Travel / Parks in Ferio Gaj - Wroclaw [6]

is it near Piotr i Paweł shopping center?

Genealogy / Łokucewicz [10]

dear muffin, there are two sisters playing for AZS Olsztyn vollebay team named £okucewicz, I don't know however if they are Polish or perhaps Belarusian

Language / 'Gateway' slavic language? [54]

yeah - not so many Germans know English reasonably well to communicate - which is very different from Scandinavia and Holland

Food / Warsaw: where to find DECENT chickens and marzipan! [12]


is this Luebecker Marzipan? - i love it - it is so delicate being only mildly sweet contrary to most other marzipans - the chocalate coating is of bitterly chocalate so it does not distort the genuine marzipan pleasure ;)

Language / Polish and Russian - learning by a beginner [30]

my personal view is that Russian is a bit simpler than Polish (minus the cyrilica issue) grammatically and phonetically (no ę's, ą's, ś's, ć's, dź's etc) the only major thing in Polish that is easier to grasp is the accent/stress - Polish stress is regular (on the penultimate syllable) while in Russian it's moving and can be sometimes difficult to predict

Language / Polish and Russian - learning by a beginner [30]

some grammatical concepts and structures are almost identical in Russian and in Polish - if you are apt at creating pigeon-holes(holes?) in your head then you shouldn't have trouble having similar a place for Russian structures next to another for Polish

the vocabulary is a bit different thing - there is lot of in common (I think 30 per cent is similar or identical), discrepancies are huge however and there are plenty of 'false friends'

Real Estate / Purchasing land in Lubelskie, LAW now and future! [4]

if you still hold a Polish passport you can buy any kind of land with no obstacles

as for foreign companies - land for industrial development is sold after meeting some criteria as far as I know - the project of the developement has to assesed and accepted - I takes time - but I have no knowledge of details

Life / How many people really know English in Poland? [53]

no there are no nice Polish girsl here :) the only ones that frequentiate here are moaners or shrews ;)

Life / How many people really know English in Poland? [53]

as far as I know Kraków as well has some expat oriented services, but you perhaps will need to make find some contacts to learn about these - keep the thread 'floating' hardly anyone writing here is constantly on-line

make contacts/friends with the expats living in Kraków - some regular contributors from here live in Kraków

then even though it is difficult for foreigners(westerners) to learn Polish fluently (because of the grammar) - knowing a number of most useful words sure can help much (in their basic grammatical forms) even if you can't pick them up from Polish people speaking

Life / Swine flu vaccinations taking place in Poland? [52]

just go to any private practitioner (that speak's English) and ask - it shouldn't be overly difficult if you live in Warsaw - it think it is obvious they are interested in the issue (as not the whole of the population is gonna be vaccinated for free)

btw state-of-the-art vaccines (safe ones) for the swine flu are only starting to get delivered world wide

Life / How many people really know English in Poland? [53]

the simple answer is no
the answer to the latter part of your question - is - it depends where your gonna stay

but wait for expat views - especially those who live in Warsaw

lastly - it is not that difficult to learn a couple of nouns in Polish and a couple of infinitive form verbs to assist them, buy a dictionary and learn the rules of Polish spelling and pronounciation (which is not Chinese astrology)

I could actually say that more and more young Poles especially in the bigger cities know more and more English - it is the older generation that you will find the least success communicating in English

Genealogy / Where is Brazazowa or Brazazowka? [24]

Galicja (Galicia or whatever it is called in English) is now divided between Poland and Ukraine - I am not familiar with the town/village name you have given and I know most towns of today's Polish part of Galicja (I mean I know the general geography of the area - it's not that I have visited it extensively) (it was a part of Austro-Hungarian empire in the times your ancestors came to the US)

this however doesn't disprove it is a village somewhere in Poland which identity has to be guessed from (most probably incorrect spelling)
still it is very probable that the place is in the present day Ukraine which makes the search even more difficult (some villages there don't exist anymore) most had their names changed to fit Ukrainian language better

btw there is a town in Polish part of Galicja that is called Brzozów (still in my eyes the discrepancy between the two names is too big - the name you give bears some Ruthenian features to my mind)

(I anything but an expert in Ukrainian Galicia geography)

Genealogy / Łokucewicz [10]

I don't think he did
£okucewicz is a regular Polish surname (of Belarusian origin)

Genealogy / Need a translation on a family photo. [5]

passed Motyka Bolesław - for Stefania, our sister for (eternal) rememberance

harvest photo - I send you a photo. The first day of our harvest. 19th July 1947

the guys with rifles - me and the rangers (forest rangers) of mine in the west (can be former German lands now in Poland) - I was there till 1947

for the brother and his wife to remember us our photo - Dębicki family

Life / Swine flu vaccinations taking place in Poland? [52]

I am sure you can get it commercially - but would expect it to be quite expensive - I don't think Poland is going to implement vaccination of the whole population

News / NEW PATRIOT MISSILES FOR POLAND [178]


China are right now aiming to topple the US finances- bye bye

Genealogy / Where is Brazazowa or Brazazowka? [24]

I recommend you learn more about general history of Poland (there was no Polish state) ethnic compositions, state borders etc
I don't think the name you give was properly transcribed so the search can be very difficult especially if your ancestors come from the lands that aren't Poland now (in the east)

Genealogy / Need a translation on a family photo. [5]

you've forgotten to include a link to the photo (or the photo itself)

Language / 'Gateway' slavic language? [54]

Russian has simpler grammar (though not very simple and in many cases similar to Polish)
It has a bit simpler phonetics as well. I guess there are also plenty of resources to learn Russian.

