Travel / New Year's Eve in Warsaw. How to spend it? [26]

Saw Shakin as well on the TV, rabbit + headlights, springs to mind. We go to friends or throw a party, let some fireworks off, I prefer that than struggling to park in the city and fighting your way through crowds. I went to one in Krakow a few years ago and it was great, apart from the above points, also the prices went a bit mad, so I enjoy being nearer home to be honest.

News / Polish converts: When did you have your revelation? [29]

I can see were your going with this, but I have stayed in several hotels in places like Belarus were at one hotel was given the key and some toilet paper. Even touring in the Poland 20 years ago I never got a bad hotel as such, they have a bed and something to wash with, One place in the UK couldn't even manage that, so I stripped off in the carpark and had a shower. 2 large bottles of water it took and a round of applause from the people in Wetherspoons across the road.

News / Polish converts: When did you have your revelation? [29]

After many visits to the then future wife's village, were I enjoyed the visits, but never considered living there. Possible the thoughts of outside toilet, horse pulling a plough did not really figure in my western ideas of acceptable living standards, but for a few days at a time I liked it.

My revelation came in 2005 during the first hot summer I spent there. The furnace was off as the heating is not needed, so heat water on the stove for washing. I got shown a tin bath outside with water heated from laying in the sun in a hose pipe. I got in thinking how do people live like this, about half way through my bath I thought, this is actually perfect. From that point I though I wanted to live and not just visit Poland.

Life / Polish speed cameras [37]

In the Uk they help to fund the British government. In Poland they seem to be for people to test their emergency braking skills.

Life / Name help - Auga? [7]

Our chicks have grown up now, but have no names although the duck does.

Were did you met her, would you not bump into her again at the same place?

Even if we crack the first name, then the lack of surname might cause the next problem. Facebook is a big place.

I would have thought she would use her name in full if introducing herself rather than a shorten version, My wife uses Barbara when she meets people for the first time, but everyone who knows her its Basia.

When I read you post first my first thought was Agata.

I love PL chicks as well, when they grow up they are very tasty.

UK, Ireland / Sad life of a Polish immigrant in the UK. Ch. 2 - Stress [63]


it is raining already, just checked

UK, Ireland / Sad life of a Polish immigrant in the UK. Ch. 2 - Stress [63]

Politics: I reckon they do
Stress: I reckon they have
Job: I reckon they complain and complain about the money and hard work aspects
Petrol: Are you totally sure
Comments: Get them to poke you in the chest and you can have them all on assault
Roads: They are the wrong way round

Life / Polish speed cameras [37]


PC is very, very wrong. it is the satan of all evil in the UK, god forbid you should try to hurt someone breaking into your home. The UK suffers greatly from PC ness, its number 2 on the list why I am in Poland, the wife being number 1.

I understand the last part you write and in an ideal world yes, but the world is not ideal, I really like to drive here, its not boring, it requires more skills than I had before I got here, I notice a lot more and my anticipation is so much sharper. I drive a diesel Citroen Picasso, its high center of gravity keeps out of boy racer status, I know what it can do and what it can't do, I expect that any car will change lanes at the last moment, I don't let it stress me out, it part of life here, I am in their country I do as they do.


Then you are person who will cause the fatal accident by not doing the same as the locals. If I gain on a truck on a fast A road, behind me are a line of fast cars, I know they are going to go for it, I judge what the guy behind me might to, so I give him some space between me and the truck or pull over into the hard shoulder and give the guy some space to come through or I block him and take the truck, then if I do that he will follow with me, so I will judge if is safe to tuck in and let he go past. Sometimes its just best to let a long line of cars through and tuck on the end. I do 90KPH on A roads, thats the limit, but I do not get in the way for those who do 120 KPH. People do some fairly risky overtaking in my opinion, so I like to think I make it less risky by being aware of whats around me and at any moment a Fiat 127 with 5 fat blokes might struggle out of a turning with a few trucks gaining ground on him and a load of cars about to overtake, I am not speeding but I am in the middle of it all and I really do enjoy the thrill. We don't get this in the UK or in Denmark were I used to live

Life / Polish speed cameras [37]


Not sure who we are on about here, sorry.


