Two amazing places in Europe to visit

Amsterdam and Vienna I have visited couple times already. Those are unusual cities with all the advantages of a big city: culture, history, food, entertainment, good transport. They share several important similarities. First, both of the cities are capitals of rich European countries. Thousand of tourists visit both the world famous cities.
There are excellent tenements kept in styles of the previous ages. The cities are also famous for their great painters. There are two major one: Van Gogh and Rembrandt in Amsterdam. Vienna is very proud of Gustav Klimt.
Second, the cities got great museums and galleries that present work and biography not only these superb painters but also other well-known. They got also hundreds of other museums that contain many artefacts as well as paintings, for instance the modern art and Anna Frank House. Vienna have the Museum of Natural History (Naturhistorische ), the Museum of Art and Culture (Kunsthistorische )and the Art House (Kunsthaus) that are the most significant and classical museums. All of them are the prominent representatives.
A common misconception of Amsterdam and Vienna citizens is that Dutch and Austria language is very close to German. Dutch people have to learn German at school as well as Austrian. German is the basic language in Austria.

Both of the cities are very open to people from every walk of life. There live thousands of emigrants and tourists.
Amsterdam and Vienna are the safe cities, and there is nothing to fear from walking in any part of the cities. As in any large city you should beware only of pick pockets- they are everywhere!
Both of the cities are wonderful but they have also many aspects that make them different.
Amsterdam is physically smaller and relatively quiet. The tenements are narrow and not high. The architecture has the specific, like from Lego blocks made, looking.
Vienna is huge and you can feel the enormous power of all the historic, marvellous buildings.
Amsterdam has smaller history and never had such political importance in Europe as Vienna.
Amsterdam is more famous for its lovely canals, small bridges above them and thousands of bike roads. And largely thanks to the canals, the city has relatively little traffic. There people prefer rather move by their boats or on bicycles than by cars, as the Vienna citizens do. Vienna is always congested, noisy and full of busy running people. Amsterdam for instance, provides more easy style of life and you can feel it during a pleasure stroll.
Both of the beautiful cites have rather more contrasts than common things but that makes them more interesting and worth to see.

Are ZOOS cruel to wild animals?

Our children love watching animals and they encourage their parents to go to Zoo in spare time. It is said that animals make children calm and sometimes watching animal is a good therapy for our pupils.
Nonetheless, did some of us, even for a while, think how really look the life of the poor and begging looking animals in Zoos. In my opinion we do not have any right to keep the wild animals in the awful cages. How we would feel if someone would close us in one of the small cages.

Firstly, we all can notice how terrible and dirty are places where the animals are closed in the Zoos. The condition of the cages are sometimes of more lower standard than we can see from outside. It is obviously known that some of the animals must have a lot of space to survive and have even the basic part of nature conditions. The cages are usually cold, unpleasant and the only thing we can see inside of it, is cringed in the corner creature, devoid of freedom.

In addition, people sometimes do not have any idea how to behave in Zoos and how to treat every specific kind of those animals. Children are screaming, crying, parents or carers of groups are feeding some of them and do not keep orders of their charges. Such behaviour scan be very dangerous, not only for the animals but also for observers.

Thirdly, our government does not have money even for orphans, so how it could think of the poor condition of Zoos. Some of the animal supporters are trying to gather a money for the animals purposes but it is still not much. There are necessary not only great amounts of money but also good wills.

In contrast, there are some people who have an opinion that animals do not deserve for right treating because human is more important in the world. Animals should not have any rights because they are not the thinking creatures. Such attitudes are very negative and make the animal situation only worse.

Taking these points into consideration, I would say that there should not be any Zoos in our countries until people and government will create better condition and special law for those innocent and deny of living in their natural environment wild animals.

Seeking 'home' in a new realities

“Interpreter of Maladies” is a fascinating book based on events told by a new generation of Indians born already in the United States. The book includes nine great stories that capture the out of-context immigrants' lives, expatriates and first generation Americans.
They describe the bad situation of their ancestors who emigrated to the ‘promised land’ and could not find themselves in a modern society.
Jhumpa Lahiri is Indian as well. She raised in Indian surroundings in Rhode Island. It is incredible that just a thirty-years old woman after publishing the book, won great acclaim in the world. “Interpreter of Maladies” brought her fascinating fame in 1999. She was honored as ‘Debut of the Year’ by The New Yorker and winner of the Hemingway Award. “Interpreter of Maladies” introduces a young writer of astonishing maturity and her insight into human nature.
Each story has a different character. The plots are mostly based on Indian matters such as: longing for family land, and home, worries with finding their culture and tradition in a new world, problems with acceptation and fears concerned in ‘building’ a new home. The author shows that the younger generation is dealing more successful with the modern world while the old Indian immigrants suffer and miss their home country. These people are trying to convince their children to maintain the Indian culture and religion. This is the most bothering matter which only causes problems between the generation.
Lahiri fiction follows carefully the depth of alienation and cross-cultural development in American’s Indian immigrant community. There are the subtle tales about people trying to reconcile the traditions they inherited with troublesome new culture and place.
The events, matters and situations that the characters are set in, are so brilliantly written that allow readers to enter into imaginary lives of its heroes.
The stories are gripping very fast and each part of the book begin with new facts. It is also a marvelous review of some Indian customs. There is a description of their Indian cuisine and the way of preparing the food.
All in all, it is worth reading book that reaches the psychological conditions and terrestrial aspects of human life.

