OUR BIG AND FAMOUS CITIES

Similarities and Differences between Cracow and Barcelona

Similarities	Differences
Cracow is the second largest city and one of the oldest cities in Poland(Krakow had a recorded population of 754,854 in 2009). Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain(the population-1.628.090 in 2008).	Cracow is situated on the Vistula River. Barcelona is located on the Mediterranean between the mouths of rivers Llobregat and Besós. The climate in Barcelona is warmer than in Cracow.
Many architectural works in both cities have been designed UNESCO World Heritage Sites. For example, the Old Town in Cracow and Antoni Gaudi and Lluis Domenech Montaner’s buildings.	Barcelona won the 1999 RIBA Royal Gold Medal for its architecture. Barcelona is the seventh most important fashion capital in the world. Barcelona hosted the Olympic Games in 1992. There is the  Wawel Castle-the Polish kings’ Castle in Cracow and one of the oldest University in Europe.
Cracow is the capital of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship and Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia.	Barcelona is a capital city of autonomous community(Catalonia),Cracow is only seat for the administrative unit  of Poland. Cracow used to be a capital of the whole country, Poland(1038-1569) for longer time than Barcelona, which was a capital of Spain only for a few years when the Visigoths conquered the city in the early 5th century.
Cracow and Barcelona have got a rich cultural heritage and they are cultural-sports centeres and major tourist destinations. They are also world’s leaders in economic, trade, education, commerce, entertainment, media, science and arts.	Cracow dates back to the 7thcentury, the city has grown from the Stone’s Age settlement. Barcelona is supposed to be founded in the 3rd century BC.
They both have got internationals airports.	Barcelona has got sea ports too.
The founding and names of Barcelona and Cracow are the subjects of some legends.	The name of Kraków is traditionally derived from Krakus (Krak, Grakch), the legendary founder of Kraków and a ruler of the tribe of Lechitians (Poles). In Polish, Kraków is an archaic possessive form of Krak and essentially means "Krak's (town)". Krakus's name may derive from "krakula", a Proto-Slavic word meaning a judge's staff, or a Proto-Slavic word "krak" meaning an oak, once a sacred tree most often associated with the concept of genealogy. The name Barcelona comes from the ancient Iberian Phoenician Barkeno, attested in an ancient coin inscription in Iberian script as in Ancient Greek sources as Βαρκινών, Barkinṓn; and in Latin as Barcino Barcilonum and BarcenoDuring the Middle Ages, the city was variously known as Barchinona, Barçalona, Barchelonaa, and Barchenona. Some sources say that the city could have been named after the Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca, who was supposed to have founded the city in the 3rd century BC.
There are a lot of museums, churches and parks in both cities.	There are some areas  of beaches in Barcelona. One of them was listed as number one in a list of the top ten beach cities in the world.
Most of the populations in both cities are mainly Roman Catholic.	Citizens in Barcelona speak mainly Catalan ,in Cracow people speak Polish.
Public lives were suppressed in both cities during Franco’s coup d’etat in Barcelona and German occupation in Poland.	Cracow gained independence after the Second World War, Barcelona after the civic war.

Happy Easter !

Easter brings fun, Easter bring Happiness,Easter brings God's endless blessings,Easter brings love and the freshness of spring.

Happy Easter to you and your families!

Polish students and teachers from a school in Juszczyna.

Famous Spanish and Polish People

On the 26th March the Polish students performed presentations about Spanish and Polish famous people. All students from our school gathered at the main hall could learn about great Spanish artists Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró i Ferrà, Aristide Maillol, brilliant architect Antoni Gaudí, modern Spanish famous sportsman Pedro Martínez de la Rosa and others.
They could find some more information about Polish great people as composer Fryderyk Chopin, writer Joseph Conrad, poet Adam Mickiewicz, king John III Sobieski, astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus and others.

Polish students, Mateusz and Honorata put up some materials, connected with famous Spanish and Catalan people, on the school’s wall. Those people are recognizable not only in Spain, but also in Poland and all over the world.

