopin in Warsaw. Work on renovating the old building which houses the museum began in 2005. The institution dedicated to collecting Chopin memorabilia, has been located in the historic Ostrogski Palace at 1, Okólnik Street in Warsaw (originally a castle founded at the end of the 17th century by Duke Janusz Ostrogski) for many years, but its redevelopment has completely changed the nature of the former museum. While particular care has been taken to preserve the long tradition of the institution, the museum has gained a new identity which will enable it to meet the different needs of its visitors.

The collection that was first started in 1899 by the Warsaw Music Society is the world’s largest collection Frederic Chopin related items includes musical manuscripts, printed scores, Chopin’s correspondence, personal items (such as cufflinks and diaries), iconography, as well as biographical works about him and critical commentaries on his compositions and his reception as a composer.

About Ostrogski Palace

In the 1680s, the deputy chancellor of the Crown Treasury, Jan Gniński commissioned the leading Dutch architect Tylman van Gameren to design a magnificent palatial residence. The present palace, built on the site of an earlier fortification, is located in the part of van Gameren’s design where the kitchen buildings were originally planned. Throughout the centuries the palace has served many different functions and was rebuilt several times in the 18th and 19th centuries.

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Beethoven Easter Festival, Warsaw, Poland

11/03/201019/10/2016 by Charlotte J

The Polish capital of Warsaw will host the 14th Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival later this month. The ever-popular two-week event gets underway on Sunday 21st March, running until Saturday 3rd April. Fourteen days will be dedicated to Beethoven and the wealth of classical music in the two centuries since his heyday, as Warsaw welcomes performers and artists from around the world. Every year the festival is built around a central theme, and this year organisers are celebrating the phenomenon of the piano alongside the genius of Poland’s favourite son, Fryderyk Chopin, and his contemporary Robert Schumann. The Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival has been a part of Warsaw’s cultural calendar since 2004 after starting life in Krakow in 1997.

Tickets for performances are available now and you can find out more at www.beethoven.org.pl/en

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Google Reveals Historic Aerial Images from WWII

24/02/201019/10/2016 by Charlotte J

Google has announced a new set of historical aerial images, taken over European cities during World War II, which have been made available via Google Earth. They can now be compared directly to images from the present day. Images taken in 1943, show the effect of wartime bombing on more than 35 European towns and cities. Imagery for Warsaw, which was heavily destroyed at the time, is available from both years 1935 and 1945.

The Historical Imagery feature gives people a unique perspective on the events of the past using today’s mapping technology. It is hoped that this World War II imagery will enable all of us to understand our shared history in a new way and to learn more about the impact of the war on the development of our cities.

Imagery from 1935 and 1945 for Warsaw in Poland is particularly compelling. The city was amongst those most badly damaged in the war and comparisons with today are striking. Contrast can be seen for example by comparing the imagery of the Historic Centre of Warsaw, a UNESCO World Heritage site, described as an ‘outstanding example of a near-total reconstruction of a span of history covering the 13th to the 20th century’. The Royal Castle of Warsaw for example was completely burned to the ground and subsequently reconstructed, between 1971-1988. Dramatic too is the imagery of the location of the Warsaw Ghetto, supposedly the largest ghetto in Europe between 1940 and 1943.

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Celebrate the future with St Andrew in Poland

30/11/200918/10/2016 by Charlotte J

Today thousands of young Poles are celebrating their futures and hoping to catch a glimpse of their love-to-be, as part of St Andrew’s day. Traditional belief has it that on the night before St Andrew’s day, a young woman is able to “see” her future husband – although today both women and men celebrate the day with equal enthusiasm, hoping to discover the love of their life.

In Poland, traditional Andrzejki superstitions include pouring hot wax from a candle into cold water through a key hole – a future husband’s profession can be determined from the shape of the resulting piece of wax. It is also popular for young women to write the names of potential husbands on pieces of paper and then put them under their pillow. In the morning they take one out, which reveals the name of the husband-to-be.

While tradition and superstition abounds on St Andrew’s eve, it is now well known as a party night throughout Poland with young people across the country celebrating their youth. This year the celebrations will take place on a Saturday, making for a great party atmosphere and an ideal time for people to visit the country.

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Christmas Markets make Poland a Festive Wonderland

17/11/200918/10/2016 by Charlotte J

Poland’s top city destinations are getting ready for this year’s winter festivities. Krakow, Warsaw and Gdansk will enter into the spirit of the season this December as all three cities hold their famous Christmas markets. Visitors will get the chance to experience a traditional Polish Christmas, sample our festive food, enjoy Polish carols and warm themselves with hot mulled wine. And of course a white Christmas is always on the cards in Poland.

