Food / Where to buy British mature Cheddar Cheese and salted butter in Poland? [289]

I hate to be braggy, but a guest at my recent birthday party brought me 2 packs of Mature Cheddar and a Stilton over from the UK, along with Bisto and Oxo cubes :D

Food / Where to buy British mature Cheddar Cheese and salted butter in Poland? [289]

For the Heinz Ketchup lovers, I noticed that Tesco Online now have it, haven't been in store but if you get the home deliveries then you can get it there :)

Life / Any English language channels on Poland cable TV? [8]


Comedy Central is all lector, no option on most networks to change the lanuage. But you still have a huge amount of channels that are available!

UK, Ireland / Polish Mineral Water In the UK [7]


As mentioned in my initial post, it's the lekko/delikatny gazowany that I'm looking for. Even in supermarkets in the UK it's still or sparkling. I want something more interesting than still, but not fully sparkling because the bubbles stick in my throat if I drink it quickly (yes, i'm strange).

I suppose I could get a soda stream and just half fizz up some water.


True, however when you look at the most popular mineral waters in the UK and you will see a lot of Evian, Volvic, Perrier and San Pellegrino. If they are already being imported, ay as well drink it.

Life / The cheapest phone operators in Poland - Play is not worth it [7]

I have not had a single problem with play since moving to them a year ago.

I don't think we can really argue about customer service, it't not unique to Play, or even Poland. I have had sims in various countries throughout the world and never had good customer service from any one of them. I think it's something inherent in the industry and needs to be fixed.

I used to be on Orange in Poland and I still cannot believe how ridiculously expensive they are for not a great service. I often had my internet shut down with them and credit would dissapear seemingly without reason. I checked everything and it was just their rates were ridiculous! Strange considering I moved from o2 in the UK to Orange on account of them being better value.

UK, Ireland / ABOUT THE BRITISH NATIONAL INSURANCE NUMBER [22]


I have always had an NI number since I started work, but I was under the impression that this would lead to a really high rate of PAYE being taken off your wages which can't be claimed back until the end of the tax year?

UK, Ireland / Are there too many East Europeans, Poles in West Europe now? [47]

I know Alex Salmond was encouraging immigration from Europe during the Referendum in Scotland. We need to create more jobs, we cannot create more jobs without people to take them.

Life / Did you send your children to regular Polish preschool or English one? How did your children find it? [7]

Exactly, I think a standard preschool is best because it will instill communication skills vital to your child making friends in Poland (provided this is where you want to stay). Also a lot of pre-schools now are doing English classes which will help with basic reading and writing skills which you can continue in the house.

I really do think that, at that age, a childs social development is more important than an intellectual one so I think pick the one which you think will most positively affect your child's social life in the area.

Law / Large Bank Deposits - Poland Banks report them to government due to anti-terrorism laws? [5]

I am pretty sure this is standard in all countries as part of KYC/AML processes. Even when I was just recruiting for a financial institution I had to do training and, if I suspected anyone I was dealing with to be funding terrorism, laundering money, etc, I had a report it to senior management who would report it to the appropriate authorities.

Travel / Budget for a week in Poland- fast foods, some brand clothing buy, three star hotel - shared room, and clubbing [8]


Not criticising, but you have insinuated you only want to eat in fast food chains...is there a particular reason for this? Yes, it's cheap, but why go to a different country and eat the same as you can at home?

UK, Ireland / Do people in Poland live "better" than here in the UK? [150]


When I first came, I was amazed at how pleasant the climate was. My, wrong, perception was that Poland was a cold country (like Siberia). I think my far east upbringing led me to think that anything north of the South of France on the continent was cold all year round.

When it comes to general holidays, British people are still sun-seekers and so generally will hit south Europe before they would go to the Tri-State. Just because a good number of British tourists come to Poland doesn't make it a major destination. People in the UK, sadly, will still flock to places that have sun, sand and British pubs with all day breakfasts and Only Fools And Horses on the TV.

UK, Ireland / Do people in Poland live "better" than here in the UK? [150]


Same in Poland, most pubs use Prymat ready made spices and "pomysl na". Even Magda Gessler promotes it.

You can argue until you are blue in the face that Polish food in the home is better than food in the UK. But, until restaurants in Poland embrace it, it won't compare. I can go to my Mum's or Grandma's house in Glasgow and get great food, but I can get as good a food in restaurants in Glasgow. The same can not be said about Poland.

UK, Ireland / Do people in Poland live "better" than here in the UK? [150]


Not in the budget of someone living/working in Poland. They do have it on menus as a novelty, but Pork and Chicken rule in Poland...even in the city. If you don't see that, you either don't live here or you are earning far too much (if the latter, I accept donations).