BOTIFARRA AMB MONGETES

Botifarra amb mongetes (sausage and beans)

It is a typical meal of the Catalonia country side. It has a very good taste. It was popular on the boarding houses in the XIX century.

INGREDIENTS

Beans

Sausage

INSTRUCTIONS

1.      We take the sausage and prick it with a knife. We put in the pan or barbecue, it must be well-done.

2.      While the sausages are cooking, put the beans in a pot with water and boil until they are tender and well done.

3.      When the sausage is cooked, we take it apart and sauté the beans in the pan where we have cooked the sausage.

4.      When both ingredients are ready, we put them on a dish.

By Roger Blanco and Miguel Galan

BREAD WITH TOMATO

Bread with tomato is typical from the country side, only in Catalonia, and normally you can eat it with ham, cheese or other sausages. Catalan people also make the sandwiches with bread with tomato. It can be a main dish or a secondary dish. 

INGREDIENTS-for 4 people

4 bread slices

2 ripe tomatoes

50g salt

25 ml olive oil

2 garlics (optional)

Ham, cheese or other sausages

INSTRUCTIONS

First of all you have to toast the bread and spread the garlic and tomato on top of it. Then, you have to put the oil and the salt. The bread with tomato is ready to eat, with cheese, ham or other sausages.

By Roc Altarriba, Ivan Luque and Xavi González

GLASS CAKE

Glass cake is a typical Catalan recipe. It is called glass cake because when we take it out of oven and we spread the anise, the sugar crystallizes and it looks like glass. It is slim and hard. It’s difficult to stop eating glass cake because the smell of the anise makes you want to eat more and more. Glass cake is good to eat in any hour of the day and it’s an economical recipe to prepare. In conclusion, if you want to eat a delicious and different dish and you aren’t good at cooking, this is one of your best options.

Ingredients:
- 8g salt
- 15g yeast
- 350g flour
- 180ml water
- 25g butter ( at room temperature)
-sugar
-aniseeds

- extra virgin olive oil

- pine nuts

Instructions for the dough: 

-          Dissolve the yeast in the water. Put the flour and salt in a bowl and mix, then add the butter, the sugar and the yeast with the water.

-          Knead for 10 minutes. Form a ball with the dough, cover and let stand 10 minutes

-          Preheat the oven to 190 degrees.

-          Roll out the dough with a rolling pin (it has to be thin) and put it on a tray lined with baking paper. 

-     Make an oval shape with the dough (because this is the original shape of it).

-          Paint with a brush all the base of cake with oil, and later add pine nuts on top and sprinkle with sugar.

-          Bake it for 10 to 15 minutes.

-           When you take the cake out of the oven, sprinkle with the aniseeds and put back in the oven for a few minutes.

by Ariadna Torrents, Júlia Recordà and Clàudia Cortina

CATALAN FOOD

The Polish students will visit our school in Spain very soon, in May!!!
They will have to eat different food and dishes.
Catalonia is known for its excellent Mediterranean food. The dishes are characteristic for using essential ingredients like olive oil, garlic and tomatoe, which gives Catalan dishes the special Mediterranean flair.
In general you can find three kinds of Catalan cuisine. There is the cuisine from the mountains, with meat, cheese, sausages and vegetables, the cuisine of from the coast which includes fish with rice, pasta or potatoes, and finally there is the cuisine from the cities with its diversity of traditional and international meal.
Our students have prepared several basic typical Catalan recipes for the Polish students to see and try at home.
We hope you enjoy them

In February 21 students from Gimnazjum in Juszczyna started 20 hour course of Spanish preparing them for their visit in Spain. The course contains basic vocabulary and grammar rules as well as conversational lessons.

On the 20th December Polish and Catalan students took place in a videoconference. The topic was Christmas and New Year traditions in both countries. Here are some questions:
1. How do you celebrate Christmas?
2. Have you got school holidays at the end of the year?
3. Are there any traditional customs connected with the annual holiday?
4. What kind of dishes do you have at that time?
5. Do you sing Christmas corals?
6. Have you got Christmas tree at your home?
7. What things do you put on the tree?
8. Does your family share holy wafer during Christmas Eve supper?
9. Who gives you Christmas presents?
10. What presents do you like getting best?
11. Do you go out or stay in during the Christmas time?
12. Do you like Christmas? Why? /Why not?
13. Do you celebrate the New Year’s Eve?
14. What do you usually do on that day?
15. Is there any snow in your country now?

