Travel / POLAND TRIP SEPT 2008 Some of my videos [10]

Buildings in Gdansk, Warsaw Old Town, buskers in Gdansk, Ostroda, cakes, railways, going to Hel by train, mushroom sellers in Gdanks, the Ostroda to Elblag canal trip, Gdansk shipyard, lace sellers, sleeping car, etc.

uk.youtube.com/watch?v=3O0B99uk6OM

Sorry I cannot work out how to make the Youtube vids appear on this page or find a awy of making this any easier.

Helena

Travel / wloszczowa station [4]

There are a few videos on Youtube about wloszczowa station, but I cannot work out why. Here is one:

Why does it say Krakow Business Park on this one, and why in English?

When I watched this one below, I could just about make out that she was saying it was a very expensive station, but nobody was using it, is that that what she says and is that why it is famous?

Googling found this:

"Recently Wloszczowa has been the lucky recipient of a new train station. This station acts as the only stop in the Krakow-Warsaw express, the most popular train route in Poland. Of all towns in Poland, it was the tiny insignificant ‘shlepper’ town of Wloszczowa to be endowed with such a useless stop. No one leaves the train on this stop, and the express ride itself is too expensive for any Wloszczowians to use. To tell a Pole you are from Wloszczowa is now the punchline of a joke."

Puzzled Helena

Travel / An English person in Poland, some random thoughts [5]

Things that pleased me:

Dlugi Targ Street in Gdansk. Never seen so many gorgeous buildings in one place! Unmissable.

Ostroda. So beautiful it brought tears to my eyes and I never wanted to leave!

Polish hospitality isn't dead! Hurrah.

Most homes are on the internet.

The sudden preponderance of fruit teas. Never seen them in PL before.

I travelled on many trains with a heavy holdall on wheels, and on only ONE occasion did a male (teenager in a hoody) just stand and watch me struggle to lift my holdall. On all other occasions (about 15 or 20 of them) a man jumped in to help me before I had to put on my "weak woman looking for help" face. Every time I entered a compartment, for example, a man instantly stood up and offered to lift my bag up onto the rack. Much more quickly than a British man would help one, for sure. In fact a Brit would probably wait to be asked. I never had to ask once. At Gdansk Glowny an American guy grabbed my bag and carried it up the steps to the platform along with his own, saying he was better balanced that way! At Warsaw a tall man about 30 met me at the top of the stairs coming off the street, carried my case down, found my platform for me, carried my case again down the stairs and placed it in the train for me, shrugging off my thanks.

Polish adverts on TV. Absolutely hilarious.

Polish food, thank goodness żurek, barszcz, kotlet schabowy, keiłbasa, surówki, dill etc are still staple foods on the menus, and Western rubbish hasn't completely knocked Polish food off the menu. In the small towns there wwere no McDonalds, no KFC and no Burger King.

Prices are still reasonable for Brits even though the pound is weak. I was having lovely meals (for one) for just 30 zl and found lodgings for 35 zl.

Train fares are incredibly cheap. Bus fares even cheaper, but not so comfy.

Some things that dismayed me:

Top of the list has to be seeing a news report about the stag party Brits in Krakow. One was pissing, another puking up, into the flowers left in memorium of some war hero by his relations. I was so ashamed to be British that the next day I pretended to be German!

Being taken for a German irritated me, actually. I wore my Union Jack badge as I hated it so much. Masuria is overrun with Germans, so much so that my hotel had German TV beamed in by satellite.

The lovely little carved boxes and carved wooden figures that used to be absolutely everywhere are now nowhere to be seen. Pity.

I gave 5 zl to a crippled old lady aged about 90 begging in the street, and a well-dressed Polish lady stopped me and told me I shouldn't give her anything.

In 9 days I only saw one internet cafe, so it wasn't easy for me to write home or check anything. I only used the internet three times: twice in private houses and once in the tourist information centre.

The number of Poles that still smoke; the fact that chemist sells cigarettes amongst all their posters and signs about health supplements etc. On trains, people still smoke in the corridors and vestibules and cycle compartments, in a no-smoking carriage, so you are still likely to get a huge lungful as you are getting on and off. Also smoking is allowed in restaurants etc. In Warsaw there was a no-smoking section but you had to walk through a fug of thick smoke to get to it!

My friend, a doctor, while puffing away on a ciggie repeatedly remarked (about food) that 'this is good for you', 'that is unhealthy' etc, without seeing the irony. And although she's drunk tapwater all her life, suddenly she won't touch it and buys huge bottles daily. Other Poles, too, have succumbed to the anti-tap water brainwashing!