Yes, always the risk, but if you lose the ability to risk assess yourself and become reliant on pamphlets and TV campaigns then surely you become the higher risk to you and all around. With that thought process you would have to live in a paddled cell for the rest of your life.


I have worked a lot in Holland, I have no formed opinion, seems an okay place, the best theaters to work in for sure, I would really need to be driving in Warsaw to get the same buzz as trying to get to the ferry around Rotterdam, maybe its just the locals. The Poles have to drive on some pretty bad roads with a lot more road furniture in the way, people like me riding bikes on the wrong side of the road, a lot more hazard than the westerners deal with, I think they do okay given all that.


Driving in Poland is not crappy or do you mean the Polish drivers are crappy. I think the Western ideals about performance, being really good at something is the problem. The Poles just want to get from A to B, I doubt they care how perfect their gear change is. As long as I understand the locals and anticipate what they then my date with judge is hopefully a long way away.

Caged animal...H&S Its like this, a big machine with wirily bits, I might consider not putting my hand in the dark hole which appears to be omitting saw blade like sounds. Thats not good enough for the UK, they have to have a sign telling you not to do it. The next machine does not have a sign telling me not to insert hands or manhood and wolla natural selection takes place. I like it here because I can exercise some nous on me jack jones.


I am not feeling the love :-(


Yep, I am British, but just arrived from Denmark, so gas station it is to me. I could say MSA petrol/diesel outlet whatever you want.


Are you singlehandedly going reform the Polish drivers to the standard you think is correct, great but until then I have to do what everyone does its less risky

Life / Polish speed cameras [37]

Dude..... are you an American? With all the health and safety, Hi Vis and speed cameras in Blighty people still get killed or injured on the motorways, so it appears not to make much difference apart from the numbing of peoples ability to think for themselves and get through a day with out being reliant on a bloke with a clipboard telling them how to do something that that person has actually never done themselves. So the freedom of personal thought regarding dangers is indeed something to cherish in a very over cautious world in general.

If I drove here in an English styleee, I reckon I would be danger to the locals with my pottering along looking for potential picnic spots and tutting at all wrong doing, so I do choose to blend in. You walk out my door and most people if transport allows are doing 20 - 30 clicks above the limit in our village, the man with the clipboard is not here for me, so adapt and survive.

Anyway Mistic Meg when do I meet the judge, I am accident free all my driving life and I am looking to keep it that whatever Poland throws at me, so my driving style has changed to suit the conditions I now drive in and I do like it. I see that you have a Dutch connection, are you really going to tell me life is safe around Rotterdam come rush hour, no they are lunatics, the Poles are cuddley kittens compared to Dutch trying to get home.

I am not 15, not close even, but me mum is going to put me tea on now and then I am going to put some neon tubes under the car, so I have to tot off. I look forward to fully risk assessed response.

Life / Polish speed cameras [37]


I do like driving here, I am much more alert to possible problems ahead, with the roads, slow vehicles, dogs, unlit cycles, its a good long list to hone your skills, staying out of trouble is a good skill to acquire. My first venture here in a car was 30 minutes of hell. I stopped at a gas station, re-composed myself and decided to join in with them and that seems to work.

I find people in Britain a bit hung up about performance, be it in bed or on the road, that you have to be the best and get upset when they are told they are not terrible good. I like the Polish way, A to B as quick as possible, if its messy who cares, onwards into infinity. Scotty in the back seat of a PL Fiat screaming "the engines canna handle it captain"

Driving in the UK is so dull, miserable people stuck in traffic, crawling past endless cameras and liable to snap and knife you at any second, should you dare to try to get somewhere before them. I am a fan of Polish driving, pulling over to the right to let someone past as they blast into oncoming traffic, its like ballet :-) a flash of the indicators to let everyone know they are still alive.