In the name of the nature

ON HELEN’S TRAIL- How one determined grandmother helped rescue the Great Swamp

I have been in Great Swamp Park in NJ couple times already. It is a really beautiful place of variety of animals and views of forests and little ponds. I have read some time ago an article about a lady who tries to protect the region from destruction of nature. The autor of the aritcle showed that Helen Fenske did tremendous effort during her life in order to protect the nature from today’s destructive civilization and technology. The author of the article tells the story of Helen Fenske who protected the land of the Great Swamp in New Jersey from the development of the airport project from 1959 there. It shows that instead of flying huge planes, traffic jams on the roads and horrible smoke there now the area that she saved is full of great species of birds, animals, insects and other creatures .The author of the article tells how important the work of Helen Fenske is for the present generations but especially for the local area and people there.
I love nature: forests, fields, mountains and especially the wild life in it.
National Parks and protected natural areas are important for people’s life now and in the future. I think that if there are not such places, we will not have chances to survive. Nature is everything what society have and what they should greatly take care of.
In my opinion people needs to know, talk, and learn about it but the most, to realize how damaging the new civilization can be for the nature recently. Society should react to some unnecessary project that may harm the natural environment. The Great Swamps National Wildlife Refuge has an amazing geological history that begins in the Jurassic Period that it was created and formulated through other later periods.
I am not surprised that Helen Fenske was fighting for the rights of the unique areas so strongly because that are the prettiest places in the region. Especially in the summer time when the real wild life, including chains of bugs to fish, birds and mammals, is waking up.
I absolutely agree with the author that it is a prefect region to take family or group of tourists for a nice walk where they can see vast number of birds with different colors and sizes and other rare animals that would be difficult to see somewhere else. It has also beautiful views of the pounds, river and surrounding trees.
It is really difficult to image how terrible sight of the flat cemented roads and ugly, gigantic buildings it could be if not Helen Fenske and her helpers such as: Rep. Peter Dodge and Remington Arms who helped to sponsor her achievements. All together protected the villages and towns located nearby the Great Swamp from the huge companies and branches of hotels, offices and other big corporations that are usually surrounded in the neighborhood of the airports. All the visitors of the National Wildlife Refuge, including me, just can not picture the Newark airport full of busy business life. In that district we can find piece and rest but also enjoy the fresh and healthy environment.
The amazing fact is that the work and plans of the great Helen Fenske is still continued after her death. This is a great thing that people want to follow the idea
Finally, I believe that the article is very important because the wild life and our environment are essential for our life and future generations.

Household robots negative

Household robots

Robots became present in every part of people’s life recently so addictively that human existence would be in serious danger if not computers’ hard and exact, in counting, work.
World can not imagine calculating distance, time and other systems without this amazing technological discovery which computer is. People are so used to and, some even, addicted to it now that losing it can cause depression or even serious deceases and not having it, can made man weak and not working properly. Therefore, in my opinion, having robot or any kind of creature of it and especially in the household environment, would be negative.

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Cooking is not my favorite thing to do. I believe that it takes a lot of time and effort. Also the mixed smells of a cooking dishes does not make me hungry as much as before starting it and I am usually tired after the process of standing or moving around the same area, kitchen.
Traditional Polish dinner consists of two dishes: 1st soup and 2nd: potatoes, meat, plus some salads. In America eating soups it’s not so popular. Some people here eat it only in the winter to warm up. The recipes of the soups are also different and the dish has a consistency of thick liquid. In Poland soups are thinner and you can see what is in it.
Anyway, recently I have discovered a great soup that does not take much time to do and it’s easy to prepare. It can be served more thick or thinner and it’s noticeable what in it (my favorite: mushrooms!)
Try and you will like it:

Cream of Mushroom Soup
You'll need:5 cups sliced mushrooms (as if I ever really measure)

3 cups chicken broth

1/2 chopped onion

a few sprigs of fresh thyme (or 1/8 tsp dry)

3 tbsp butter 3 tbsp flour

1 cup half & half

2 tbsp sherry

salt & pepper to taste

Sauté mushrooms in broth with onion & thyme until tender (about 15 minutes).Pureé the mixture (carefully!), leaving chunks as you wish (O do).In a heavy pan, melt butter & whisk in flour until smooth (in other words, make roux).Add half & half to roux & add that to the other pot full, along with pepper &/or saltas you wish. Stirring constantly, bring the mixture to a low boil until it thickens up.Adjust seasonings, add sherry & serve it up with bread & a salad. Serves 4.

BON APPETIT!!!

Black Friday warning

I’m hosting recently two of my very good friends from Poland. Since the American currency 'dollar' went up, their trip became more expensive than they have planned. But still they can afford to buy some clothes of good brands, electrical equipments, perfumes and other stuff that is cheaper than in their country. How come? I really don’t know and if I even think of it, it does’t make a sense….
Anyway, the two very good friends of mine heard about the Black Friday which is a day after the Thanksgiving and in which the stores offer amazing discounts of a products. (history: Black Friday-the usage of that day dates from September 24, 1869, a Friday when stock manipulators Jay Gould and James Fisk tried to corner the gold market and caused its collapse. The adjective black has been appended to similar occasions ever since, including October 29, 1929, the Tuesday of the market collapse that marked the start of the Great Depression, and Black Monday of October 19, 1987, when the stock market experienced its greatest fall since the Great Depression).
My friends were very crazy to buy things that probably will have even 50% off the original price. I only convinced them not to go to the stores in the early morning or at night (3am) because I heard its pretty unpleasant thing to do. They got up in the morning (7am) and I joined them to the discount places.

It was a horrible experience. It was crowded like never before, general meyhem people were unpleasant and the things they wanted to purchase did not have as good prices as we thought. And it appeared that some of the laptops, cameras were only a little cheaper in their country than here. I even heard that at one of the Best Buy stores a salesman was killed by a wild crowd.
Never, ever go to the store at the Black Friday!!! The prices ‘smells’ bad and it’s not worth of your life.