More to come, when I think of them ...

Helena

Travel / Ostroda to Elblag Canal Trip [6]

My recent trip to Poland was built around wanting to go on this famous canal trip. I was so looking forward to it! I looked at photos and films on Youtube, etc.

Went on the trip Sunday 21 Sept. Bad start: it was raining, but I put up my anorak hood and was determined to sit on top deck as long as I could bear it!

They only run the trip if there are 20 people going on it, and you have to phone them at 7am to find out. I was glad to hear they had enough people. When I arrived there was only me and three others, then just before sailing an enormous and noisy group of about 50 middle aged Poles arrived. By 8am a crowd of them (male) was on top deck pouring out and knocking back vodka shots, accompanied by cigarettes. As the boat set sail I realised with horror that these were to be my companions for the next 11 hours.

I cannot abide cigarette smoke, it makes me want to puke up, and usually in these circumstances if one or two people smoke some metres away it all blows away in the wind, especially as I find that these days smokers are very careful to politely keep smoke away from others. Not this crowd; eventually there were about 40 smokers on deck, uncaring as to where they blew their smoke.

Forced downstairs into the cabin by 9am, I searched for a seat. By now half the group was half-drunk. They didn't have any interest in looking at wildlife etc, just talking and laughing really loudly and pouring shots of vodka. They didn't even look out of the windows. One guy had a shot glass on a ribbon round his neck! By 10am the cabin resembled a loud and raucous bar, male and female shrieking, shouting, and some groups even started singing.

I sought refuge with the three passengers not with the group: an American woman, a Polish woman who lives in the US and her brother, who lives in Poland still. It was at times impossible to conduct any conversation with them, even though were were sitting so close around a table, because the drunken Poles were so loud. I truly was shocked to see people drunk at 9.30am.

And so it went on. When the exciting bits happened, I went upstairs to watch, photograph and film the proceedings, but there were so many in the rowdy group that I could barely get to the rail to see or film anything. The group members were totally selfish and thoughtless. Many stood with their backs to the rail, in other words they were not interested in watching what was happening, they were on top deck for one reason only: to smoke. And every last one of them did, as well, so you can imagine how horrible it was for me. I could hear a lot of swearing among their normal banter and chat, shouting to each other, grabbing each other and messing about like a bunch of unruly schoolkids.

Eventually they were each given a plastic bowl of zurek then a polystyrene plate of lunch (kotlet and potatoes and surowki) and sat downstairs to eat it, then about half of them fell asleep, lolling about all over the tables and benches downstairs, snoring and farting, while those still awake were still drinking and singing.

Eleven hours. Yes, eleven hours later we all got off at Elblag. They all returned on the bus, I went to Gdansk by train.

Well this one met with stoney silence!

:-)

Travel / PLANES VERSUS TRAINS ~ WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS? [32]

I flew to Poland on 14th Sept and went by train a lot within Poland then from Poznan to Amsterdam, then flew Amsterdam to Gatwick.

What I cannot BEAR about flying is the way you are herded about just like cattle, made to queue and stand and walk for miles from the check in to the plane and from the plane to the exit of any airport, and in between are squeezed in as tightly as possible into a tiny seat, from which they really do not want you to get up unless you absolutely have to go to the toilet. I hate queuing to go through security, where now they even make you take your shoes off, and all through this cattle-processing all the officials look at you like you are a bomber, even if you are arriving in Britain as a white British person with a British passport. The ultimate insult is that we pay good money to be treated like this!

All the queuing, standing and walking make me fed up and so tired. On Saturday I checked in at Amsterdam airport at 1700 and from that moment I was on my feet, standing, queuing and walking, until 1825. There was one long queue of about 250 people to get through security; only ONE of the four x-ray machines was working! I was in this queue from 1730 until 1815, panicking cos my flight was at 1830! But there were people behind me for the same flight, walking up the queue asking was anyone else for that flight.

Arrived at Gatwick at 1840 and it was just one long, dreary corridor after another, down slopes, round corners, on and on and on. Then queuing with about 200 people to show my passport. When I got to baggage reclaim I looked at my watch and it was 1910. I had been walking non-stop for 30 minutes! Must have walked more than two miles. No travelators or escalators. By the time I reclaimed my suitcase and got through customs etc I finally got to the exit at 1930.

That's 1 hour and 25 mins at Amsterdam and another 50 minutes at Gatwick, a total of 2 hours 15 minutes walking and queuing! Ironically, the flight lasted only 40 minutes.

I'm really surprised at how little I hear people complaining about all the walking and discomfort of air travel.