The UK has been repressed by health and safety, the PC culture, I am a caged bird been set free......I think I will get on my bike and peddle the wrong way up the expressway.

Life / Polish speed cameras [37]

What ever they are the do not flash, they front face that would be dangerous, they are infra red I would say. I actually love driving here, its edging and exciting, anyway thanks chaps, all good information.

Life / Polish speed cameras [37]


I have noticed a lot of traffic does not slow down for them, which get me thinking there are not active or that people do not see the warning signs, if that was the case there would be a mountain of prosecutions going on.

We have a few nearby, a 50 KPH one which no one slows for, one thats been painted, one thats been turned around to face a house and my favorite one at the end of a dead end street, maybe talking pictures of entering a field at speed is popular.


Most systems do have some form of POI warning of cameras, it depends on the company keeping that updated. This database I use is a subscription one, although spot a new camera it becomes free, which is what happened to me. In the UK it is considered to be the best as its members do the spotting or verifying sites. I got asked to look at Poland as I am here, its unpaid, so I only do it on journeys I do in my own time. As the only person doing it in Poland for this database its a drop in the ocean to be honest. The coverage is now good in Europe, so I do my bit for Poland....

Life / Best Sat Nav devices for use in Poland [41]

I got a fairly old TomTom 720 with the central maps on covers well east and west europe very well. we are in a small village in the middle of nowhere and we are all good here, certainly as good as the east only map I also have and also got good speed camera coverage, if indeed the cameras are working......

UK, Ireland / Petrol costs, Ford Transit travelling Poznan to Wales and then returning [26]

dnz has talked about Norfolkline for crossing the channel, as it happens we have a van going to the UK and did some ferry booking last night. The price is very good for a car, but imputing a van into the system even as private went from 47€ to 200€, bit strange, but it appeared to be for private use, anyway got the same cheaper price from LD Lines, so the van goes that way.

UK, Ireland / Why do Poles come to England? [514]

Sounds real bad back in the homeland Laddy, I am lucky it seems to have been able to move out of a country that has gone to the dogs when I did. It would also appears the native population can not get into a school anymore to learn even the basics. I wish you luck Laddy, your going to need it I think.

Life / What do you live in, apartment, house, car? [19]

I understand that Englishpoznan we have many friends who live in apartments in cities and yes a few of them do seem compact. I lived in a tower block in the UK a few years ago, were you could hear the people to the side and below and really hear the people above, it seems the apartments we have stayed in overnight in Poland suffer less from that.

I suppose is worth saying living here has allowed us to build a house with our own money, so its all ours, thats something we could not do in the UK.

UK, Ireland / Petrol costs, Ford Transit travelling Poznan to Wales and then returning [26]

Well if the drivers wages are x number of wonga and the fuel and ferries are x number of wonga then how long a truck is standing waiting for a load is the difference between that and if is worth hanging around waiting for a load. Its less likely that a UK truck would do that as the driver and other standing costs are too high.

Someone like Willie Betz who supplies the auto trade will want to keep trucks in the right places as thats the JIT business, he can afford to pay Eastern drivers or perhaps he does not pay if they are not moving, if thats the case then no UK driver would do that. If your passing a MSA at the weekend I bet there are dozens of eastern euro trucks parked up waiting for the weeks business to start.

UK, Ireland / Petrol costs, Ford Transit travelling Poznan to Wales and then returning [26]

As wages are lower than western European transport, you will see many trucks from the East parked up waiting for backloads, its not common to have a Brit sitting a truck for 3 days waiting for something to move. There are many freight forwarders who make the money selling loads to move to people trying to cover or make a small profit on the return trip.

The £ is pretty bad at the moment I think, so I cannot see it being a bargain. I am really thinking the cheap way is catch someone with a hire van stuck in the UK from moving to Blighty and pay the cost of a one way trip to Poznan. Good luck

UK, Ireland / Petrol costs, Ford Transit travelling Poznan to Wales and then returning [26]

Sorry Englishpoznan, no idea who would be in your area. Perhaps some of the Poznan people can chip in, no idea how soon you need this done, but have a look around and see what PL wagons are in the area, make a note of the companies. Its either that or finding out if someone is vanning over their stuff to move to the UK and hitch the pallet a lift to Poznan, if they are doing this one way, then a few quid is going to help them take the sting out of a one way move to the UK.

