Warsaw, Poland

In 1944, this city was completely destroyed by the Nazi Regime, almost wiping it off the map. And when the country of Poland got it independence in 1945 under the communist regime, it got the task to rebuild its own capital, which to this day stays one huge construction site.

On May 14th I flew to Warsaw for an extended weekend to visit a good friend of mine, Aleksandra, who had invited me to come see her city. I stayed until May 17th, and the 4 days I spend there, left me absolutely speechless. The city has so much to offer, not just in history, but also in lifestyle. There are more brands, shops and products than in Prague, and the city definitely tries to become as Western as possible. Modern developments include the stadium and the new business centre:

Now, before the Nazis, Warsaw was a small little trading town, with a nice historic city centre and beautiful markets. Most of the old parts have been rebuilt to look as original as possible, with success to be seen:

During the communist era, Warsaw rapidly developed into a representative capital. With its main monument, the Palace of Culture, Warsaw paid tribute to the Soviet Union, by building it in the style of a Stalin skyscraper. Today, it's basically the symbol of the city:

The destruction of Warsaw in 1944 changed the city completely, and it's course in history. On Willy Brandt square, one can find the monument to the fallen, where in 1970 the German chancellor, Willy Brandt well to his knees in order to show respect to Poland, and ask for forgiveness. A few months ago, the museum of Jewish history opened up there. In my opinion, it's one of the nicest museums to go to, as it has an interesting exhibition, which is not centered at the holocaust, but at Jewish history as a whole. I really found it worth a visit.

Monument to the fallen Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto

Museum of Jewish History

Anyways, Warsaw was not only sightseeing for me, but also meeting friends, partying and having a good time in general. Aleksandra and I were walking around most of the time, and she showed me most places. She's just such an amazing person, funny, smart and she knows what she's doing. Something you don't really find often in people! I thank her a lot for this experience I got in Warsaw, and I hope, that one day, I can re-visit her in this lovely city.

Aleksandra and I eating what I consider to be the cheapest ice cream for the fairest price ever.

Waiting for the subway at Plac Wilsona

Aleksandra's wonderful smile :)

On saturday, Aleksandra threw a party, where I got to meet most of her friends. They were all very nice people in my opinion, and they sure know how to have fun. It was one of those rare house parties, where everyone's drunk to the point, that they're having fun, without annoying anyone else. Nothing broke, no body felt sick, and everyone seemed to enjoy the party.

I couldn't find many party photos on my phone, but I did find this one, which I cherish. Elena (left) and Ewa (right) are two of Aleksandra's best friends and in my opinion amazing people. 

When I left Warsaw, I was struck with this wish to go again, but not for the tourism, but for the life. Warsaw is not a city, with offers full time entertainment for tourist in the form of sightseeing, but more in the form of living. If you know the right people in Warsaw, you are bound to have a good time.

From Poland with Love, Stefan.

Eurovision 2015

Dear readers,

If there is one reason for me, to turn on the TV, it's the Eurovision Song Contest. Since the 2015 edition is now over, with Semi Finals taking place on May 19th and May 21st and the Grand Final taking place on May 23rd, I would like to make my personal comments on the entries this year.

For all of those, who don't know what Eurovision is: It's a music competition between countries, which fight for first place, in order to host the contest next year. In the two semi finals, 10 from each are being passed to the final, along with the Big5 (Germany, United Kingdom, France, Spain and Italy) as well as with the winner of the previous year (Austria won in 2014) and special guests (Australia in 2015), which get to the final immediately. You can find an explanation on the voting procedure here.

Semi Final 1

In the First Semi Final, 16 countries competed for the final, with the results ending up like this:
1. Russia (182pts)
2. Belgium (149pts) 
3. Estonia (105pts) 
4. Georgia (98pts) 
5. Romania (89pts) 
6. Greece (81pts) 
7. Armenia (77pts) 
8. Hungary (67pts) 
9. Serbia (63pts) 
10. Albania (62pts) 
11. Moldova (41pts) 
12. Belarus (39pts) 
13. Denmark (33pts) 
14. Netherlands (33pts) 
15. Macedonia (28pts) 
16. Finland (13pts)

This first Semi Final was opened with the performance of Moldova, which was the first country in the running order, and which also presented a rather interesting performance. The singer portrayed as a criminal, and the dancers dressed as the police, with the female dancers, wearing less uniform and showing more skin. I'm not surprised the song failed.

Belarus had a very good song, to which I've listened a few times prior to the contest, and I did enjoy it, yet the live performance was not impressing at all. His voice sounded weak, and one could see, that the reason the song previously sounded so good was auto-tuning.

Finland came in last, with a punk group, whose members all have autism. The song was the shortest ever at a Eurovision Song Contest, with only 100 seconds of duration. In general, I found it nice, that virtually everyone can participate in Eurovision. However, I'm not surprised, that Finland came in last, as the song was just a mediocre punk/rock song, sang for only 100 seconds, and always in the same tune. It was nothing the public would like.

Without a doubt, Russia had the best performance of the evening, with a lot of energy and a really good song. I really enjoyed the song and it's message. However, that's where the contest got political, as during Russia's performance, everyone held up their LGBT flags, waving them around the arena. This is where the contest really gets annoying, as it is used for political interest, and has been used for it in the past 60 years.

I was moved by Estonia, as the song really had emotion in it, and the lyrics themselves are nice and simple. I find it a job well done.