Both Czech and Slovak have a bit simpler grammars, simpler phonetics (though Czech has one pretty unique sound that large part of Czechs don't render properly ;) ) that are better accessed by English speakers.

I have met claims that Croatian (Serbocroatian) is not very difficult to pick up by English speakers - but I don't know much about the language.

Bulgarian is unique in some ways among Slavic languages (grammar wise)

you can have a go and try Russian or Czech and then see if it helps in Polish. (I am not sure. I think the opinions will vary greatly among individuals (opinions based on experiences - never mind any other opinion)

a thing to remember is there are false friends - similarly looking/sounding words in different Slavic languages that mean something completely different - some 'false friends' can cause unpleasant situations (being neutral in one and gross language in other Slavic language)

News / NEW PATRIOT MISSILES FOR POLAND [178]

I really like Russian language. (I actually love hearing it) I love their music. (traditional, classical) Most Russian people before revolution were simple, peaceful, religious people who lived along nature. And it was pretty natural and easy for many Poles to live among them while for example being sent to the Siberian exile. It is not the Russian nation that is an active threat to the well being of their neighbours. Or the peace in general. It is their elites.



don't know what to say - do you think Central Asia republics don't feel a pressure (of various kinds) from their former sovereign? do you think Belarus is somehow free from Russian pressure? Aren't they trying to interfere in internal politics in Moldova, Ukraine, Azerbaijan? Do you think they have dissolved their spy/agents networks in the former communist countries and in the West, was KGB ever dissolved? or was the name just changed?

News / NEW PATRIOT MISSILES FOR POLAND [178]


I would say the West doesn't want too see much further than their ass


you somehow fail to notice two Chechnya wars and the genocide on the Chechen nation


I would say Polish spirit is rather defined by the animosity to the Russian imperialism which is very different in my opinion

UK, Ireland / What is good about being in the UK? [140]


you know - construction materials and energy prices are not very different in Poland and in Britain - there has been shortage of flats in Poland for years on end (only now the supply comes anything near the demand - the affordability was the reason then as it is still important now) - there has been credit availability issue over the years here also - it is not that long that credit is pretty easily available (well was before the credit crunch - but I don't know the realities in this field now)

Travel / Bicycle touring in Poland [3]

you can cross the whole country in 2-4 weeks time
in your place I would go for a North-South route (starting north or south)
starting south (the mountains) can be more practical as you tend to get more and more tired in time so leaving mountains for the last may not be the best idea

I would go from Zakopane (visiting the mountain tops (the Tatra) there (not on bike though- it's illegal) to Krakow then through Kielce area to Góry Świętokrzyskie ( Holy Cross Mountains) then I would take some interesting route to Warsaw (options are plenty). From Warsaw north to Mazury (Masurian lakeside) and then a travel to Gdańsk (or generally Tricity) or perhaps a one day jump to Hel peninsula (can be made by regular boats)

I have no idea if there are any biking guides through Poland in English or biking-oriented maps - haven't found anything of interest in the web yet

there is a page polandcycling.com that has some practical info but not that much

Food / GRAPE GROWING IN POLAND? [5]

there are some wine growing enthusiast in Suwałki area - there has been a way of protecting grapevines from frost by burrying them in soil developed quite long time ago in what is now Moldova I presume - and yes there are vineyards in Estonia - of course they are not commercial in the strict sense

Food / GRAPE GROWING IN POLAND? [5]

it is possible to grow vineyards as far north as Estonia - and you wouldn't call the grapes I have against the wall sour

vineyards were quite common in southern Poland in the climatic optimum before the little ice epoch that started somewhere in the middle of the XIIth century (the vines must have been brought in by monks)

UK, Ireland / What is good about being in the UK? [140]

well I still don't find 300 quid a month very cheap Lefty (Leicester area countryside back in 2003)

UK, Ireland / What is good about being in the UK? [140]


you really must be joking pal :) our rent for a 60 m flat is 30 quid a month (this is a railroad colony in the forest) - can you get anything near that in Britain - I should mention that 120 quid a week in London for a 30 m flat is not that expensive - there was quite recently an add here of a little flat (a studio) in a standalone house in Gdynia (Orłowo) for 500zl - this is not that exceptional actually (I lived in one such place in Gdynia once for the same money) - it is of course relative thing - affordability of these is very different with Polish and British wages

Life / What is the nature of Polish people's hygiene? [76]

they used ash to wash themselves hehehe ;)

UK, Ireland / What is good about being in the UK? [140]


that Goth thing explains everything :P
I haven't heard the whole 'Garland' album - some pieces are too heavy but I like 'Shallow then halo' (from time to time) - but would prefer 'Quisquose' any day

Life / Large Polish cities with the fewest # of native english speakers? [15]

yeah, good point ;)