I do think that price you have been quoted is a bit steep, are you on top of a mountain somewhere?.

If it was me I would be looking to source a van that was dropping in the UK and would take one pallet to get home quick without hanging around looking for a return load, I couldn't hazard a cost of that, but better than a freight forwarder in the UK for sure. It all depends if the cargo needs to be insured as well of course.

UK, Ireland / Petrol costs, Ford Transit travelling Poznan to Wales and then returning [26]

We moved over from West Yorkshire to Southern Poland in a long wheelbase van via Hull-Rotterdam, I guess 1,4000 km one way, I guess somewhere around 160 litres, a diesel Renault. You can do AA route finder maps on the net to find out the route and distance, work it out on UK fuel prices and you will be quids in.

Then factor in the ferry, one pallet at around 600kg is not a big van at all, something like a Ford Connect might do it, but sounds like you will need to someone let you have a van for nowt for best part of a 5 days. The price of a ferry normally increases if it goes over 6.5 meters in total length, thats really only going to be maxi vans league.

The most cost effective way would be to get a PL company to bring it back as part of as a back load, part of some groupage, lots of traffic going to or past Poznan. You would not be able to do Poznan and return to Wales in a car for that sort of money I am sure.

UK, Ireland / Petrol costs, Ford Transit travelling Poznan to Wales and then returning [26]

If its petrol then thats going to cost, diesel is much cheaper than petrol also here and in the rest of europe for your journey, I think dzn is going to be right at £200 a trip for fuel. I would hate to think what a petrol Transit would do per litre. Thats old school fossil fuel abuse......

Law / iTunes in Poland [11]


I would like to know the answer to that question also, seen a few MacBooks in Media Markt, but nothing very interesting, perhaps Gregor knows the answer?

Life / Getting married in Polska - some advice required about mixing traditions [27]

I forgot about the blessing in the house, we did not have this, it did not seem right. I went to pick the bride up from across the street, escorted by 2 unmarried women, one of which was married..... I paid 4 bottles of vodka for her and they let me in. I went inside, but we all had a cup of tea instead of the tradition parents blessing, it was more comfortable for me and my parents.

Its worth to mention the importance of the band. Apart from playing the music, they run the games and you should look at them as the people running the whole party. They know when its time to do the important stuff, so you really can relax and enjoy the night without the need to worry about what time it is and so on.

Our band also provides the dvd of out wedding, so we had a meeting with the leader and we talked about the music, the video and what games we wanted. We left it up to them on the 2 days and were not at all disappointed, infact when they finished and had packed a lot of the stuff up 5 year old girl wanted to sing us a song, so they set up again for her to do this. We viewed the band as part of our party, they ate with us and drank with us.

We had 4 waiters for 96 people, they certainly worked hard, food courses after food courses arriving and making sure everyone had vodka. Its also a tradition that we have a dance with the waiters and cooks and pour them a vodka for their hard work.

Also my wife informed me as we sat down after throwing the glasses over our shoulders "We have now finished our part of the day, the rest of the time is a party for our guests"

Life / Getting married in Polska - some advice required about mixing traditions [27]

ShelleyS it seemed someone was asking about an her upcoming wedding in Poland. I do not see how that is slagging of the English/British. As a British born male personally the Polish weddings I have gone to so far are much more fun and interesting than the UK weddings I have been to as a lighting technician working at wedding parties or attending them as a guest, my opinion only you understand. I would have thought there was a bias towards Polish weddings here as its a Polish forum, you could try a Scots/Brit site for people who might care more for that sort of party.

I have no interest in the UK anymore, I don't miss anything about it, I really like Poland, it ticks so many of the right boxes, as long as the good stuff out weighs the bad stuff then I am happy, the balance is all wrong in the UK for me, I don't think I can have a standards that are acceptable anymore there.

