News / Władysław Bartoszewski died [35]

Perhaps that's improved over the years - in part because of the things that his generation didn't want to see repeated.

For those in Warsaw the book of condolences for Minister Bartoszewski at the Kancelaria Premiera is available for signing until 8pm today.

A wonderful quote from him...


...it roughly translates as:

Whoever despises people regardless, because of their religious affiliation, because of their race, because of xenophobia against them whoever they may be, against people of Ukrainian, Belarusian, Russian, German, Jewish background - this person above all despises himself.

Travel / Getting from Krakow to Warsaw [99]

Good advice from KPC but remember if you board the train without a ticket and want to buy one from the conductor, make sure you're in the first carriage - this is how you have to do it. Remember also that they don't always carry much change.

Good luck @Wielkipolak, let us know how your journey goes.

Life / Going to Poland in a hijab - Polish people and Islam [154]


That's excellent advice, Anna. A lot of people in Poland have visited Egypt and for everyone who's sniffy about someone wearing clothes from a different culture there's another person who is generally interested.

@Castamere, some of what you've noticed might not just be because of the hijab - people in Poland are not generally friendly and sociable on public transport. Writers have commented on this since the 1930s and it's sometimes one of the first things that visitors notice.

UK, Ireland / PLN to GBP - how to get the best possible rate for over 100K zloty? [21]

Looking at it again, Poland and the UK have exemptions, however when I checked earlier there were a couple of sites that disagreed with that. Better to be safe than sorry.

Same website as the link Jolly, different bit. Better to discuss in random, since it's close to going off-topic however in any case, the best rate (and the best way) is to do it by transfer via an established broker.


ec.europa/internal_market/capital/faqs/index_en.htm

UK, Ireland / PLN to GBP - how to get the best possible rate for over 100K zloty? [21]


That's how it was until 2012. Now it applies to internal borders too. You can still take above 10k in cash however you do have to provide the correct documentation or risk it being seized.

UK, Ireland / PLN to GBP - how to get the best possible rate for over 100K zloty? [21]


That's just nonsense. I suggest the OP checks out the various rates from the two online brokers I mention (I think they're the largest and best known of the British ones, but there are also others) and also if he wishes carries it in cash to your kantor friends, makes 'eye contact' or gives a 'signal' (I'm intrigued what sort of signal, a wink, a furtive gesture, a brush of the hand about the crotch?) and goes into the 'secluded room' to a man who doesn't insist that his regulars 'fill out a form with identification '. At least the banknotes he gets will be nice and clean, having just been laundered.

UK, Ireland / PLN to GBP - how to get the best possible rate for over 100K zloty? [21]


Sounds sleazy.


And they don't for their 'regulars'??

Seriously, why make 'eye contact' or a 'signal' and creep into a 'secluded room' (does it have a bead curtain?) when you can do it all quickly and efficiently (and with a better rate) using a mainstream foreign exchange broker?

Travel / Getting from Krakow to Warsaw [99]

Looking at the times on the PKP website, you've got 2 safe choices:
1. Get a taxi and then and the TLK (If you've hand lugagge only and lucky and come through the barrier by, say, 1820 you can get the 18.33 airport bus - you've only a tiny chance of getting the 1815. It's number 175 by the way - and you'll probably make it to the station with if you're lucky time to buy a ticket there). Beware though of flight delays, long waits for luggage etc.

2. Come through at your leisure and stress free, get the bus (same 175 bus) have a cup of coffee, a beer or a MaccyD or both at the station and get the 8.35 EIP.


No. There are online discounts however there are a limited number of tickets for that which sell out quickly and you're too late by far already. On intercity anyway - TLK is very cheap anyway so I'm not sure they discount much.

Travel / Getting from Krakow to Warsaw [99]


They're fine, though sometimes jammed at weekends in the summer or just before and after public holidays.


Certainly very good.


If you have hand luggage only and everything else goes smoothly, no problem. If the plane's at a remote stand and they bus you to the gate, and if you're at the back of the plane so not on the first bus and have a queue at passport control due to other larger planes coming in at the same time plus (the real problem) to wait for a long time at the luggage carousel, then you're cutting it very fine and should get a taxi to be safe.

If the plane is delayed by a few minutes you will definitely need one to get that train luggage/queues or not. A taxi to Dworzec Centralny should only be about 40-50zl from a reputable firm.


