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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 55 of 57
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sobieski   
27 Jun 2010
Life / What are the poorest regions of Poland? [15]

The Eastern half of Poland always has been the poorest and less developed. That was already so before partition time.
One only has to take a look on a map of the railway network.
The other side of the medal is that the nature and landscape are arguably the most beautiful there.
sobieski   
27 Jun 2010
Travel / Best Gessler Restaurant in Poland [9]

I have from hearsay that her Italian restaurant on the Rynek in Warsaw is quite OK.
Anybody been there?
sobieski   
24 Jun 2010
Life / Dutch bicycles repair shop in Warsaw [16]

I asked around and I'm affraid you are out of luck. Everyone agrees that the Dutch technology is so advanced that no Polish technician can even dream of repairing those crudely welded rockets.

Sorry for the bad news.

I want to lodge an official protest here :). God knows that being Flemish I pray every day for the Dutch to loose in South Africa :)

But I do not think any thin-plated fragile Giant bike can compete with my Dutch bike.
The Dutch are good at making bikes, even if I hate having to confess that :)
It will go on indeed for the next 30 years or so. It is not made to impress, just brings me to my pub in a reliable fashion.

In the meantime I have asked in the local bike shop here in Bielany. They scratched their head a bit on the advanced technology but will manage :)
sobieski   
23 Jun 2010
Life / Dutch bicycles repair shop in Warsaw [16]

I have a very comfortable old-fashioned Dutch Gazelle bike. 15 years old, came me with to Poland 6 years ago. Idea bike for city traffic. Sturdy frame, weighs half a ton, 3 gears trhough the axle, brakes also..brings me everywhere in a stately even manner.

But where to find a warsztat in Warsaw used to maintain such a bike?
sobieski   
22 Jun 2010
Travel / Why do people say that Poland is so unsafe? [60]

. Warsaw is alright as long as you know where you're going and don't mess with people.

Maybe that is why I feel OK in this city :) Our weekend activitities - as of most couples as we know - are limited to going to the movies, in Summer participating in some bbq out of town, dinner with friends, open-air concerts in the Old Town...So I have no idea what you mean with "messing with people".

Actually I find life here very similar to my native Flanders, excluding the language of course.
sobieski   
21 Jun 2010
Travel / Why do people say that Poland is so unsafe? [60]

Actually my brother-in-law thinks that the average Warsaw driver is quite civilized compared to the Paris ones. Is this the case? I have no idea.
sobieski   
21 Jun 2010
Work / TEFL Jobs in Poland - your success story? [16]

Harry
I can understand that as concerns hospitals etc.... Public ones are best to be forgotten...
That is why I have Medicover (which is also far from perfect but still...). But if you pay ZUS, at least you get your medicines for the normal rate and do not have to pay the complete price.
sobieski   
21 Jun 2010
Travel / Changing money in Poland [15]

That could be a point. I heard the one in CH Arkadia is not too bad.
sobieski   
21 Jun 2010
Travel / Why do people say that Poland is so unsafe? [60]

Rage:
So why do people describe Poland as a super dangerous place?
this place is candyland.

Completely true. I am living like six years in Warsaw and I am coming since 1989 regularly to Poland. Never experienced something bad criminal/dangerous here, and also take often the metro late at night without problems. My car is parked on the street and the worst thing which happened is that somebody stole two wheel covers from my Touran. Admittedly we do not live in a "hot spot". Bielany is not an "exciting" place at night. Praga might be different, from what I hear.

I think actually the biggest danger is from the absolutely deranged drivers I see each day on the roads.
sobieski   
21 Jun 2010
Travel / Changing money in Poland [15]

Thread attached on merging:
Changing money or ATM

When my sister was here last week she asked me what was the best, changing her Euros in a "kantor" or using an ATM?

Personally I always use ATM's abroad, because it is comfortable and to be honest I cannot be bothered to compare the final cost. But some tourists would go to the other side of the city to get a microscopic deal in a kantor.

