Life / Cost of living in Warsaw, is 4.000 EUR a month OK? [9]

1. Public transport will cost you 200 PLN per 3 months = the cost of a city travelcard.

Food / Best donuts in Warsaw? [22]


That is really a joke.
I am coming from a country - Belgium - where even the tiniest village has minimum two bakeries who produce on a daily basis all kinds of great stuff.

Here in Warsaw ? The best bread I find here is is the pre-bake in the Statoil gasoline stations.... What a choice. For the rest you have the choice between horrible Schulstadt "bread" or the equally horrendous CPC bread lookalikes...

I do not care about expensive pastry in Batida or so... after all not a daily commodity (although "let them eat cake" spings to my mind here), just good decent bread.

Here in Bielany nowhere to be found.

Life / Price of beer in Poland [90]


Are you American? That would explain that quote....
After all compared to a "Bud" even tap water has to be great.
Polish beer is pretty horrible - Żywiec being owned by Heineken - do I need to say more?
In the past there were good brands such as Leżajsk and Heweliusz but as far as I know they do not exist anymore.
In Wrocław on the Rynek, Spiż is brewing and selling some amazing beers.
Here in Warsaw in Arkadia there is a self-brewing pub (the name escapes me) which has good stuff.
Still as a belgian I do miss decent beers here.

Law / Delivery Of A Second Hand Computer To Poland (from Australia or USA). Shipping customs to pay? [7]

Would it not be cheaper to buy a new PC here?

Life / Polish Jazz / Jazz nad Odra festival in Poland [28]

Try Tygmont. Great place

Life / Healthcare In Poland For An EU Citizen [10]

I think you need to have evidence you paid social benefits as an EU citizen in a EU country during the last couple of years, in order to register for NFZ services.

Anyway, if you can afford it, pay for private health care here.
I avoid any NFZ outfit if I can help it.
Check Medicover, Damian, Enelmed.... they offer healthcare on a level you know from home.

Work / Non Polish nationals living in Poland - What do you do for a living? [23]

I work in logistics near Warsaw. Lots of work (very interesting), lots of stress (sometimes entertaining, sometimes not :), many boring pointless meetings...
Too many Excel files torturing me, especially on a Friday afternoon...
Just like at home, really :)
Do I miss my native Flanders? Well... sometimes but not too often...
Going back home is not an option I consider for the foreseeable future.

Life / Warsaw palm tree - interesting or a waste of money? [20]

I like it a lot as it is really. Especially with snow on its "leaves".
Warsaw has already a couple of million "patriotic" monuments. It is refreshing to have something completely different for a change.
And it indeed refers to the street on which it is "planted".
Sometimes they take the leaves off in Winter, and then it looks very funny and resembles something else :)
Have no idea if that was the case this year, I seldom venture out so far from Bielany :)

Life / Polish Residency - Zameldowanie to be abolished? [49]


I do not really see the problem here. We Belgians always(well actually since WW I when the Germans "introduced" them) had ID cards and I do not really see the problem here...

Life / Where to get a cup of coffee in Warsaw? [40]


That is a bit steep. Romania and Bulgaria are by far the most backward and extremely corrupt countries in the whole of the EU. God knows how they were ever admitted into the club.

As for coffee... I drink only at home and at work, but wherever you go in Warsaw there is always somewhere a coffeplace nearby.

Life / Polish Residency - Zameldowanie to be abolished? [49]

The foreigner's office here in Warsaw at ul. Długa 5, Nowe Miasto.
Mazowiecki Urząd Wojewódski - Wydział Spraw Cudzoziemców

mazowieckie.pl/wsc

There is a separate section for EU citizens, ask the guy sitting downstairs (who issues your entrance number) for the UE section.

PESEL - as somebody else here already wrote, you get this from your local Gmina when you register yourself, but often you have to ask for it. They do not always give it automatically.

I think every Gmina has its own tax office (Urząd Skarbowy) where you get your NIP.

Life / Sat TV providers in Poland [18]

We have a small balcony so not really the ideal place for a large dish I think. We have the standard Cyfra+ dish which is indeed small.

Perhaps I should ask the satguy to come back when it will be raining.... actually a good idea...

Life / Experiences Installing a Wireless Home Network in Poland [12]

We used to have way back a standard ADSL modem from Neostrada. Since 1,5 year or so we have a Neostrada Livebox, which actually works just fine. My PC and company laptop, as well as my wife's laptop work OK on that.

The only thing is that I positively hate TPSA but as for now in our block of flats there is no Aster or UPC, so no choice really.

But besides the fact I have to pay each month a bunch of monopolist thieves for the subscription, no complaints.

Travel / Where to go in Poland that has good nighlife but not "touristy"? [10]

Lublin is a great place to consider

Life / What do you do for fun in poland? [15]

Bike from my home in Bielany along the Wisła to my favourite pub in Nowe Miasto in Summer... Take a good history book with me , nip at a cold Żywiec and watch the world passing by along ul. Freta...

In Winter am going there by metro and by foot. No 4x4 monsters for me.
For the rest? Waling through Park Ujazdowski with my partner.... checking the Botanical Gardens..