Without a doubt, Serbia had the crowd on their side, with the crowd cheering like hell, during their performance! It was an honor seeing my country perform so well, and end up in 10th place in the Grand Final, thus making the TOP10 of this years contest. I was really proud of Serbia this year.

Semi Final 2

In the Second Semi Final, 17 countries competed for the final, with the results ending up like this:
1. Sweden (217pts)
2. Latvia (155pts)
3. Israel (151pts)
4. Norway (123pts)
5. Slovenia (92pts)
6. Cyprus (87pts)
7. Lithuania (67pts)
8. Poland (57pts)
9. Montenegro (57pts)
10. Azerbaijan (53pts)
11. Malta (43pts)
12. Ireland (35pts)
13. Czech Republic (33pts)
14. Portugal (19pts)
15. Iceland (14pts)
16. San Marino (11pts)
17. Switzerland (4pts)

After seeing the results, I felt bad for Switzerland, as I quite enjoyed their song, and hoped for them to get a spot in the final. Seeing them end up in last place with only 4 points is kind of a bummer, considering, that they submitted a better song, than in the past few years.

The song that got me in this Semi Final was Latvia. That voice is so powerful, and I really enjoyed the performance. I was really happy seeing them pass into the final. Every time she would sing "your love" loudly, I'm flashed by her voice, and it's just such an addicting sound. The song is well written, I must admit that.

Poland came with an interesting performer as well, and I do admire her, still singing, even though she's in a wheelchair. Her song was nice, and she did fully deserve going to the finals.

The Czech Republic returned to the contest, again failing to qualify, but at least scoring points, making 13th in a Semi Final their best result so far. It was nice being able to vote again, as living in the Czech Republic restricted me from voting previously. The song was a nice ballad.

Montenegro had a nice tune. The only song sang in Serbian this year, and again another ballad to enjoy. Though I am not a huge fan of Knez, I still liked seeing familiar faces in Eurovision. At least something to recognize.

Slovenia was rather interesting, with the dancer performing on an air violin. The singer had a weird voice, and the tune was kind of not catchy enough. And somehow, for some reason, I still liked it. Maybe it was the combination...

Grand Final

Now, 27 countries participated in the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest, and this is how Europe (and Australia) have voted on them!

1. Sweden (365pts)

2. Russia (303pts)

3. Italy (292pts)

4. Belgium (217pts)

5. Australia (196pts)

6. Latvia (186pts)

7. Estonia (106pts)

8. Norway (102pts)

9. Israel (97pts)

10. Serbia (53pts)

11. Georgia (51pts)

12. Azerbaijan (49pts)

13. Montenegro (44pts)

14. Slovenia (39pts)

15. Romania (35pts)

16. Armenia (34pts)

17. Albania (34pts)

18. Lithuania (30pts)

19. Greece (23pts)

20. Hungary (19pts)

21. Spain (15pts)

22. Cyprus (11pts)

23. Poland (10pts)

24. United Kingdom (5pts)

25. France (4pts)

26. Austria (0pts)

26. Germany (0pts)

Without a doubt, Sweden is a worthy winner to this contest. Great song, great melody and a great text. A simple message to pass on, and a catchy tune. Watching Måns work his way up to the top spot was enjoyable, even though I would've been fine with Russia winning, I liked them.

I already noticed Georgia in the First Semi Final, with their song "Warrior" and I admired Nina for that strength she shows. In the final, she again killed it with her performance, and the song just has something, which I find oddly charming. I hoped, for her to get into the TOP10.

A very warm welcome was given to Australia and Guy Sebastian who finished in 5th place, with his catchy song "Tonight Again". I did enjoy that a lot. Australia in Eurovision is really refreshing, as they don't come up with the same style of song, which is delivered by the european countries, each and every time. So I'm really glad, that Australia placed itself in the TOP10.

There's something oddly charming about Loïc's song from Belgium. Is it its originality, maybe? Almost making the TOP3, Belgium ended up in 4th place, which they deserved, as the song was just so different, that it made it good. Also, it was nice seeing a Benelux country doing well in Eurovision again.

After 12 years, there have been Nul Points in the Grand Final again, given to Austria and Germany, and whilst I'm not really sorry for Austria, I do pity Germany. Their song was not bad. In fact it was better than what Germany delivered in the past few years! Ann Sophie did a good job, and should've at least gotten some points.

Italy was the only country of the Big5, which was not amongst the last 7 countries, but made it into the TOP3 countries, with "Grande Amore". Their singing was true talent, along with the fact that Italy was definitely the best dressed country at Eurovision this year.

Israel had a very funky tune, so I'm glad that they made it into the TOP10. I can't get how that singer is 16. It just seems so unbelievable to me. Also, the song sounded so much, like it was from an Arab country, that it did kind of freak me out, that the country singing it was Israel. Nonetheless a great tune.

Last but not least, Norway killed it, with the darkest song of the evening. The story of a young boy killing someone and later admitting it to his love, was definitely an original story to sing. The way it was presented really left me speechless.


In general, I'm really satisfied with this years Eurovision, as the entries submitted were relatively good on average, and the winner is someone I can agree with. The show was great, Austria is a great host country, and Vienna a wonderful city to host the contest. The hosts were great, and Conchita got her portion of attention, by hosting the green room. 

I'm looking forward to Eurovision 2016 in Sweden!