The students sang some Polish and Catalan carols and they sang “We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year” together.

Our Customs

During Christmas time from the 25th December to the 6th of January there are a lot of carol singers walking all over the villages. They are dressed in the traditional folk clothes or put on special costumes and they sing Christmas songs under the houses’ windows. People usually give them some money for their performances. Then they say a lot of best wishes to them.

Polish Christmas dishes

Last year our students were writing about Christmas holidays traditions in Poland .
This year they have been looking for some information about Polish Christmas dishes.
They would like to share their knowledge of the subject with their pen friends from Spain.

Christmas dishes in Poland

Traditional Christmas Eve supper called Wigilia usually consists of borscht with uszka (small dumplings) – a classic Polish Christmas Eve starter, followed by fried carp, carp fillet with potato salad, carp in aspic etc. Carp provides a main component of the Christmas Eve meal across Poland. Other popular dishes include pickled matjas herring, rollmops, pierogi with sauerkraut and forest mushrooms, pierogi filled with white cheese and potatoes, gołąbki (cabbage rolls) with forest mushrooms, fish soup, kiełbasa sausages, hams and bigos (savory stew of cabbage and meat) and vegetable salads. Among popular desserts are various fruits like oranges among others, poppy seed cake makowiec (makówki in Silesia), fruit compote, kluski with poppyseed, kutia sweet grain pudding in the eastern regions, like (Białystok) and ginger bread. Regional dishes include żurek, siemieniotka (in Silesia), and kołduny - mushrooms or meat stuffed dumplings in the eastern regions.
The evening Supper
Barszcz with uszka, one of Polish Wigilia traditional dishes
After the First Star appears in the sky and after sharing the Christmas wafer (opłatek), the Supper begins. A traditional Christmas meal in Poland includes fried carp and Borscht (beetroot soup) with Uszka (ravioli). Carp provides a main component of the Christmas Eve meal across Poland; carp fillet, carp in aspic etc. Wigilia is observed as a Black Fast meaning that most Poles abstain from eating red meat on this day. Many households also prepare a great variety of special Christmas rollmops, matjas herring, poppy seed cakes (makowiec), dried fruit compote and other delicacies including edible Christmas ornaments. Common dishes are various fruits (oranges, tropical fruits) and salads. Regional dishes include żurek, siemieniotka (in Silesia), mushroom soup, different salads, pierogi filled with cheese and potatoes as well as cooked dried mushrooms and cabbage (kapusta) or cabbage and yellow peas; gołąbki (cabbage rolls), kluski with poppyseed, kutia, and makówki (in Silesia).
The number of country courses is traditionally established to be either twelve or an odd number (in Silesia); Twelve is symbolic of the number of months in the year is good as well as to celebrate the twelve disciples of Jesus.
The Shepherd's Mass
Some families as well as individual worshipers attend the traditional midnight mass/Shepherd's Mass (pasterka), where Christmas carols are also sung.
A major part of the Wigilia festivities is the opening of gifts. The children often open their gifts and hand out the gifts for the adults from under the tree. The gift-giver in Polish tradition is Saint Nicholas or the Gwiazdka – his feminine counterpart – the little Star of Bethlehem.
The Christmas breakfast
Christmas Day is a national holiday in Poland and most Poles spend the day feasting with their family. Christmas breakfast often consists of scrambled eggs, cold-cuts served with horseradish sauce, smoked or fried salmon, marinated salads, coffee, tea and cakes, i.e. chocolate cake, piernik (gingerbread cakes, etc.
It is still believed that whatever happens on Christmas Eve(Wigilia) has an impact on the following year. So, if a quarrel should arise, it foretells a quarrelsome and troublesome year.