Life / Getting married in Polska - some advice required about mixing traditions [27]

explain pik123, I have no ideal what that means.

Life / Getting married in Polska - some advice required about mixing traditions [27]

Its was the same for me, the bishop to agree to the marriage in church, the only thing our priest ask that we both would say in church that any children from our marriage should be raised as Catholics, which is not something I would disagree with.

I have been to Polish weddings, but there is a lot of traditions that I have never seen, such as the kissing of the bread, my best man was a Pole from the UK, who between him and my wife guided me through the day. I said yes to a 2 day party, we are from a small village and my wifes side would expect the proper thing, it was tiring as we also were picking people up from hotels, we also bought all the drinks, the wedding morning was taking 180 bottles of vodka up the stairs, along with all the rest of it, so the 2 days were full on for us. Even though we were using the local firehouse with its caterers the veggie thing was no problem and the waiters knew who was veggie, so no problem.

We made sure that the UK part had wine and beer, but even my father joined in the vodka and did very well. The first day was long the party lasted 13 hours, finishing at 5.00 am. The second day was great as it was more laid back with a lot of children and lots of games. Our band was super, they hold the whole party together, the 2 girl singers worked their asses off, no one was allowed to sit down, the 2 girls spent most of the event in the crowd making sure everyone was involved and having fun. As I said to the wife after the second day "I want a divorce and lets do it again"

Life / Getting married in Polska - some advice required about mixing traditions [27]

I did this last year apart from me being the man and English. At that time we were living in the UK, but planning and have since moved now to Poland.

We both wanted Poland to be the place to be married, I felt the traditions here were important and having been to a few Polish weddings, I also thought it a better way of doing it than a British wedding. In the end we had a 90% Poles and 10% made it from the UK.

We had a civil service at midday and a friend did the translation for me and my families benefit. My wife wanted a church service also, but this was a problem as I am not a Catholic and a few meetings with the local priest to try and reach an acceptable solution to the service. In the end we all agreed a blessing was the way to go, everyone came and again we had another friend translate into English. We had no music, just the vows about 20 minutes for the whole thing, we both felt this was the correct way to do it and if we had gone for the full service I felt as a non Catholic my part would not amount to much.

My parents and friends had no problem with any of this, we made sure good English speakers were there to help with the day and explain what was going on. At the wedding party we had an introduction speech from a member of the band, done first in Polish and then in English. I am actually not sure of the tradition in the UK, sort of sit down, eat, speech, disco go home a few hours later. A Polish wedding is a bit more lively, I did not want a UK part as such, we held the 2 day party as a Polish affair, but making sure the non Poles were not left out or felt confused. It was a great 2 days and the English part had a great time and loved the Polish wedding experience. I shudder to think how a Pole would view an English wedding.

My biggest problem was making sure the DVD guy did not use western music, as some of the music choices are not good, Rod Stewarts, "Stay with me", good title, bad lyric. In the end the worst was 30 seconds of Take Thats "want you back for good" on pan pipes. I actually had a great time doing it Polish style.

The food was not a problem, we made sure the UK lot knew what was going to be served, we had a couple of veggies as well, the caterers knew this and offered different courses. No problems with food. I think trying to get some English food on the menu might be more difficult, I do think anyone coming to Poland for a wedding would be okay doing it like the locals.

The only problem was the drinking. We had a careful eye on the English incomers who gamely attempted to out drink the locals, a couple failed and ended up being shipped off back to the hotel early, I would try to explain the importance of eating and drinking soft drinks after a shot of vodka. Either the vodka or the dancing will take its toll.

I think the important part is make sure they know whats happening, the traditions on the first day, what the games are about on the second day, find a couple of English speakers to look after them, its easy for them to become confused with whats happening, perhaps post a DVD of a friends wedding to the UK, we did a 10 minute DVD for the folk back home of a friends wedding, so they would know its not a quite affair

Good luck