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


Harry the problem with mortgages from "Rodzina na swoim" is that usually bank commission on such mortgage was higher than on 'free market' mortgage. This program is maybe in theory noble but in reality it is nothing more than artificial floor for property prices. This program started when property market in Poland was in shambles, it should be stopped long time ago.

PS, I'm not in property bust camp, but prices are falling - don't forget about inflation. Even if price of flat is not moving the price is dropping...

Travel / Traveling around Poland - our photo stories with very personal commentary [225]


Contrary but true :-) Probably it depends which date after WWII is taken into account. Here is actaully nice info:




Let just say that this statue is not the best example of art ;)

Travel / Traveling around Poland - our photo stories with very personal commentary [225]

Just to straighten one popular misconception:



It is half true. In fact the biggest part of Poles who came to Wroclaw after WWII were from Greater Poland Voivodeship. Those who came from ex-Eastern Poland were smaller in number but it was organized resettlement - with some noticable groups like scientists from Lviw or important institutions like Ossolineum. That is why popular view is that most of Wroclaw citizens are descendants of the settlers from east, when in fact they are mostly decendants of the mix of east and north.

By the way:


Some Wroclawians call it monument of Mirmil (from "Kajko i Kokosz") not Boleslaw ;-)

Travel / Attractions in Wrocław: a Must-See List [117]


I know you asked about Rynek, but you know, Rynek is for tourists...
If you are looking for good selection of Polish beers and some Czech beers try pubs near "nasyp kolejowy" = embankment of rail. It is not grand place but there is a collection of cosy pubs there, for example this one with Czech beer:

wroclaw.tubywam.pl/czeski-raj

Those are mostly pubs so decent food is harder to get but regular stomach can handle food from this place:

wroclaw.tubywam.pl/kuznia-dobrych-klimatow

As I said, it is not grand area (it is planned to became a pedestrian zone in a few years though), there is a construction site of a theater next to it, but it is quite close to the Rynek and somewhat "off the bitean track" place.

One more thing, trains are running under your head there, but this is kind of special feature of the place ;)

Travel / Traveling around Poland - our photo stories with very personal commentary [225]

Anyway it is a shame that you missed Ostrow Tumski. It is kind of like missing Mariacki Church when visiting Krakow.
Good reason to come back one day, when memory of all things you didn't like shades away ;)

Travel / Traveling around Poland - our photo stories with very personal commentary [225]


Oh really? Is there any song about Krakow blue trams? ;) :



"Wroclaw song" by Jerzy Harald (music), Krystyna Wnukowska (lyrics), Maria Koterbska is singing.
Date of song: around 1950.
Goes more or less like this:

"Mkną po szynach niebieskie tramwaje przez wrocławskich ulic sto"
"Blue trams speeds through Wroclaw streets"

But, blue color was introduced by Poles after WWII due to blue color of trams in Lviv. Origin of colour of Krakow trams is mystery to me...

pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tramwaje_we_Wroc%C5%82awiu
pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tramwaje_w_Krakowie

PS. some old trams in the video are red, because there was red period after blue, and then blue again :)

Travel / Attractions in Wrocław: a Must-See List [117]


You really caught the worst few days... I hope you found some nice pubs to hide ;)

Travel / Attractions in Wrocław: a Must-See List [117]

^^
whatever the truth is, from tourist point of view important things are:
is it nice? is it open during my stay?
Yes and probably yes.

Travel / Attractions in Wrocław: a Must-See List [117]

Bad news for you, the fountain at Centennial Hall was broken...
Good news, official site claims things are back to normal, but there can be some longer maintenance pauses...

PS. those two sites can be helpful:

wroclaw.pl/kultura_szukaj,1.dhtml
pik.wroclaw.pl

Travel / Holiday in Poland (question about transport by bus from Riga) [7]

Yeap, IC trains can be slow, but are quite convenient (but in summer sometimes air conditioning cann't cope with external conditions so if it is very hot it is better to ride very early in the morning or in the evenings). Of course regional trains is a different story - it is lottery - nice train or total failure.

As for buying tickets:
- if you buy via website - no problems with communication at the station - English is not very popular at PKP, but if you will need to change your reservation then... much more communication problems at the station ;)

It is worth to notice that recently a couple of direct LOT connections between bigger Polish cities reopened. So for example you can fly from Wroclaw to Gdansk only for around 200 PLN. An hour instead of nine... I bet there is similar posibility from Krakow to Gdansk. Find that out on Balice or Pyrzowice airport website.