Life / Home Internet access in katowice [2]

If you have cable in your home, contact Aster. If you do not have but you have a landline, unfortunately you will need TPSA / Neostrada.

As far as I know both of them will insist on a one-year subscription minimum.

Life / Good Gym's in Poznań? [23]

Well it is a great gym without any scum or macho's. Gotta check out that cardiopilates thing though - sounds fascinating :)
In the meantime I am doing there my running on the cardio a few times per week and that is fine by me :)

Life / Good Gym's in Poznań? [23]

I do not know what you mean with a chick's gym... My English does not go that far...
It is just a decent, clean and peaceful gym. If they only could change the dreadful music... :)
Lots of girls coming there though :)

Life / Good Gym's in Poznań? [23]

Gymnasion you might like to consider. They have clubs all over Poland.

I am going to the Olympic Centre here in Warsaw and I am really satisfied.
Clean, normal people.... only the music is pretty horrible :) But my MP3 player helps me there :)

And they are expensive enough to keep the tattoo scum outside.
Most people there are coming anyway on company-sponsored subscriptions.

So, recommended.

Travel / Do Polish Railway Stations have Rest Rooms [10]

In Warszawa Centralna there is a lounge for people with 1st class tickets (the only decent way to travel here by train). I have never used it (coming from home by tramway and just running to catch my train) but it is supposed to be good.

Also here in Warsaw the "Złoty Tarasy" shopping mall is next door and connected to the train station. Lots of decent places there as well.

Life / Drugs for a cold/fever in Poland? [11]

I am using Sudafed in combination with Ibuprom.
And for the rest an recipe from my grandmother: boil some milk, add two spoons of brown sugar and generous portion of cognac/brandy/whisky.... go to bed, put on some extra blankets..

Sweat the whole night and the next day you will see the difference..

Life / A trip to a Polish supermarket [136]


It is idiotic to get annoyed by such things. Why? Just leaf through a Newsweek or Fakty near the counter. And when it is your time to psy.. put the magazine back in its place and proceed. What is the problem here? You had to wait like 3-4 minutes? What kind of life-deciding event happened in these 4 minutes?

Life / Weddings, venues, legalities in Warsaw [3]

We married way back in 2003 in the "Stara Pomarańczarnia" (The Greenhouse) in £azienki Park. Fabulous place.

For a place including catering and sleeping, Nieborów Palace near Warsaw is worth checking out.

Life / Where to buy household furniture Lodz [19]

Ikea ?

Real Estate / Good Places to Live in Warsaw [21]

I still think Bielany is a great place to live.
- Very green
- Metro line connects you to the centre
- All necessary shops nearby
- Still an ordinary area, not snobbish
- Safe

We live in an ordinary "kamienica', not guarded, with typical graffiti on the walls (would never make it into any expat magazine) but the place is OK, we have nice non-expat neighbours...Just your average Jan Kowalski...

That said and done, I will be happy to move to £omianki, once our house is finished..
Will be nice to lit the bbq after work - and being only 12 km from Plac Wilsona.

Life / Need some advices from fellow expats in Wawa [14]

We are always going to Jazz Bistro in the Old Town which I think is much cheaper than what you describe.
Moreover it is definitely not fashionable (in my eyes a recommendation).
The staff is friendly, the food is always good, the music is fine... That is what we ask from a restaurant...
It is all good and well to advice a place in Atrium... But where to park your car ???
And to pay 60 PLN for a cutlet... I find that very steep.

Life / Expats in Poland: Are you going to live in Poland long or short term? [65]

Thread attached on merging:
The difference between an expat in Poland and an immigrant?

How would you define the difference between an expat working in Poland and an immigrant (apart from the work situation, an expat obviously is not planning to stay) ?

I came to Poland to stay probably forever (if not for a very long time), gave up a safe 17-years job in Belgium to live with my Polish wife who under no circumstances wants to move out of Poland. Came here without a job or even the prospect or getting one. But that ended well, thanks God :)

Most of the people I know are Polish. (Though my true friends are Canadian and French) All my colleagues at work are Polish. Who treat me as some kind of weird import :)

I watch the Flemish TV news only occasionally these days (in the past more than daily).
In "Dziennik" I reach first for the city news. I speak Polish everywhere.

I do not go to any classic expat haunts in Warsaw. My local pub is not described in any tourist guide.

Not an expat I think?

Life / international singned for post to poland-tracing delivery HELP [28]

Poczta Polska is notorious for parcels being stolen. And equally miserable for giving feedback on where your stolen parcel might be.
Pay a bit more (TNT, DHL, UPS) and your precious actually might arrive you know... and on time.

Real Estate / Good Places to Live in Warsaw [21]

Actually I find the public transport system in Warsaw very good. Wherever you need to go, you never need more than two connections to get there.

That said, in the city centre I would stick to trams or the metro. Buses get stuck in the rush hour traffic.
Praga is in many ways (despite all these websites which describe it as a cool place) a no-go area, except for Saska Kępa of course.

No, we live in Bielany and we like it there. No fashionable restaurants or pubs... not prominent in any place-to-be guide.
It is just a safe place to live, close to the city centre and with normal people around.