Assuming you get to the arrivals hall with plenty of time to spare, walk out of the nearest door. You'll see first of all the taxis in the first lane, then several lanes with a zebra crossing. Look ahead and to your right a bit and you'll see the bus stop (I think on the third lane) about 30 seconds walk away. There will probably be a few people waiting. The ticket machine is next to the bus stop. You can buy from the driver also (though they do run out) and you will need coins for this.

It's a bit of a Catch 22 situation. You could be coming through the barrier at 1830, in which case you will definitely need a taxi and would need to have booked the train online unless you're lucky. If you're out early you'll have more breathing space though and I was outlining the worst case scenarios. A cab is still a good idea. You could get the later train or pay a bit more or a faster one and then get the bus at your leisure. If the difference in price between TLK and EIC isn't much more than 40-50zl this is probably your best bet.

I've winged it like that a few times and always (so far) been lucky however I've often had to get a taxi when I'd been planning on getting a bus.

• 
  okecie.jpg
  

UK, Ireland / PLN to GBP - how to get the best possible rate for over 100K zloty? [21]


Nice to know, however some here have almost certainly been doing it for longer and for larger amounts. I recommend a UK currency broker for a better rate and a safer service - the two I mentioned are both good.

UK, Ireland / PLN to GBP - how to get the best possible rate for over 100K zloty? [21]


No, most kantors do not keep that amount of Sterling in their office, however you'll have noticed (or maybe not) that I did say that they do it by pre-arrangement. That would be necessary anyway unless the OP wanted to wander the streets and wait while the people in each office phoned their boss to get a quote for that amount.

Personally, I find that even for larger amounts one of the brokers above gives a better rate - they are large currency brokers trading many millions every day and give very close to the market spot rate.

By the way, how would you know, Itsy Bitsy/Pigsy/MoOli/Deepak/Mooselimb etc. how much I cash, especially since we've never met.?

UK, Ireland / PLN to GBP - how to get the best possible rate for over 100K zloty? [21]


It's the same either way - you have to declare amounts over 10,000 Euros or its equivalent in another currency - the OP would definitely need paperwork.

He has 3 choices, risk it (which could mean confiscation for not declaring it - a friend once brought about 70k gbp in his pockets to Poland once however I really don't recommend this), declare it and make sure he has at least the paperwork you mentioned, possibly more, translated into English (ideally by a sworn translator) or use one of the two currency agents listed above who will convert it and transfer it to your bank account in a day. People speak well of transfer wise and world first (which I use for my salary) I can confirm is excellent.

I tried to edit but slow internet where I am right now. I wanted to add that the penalty for incorrect or incomplete paperwork is potentially confiscation of the whole sum...

News / Władysław Bartoszewski died [35]

You're deliberately going off topic, Pol3, to air your usual hobby horse that 'fings ain't what they used to be'. But was human nature any different when Minister Bartoszewski was young?

UK, Ireland / PLN to GBP - how to get the best possible rate for over 100K zloty? [21]

Yeah, right, just the amount they keep in the cash drawer!

In fact most larger kantors (google one in Warsaw or your nearest big city) can do larger amounts by prior arrangement. Shop around though.They usually provide you with a security guard to escort you to the bank.

Alternatively, get quotes from WorldFirst and Transfer wise (I use WorldFirst). They deal with large forex conversions and generally give the best rates. They are both established companies with an impeccable reputation and UK based, The second of them is part owned by Sir Richard Branson.

Law / Problems in Poland - Swiss mortgage, bankruptcy, jail, mental health etc [26]

Some people certainly struck lucky in those days. In the Polish CHF mortgage craze (which the Financial Times called "an act of collective insanity" at the time), doubtless some were hoping to repeat the fast buck, doubtless others were naive, and many more assumed they'd be able to whine and winge their way to keeping the property if things went wrong, as may well happen.

The OP gives a very British impression. The reality is that very few will be turfed out on the streets.


It was illegal in the UK for a long time. In Poland, the habit of trading and saving in foreign currencies and the vagaries of the exchange rate (remember that fairly recently they had hyperinflation) mean that people very well knew that there can be dramatic changes.

News / US slaps Poland in the face (Comey Poland) [92]


Indeed, because the acts by a conquered people were so egregious. Doubtless some were out of desperation and others from avarice and opportunity.


Yes. There is also similar evidence of cultured gentiles returning to their homes close to cities at the end of the war and finding peasants in their homes, wearing their clothes.


Quite. The narrative doesn't fit 'Vox's' prejudice so he attempt to rubbish the source. Maybe he's unfamiliar with Princeton.