Life / Cost of living in Wroclaw (rent price too) [119]

cinema ticket~20 - 30 PLN
theater ticket~ 30 - 50 PLN
aquapark: 20 PLN one hour
regural swimming pool~10-15 PLN one hour
concerts~10 - 100 PLN
canoe :-) ~ 12 PLN one hour
strawberries~6 PLN was the lowest bid, but the season is toward the end...

Travel / Attractions in Wrocław: a Must-See List [117]


I didn't but there is couple of those special ones, here is a list (only in Polish though): wroclawskafontanna.pl/term.pdf

Beauty and beast was quite ok. I've heard that Microcosm is good.

Language / Czech language sounds like baby talk to most Poles. Similarities? [222]


So, we have an understanding now! :-). That was the whole point, if I may cite myself ;) :



So it seems we estabilished: "Czechs is funny for many Poles who don't really don't know it and even didn't heard much of it"

Now, I understand, you would alter that statement to:
"Czechs is funny for many Poles among those who have childish sense of humour who don't really know it and even didn't heard much of it."

Well, if I can take myself as an example I would say those two are the same, because childish reaction is in the essence natural reaction without knowledge on the subject. Oh boy, If I only could remove sometimes all my knowledge in areas I know deeply to be able to cheer about them as I once did... Considering the fact that in life there is less and less such things I think I will preserve my precious Czech ignorance in order to have my internal playground ;)

As for your analogy to Sweden vs Norway... You are getting it wrong. If Czechs would live on Mars and use the same language it would still be funny to childish Polish ear. It has nothing to do with neighbours antagonism.

I have no idea why do you think it is offensive toward anybody, that series of sounds makes some people laugh...

Language / Czech language sounds like baby talk to most Poles. Similarities? [222]


If that would be the only reason I would laugh hearing any language in the world, which is not the case. I really don't understand why it is so hard to you to acknowledge the simple fact that Czech really does sound funnier to most Poles that most other foreign languages.


Sure it is, that is the whole point of it being funny... I know the whole story of it about Czech language being let say reinvented in XIX century. And the more I think about that fact, the more I think it is a sole reason why it sounds funny contrary to Croatian, Serbian or Russian (though here is the case of mass exposure of Poles to it, so it is hard to judge...). I mean Czechs added arbitrary all those slavic words (supposedly many Russian and Polish), and unprepared Polish ear instantly gets that something is mixed up. Well, that is supposedly the whole point of brain reaction to the joke - when things are mixed up - human either laughs or get scared... That is why learning Czechs removes all the effect - things are no longer mixed up.


Yes, I know, quite logical actually.


So what? I mean there is nothing wrong in laughing at series of sounds.. I hope you don't imply that the fact that Czech can sound funny means it is some kind of insult... it would be weird political corectness... Besides for all it is worth, in some ways thanks to that sound of the language Czechs are actaully perceived in Poland as a nice people with a great sense of humor..

Language / Czech language sounds like baby talk to most Poles. Similarities? [222]

^^
cool, I didn't know that one, thx

Language / Czech language sounds like baby talk to most Poles. Similarities? [222]


Yes, it is equally funny, but the amount of such funny phrases in Czech seems to be enormous. Sure you can find that probably between any two languages. But it is not only about quality but also about scale. So sorry dude, but Czech is in many ways funnier to Polish ear than English, it is like comparing one drop of laughter with the sea of it. After reading couple of your post I'm under impression that your exposure to Czech is beyond the "comedy threshold" and you started to loosing natural Polish reaction to it ;) It is not surprise, I know a Polish girl who learned Czech and she said she lost it to, but she said it was worth it anyway, because it is great language and culture - and I concure with that!

PS. those of you exploring similarities between slavic languages, try that: slovio.com/

Language / Czech language sounds like baby talk to most Poles. Similarities? [222]


I don't know why some of you jumped on the guy so hard. In fact Czech language indeed makes sometimes unprepared Poles laugh their asses off. It is not like it is all about diminutives. In general it is with all kind different cases they used, and with false analogies (similar words meaning something totally different). Well, to visualize my point some bold example of Czech song subtitled by some Pole. Maybe not an elegant thing, but... the final exam for those of you who learn Polish and don't know a bit Czech (that kind of spoils the effect). So, true Polish speaker (without Czech exposure) would roll on the carpet during this little show:

Travel / Attractions in Wrocław: a Must-See List [117]

To all that useful info above I would add:
- there is possibility of renting a canoe or boat or motorboat in couple of places - nice thing to do in the sunny weather (conoeing into Oława river just after Grunwaldzki bridge is good choice, because it is surprisingly clean river considering it lies in the middle of a big town), unfortunately Oława is not accessible by anything but canoe. Beside that there are also bigger tourist ships crusing on the Odra river

- as for the fountain near Hala Stulecia - every weekend on some hours there are special shows - try to get there to see one of that. It is good to be about an hour before that and take a comfortable place at the restaurant in front of fountain (there is surprisingly small amount of moskitos this year, but repellent can be handy),

- there are a few towers worth to climb on, like cathedral tower, or S.Elizabeth church tower.