When you get on a train, so long as you are there a half a minute before it leaves, you are on it! When you get off a train, you're out of the exit within 2 minutes. And in between you can stand up, stretch, walk along the corridor, loiter awhile in the corridor or vestibule or bike compartment. You can check out a better seat, perhaps ask to pay the extra for 1st class if you see that will get you a private compartment. You have MUCH more chance of the seat next to you being empty, of getting a double seat to yourself, or even a whole compartment.

On a train, if geezers want to see your ticket or passport, YOU do the sitting and THEY do the standing and walking, not the other way round, like at the airport.

I'd be glad to hear others' opinions.

Travel / Advice on accommodation in Poland - Warsaw, Gizycko, Ostroda [3]

I've just returned from two weeks in Poland. I have a lot of comments to make and will do so in different threads as they are about different subjects. Here I want to talk about accommodation.

Because of the Channel Tunnel fire I had to change my plans at the last minute and fly to Poland instead of going by sleeper train. This made me one day earlier in Warsaw and I stayed at the Tamka Hostel, having believed all the blurb on its website. Here's what I thought of it:

tripadvisor/ShowUserReviews-g274856-d642954-r20465179-Hostel_Tamka -Warsaw_Central_Poland.html

I also made a film of it which might end up on Youtube. It cost me about 130 zlotys.

I later booked into proper hotels costing 130-140 zloty a night, but only spent one night (or no nights) at some of them because I changed to private rooms instead. This is the "prywatny kwatera" that I asked about on this forum before travelling.

In Giżycko I spent one night in Hotel Mazury. Though my suite was lovely and had a balcony overlooking the lake, the most important thing about any accommodation is the bed, and it was appalling. I was so uncomfortable I could not get to sleep, as my hips and shoulders hurt. I turned and turned until both hips and both shoulders and even my ribs hurt! On investigation the bed surface comprised a sheet of hardboard covered in a two-inch thick piece of foam rubber! At 2am, in frustration and desperation, I got up and dragged the mattress off the second bed and placed it on my mattress, and folded the quilt and lay that on the bed too. I finally managed to get some sleep, though it still wasn't all that comfy. And for this I paid 130 zl.

Next morning saw the word "POKOJE" in some people's windows and called at one at 9 Tuwima Street, where Pani Halina gave me almost identical accommodation for just 35 zl. The bed was fully sprung and had huge feather pillows. I had a roof terrace to myself measuring about 3 square metres and with flower boxes hanging off the railings all around. In the hotel was only a small shower; here there was a deep, wide, steel bath in which I enjoyed a long soak.

In Hotel Promenada, Ostróda, I was shown a really tiny attic room on the second floor (heavy suitcase; no lift), with only Velux windows in the sloping roof, which meant you could only see out of them when standing! When sitting the place was like a prison cell. No kettle, so no teamaking. When I complained to the receptionist she showed me a bigger room on the first floor for the same price of 140 zl (which annoyed me because why didn't she show me the best room first?) This room overlooked a building site.

I refused both, and found private lodgings five minutes away. I was directed there by the tourist information bureau. I had, to myself, a three bedroom flat, in fact, the whole floor of a detached house just off 3rd May Street, with windows on all fours sides; the views outside where of other detached houses with lovely gardens all around them with flowers and hanging plants etc. The lounge which measured about 25ft by 18ft had a cooker, fridge, kettle, big TV, sofa, dining table, and I was invited to choose which of the 8 beds I preferred. I chose one in a big room with windows on two sides, which had sunlight pouring in, lovely. The spacious bathroom included drying facilities and even a bidet! My landlady Pani Ela was educated, friendly and helpful, and she and her hubby gave me tips on where to eat out. She even invited me in for coffee, biscuits and a long chat in her own luxurious flat, which was beneath mine. And she let me use her computer for internet.

The cost? Again, 35 zl per night!

So I was paying about £8 instead of about £32 per night, a big saving, AND got to stay in real Polish homes with real Polish people!

So, my advice is, always try to get private lodgings. In tourist towns look for the words NOCLEGI, POKOJE and suchlike. Off season you can probably just look for somewhere on arrival (I saw about a thousand such signs on the road to Hel).

UK, Ireland / How to phone the UK from Poland. [8]

When I am in Poland, can I just go to a phone box in the street and dial the UK?

What exactly do I dial? Is it 00 44

What denomination of coins will I need for a 3-minute call?

Sorry if this sounds like a daft q, but last time I did this I had to book the call at a Post Office, return at a given time, wait, then the operator connected me, then I paid at the desk afterwards!

Thanks!

Helena