What is your feeling about this?
As she was staying in the Old Town (where the kantors are indeed a pure crime) using an ATM made sense.
Other side - and she had a point - what is the point running all over town to get your Euros changed somewhere at a slightly better rate... There are so many better things to do during that time :)
sobieski   
20 Jun 2010
News / Who are you voting for in the 2010 Poland's presidential elections and why? [82]

Marta Kaczyńska has a twofold goal to meet here, from one side she's genuinely concerned for her uncle, he's a lonely man in a miserable situation, on the other hand she's considering whether to enter politics herself, no abuse is done here.

He always has his mother's cats to take care of.
I am not hired by PO (I am voting for them), neither am I a kid. I am voting PO wherever I can in this country. If you vote Duck, you are getting Radio Marija as a bonus. Happy with that?

We will see now how the poultry guy will try to get Napieralski onboard.
sobieski   
20 Jun 2010
News / Who are you voting for in the 2010 Poland's presidential elections and why? [82]

I find it disgusting how the Duck is abusing Marta Kaczynska in his campaign. He should be ashamed. And it has to be unique, to use a tombstone in preseidential elections?

Pilsudski for sure is turning in his grave.
Ah yes,the laptop-destroying lobby... Ziobro...How practical that was. And having the CBA as your private espionage force to intimidate opponents... IPN, how practical that files surfaced "just in time"? They always do, don't they?
sobieski   
20 Jun 2010
News / Who are you voting for in the 2010 Poland's presidential elections and why? [82]

As a EU citizen I voted (and will vote) PO in local and European elections.
The Duck would be a disgrace for this country. At least his brother still was the more intelligent one.
He thinks the world stops at Plac Wilsona and is stuck in the 19th century. The only good thing I can tell for him is that he is not tainted by any corruption scandal. He presides a party full of scary laptop-destroying underlings though. Or using WSI files to intimidate political opponents.
sobieski   
20 Jun 2010
Travel / Restaurant reviews in Warsaw and real life ? [9]

I still like The Mexican, even when it is Mexican food with cabbage. But on a warm Summer evening the one on Podwale is really nice. The location is really unbeatable. It has to be that I have the wrong type of friends because they all think Sense is very pretentious.

Anyway on the end everybody has to see for himself where he likes to eat and drink...

I am not an expatist by the way. I emigrated from Belgium to Poland with the intention to stay here.
As it goes with drinks in Summer I like nothing better than sitting outside "U Pana Michala", corner ul. Freta and Dluga, with a cold beer and my Edmund Burke, watching the tourists, and later cycling back home to Bielany. Most definitely not trendy but comfortable.

Or on a warm Saturday evening see the free Jazz concerts on the Rynek and later with a bunch of friends take a stroll down the city walls and go for a drink...
sobieski   
20 Jun 2010
Travel / Restaurant reviews in Warsaw and real life ? [9]

My parents and my sister & her boyfriend were here in Warsaw a few days and we were eating out three nights (for me the max...I am no not used to that) and it yet again showed me how reviews in "Warsaw In Your Pocket" and "Warsaw Insider" do not always reflect always how everyday people (no expats) experience the city.

People do not need Sense or Tortilla Factory or whatever eggheaded place around Plac Teatralny. They want a place without pretentions where they feel good and at ease.

So here we went:
- Podwala Piwna Kompania. As always full house. Not enough seating place. But I think the food was quite OK and they loved it
- The Mexican - also on Podwale. For sure not up to standard for the Mexicanists among us. Even less for the expatists who adore WTF (God knows why, such a pretentious place). OK, not 100% Mexican food. But on a warm Friday evening a lovely place full of happy people

- Jazz Bistro in the Old Town. My personal favourite since many years. But my family's observation: The glass roof cannot be opened so not enough ventilation.