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

JOSEPH OLLER

 

He was a Catalan man that founded the Moulin Rouge in Paris, a place where girls danced very sexy dances and that became very popular. He was a very important business man too; he started to bet in the horse races and invented the Spanish lottery called “la quiniela”. 

He opened the Moulin Rouge in the "place Blanche", in Montmartre ( a very small town in Paris).           

First of all, Moulin Rouge was a very old brothel where men wanted the girls do sexy dances for them, so the Madame there started to let the girls do striptease. Years later, Moulin Rouge was only a place where girls danced. Every day, the dances were less sexy and it finally became a cabaret bar. In the cabaret, the girls lived and rehearse for hours, so Moulin Rouge became the best cabaret of Paris.

Apart of the Moulin Rouge, Joseph founded the horse races of Saint Germain in 1882. And in 1885 he open  a swimming pool with a gym, a sauna… in Paris that became very famous too.

  

JUDIT MASCÓ

Judit was born in Barcelona the 12th October 1969. She is a famous Catalan model. She is a model since she was 15 years old but she did 3 things at the same time because she studied  piano and normal studies too. She studied to be a model in Francina Models school.

She did fashion shows for Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Carolina Herrera, Escada, Loewe… In 1990 she finally rose to fame because of a special cover of Sports Illustrated that launched her internationally.

He has worked in international advertising campaigns for companies like Max Mara, Laurèl de Escada, Armand Bassi, Betty Barclay, Georges Rech, Mango, Swarovski, Majestic y Palmers Lingerie or cosmetics companies like Vitesse, Natura Bissé  Clairol, Lancaster, Clarins o Timotei etc.

She has worked as an actress too. She did small roles for movies such as "El largo invierno del 39" (“The long Winter of 39”)  o "Después del sueño" (“After the dream”). She has written two books “El libro de Judit Mascó” (“The book of Judit Mascó”) and “Modelo” (“Model”).

She got married to Eduardo Vicente (lawyer) in 1993.

She is has got a humanitarian role too because she helps some NGOs . For example, in 2000 she travelled to Florida  to meet Joaquín José Martínez, who was waiting in the death row.

Júlia Recordà
 Laura Parera

DANI PEDROSA

Daniel Pedrosa Ramal was born in Castellar del Vallès the 29th September 1985.
He's an international Grand Prix motorcycle racer, and he was the youngest rider to win the 250cc class.
He started riding a motorcycle when he was 6 years old and when he was 18 years old he won the 125cc class. However, he fell and he broken his ankles. When he started riding in the 250cc class, he broke his two ankles and later his shoulder, however he won the 250cc class title twice. Pedrosa made the move to 990cc Moto GP bikes in 2006, riding for Respol Honda. He finished second in the opening roun at Jerez in March 26th, 2006. He won his first MotoGP race in the Chinese Gran Prix, in May 14th, 2006. He won his second MotoGP race at Donington Park and became a strong candidate for the MotoGP Championship. In the Malaysia Gran Prix he fell and hurt his knee. He became the Rookie of the year in Moto GP.
He's broken a lot of times his fingers and toes, also he's broken his knee and his left arm and his two collar bones.

              

Hector Pozo Guerrero
Roc Altarriba Palma

TONI BOU

Toni Bou's first race trophy was in 1999, when he obtained the Catalan Cadet Trials Championship title at the age of 12.
At the moment, he’s the best international motorcycle trials rider. He won the outdoor FIM Trial World Championship from 2007 to 2011 and the indoor one from 2007 to 2011, too. So, we can say that is one of the most successful riders in history. When he was 20 years old, Toni Bou was the second youngest rider to win the World Indoor Title and the youngest to do it on a 4-stroke motorbike.
Finally, we are going to mention his titles below:

1. 5 World Motorcycle Trials Champion: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
2. 5 World Motorcycle Trials Indoor Champion: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
3. 2 Spanish Trials Champion: 2006, 2009
4. 1 Spanish Trials Indoor Champion: 2009
5. 5 Trial des Nations: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
6. 3 Trial des Nations Indoor: 2006, 2007, 2008
7. 1 European youth cup: 2002

                                                                                                   

  by Miguel Galán and Jordi Cucurull