Perhaps the country’s best-known Christmas market is the one held every year on Krakow’s Rynek, featuring handicrafts from across the Małopolska region, wonderful foodstuffs including bigos, pierogi and delicious oscypek cheese, and plenty of hot wine to help keep the cold at bay. The market gets underway on 7 December and lasts until after Christmas Day.

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New Flights Put Poland On Your Doorstep

28/10/200918/10/2016 by Charlotte J

Poland is now closer than ever before thanks to a new route opening between London Gatwick and Warsaw airports. Irish airline Aer Lingus is behind the new venture which took off on Sunday (25 October). The inaugural flight leaves London at 4.30pm, arriving in the Polish capital in time for an evening meal.

The Polish National Tourist Office is delighted with the extra flights which will put Poland on the doorstep of thousands of British holidaymakers. Aer Lingus is committing itself to one flight each way every day of the week between the two capital cities.

What you need to know:

Flights are scheduled to depart London Gatwick at 16.30, arriving at Warsaw Fryderyk Chopin at 19.50.

Warsaw to London flights are scheduled to depart at 20.30, arriving between 22.05 and 22.25 depending on the day of the week.

For more information about the Polish National Tourist Office visit www.poland.travel/en-gb/ or www.aerlingus.com

2009 is Polska! Year in the UK. For more information visit http://www.polskayear.pl/

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Warsaw Welcomes Polish & International Cinema

06/10/200918/10/2016 by Charlotte J

The 25th Warsaw International Film Festival gets underway next month, and this year the 10-day event will be bigger and better than ever. Organisers promise art-house offerings from every corner of the globe between 9 and 18 October, with a special emphasis on up-and-coming Polish talent hoping to become the next Wajda or Polanski.

As well as Polish offerings, films on the list for 2009 include works by directors from across the world. Over 100 films will be screened throughout the festival, with prestigious awards presented to the best and most popular films.
For more information about the Polish National Tourist Office visit Poland
2009 is Polska! Year in the UK. For more information visit Polska Year

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Warsaw Air Drop – Poetry in Motion

05/10/200918/10/2016 by Charlotte J

Chapman Freeborn Airchartering has assisted in a high-profile public art project dropping bookmarks containing poetry on cities that have subjected to aerial bombing raids. The air charter specialist’s Poland office assisted in arrangements for the Warsaw Bombing of Poems event by coordinating a MI-2 helicopter charter to drop one hundred thousand poems printed on bookmarks over the streets of the capital’s Old Town on 2 October 2009.

The poem drop took place without warning and under the cover of night, in a move that mirrored events from more than 60 years ago. Thousands of residents in Warsaw’s Old Town took to the streets to witness the spectacle and catch the bookmarks, whose poems were written in their mother tongues by Chilean and Polish contemporary poets. Warsaw was the fourth city chosen to host the Bombing of Poems. This year the city commemorates the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of WWII and 65th the anniversary of Warsaw Uprising.

The event has been carried out previously in three different places: the government palace of Chile called La Moneda bombed by Pinochet on 11 September 1973, the city of Dubrovnik (Croatia) shelled on 6 December 1991 by Serbian and Montenegrin forces and the city of Guernica (Basque Country, Spain) which suffered the first Nazi air-bombardment on 26 April 1937.

The idea behind the Bombing of Poems is to contrast terrifying acts of war designed to kill and injure civilians and destroy civic morale with the power of peace poems inspiring hope and forgiveness. The next Bombing of Poems is due to happen in Berlin in 2010 or 2011.

To watch a video of the event click here

To find out more visit www.loscasagrande.org

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Mozart Festival in Warsaw

17/06/200917/10/2016 by Charlotte J

Classical music lovers are in for a real treat in Poland over the six weeks. The Warsaw Chamber Opera is celebrating the life and works of Mozart with a festival of his music. Poland’s capital city will host productions of all of the famous composer’s twenty three stage works, as well as a selection of his orchestral and chamber compositions and concert arias. The opera performances will be held at the Warsaw Chamber Opera and the concerts at several venues in the city including the Royal Castle, the Lazienki Park and the Seminary Church.

Next year celebrations throughout Poland will take place to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Frederic Chopin’s birth, so the Mozart event in Warsaw should give people a taste of what’s to come.

Now in its 19th year, the Warsaw Mozart Festival – the brainchild of the Chamber Opera‘s Artistic Director Stefan Sutkowski – was first launched in 1991, the 200th anniversary of Mozart’s death.

For a timetable of events go to www.operakameralna.pl

For more information about the Polish National Tourist Office visit www.poland.travel/en-gb/

2009 is Polska! Year in the UK. For more information visit www.polskayear.pl