Real Estate / Victorian-style house in Poland? [15]

Lived in, not built - different kettle of fish entirely. I think these are the guys you need:

youtube.com/watch?v=T1UHwZS3FE8

Real Estate / Victorian-style house in Poland? [15]

Which the builders built from instructions provided to them by architects and structural engineers. Unless you can provide your builder with detailed plans in Polish and you can pay them extra, for the extra trouble of building something they're completely unfamiliar with, then it's not going to happen. Builders in Poland just like the UK want straightforward, in, out, Bob's your uncle, Fanny's your aunt no hassle jobs.

Real Estate / Victorian-style house in Poland? [15]


It's not that simple Jake. The proportions of a two up-two down Victorian terrace are completely different, the size of the windows, the pitch of the roof etc. Sticking a couple of crown shaped chimney pots on top of a modern Polish house won't give you the same look.

Life / TIL Rzeszow got an airport decades before larger Lublin [13]


Good question. I found a set of figures for their upgraded public transport system which gives an example of the proportion of their budget which comes from the EU. The upgrading cost 80 million euros of which the EU contributed 60 million. Elsewhere I read that the total external funding received by the city in 2012 was 710 million PLN. It certainly must run into quite a few billion since 2004.

Life / TIL Rzeszow got an airport decades before larger Lublin [13]

EU funding basically. Of the smaller cities in Poland, Rzeszów gets the second highest amount of EU funding. Poland is still the largest beneficiary of EU funds from the EU budget.

News / New Polish traffic laws [25]


Oh yes, I give a little salute as a thank you and like you it's an automatic gesture. There's no doubt that we like to have our efforts acknowledged, a little thank you goes a long way towards promoting a nicer culture.


I have a version of that too! It involves staring intently at the number plate of the approaching vehicle, usually works. As I don't remotely resemble a policeman, they must think I'm either somebody important or the wife of somebody important :D and that they're likely to be prosecuted if they offendeth me ;)

News / New Polish traffic laws [25]


They would if there was a proper public information campaign. For God's sake, I remember a hundred years ago in Ireland we had ads on telly explaining things like Pelican crossings etc. But of course PIS would rather throw 500 a month at people than spend a few quid on an advertising campaign to save lives.


Well, did you notice Lenka that when the man is green, the pedestrian has right of way? In Poland, if the cars are turning right, the pedestrian SHARES the bloody right of way with the drivers!!! Works fine if the driver has the common courtesy to allow pedestrians to cross, which I'm sorry to say, they frequently don't. Another clearly observable safety issue with that system is that you frequently see cars speeding up as they approach such crossings in order to get there ahead of approaching pedestrians and 'beat them to it' so they don't have to wait for them to cross.

Also allowing right of way to cars and pedestrians at the same time means that cars on the inside line whose view of the road ahead is obstructed by vans and trucks in the outside lanes, come up the inside lane at great speed while the man is green and proceed with no caution at all, all they see is that they have the green light for turning right. It never occurs to them that pedestrians may be in the act of crossing.

When the man is green that should be the sole right of the pedestrian to use the crossing. That would be a nice start to pedestrian safety in Poland.

In the end it's all part of the terrible, terrible driver education and appalling driving skills of Polish people. It simply cannot be denied because the figures speak for themselves, one of the worst road death rates in the EU.


I always put my hand up traffic cop style and basically 'command' them to stop. Would you believe it works!

Language / Unknown language of old prayer from grandparents - they spoke a mixture of Polish, Slovak & Hungarian [15]

We have a similar prayer in English that we learned when I was a kid, in Ireland:

Oh angel of God my guardian dear
To whom His love commits me here
Ever this day be at my side
To light and guard
To rule and guide
Amen

It's a childrens' prayer.

Study / Poznan University_Masters in Civil Engineering_Review & Job Prospects [6]

A degree offered through English won't have the same level of content as if it were offered through Polish. The universities generally put most effort into the syllabus for their native language programs. Also unis in Poland tend to have poor links with industry and business which is important in technical disciplines. I would say, just start applying for jobs in Europe and see where it takes you.

Study / Poznan University_Masters in Civil Engineering_Review & Job Prospects [6]

Terri is Polish.

If you have ten years industry experience you don't need a Masters to get a job in Europe. It's experience that counts. Any degree you do in Poland through English will be basic/superficial in content and not worth your time and expense.

Law / Can I take my son to Poland? My ex partner has sole guardianship. [12]

Ah now that's a bit different. If your son lives with you,then I can see why both he and you would want to remain together. But all the same, Irish, I'm an Irish woman myself with a Polish husband and I would say, think very long and hard before you decide to uproot yourself and move to Poland. It's one thing visiting it for holidays and quite another living there. Also your child is basically 'Irish' more than he's Polish because culturally he's more Irish and he will find it a huge change. Also depending on where you're moving to, what are the opportunities for him as he gets older, jobs, education and so on. Just think it all through very carefully.