UK, Ireland / Do people in Poland live "better" than here in the UK? [150]


As mentioned in my comment, I get the idea behind it and I like it. I was just having fun with the stampy stamp nature of Poland!

UK, Ireland / Do people in Poland live "better" than here in the UK? [150]

I completely get the idea behind it, but you can't lie...they love a good stamp in Poland. Every form you fill in and every office you go to...stamp stamp stamp. It's a wonder every government official doesn't have carpal tunnel!

UK, Ireland / Do people in Poland live "better" than here in the UK? [150]

HAHAHAHAHA, Polish beaurocracy at it's finest, nothing's real until it has a stamp!

UK, Ireland / Do people in Poland live "better" than here in the UK? [150]


I heard that, even on your own land, if you cut down a tree you need to plant a new on in it's place?


That's true, however we do have a beer garden culture during our brief summers, which is kind of similar. Sitting outside, reading the paper, albeit with a beer instead of a coffee. This is something that Poland and the UK share :)

UK, Ireland / Holding a British passport. Married a Polish woman. Applying for Polish passport? [21]

I have to ask the OP one question and that is, why? A UK passport is the most useable passport in the world while a Polish passport is around 21 in useability. Is the OP possibly confusing the passport with the ID card?

Food / Clotted cream - where I can buy it in Wroclaw? [9]

Smurf, you are right, UHT is terrible and so uncommon in the UK. But it's still pretty standard in most family homes in Poland and also commmercial places!

Life / Rydze - mushroom hunting in Poland - Help I need to find these suckers!!! [16]


Exactly, I would reccommend that anyone picking up wild mushrooms sticks with things that are very easily recognisible and, if venturing for more treats, take someone experienced with you. The people you see out in Poland picking mushrooms have the benefit of generations of advice on what to pick and what not to. You don't want to munch down to a delicious smelling dinner only to be making friends with the toilet bowl an hour later (or worse).

Life / Which sim card to buy in Poland? [30]

I have a play sim card and then I just go to play24 and you can get unlimited 3G for 30 days for 10zl. The package also includes free calls and texts to other play mobiles (you can get extra add ons to cover other networks). I put in 50zl which does me fine for 3 months, 30zl for 3 internet packages and 20 zl incase I need to text back to the UK (but I rarely do that now with iMessage and facebook messenger).

Unfortunately that only applies to 3G though.

Life / Children's pocket money rate in Poland. [10]

It's been a while, but I used to get £5 a week, but only on the condition that I did my share of housework around the house. Looking back on it, I probably spent about 5 hours a week doing dishes and other cleaning for £5...I should have started a union with my brother and gone on strike for more.

Work / English in Polish kindergarten - methods and games. [5]

Peppa Pig?

Love / Left Poland when young, did I leave half my heart? [7]


This is really good advice, depending the size of your house and the rent you could get from it you could have a great time in Poland without having to work too much, because rent in Candian Dollars would translate well to earnings in Poland.

Life / Men's Barber shop in Krakow ? [6]

I personally have never found a decent barber shop here in Kraków, I saw on the morning news that there is a proper barber opening in Wroclaw soon and already one in Warsaw. However most men I know either go to a salon or a regular Fryzier. Quite different from what you might be used to as it's a lot of old women just doing basic cuts, but a short back and sides is no problem and only ever run me about 17zl (20 with a tip).

There will no doubt be more soon because of the influx of hipsters who will need good barbers to keep their moustaches tip top!

Travel / Mobile Play Kiosk locations - Krakow [3]

Straight off the train from the airport, Galeria Krakówska, walk in from the train station, take your first left and it's on the right hand side. Most staff in the Galeria can speak English and you will have a micro sim in about 30 seconds (as long as there's no queue). As them for a leaflet about data charges and top up your phone, then text the code to number on the leaflet and boom...within 20 minutes you have unlimited data for 30 days for all of 10zl!

[The text message you get back will say it will be active in 24 hours, it's never taken more than 20 mins for me]

Food / Cabbage and Noodles of Poland - Golabki? [30]


Very much so, such a simple dish, so easy to make, and so tasty. Infact, even when you buy it pre made, it's pretty good.

Language / kilka vs troche ? [12]

Think of it as much and many in English, Kilka relates to things you can count and troche more to things you can't. That has always been my interpritaion.

Language / Is ę and ń always pronounced the same? [11]

Would I be right in saying that the ę when at the end of a word is a carry over from olden days when it was fully pronounced, but nowadays it just has the sound of a regular e. Kinda like how in some dialects and in the past you can really hear a difference between ch and h in a word, but in day to day speak you would struggle to tell. I was originally told that ch had a sound as in the Scottish "Loch". However a number of people, including my teacher, have said that it sounds overpronounced to a native.