PS. if you need some professional city guide, feel free to pm me, I know some of them

Travel / Things to see along eastern Poland by bicycle [42]

He he, Bearnyboo, this forum is full of grumbles... You seem to be serious cyclist so you should survive this unforgiving land of Poland ;-)

I use to spend my vacation on bicycle with travelling bags to. I was cycling both on great Danish cycle paths like some poster above or on great cycle paths of Rugia and it was all great, smoth and fun, but to tell you the truth no one from those experiences is more memorable after years than unexpected swamps instead of the cycle path or a few kilometers of cycling through the beach at Polish seaside (btw. I strongly recommend cycling at the Polish seaside till it is not all smoth, fun and boring - but remember from west to east) :-)

I have done a lot of cycling in different places in Poland, never near the east border though, but I saw some relations from it on cyclist festivals and it did look ok... For sure Polish drivers are not the friendlest folks on earth, and most Polish roads lacks separate lines for bicycles BUT if you plan your route carefully and remember about some cultural differences you should be ok.

After this a little to long intro, the rules again:
1. avoid national roads - already said, but to reiterate this - the path you planning to take near east border is one of the most inadequate in Poland (ie traffic there is to big considering width of the road) - especially road number 8 between Suwalki and Bialystok. 8 is the road toward Warsaw, that is the reason. From Bialystok to Lublin there is national road number 19 where amount of cars is smaller.

2. there is no habit in Poland to pay a lot of attention toward cyclists. 90% of the cars will pass you at legal distance of 1 metre, but at least 1% bastards will almost touch you with their mirrors - that means you should always keep safe space on your right in order to have some survival space...

3. Edges of Polish roads are usually their weakest part - it is much safer for you to just keep straight line on the road than manouver in order to avoid some holes (quite obvious advice probably...)

Anyway, if because of some reason you will plan your route through national roads, I think those maps below will be useful to you:
State of Polish national roads, green=very good, red=critical (proves that road number 8 is a bad choice):

Traffic on national roads in Poland (2010 survey) - again proves: avoid road number 8 ;):

Travel / Things to see along eastern Poland by bicycle [42]


I was wondering about it last year but lack of consistent cycle route discourage me a little. There is many sites with cycling routes but all of what I saw concerns only area around some city/touristic area. So, you probably have to design your own route. The single most important rule: avoid national roads if possible.

As for fine places/activities, I would consider two things:
1. ride along National Parks
2. for a couple of days break from cycling - nice canoeing near Suwałki/Augustów on Czarna Hańcza or Rospuda

As for first part it would include (from north to south):
a) Wigierski National Park (actually this is the part when you can think of canoeing)



Basically If I were you I would connect those small maps with some path avoiding national roads. Hm.. I'm starting to think to do it myself :), well maybe next summer...

Law / Does Poland have the most prehistorical and strictest banking system in the world? [57]

Well, from IT perpective I've managed to have some contact with this cheque thing a few years ago and what I can tell you is that this entire process looked back then like a pain in the a**. If I remember correctly process flow, in the end this cheque ended in NBP anyway (but not sure about that part). Back then the problem was the net of the contacts between Polish and foreign banks. Bank X couldn't just send that cheque directly to bank Y, it required middlebanks. Anyway it was very outdated way of paymants already back then. Bank needed that cheque module only just in case. Comparing to other modules it was almost never in use. So to sum things up cheques were/are so rare in Poland that banks didn't bother with proper development of that service both on technical and operational level. And it is hard to blame them, using cheque in the era of electronic SWIFT messages seems a little bit Amish ;)

As for general perpective, at least from technical point of view Polish banking sector moved ahead of western one simply because full scale informatization took place later than in the west - so it just skipped initial phase of it. Besides some foreign banks treated newly opened banks in Poland as a IT training grounds before they incorporated some solutions to their main branches.

