SimplyMaggies

This charming little town is a birth place of world’s most famous writer, William Shakespeare.

It is easily reached by bus from nearly any place in England and as soon as you walk into the town you come upon the river Avon, filled with alluring boats. Walking along the river, you enter the towns main street dominated by the Victorian architecture and full of colorful stores, restaurants, cafes and pubs.

A ten-minute walk will take you to the Shakespeare Centre where you will find a museum as well as the entrance to his house, an enchanting cottage where he spent most of his life. This cottage is only one of his many properties, of which a few are located within a walking distance in the town.

While searching for Shakespeare’s houses with their beautiful gardens, one comes upon picturesque churches, one of which is Trinity Church, where the great writer was buried.

The streets of Stradford-upon-avon are not only appealing, they also provide many places to sit and rest and enjoy either a cup of tea or coffee (or something stronger) accompanied by any type of cuisine you can imagine.

All in all, it is an enjoyable walk in the past down alluring streets among charming buildings.

the king

The king is dead. Long live who…?

There is no other who can replace Michael Jackson as the true king of pop. He was, undeniably and unquestionably, the biggest personality in the popular music arena… And it is a sad day for many to find out that he has passed away. People will forever ask what they were doing and where they were when they first heard the sad news…

Although death is part of life, somehow one never thinks that stars are equally subjected to it… And Jacko was no different. The music scene will never be the same and it is a big loss to the world in general.

The legend is gone…  And it is truly the end of an era…

“Defiance”, starring Daniel Craig and Live Shreiber, and directed by Edward Zwick, is a tale of  survival (based on true events). It tells a story of three brothers, Tuvia, Asael and Zus Bielski, who somehow survive one of the first German slaughters of the Jews in many Belarusian villages. They escape to the forest, the only place, where they feel save and, soon enough, a group of Polish and Belarusian Jews follows them there beginning a movement that will become historyand in the end save over a thousand Jewish lives from the horrors of the Nazi occupation.

As the months go by, more and more people from various strata of society join the gang, which comes to be known as the Bielski Band. With the increased number of mouths to feed and fast approaching winter, they find themselves facing numerous problems they were not prepared for.

“Defiance” is not a movie for everyone (or as I like to call it—general public). It is a dramatic story of brotherhood, pride, loyalty, love and a desire to live. Moreover, it is a history lesson told in a beautiful fashion that displays people stripped of their homes, families and pride, who must face a myriad of human emotions.

For me, it was a touching story that hit close to home. The areas where it took place could be any of the Polish forests and the harsh realities of life that these people had to face could happen (and most likely did) to a number of people as the Polish also formed their own partisan units that lived in the forests and fought Germans.

So if you like movies that are based on true stories and portray real people, you should really enjoy it. However, if you’re looking for a lot of shooting and killing accompanied by tons of special effects, you will be sorely disappointed. And although “Defiance” takes place during World  War II, it is not quite the war movie one might expect. It follows more in the footsteps of such great films as “The Schindler’s List” and “The Pianist”.