Getting into the mood of Christmas

I love Christmas markets so much I actually should have a separate tag for this kind of posts. There is no single winter without me visiting at least one of such venues (2013 was an exception because my son was born in November). Have a look yourself:
2015
2014
2012 and 2012

This year we went to see our local Christmas Markets in Szczecin and maybe we will go again for a one day Berlin trip. We’ll see if we manage to squeeze this one in. Anyway, the one in Szczecin is quite cool although there were really a lot of people this year. It seems like every year there are more and more. Nevertheless, Wojtek enjoyed the carousel ride, we bought a nice piece of bio cheese with garlic (felt like in France for a moment) and did a couple of sparkling photos. Oh yeah, how could I forget… The reindeers are always fun!

Christmas and New Year in Szczecin

Finally, it’s this time of the year, my favourite without any doubt. I am happy we could spend Christmas with family and friends this year. We celebrated Christmas Eve with all our family sitting at one table (17 people children not counted). Before that we had done lots of Christmas preparations like decorating a tree, cooking pierogi or setting up winter decorations. First day of Christmas meant more family visits to us. On the second day of Christmas we organised a meeting to all our closest friends – a traditions that was started 10 years ago and has been cherished ever since. I am grateful that I have so many dear people around me and that I can share those moments with them.

Our visit passed quickly and we never had a moment for ourselves to rest. We had lots of visits, did some walks in the city greenery, went shopping a couple of times, did even more visits… Despite having such a busy time we managed to rest a bit and charge the batteries for the New Year.

On our way back home (by home I mean France now) we experienced a little setback… I mean, it’s winter so it was nothing very unexpected but recent high temperatures dulled our vigilance. And here’s what we encountered…

Fortunately we made it safely to Saint Genis and we are back to our everyday life ready for new challenges. Next on: ski course in the Alps!

Silent night

Silent and holy night indeed… And very special to us. It’s our first Christmas ever spent far away from our family members. I felt very sorry we couldn’t come to Poland to celebrate these days, which to me are the most family-like and domestic out of all in the year. But the uniqueness of this Christmas is twofold… On the one hand we’re far away from our home, but on the other there are three of us and there are no words to describe what it really means to us. So all in all, we are very happy.

Personally, I love Christmas. Every single element of it – starting from „Last Christmas” by Wham, then all the cooking, lovely street lights, ginger candle scents, presents packing, snow and cold… They are all ingredients for the perfect time to me. I wanted to have it all this year to be sure that I did everything I could to make this time as cosy and enjoyable as every year. And so, we had a lovely Christmas tree sparkling with red and green lights, I made a home-made lampion (which is a present to our friends who will appreciate the time and sweat I put into manufacturing it), Radek did the cooking this year and so we had barszcz z uszkami (beetroot soup with mashroom dumplings), pierogi ruskie (white cheese and potato dumplings), potato pancakes with mashroom sauce and cheese cake for dessert – all of them being traditional polish Christmas dishes. I really enjoyed the time. In the end, it’s true what my beloved song says… Home is wherever I’m with you…

Welcome to the world Wojtek

This was a very special day to us – by no means the most important one in our lives. Today we welcomed to this world our little son – Wojtek. It’s just amazing how parenthood influences the way we see the world and our role in it. I’ve never thought this moment would be so special, filled with utter joy and happiness, making everything else less important. I hope that our son will have a happy life and will grow to a good man, respecting the values that we will teach him.

5th wedding anniversary in Geneva

Today we celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. We set out to Geneva, to a ceremonial dinner in a restaurant and a walk downtown. We made a short recollection what has happened in the past five years and I have to say, quite a bit. We both hope that the next five years will be even more fruitful.
The day was exceptionally hot, even after the sunset, so our walk was rather lazy. We stopped by an embankment quite often to admire the view on the city and enjoyed the splash of the water under the fountain. Lovely evening.

Fête nationale française

Bastille Day (14 July) is widely celebrated in whole France. In fact, every little village has its own concerts, celebrations and of course – fireworks. We went to Ferney Voltaire to be a part of it. At Château de Voltaire celebrations were at its best. At 22.30 (I was surprised by the punctuality) fireworks accompanied by classical music started. That was a real treat. We watched them from the castle’s garden hill, they looked stunning.

Woman’s Day treats

Today was the International Woman’s Day. It’s an occasion widely celebrated in Poland. You can meet men giving away flowers to women on the streets and tons of ladies strolling around with bouquets (tulips and roses are the most popular).

Since I work in a rather manly environment (all in all there are only ~10% of women in my company), I experienced a lot of signs of good will and friendliness.

So my treats for this day comprised of:
– flowers and chocolates from my work colleagues and family
– photo shoot organised by my employer.

Yep, you got it right! An undeniable advantage of working in a corporation is that it creates a lot of possibilities of various kind. There are budgets for different activities and employees can really benefit from that.
This year we had a marvellous occasion to participate in a video shoot for the Woman’s Day. For those girls who volunteered, an additional keepsake was given. We had a professional photo session organised. I enjoyed both – video and photos.
Have a look at the results.

And the movie… Quoting from YT:
This video shows women in Tieto Poland who work on different levels in
the corporate hierarchy and are responsible for different areas related
to software engineering. We hope to encourage young women to choose
studies and career in the fields of information technology.

This
video is part of an information campaign in Poland, starting 8 March
2013, that is intended to show the diversity of possibilities for career
development for women in the IT industry. 

Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity in Szczecin

Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity is by no means the most heart warming festivity in Poland. Every year huge amount of charity money (this year around 10 000 000 EUR) is collected all over the world. All of that thanks to one person – Jurek Owsiak.
I really like that day of the year – it was particularly important for me when I was a child. I remember how all the fuss about the event made my spirit elevated, I really could see the cause for all of that. Now it’s the same, maybe without this unlimited, childlike trust in everything.
Anyway, each year Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity is accompanied by events all over the world. We had one in Szczecin as well.

Except for stage attractions (hard music concerts and charity auctions) there was a snow park (I perceive the name a bit over the top as it comprised only of one snowboard ramp – and even that was not really splendid as such) and an ice skating rink. There were also ice sculptures, an exhibition of army vehicles and first aid stands prepared by emergency rescuers.

We also took the occasion to shoot a few Szczecin-at-night photos. Our cathedral looked very pretty at night, with the lanterns put at its entrance. Maybe we don’t have the most spectacular old town in the world, but at least what we have is pretty.