News / Władysław Bartoszewski died [35]

I don't think much has changed; things have always been like that. Bartoszewski and his generation had a unique chance (though chance is the wrong word given the tragedy of those times). Some of them responded as he did, some did not.

News / US slaps Poland in the face (Comey Poland) [92]

Here's a few of references to that issue. There are plenty more survivors' stories very well documented. Claude Landesmann also discussed the issue in Shoah, as I remember:



academia.edu/3455834/review_of_Fear_Anti-Semitism_in_Poland_after_Auschwitz_an_Essay_in_Historical_Interpretation


sandrawilliams.org/HOLOCAUST/holocaust.html

Life / One advantage of living in Poland: less commerpop nonsense [19]


Cakes are cakes. I pity some of the poor bakers in the US having teabaggers knocking on their doors. In Poland, people just buy them to eat.

Real Estate / Options for dealing with dishonest landlord in Poland [36]


Quit the flat and find another.

Life / Budapest or Warsaw/Krakow - which would be a better place for a designer life? [7]

Both feed into each other. Easier to get the best out of your studies in a better environment,, and though I like Warsaw, I think Budapest is the better city.

News / Władysław Bartoszewski died [35]

Poland and the concept of consensus have never really gone together. People have pulled together during dreadful crises however there has always been disagreement and dissent and a great deal of individualism - people like Bartoszewski who was a goat rather than one of the sheep.

I think you're being a little negative about the generations that have followed Bartoszewski's. The influence of such wonderful people does have its influence on those who come after and the spirit of altruism, self-sacrifice an flair that he exemplifies is alive and well amid all the noise of modern times.

Life / Budapest or Warsaw/Krakow - which would be a better place for a designer life? [7]


Budapest. It pains me to say it because Warsaw is home and a great place, but you'll find a lot more in Budapest. I think you know that already.

Life / Where can I get a good American Haircut in Poznan? [18]

There used to be a very good one (and cheap) at the railway station - not sure if it's still there especially since the building works and there's one near Rynek Srodecki that is OK.

History / Was the holocaust by Germans in Poland the worse genocide in history? [210]

Yes, Gosc, you are right. The sad thing is though that the camps set up elsewhere, although foul, were often labour camps, transit camps etc and differed hugely from places like Treblinka, Birkenau etc which were set up purely as factories of death. Thsee places were built by the Germans in Poland because they'd found that the Einsatzgruppen couldn't kill people in enough volume and in any case it was very hard to get people willing to do that work.

News / Władysław Bartoszewski died [35]

That's quite a good assessment Pol3. So many of that remarkable generation passing away now and the generations that followed hardly a match for them.

Law / Problems in Poland - Swiss mortgage, bankruptcy, jail, mental health etc [26]

Dominic, chill out and stop attacking the guy - he can make his own mind up about whether he wants to help somebody or not. This is an important issue for the OP and the family Involved. It is not a time for trolling.

One issue is that this affects a lot of people now and is a hot political issue. As for mis-selling, there have been some very dodgy investments and loans in Poland. With the Franc scandal, there were warnings at the time and the issue is whether or not mis-selling can be proved. There was certainly a lot of naivety involved with people trusting the banks but there was also a lot of recklessness. This one is likely to be debated for some time.

@Inforapenny, the lodger suggestion is one that would work better in the UK than in Poland. Sitting pretty (not that this is a pretty situation) could be the best thing. There were huge mortgage default issues even before the Franc scandal and so many people are affected that there won't be mass evictions.

At the time people were getting those mortgages, friends said I was stupid for not getting one. I'm very glad I trusted my instinct however there's no sense in Schadenfreude especially for people whose credit is on their own home not buy to let etc.

The situation is so widespread that something will give eventually. Maybe the zloty will get stronger.

News / Władysław Bartoszewski died [35]


Indeed, though all discussed ad infinitum in his/their lifetime.

Law / Obtaining PESEL, ID Card and Passport in Poland [39]


I though so too.


A temporary passport is what's given to you by your consulate if you lose your normal one when on holiday. It seems from the OP's post that newborn babies born abroad get them.


It should be - you'll need to speak to the Polish consulate in London. They will either be used to doing it or used to saying no. Be aware that they are notorious for delays and long waiting times due to Polish migration to the UK happening on a larger scale than they have been able to cope with.

News / Władysław Bartoszewski died [35]


Yes. One of the most respected figures in post-war Polish history.