Fun facts and interesting events

In Roma, close to Fontana Di Trevi, in Piazza Cinquecento, there’s a special Christmas tree. It has no other decorations but pieces of paper with wishes for the next year left by visitors from all around the world. Each day the tree is getting covered by postcards, tickets or scraps of paper with notes written in different languages. The tree is supposed to be a reflection of modern human’s desires. Although the wishes come from people of different nationalities and cultures, they all regard the same things like a need to be loved, desire of being happy, etc. Everyone who wants, can leave their own wishes on the tree. I find it an interesting idea, something different from the usual.

We’re all used to Polish Christmas traditions and they don’t seem to be weird for us but some foreigners might find them unusual. Just like we consider many of  their habits quite bizarre. Here’s the list of 8 that I find particularly different. 1.        In Austria, parents threat their children with Krampus- the evil brother of Santa that comes overnight on 5 th and 6 th of December and punishes bad kids. He’s truly scary and has goat’s horns on his head. During this night we may encounter many people dressed as Krampus in the streets. 2.        Japanese eat KFC on Christmas Day. 3.        In India the traditional Christmas tree is a banana or mango tree. 4.        Women in Czech Republic  have a tradition to make some predictions or foretells during the Holiday. For example they throw a shoe over the shoulder and if it lays in the way that the tip of the shoe points the door, it means that the girl, that was throwing, will get married in the next year. 5.        In Ca

This weekend, that is: 9 th and 10 th of December, Poznan for the 12 th time holds Stihl Ice Festival. Sixteen sculptures from all around the world will take part in the competition that this year will be divided it two parts. First part of the competition is called Speed Ice Carving. In each round, 3 sculptures will have 30 minutes to create a sculpture on a given subject. The best of them will meet in the second round which will reveal the finalists. But that is only the warm-up before the main competition on Sunday. All of the ‘artists’ , divided in two-man teams, will have to, within 8 hours, create a sculpture on the theme chosen by them. First judges will choose the winner and then all of the artworks will be presented during an audio-visual display. The entrée is free and besides the ice carving show, the visitors can enjoy the Christmas carol performances or taste some Christmas treats.