After months of anticipation, the Netflix adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski’s fantasy saga “The Witcher” was released online last Friday to generally positive reviews.

While some critics complain the series falls short of fantasy epics like HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” others praise Henry Cavil’s “brawny charisma” with both fans and critics tweeting praise for the exceptional “action and sword work…”

In an interview with PAP, executive producer Tomasz Bagiński expressed his delight that the series possesses “a shade of seriousness, but also sarcasm,” along with “good, black, Polish humour.” He went on to point out that the series incorporates “large parts of the original material written by Andrzej Sapkowski” for Bagiński “the most important thing” in making the series.

Together with experienced Hollywood producer Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, Bagiński adapted two of Sapkowski’s short story collections – “The Last Wish” and “Sword of Destiny” – into the eight episodes of the saga’s first season. The series has already been greenlit for a second season, with no news yet on when and where the new season will begin filming.

Season one of the Witcher currently boasts a 90% positive audience score on the aggregate film review website Rotten Tomatoes and is available in its entirely on Netflix.

Source: The First News, PAP

Polish families provide “a home for the holidays” to children from Lithuania

Over 80 children from Lithuanian children’s homes arrived in Gdansk on Saturday as part of an annual holiday hosting program “Serce Dzieciom” or “A Heart for Children.”

According to the president of the Friends of Vilnius and Grodno Foundation, Sylwia Karlikowska, the annual program is “all about letting the children see what a real home looks like.” As one participant explains, “When I came to Poland, it’s like coming to visit my family. I feel at home here…I really feel like a member of the family.”

The children, who are all of Polish origin, will spend the next two weeks with their host families, returning to Lithuania on January 4th.

In addition to visits to Poland, the foundation also provides financial and material support for orphanages in Lithuania, along with medical treatment and educational scholarships for study in Poland.

For more information on how you can help out with the foundation’s efforts, visit their website at: http://sercedzieciom.org/index.php?p=1_5_Jak-mo-esz-pom-c

Source: radiogdansk.com

Lechia Gdańsk closes out the season with a disappointing loss

In a dismaying culmination of what had initially promised to be a triumphant season, Lechia Gdańsk lost to Raków Częstochowa 0:3 yesterday in Gdańsk.

The defeat means the White and Green close out the 2019 season ranked #7 in Ekstraklasa, with an overall record of 8 wins to 6 losses and an equal number of draws. Lechia now has roughly two months to recuperate and prepare for the start of the spring season in February and a highly anticipated Polish Cup match against Piast Gliwice in March.

In the words of head coach Piotr Stokowiec, Lechia has “a lot of work” waiting for them as “there is still a lot to do this season.”

Source: gdansk.pl

Kamil Stoch garners his 34th World Cup win in Switzerland

In more positive sporting news, Polish ski-jumper Kamil Stoch triumphed yesterday to win the World Ski Jumping Competition in Engelberg, Switzerland.

The 32-year-old Stoch was followed by Stefan Kraft of Austria in second place and Karl Geiger of Germany in third, with fellow Pole Piotr Żyła coming in eighth. With three gold medals from the 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics, Stoch remains Poland’s most decorated ski jumper of all time, despite being the oldest individual Olympic gold medallist and World Cup title owner in the history of the sport.

Stoch’s win puts Poland in third place for the Nation’s Cup behind Austria and Norway. The Ski Jumping World Cup is set to continue today, with qualifications scheduled for 13:30 followed by the first round of competition at 15:00.

Source: PAP, fis-ski.com

Weather

Today will be mostly cloudy and overcast with a good chance of rain showers in the late evening and overnight. Temperatures will continue to hover around 4-5 degrees Celsius or the upper 30s and lower 40s Fahrenheit with Monday set to continue the same trend of scattered rain and overcast skies.

RGEN