Travel / Just visited Poland - here is my random rant [154]


Well, next time you're in Wroc, glance around. You'll see loads of youngsters and 18-20s approx., but very few 30s and 40s in comparison. Sometimes in Wroc, from looking at streetlife, it seems everyone is either 18 or 70. Glance into car driving seats and you do see 30-somethings etc, but in a typical street scene the 18-25s and 70s seem to be the most numerous in any busy area you come across. I've noticed this time and time again.


+1


In other towns, I've been asked extra for a slice of lemon and for milk, although not in Wroc so far

Travel / Just visited Poland - here is my random rant [154]

Top post, I disagree with only a few points, including the speeding on the roads bit. Speeding should be discouraged.

Law / Jobs and Economic Status in Poland [64]


;D


Quick anecdote from an acquaintance-- he has a flat in Warsaw, unsold for 3 years, now has tenants. He was asking just under 500K PLN for a 70sqm flat. Am I wrong -- it doesn't seem expensive for Warsaw (unless there's a part of Warsaw that isn't really Warsaw and kite flying goes on there). So, if that's true for Warsaw...?

Law / Jobs and Economic Status in Poland [64]

As far as I know, the only people moving to Poland in any numbers are the original employees of businesses with new factories which have opened on Polish soil. For example, LG, etc.

Love / Polish girls are so nice.. they like dancing, flirting, and have fun [11]


You could be right of course, perhaps some might make exceptions for very fanciable men (or if I dare suggest it, rich men) ! In general though, hot women have a man mountain boyfriend (or more often, husband) in-tow 99 times out of 100.

Love / Polish girls are so nice.. they like dancing, flirting, and have fun [11]

Forget it, the hot ones have all got men. The days of the men shortage are over. :o)

Life / An Englishman wanting to watch TV in Poland [51]


Thanks, quite useful :o)

Life / An Englishman wanting to watch TV in Poland [51]


What's there? I just see social TV channels like Skypers with an audience? Could you please post a link to the English Language regular TV stations because I couldn't find them. The only way I know of is via a paid proxy server and then going to the UK TV sites to stream.

Life / An Englishman wanting to watch TV in Poland [51]

I'm surprised your TV worked, because the Polish broadcast audio is different although the video is still PAL. Is it a quite new TV?

You will need a cable TV service that includes their relay of English channels. Ask in your block to see who supplies TV there, eg UPC, Dialog, Multimedia, etc. Then phone them and ask for a package that includes English stations. Budget for about 100zł a month for that.

Or you could watch TV on the internet using a proxy service, but they are also chargeable for the better ones.

Of course, if you can fit a satellite dish you'll have some English language news channels for free (or for the cost of the equipment).

Real Estate / Poland's apartment prices continue to fall [1844]

Info from a Polish acquaintance in Wroc last week: "We had over 300 applications for a job in our accounts dept."

If that story is true and not an isolated freak stat, it doesn't look too good to me, either. That said, the shopping malls are very busy.

Real Estate / Poland's apartment prices continue to fall [1844]

Much higher in price than many others in the area, this new development in Wrocław at 8500/zl m2 (although it has a pool etc)

zielonaetiuda.pl/nowe-apartamenty-wroclaw

I gasped when I saw the price.

UK, Ireland / Recommend a courier/transport - Poland to UK [7]

Thank you Ajb :o)

Food / can I find curd and sour cream in Poland? [24]


I don't think this one is too sour for coffee, it goes quite well :o)

The smietana which I do want to be sour just wasn't sour enough. In the UK they have one variety but it's the real deal, and properly sour.


Thanks :o)

Food / can I find curd and sour cream in Poland? [24]


Ditto, and other cleaning uses too.


Yeah, I'd say best avoid it. It's in a lot of canned tomatoes but there are plenty without if you look.


It doesn't seem at all sour, I just had it in a coffee!

Food / can I find curd and sour cream in Poland? [24]


I bought another smietana instead of smietanka by mistake! Aaaaaaaaaarrrrghhhh!!!


Yes, that's it, it is citric acid but it's not too good for you I think. It has good things going for it too but among the negatives... (the hair one is most important to some of us!)

Side Effects

Food / can I find curd and sour cream in Poland? [24]


I saw that one today, nearly bought it :o)


It didn't taste good enough for coffee, it was sour-ish.


Not sure citric acid is good for people.

Thanks for the help though :o)

Food / can I find curd and sour cream in Poland? [24]


I just bought some 30%, I'll give it a go, but don't remember ever having to worry about how sour the sour cream was in England :o)


I'll give it a try, thanks

Enjoy the holidays all (I'm not religious myself, it's just a break from the usual routine for me, but if you're celebrating Easter or Passover etc, I hope all's good)

Food / can I find curd and sour cream in Poland? [24]

I had 18% recently, it wasn't sour enough for the dish I was making. Thanks for the new tips.

Food / can I find curd and sour cream in Poland? [24]


All the sour cream or smietana that I have found here so far is not sour enough. In the UK, we have very much more obviously soured cream. Where can I find some here? And what is it called?

Also the other day I bought smietanka by mistake, no idea what that was but seemed to be watery, not thick like smietana.

Love / Observations and experiences so far about Polish women [93]

The most important thing I've noticed is very few are available after 25 !

