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Posts by sobieski  

Joined: 1 Jun 2008 / Male ♂ 		Last Post: 20 Jun 2015
Threads: Total: 106 / In This Archive: 78
Posts: Total: 2111 / In This Archive: 1623 		From: Poland, Warsaw
Speaks Polish?: Good
Interests: Polish culture and history, cooking

Displayed posts: 1701 / page 11 of 57
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sobieski   
11 Dec 2013
Travel / Christmas Fairs in Poland [9]

That is how a skating rink in Old Town arises. It has to be hit of this winter

At the Old Town already see where for a few days will you can slip on the ice. City Hall hopes that the in the winter it will be one of the biggest attractions of the capital.

Ice rink will have 20 to 30 meters. The next step will be to set the band and lighting installation. But that's not all. - Ice rink will not only be lighted, but also beautifully illuminated and decorated festively. Besides, it will be surrounded of 40 spruces provided by Urban Forest - said Agnieszka Withers from the press office of the town hall. Right next to the skating rink skate rental will be placed. The whole will be surrounded by booths where tired skaters will be able to eat a meal and warm drinks offered by the Old Town restaurateurs. It is they who, not to mention thirsty attractions Varsovians, will the most benefit from the rink. Slide is likely to attract crowds of the curious, and those in the cold days will be happy to eat something.

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So the ice-rink will be after all on the Rynek. Mind you, it is good location for it. If they throw in some gluhwein, that would be even better :)
sobieski   
10 Dec 2013
Travel / Ryanair flying domestic in Poland? [46]

Yeap, that's what I also figured out. We are still figuring out though if we could manage to go on a weekend trip with only hand luggage :). And yes Modlin by taxi is an extra factor (unless we trust one of the daughters with the family car, I think the answer is a very big no :)

Too bad it is six hours by train - although when you see IC tickets Warsaw-Wrocław...not cheap either. Now I understand why Wroc doesn't come to Warsaw to buy his Cheddar :)
sobieski   
9 Dec 2013
Travel / Christmas Fairs in Poland [9]

There isn't one in Warsaw rynek this year?!

Nope there isn't one. Just one of these typical Warsaw stories. In summer they started to re-lay the Rynek with new cobblestones. (Btw why to start this in the midst of the tourist season, God knows) This of course was delayed and delayed....

In the meantime there would be an ice-rink on the Rynek - also a good idea btw, and because of this the traditional Christmas Fair could not take place there. But instead of moving it to Rynek Nowego Miasta or Plac Zamkowy (on both locations it already has been), it was moved to...under the concrete shadow of Dworzec Centralny.

Then, because of the ongoing and delayed renovation works on the Rynek, the private sponsors of the ice-rink pulled out. End result: Big zero.
sobieski   
9 Dec 2013
Travel / Christmas Fairs in Poland [9]

Has anybody been to a Christmas Fair already in Poland this year? The one here in Warsaw is a very sad affair. They've put near the Central Railway Station, and a sadder location I cannot imagine. It is also very small. During the past years it was on the Rynek, much better location.

I heard the one in Wrocław is quite nice.
sobieski   
9 Dec 2013
Food / Cheese in Poland is too bland [37]

, I find the Polish palate gravitates towards bland tastes anyways.

There is something in this...Many ethnic restaurants tend to "Polonize" their dishes. And not always with a good result. But maybe Polish restaurants let's say in the US do the same...adapt to local taste?

Trappist cheese is so much niche, that you can only buy it at the gate of the monasteries themselves.
But back to Poland cheese. Indeed blandness is the norm here. Maybe I can make an exception for Polish mountain cheese...
sobieski   
8 Dec 2013
Food / Cheese in Poland is too bland [37]

I couldn't agree with you more. In Belgium we have more as 1.000 beers, many of them coming from small local breweries, who have always a big fanclub.

Same goes for cheese - to go back to to the OP -. The Trappist cheese I buy is incredible. But...you can only buy it at the monastery gate, and only when the monks are not busy with their religious functions. It is not marketed anywhere.

But my sister is coming over for a surprise pre-Christmas visit next week with a load of Trappist cheese, Belgian chocolates, decent coffee and a big hug & smile for her brother :)
sobieski   
8 Dec 2013
Food / Cheese in Poland is too bland [37]

I do not really see the point of moving to a different country and then complaining about the food, of course it is different to your country.

True, and I agree with you on that. Only on the point of Polish cheese being bland, the Poles themselves agree. For the rest I buy almost all my veggies and eggs on our local open-air market. Quality very, very good, no comparison with what they sell in Carrefour. Sure the eggs are not kept in a fridge (two days ago they were covered with snow), but they are real eggs.
sobieski   
8 Dec 2013
Food / Cheese in Poland is too bland [37]

Still, where to go for your run-of-the-mill cheese? I took recently a good look at the labels of most "cheese" sold in Polish supermarkets...and let's say that often they resemble cheese, but that's all.

No doubt Alma & co sells perfect cheese...for a price which waters your eyes...But besides of that?