All in all for sure at least from technical perspective Polish banking system is not prehistorical, that is why it is not friendly to dinosaurs ;)

Travel / I travel to Poland for 3 months, but can not find any travel deals [8]

Maybe not a lot helpful, but try firms from Polish Chamber of Tourism. Basically firms that are members of this chamber are supposedly reliable. At least that is theoretical goal of this organization.

Anyway, about PCT

pit.org.pl/index.php?lng=en

and here, list of members - there are some websites included, so you can find a direct contact and info:

pit.org.pl/index.php?com=catalog

Life / An idea about Polish Literature [32]


Well, Mrożek is still alive...

Study / Bachelors in Civil / Mechanical Engineering Degree in Poland [39]

There is Faculty of Mechanical Engineering on Wroclaw University of Technology:
portal.pwr.wroc.pl/345888,242.dhtml?s=346079
material in English: wm.pwr.wroc.pl/files/prv/id9/przewodnik_angielski.pdf

Among technical universities it is ranked second in Poland, though I don't know how this specific faculty is ranked.

PS. there are Mechanical Engineering faculties on Warsaw University of Technology, but on different names and/or specialized in some field so for example there are:

eng.pw.edu.pl/Faculties/Faculty-of-Production-Engineering
eng.pw.edu.pl/Faculties/Faculty-of-Mechatronics

Travel / Częstochowa - could give me some good info on the place? [14]

Hm... I've not been there for a long time so I don't want to discourage you but Czestochowa is not known for a great nightlife. The best nightlife I had there was in student dormitory with a friends I visited.

Travel / Częstochowa - could give me some good info on the place? [14]

Częstochowa is known for Jasna Góra Monastery and... not much more :)
There is good speedway team over there, some nice hills - good for climbing trainings, some nice small rivers good for canoes.
Other than that it is relatively close and well connected with some bigger towns so if you there you can plan some trips around.

Life / An idea about Polish Literature [32]


errata: I meant "Ferdydurke": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdydurke

Life / The rising costs of food and fuel in Poland and the effects on disposable income/economy [177]


my point is that:


You seem to be somehow surprised by that, most people don't, they adapt till the move is not huge. By how much price of petrol changed in last couple of years? 20 - 30%? a lot, but not the end of the world...

Life / An idea about Polish Literature [32]

Try some XX century staff, in my opinion a lot more entertaining that previous literature.
Try for example "A Minor Apocalypse" by Konwicki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadeusz_Konwicki

I remember I enjoyed it. Early XX century is also very nice, Bruno Schulz was a star back then: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno_Schulz "The Cinnamon Shops" is a pure magic.

Anyway, there is a lot of it, I just liked those two above.. and those are not huge bricks like XIX novels... but "The Doll" by Prus was actually quite good. Pre WWII XX century poetry is also very nice - try Tuwim, Kasprowicz or Leśmian: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le%C5%9Bmian

(but I suppose Leśmian is veeery hard to translate to the edge of impossibility probably).

There is of course loads of others with a supposedly main stars of Polish Romanticism like Mickiewicz or Słowacki but personally I almost disdain them (maybe because in school I were told so many times that they are great ;)) which reminds me of Ferdurke by Gombrowicz (great book) "Why admirable if not admirable?" or something along those lines regarding Romanticism ;) Hm.. but from Romanticism I somehow enjoyed "The Un-Divine Comedy" by Zygmunt Krasiński. Hm.. another great guy is Mrozek, try his "Tango" and of course Stanislaw Lem. I marked him because he was really great and kind of world star in SF (but his books are lot more than just SF). You can try something wide know as "Solaris" for example.

Well it is like a stream of consciousness, I think I better stop right now... To sum things up there is also a couple of Polish Nobel prize winners in literature but somehow they are not my favourites.

PS. In my opinion studing history of literature would be much more fun if studied in reverse order from the XX century back to begining. Modern literature is just much more interesting (at least in my view) but teachers tends to spend so much time on previous centuries that there is not enough time for new books.

Life / The rising costs of food and fuel in Poland and the effects on disposable income/economy [177]

Well, the wise people don't give up on the job, they are just:
- going together - with a car you can split the cost by four...
- or use public transport...

anyway, so far it not a big issue... it was noticed, accepted and adapted... sun rises and sun sets and petrol prices fluctuate.. why make so much fuss about it? are you going to declare war against USA to stop them from printing $? anyway, there is already to many cars in Polish cities, every single occupied car in a traffic jam makes me think let the oil price jump even more ;)