Where do the older ones meet (older as in 30s/40s)? Just in Warsaw? I've no knowledge of where they meet in Wroc (nor Warsaw for that matter).

To an outsider at any rate, it does certainly seem that if you're 30 or 40 in Poland and a single male, looks like you can forget it pretty much (unless you resemble George Clooney, I guess) unless you want to risk approaching strangers in the street who might then think the man's desperate or crazy.

Life / "konczy Ci sie waznosc konta" - Play (Poland phone company) has gone insane. Help? [14]

Thanks Lenka, so it sounds like it is just for SMSs and calls, or expensive mobile phone (or possibly dongle) internet by the byte (which is always very much more expensive than buying a package/packet data allowance).

For 125zł, on PAYG (Pay As You Go) Play gives 15GB valid for 120 days. I use 1GB a week at least (and that's without using Youtube).

For 30zł Play give 2GB (T-Mobile charge 5zl less). Both are valid 30 days.

Life / "konczy Ci sie waznosc konta" - Play (Poland phone company) has gone insane. Help? [14]

So, what does a person do with that unused credit? Because, for example with T-Mobile internet, you have to do a 25zł top up to get 2GB again. What does the surplus money get used for? Phone calls? I just don't understand how it works. In the UK, if you buy 1GB that's what you get and the account does not say that there's any money left, it just shows how much MB you have left. Here, it shows MB and zl. There must be an easy explanation...?

Life / "konczy Ci sie waznosc konta" - Play (Poland phone company) has gone insane. Help? [14]


T-Mobile do a starter pack for 25zł (2GB). They might work differently but you still only have a month to use the 2GB. However, some money might remain in credit on the account which you perhaps can then buy a top up or phone calls with. I am not at all sure, so you will need to ask at one of their shops in shopping malls etc. You will of course need an unlocked dongle-modem.

Life / Hey, Nice Airport Wrocław! Or! Day #1 for an American Ex-Pat in Poland. [128]

You mean tumble dried clothes don't need ironing? Why didn't someone tell me that before???

Nice observational posts Jason, btw.

Life / Hey, Nice Airport Wrocław! Or! Day #1 for an American Ex-Pat in Poland. [128]


I applaud your empathy with the homeless, but I don't think he was making fun of them. They do indeed get 'armpit deep' in the skips of waste, I see it regularly. Jason is just painting pictures with words, and he's very good at it. I can't see him intentionally meaning to offend you or any homeless people. Had that have been his clear intention, I'd share your revulsion, but I would be very reluctant to assume he was doing that.

Life / Hey, Nice Airport Wrocław! Or! Day #1 for an American Ex-Pat in Poland. [128]

Jason, re your photo, some Beko fridges in official fire warning:
dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2284119/Beko-accused-dragging-feet-faulty-goods-company-linked-ELEVEN-deaths.html

and some Bosch and other dishwashers:
telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/9933927/Bosch-half-a-million-dishwashers-that-catch-fire-still-being-used.html

Real Estate / The current property boom in Poland is a bubble [342]

I was chatting to a qualified economist yesterday, I didn't say a thing to him about property bubbles. I was merely telling him about the rental market and noisy neighbours. He then dropped into the conversation that he bought his place in '03 at 3000/sq m (Wrocław) and added "A few months later it was up 25% then the bubble went to prices at double before it popped, although prices still seemed to climb after the banking crisis started, they only fell when people realised Europe was not immune and Poland wasn't either."

(Polish-born economist, 41, who works in finance in Wroc.)

Real Estate / The current property boom in Poland is a bubble [342]


That still going on?

Real Estate / The current property boom in Poland is a bubble [342]

I think there's no doubt there has been a bubble. The problem is simply what will happen if -

the PLN weakens (foreign investors using a stronger currency? won't be GBP lol!)
the NBP keeps cutting rates (although I acknowledge the very good points by Peter above which may cancel this out anyway)

Question is, is Poland like Eire a few years back, or is it like the UK in 2004/5 when high prices just went higher when we all thought they were already ridiculous (in some UK areas, prices are now back to 2002/3/4 anyway, but not London and nearby of course)

Real Estate / Kodeksu cywilnego Umowa najmu for tenants in Poland and laws governing tenancy agreements [16]

Appallingly bad water pressure - trickling out.

Could someone advise on this, please. I have an otherwise good tenancy agreement offered to me -- it is 12 months based on the landlord's preference (their idea). However, there is a clause that says either party (landlord or tenant) can end the agreement by giving 1 month's Notice (for any reason). Therefore, it's obviously not really a 12-month agreement, it's a 1-month. I am not sure I'm going to object to it, because the contract is otherwise good -- and I also know that most contracts do say that a tenancy can be ended immediately anyway if the tenant upsets the neighbours or does something the landlord considers negative. Considering that a landlord could lie or falsely claim a tenant did something bad and end the tenancy quickly anyway, the 1-month notice clause does not unduly worry me.

My questions:

-if for some reason I can't leave the flat in 1 month after the landlord's Notice, I assume they have to go to court to get me out legally?

-if I came back to the flat and found the landlord or his 'boys' had put my things on the street or in a van, what legal action could I take against the landlord?

(The tenancy agreement does not ask for an address for me to be evicted to in the event of them throwing me out.)

Any advice would be great.