When I am in Belgium, I always buy cheese in one of the Trappist monasteries (the one my father worked in all his life actually). Nothing can equal the cheese (nor the beer for that matter) they produce.

but am very fond of Parmigiano-Reggiano

There is supposedly a Polish cheese which is cheaper but a satisfactory alternative to them...maybe that's the Bursztyn another poster wrote about/
sobieski   
7 Dec 2013
Food / Cheese in Poland is too bland [37]

Yep I do find polish (European) cheese very bland,

From what I know, compared to US "cheese" it is a delicacy.
Europe is full of good, regional cheeses. The art is to find it. The problem is that in Poland 99% of cheese is copycat of yet another bland copy.
sobieski   
7 Dec 2013
Life / Lack of human rights in Poland? [132]

That's a very good question.

Nope. That came from zero-tolerance, massive pre-emptive arrests.
Belgian police btw take a very dim view of people carrying knives, and regard them as a threat.
sobieski   
7 Dec 2013
Food / Cheese in Poland is too bland [37]

Except that I won't go to Cieszyn to buy cheese :). I know Carrefour has a big range of "cheese". Unfortunately it all is the same, regarding "taste".
sobieski   
7 Dec 2013
Life / Lack of human rights in Poland? [132]

You keep on defending knife-carrying. Google "Lazio" and "violence". And see what comes out.
And think. Why in democratic countries with a policy of pre-emptive arrests, zero tolerance, hooligan terrorism has been routed?
sobieski   
7 Dec 2013
Food / Cheese in Poland is too bland [37]

It's a Polish knock-off of Maasdammer.

And which one would that be? Because almost every shop in Poland sells Maasdammer.... In Lidl they used to have Dutch Gouda in blocks (I know it was Dutch, judging from the EU ID mark), but they do not sell it anymore.
sobieski   
7 Dec 2013
Life / Lack of human rights in Poland? [132]

A first hand account from one of the Lazio fans arrested:

Why do you keep on going defending a gang of knife-carrying Lazio kiboli? And why do you think carrying a knife in public is perfectly normal?

They got their head and butt kicked pre-emptively by Warsaw police - whose duty is the protection of the Warsaw citizens (which they did not do during the Nazi invasion on 11.11, but that is another matter).

In Belgium we had no hooligan violence since many years (at least no home-grown). Preventive arrest is the clue here and zero tolerance.
sobieski   
6 Dec 2013
Life / Lack of human rights in Poland? [132]

They are not Nazi and never were.

What is the difference between them burning the rainbow and waving Polish flags in front of them...and the Hitlerjugend burning books?
Btw...you as an expert on Polish patriotism (of course not living in Poland, not paying taxes here), what is your opinion of the Brigada Świętokrzyśka?
sobieski   
6 Dec 2013
Life / Lack of human rights in Poland? [132]

ou don't appear to have an open mind in such matters.

Lazio is a club whose "fans" are known for their extreme violence. The obligation of the Warsaw police was to protect the city and its people from this kind of animals.

Wearing any knife in public is idiot. People who mean well do not carry knifes. If the police would not have intervened and these "fans" would attack ordinary bystanders and start destroying the city, then there would have been a problem.

After all, they could have gone peacefully to the stadion and back to their hotel.
Why do you keep defending such scum? I simply do not understand this.
sobieski   
5 Dec 2013
Food / Cheese in Poland is too bland [37]

My biggest disappointment with cheese in Poland, that it is so bland. They all taste the same (at least the ones sold in the supermarkets). OK...some have holes in them (and are called "Emmental" even they wouldn't recognize Emmental even when it would kick them), some haven't....But in the end...

And I am not even talking about their composition, because I analysed quite a few times their labels and sometimes what they have in common with cheese is only the colour.

Zamoyski, Gouda, Edamski....all the same.
Of course you can buy foreign cheeses...but they cost an arm and a leg...
Question: Which are the better Polish cheeses (I prefer the Gouda or Emmental type)?
sobieski   
5 Dec 2013
Work / Is it possible for a street musician to make a living in Warsaw? [6]

For a 300 sq foot apartment in the city centre (including bills), you're looking at US$500 absolute minimum and more likely $600 for something livable.

My pal lives on Miodowa (right in the Old Town) and he pays 1700 PLN for a 45 m2 apartment. Do not know if that is including bills, guess not. But still a good deal I think.
sobieski   
4 Dec 2013
Life / Lack of human rights in Poland? [132]

I just wish that the Poles would ask for some help with dealing with their problem.

Exactly. That way it would be much easier to deal with the ONR scum and other "patriots". Polish police has a poor record in dealing with such animals.

That said and done - anyone thinking that walking with a knife on the street is the norm....is just not normal...

You don't arrest let alone charge people as a preemptive measure. It goes against all concepts of justice.

Nope. You arrest them before they can destroy and attack. The legal niceties can be sorted out later on.
sobieski   
4 Dec 2013
News / Poland, still corrupt, but not as bad as Czech/Hungary & Italy [36]

Merged: Poland doing better on the annual corruption TI index

Poland is advancing on the annual corruption index of Transparency International. I think that's good news. Personally speaking, in all these years I am living here I never paid any bribe in Poland.

The least corrupt are Denmark, New Zealand , Finland and Sweden. Poland was placed in it 38th among 177 countries and territories . The 100 points gained 60th rank , the more the country scored points , including its citizens perceive it as less corrupt.