Because of this it was extremely noisy (piano plus people talking). All sounds "echo back".
First time I noticed this though.
But they liked the food. And so did we. They have never let us down in all these years.
General observation: All 3 places in the Old Town. I know all snobists look down on the place. But after finishing your meal, it has a charm to walk with your partner through the cobblestone streets...see Zamek Krolewski in the moonshine...Nice.
sobieski   
17 Jun 2010
Life / Warsaw public transport is not so bad at all [14]

The only thing I am not familiar with are the coaches connecting the main cities. Are they value for money (I am sure somewhere there is a thread about it but I am plain lazy :) )
sobieski   
16 Jun 2010
Life / Warsaw public transport is not so bad at all [14]

The thing here in Poland are very often the absurd (or rather lack of) planning regulations. For example - the second metro line. Somewhere (I forgot the street name) the line new line has to cross an Army telecoms cable. Gosh the noise they were making about this. You would think old Osama was going attack the Polish military. And they have only PIS-financed Rosomaks to defend themselves with :) God knows when that will be solved :)

Second example. It seems one pensioner is holding up the construction of the entire South Warsaw Ringroad. He wants a few groszy more for his two rooms. Rejected few offers from the city council until now. In my native Belgium they would evict him, pay him the market price for his rooms and get on with it.
sobieski   
16 Jun 2010
Law / How to register a new business in Poland [129]

Hi, I found them through my wife (actually through her company accountant). I think they speak only Polish though - anyway I think so because I talk with them in Polish all the time.

I will ask them. They are based in Raszyn, just out of Warsaw.

I also do know another accountant who does speak very well English. I will ask her if he is willing to take on more clients.

So I just spoke to her. Yes she is interested. Send me a PM and I will send you her contact details. Rest - up to you both I guess :)
sobieski   
16 Jun 2010
Life / Warsaw public transport is not so bad at all [14]

I hereby promised myself not to react anymore on any posting about Jews/Freemasons/Serbs/Germans. It gets too heavy on my system.Besides Summer is coming :) And this Forum is also about other stuff :)

I was taking today the metro (got a station in my street 100 metres from home) and I was thinking that despite lots of people complaining, Warsaw public transport is not so bad at all.

For example "Karta Miejska" is a great invention and great value at barely 15 Euro per month.
Almost everywhere in Warsaw you get with max one change. OK Summer is here and so the Smelly People are attacking. Still the metro is running during the weekend also during the night (saving us expensive taxi fares getting back home after a party) and more and more new trams are put into service.
sobieski   
15 Jun 2010
Genealogy / Komorowski clan-name Korczak [16]

He is also directly related to Mathilde, Crown Princess of Belgium. Her mother is a Sapieha-Komorowska.
sobieski   
15 Jun 2010
News / UK might have anti-Polish socialist Prime Minister [29]

bu i already exposed anti-Slavic behavior of Miliband. What needs to happen so that Poles learn?

Do you mean West-Slavic (such as Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia) or Ottoman Slavic such as Serbia?
sobieski   
14 Jun 2010
Law / HELP IN IMMIGRATION SOUGHT " PERMANENT RESIDENCE IN POLSKA" [20]

Yes, definitely - the window monkeys often know very little about things and will tell you all sorts of nonsense based on how they think it should be.

I completely agree wit this one. When I tried to apply for a meldunek na stale ( and hence getting registered for local and EU elections, every PO vote counts in this country) two years ago, the local bureauctatists dismissed it out of hand. They thought it was a laughable concept. Later I went back with Danish "kumpel" who knew the legislation very well... He asked straightly not for the chief bureaucratist. He had all the relevant EU legislation printed out and offered to take it all a few instances higher. Grumpily Bielany caved in. Got my meldunek na stale and got registered to vote.

Anecdote: Even when they were making my new meldunek, one of the bureaucratists was muttering "In your Belgium I would never get this". Nonsense of course. They were defeated and they knew it.
sobieski   
11 Jun 2010
Law / How to register a new business in Poland [129]

Thanks :) The kind of cash I would be deal with is the taxi to the airport and that kind of things:) Do you have an E-account or a "normal" one with them? I have to say a few friends have accounts with them and are very satisfied, be it on a personal level. How are they businesswise for us small entrepeneurs?
sobieski   
11 Jun 2010
Law / How to register a new business in Poland [129]

So... It is going ahead..I will start as from Monday running around doing all formalities...One thing though. Quite a few here have their own business. Which bank would you say is the best for small businesses?

Privately I have an account with Kredyt Bank but I am not terribly impressed with them.

Private people and small businesses have different needs...