Travel /
My impressions from Poland [26]
Hello!
Last month I was in Poland for eight days, and here I would like to share with you some impressions of mine, which will hopefully be helpful to other people here visiting this country for the first time. Also I’d like to thank to all the people here who gave me some info on certain questions I asked on this forum.
I stayed for a week in the beautiful medieval town of Kazimierz Dolny, which is such a gorgeous little place! It’s got wonderful medieval market square, a castle, many old buildings, churches, and even a cursed nunnery (well, not cursed, but excommunicated)! I was settled in the 17th century granary, so the atmosphere was full!
I also had a one-day excursion to Lublin, and I liked the city very much, especially the big castle, and the chapel with Byzantine type of frescoes. There I found some souvenir shop which was incredibly cheap (I bought many, many items for less than 20 euros).
On the last day, I had almost the whole day off waiting for the train in Warsaw, so I had a small sightseeing of the city. I loved the architecture, really. The communist seem not to destroy the esthetics of the cities in Poland like they did in ex-Yugoslavia. I especially liked the “old town”, and the Wisla bank, and also the very centre of the city, around the Palace of Culture (man, that building is so huge and extremely scary)!
Now, here are some remarks and advices that I’d like to give to other foreigners here thinking of visiting Poland:
-Warszawa Centralna Station:
I already said here that I heard many bad things about this station and its neighbourhood, and I must admit that they were partially true. I arrived to that station about 9 am. The very station is pretty safe, as it’s got policemen there and cameras and everything. But the area surrounding the station is not! I decided to have a short break at the park surrounding the nearby Palace of culture, as this part of the city looked very elite and fancy to me (after all, it’s a centre). But as I sat on the bench, in 15 minutes at least 10 people started on me, making me feel very unsafe. By these “people”, I mean the beggars stealing the pack of chips from my hand, gypsies dancing (!) around my bench, junkies spilling some coffee in front of me and homeless people asking for money. After so traumatic 15 minutes I took my wits and went as fast as I could to the airport, where I was to meet my group. So, don’t hang around the Palace if you are not with some Pole to help you!
-Exchange offices
Be careful where you exchange money, because on some places they exchange 1 euro for 3.4 zloty and on others 1 euro for 4 zloty! Choose the best one.
-Sandals and socks
What is this with all Poles wearing sandals and socks at the same time?! I thought sandals were supposed to be worn on the bare feet. :)
-Polish cuisine
It’s gorgeous! You have to try as many dishes as possible! I especially liked the combination of the fried cheese and marmalade. The only thing I didn’t like was hlatka (or whatever it is called).
-Polish president and prime minister
I had no idea they were the identical twins! Dear God! :)
-Polish music
I loved Kazik, he’s got such great videos, with strong sense of irony and satire. And of course, I must not forget the mighty Doda Elektroda! :) That girl was a revelation for me! I wanna marry her, but she’s already married to that Beckham copycat. Oh, and I strongly dislike the Rubik guy and disco-polo representatives.
Polish beer
I liked Tyskie the best, but Zywiec is great as well!
Polish anthem
It reminds me very much of the ex-Yugoslav anthem, so it evokes some not so good feelings.