As to the other, don't cause a whole lot of drama in your child's life - how do you propose to get him out of the country? Just take him without saying anything? Or take him openly and have a huge scene with his dad showing up at your house or the airport, you know the vibe. Either way it's not good for your son. Go to Treoir website and get the mediation people's details there. Then ask your ex to talk it through with you, using them as a buffer and see if you can reach an agreement of some kind.

Law / Can I take my son to Poland? My ex partner has sole guardianship. [12]


I think the OP indicates they weren't married by using the term partner rather than husband. In any case it would seem the child was born in Ireland because I looked up sole guardianship in Ireland and the term applies only to children of unmarried couples. The mother has it by default when the child is born, but can surrender it to the father which the OP appears to have done. It's not done by court order though, only through signing an agreement to that affect via a solicitor. The paper you sign is your only proof of guardianship as it's apparently not registered in any way by the courts. If there is a subsequent dispute between the parents, as in this case, it's resolved through mediation with some kind of mediating authority and then a Rule of Court is obtained to legalize it.

If the OP comes back to this thread I advise her to contact Treoir, the association for unmarried parents. They will advise her as to what's likely to happen if she takes her child without the father's permission. However, I think it's a terrible thing to do. If the child is happy living with his father, she should leave him where he is. The attitude that she can't seen any problem because her ex partner's grandparents only live 80km from the child's proposed new home and he could still see his child, seems very offhand and doesn't show much of an understanding of the bond between parent and child. Also uprooting a nine year old child from their school,their friends, their community etc.

Law / Can I take my son to Poland? My ex partner has sole guardianship. [12]

@Irish, who awarded sole guardianship to your ex? A Polish court or an Irish court? Btw if your son presently lives with your ex then I don't think you should take him away from his dad.

Law / UK Citizen - Getting Poland's temporary residence prior to Brexit [10]


Yes, that's the difference :))

Law / UK Citizen - Getting Poland's temporary residence prior to Brexit [10]


Mould?? :D I suppose that would count as mushrooms, a vegetarian diet :))

Law / UK Citizen - Getting Poland's temporary residence prior to Brexit [10]


I'm an EU citizen and I had to show that I had enough money to support myself but there was no set figure. I also had to have health insurance.

Life / Child maintenance / expenses living in Poland [11]


Not only unqualified as teachers but frequently speakers of English as a second language from countries which are not strictly 'native' eg Phillipines.

Law / Preventive police phone call in Poland [9]

If you've applied for temporary residency then the police will interview you. It's just a formality. They come to your home.That's why, when you're not home they leave the number. When you call they will arrange another date for the visit. If your Polish is not fluent and his English wasn't very good that's probably why he didn't explain to you on the phone.

Law / Court punishment Poland - work for punishment instead of jail [36]

No, I'm Irish but I live in Poland. It's improved a lot since they joined the EU but it still has a long way to go.

Law / Court punishment Poland - work for punishment instead of jail [36]

Tilly, I'm afraid life is quite harsh in Poland and can be very unfair by British standards. In Poland, all 'official' letters are delivered by registered post and if somebody signs for it, even if they're not the addressee, it will be deemed to have been delivered and the authorities won't care whether you got the letter or not. They also refuse to send letters to overseas addresses. They will send a letter to your last registered address in Poland even if they know you don't live there anymore.


That's not untypical of many Polish families.

Law / Court punishment Poland - work for punishment instead of jail [36]


Well,you only have your partner's word for that. Anyway if your partner didnt get his hours signed off week by week and waited until he'd done three weeks, that would make him as daft as a brush - and there are very few Polish guys who fall into that category.

If he's working off his child maintenance debt, it would be far easier/more straightforward if he just agreed to pay something each month especially if he's capable of doing paid work.

Law / Court punishment Poland - work for punishment instead of jail [36]

The weather here has been pretty normal, no 'weather events', in fact October has been mostly warm, dry and sunny. The guy not signing his hours off could be true but it shouldn't delay him for very long, a few days maybe.

Law / Court punishment Poland - work for punishment instead of jail [36]

I don't think the weather would make any difference. If the court judgement was for a debt which you can't pay and you take up paid work, then you would have to start paying off the debt. Polish courts are not known for their lenience btw.

Law / International Divorce - my ex wife lives in Poland and I live in Asia (alimony) [39]


Yes, she can just revert to using her maiden name but any ID needs to have the same name as the one she uses, so she has to have her passport changed.


If she has her birth certificate and her divorce papers, there should be no problem in getting her name changed on her passport. Just contact the Polish consulate.

Law / International Divorce - my ex wife lives in Poland and I live in Asia (alimony) [39]

Basically she'll need to change her passport anyway. She should contact the passport office of the Polish consulate in Scotland for the details.

Law / UK Citizen - Getting Poland's temporary residence prior to Brexit [10]


If you mean 10,000 pounds, then that's 50,000 PLN, but yes, even that would be enough.

As for the bank not stamping things, you could open a Polish bank account and put the bulk of your funds there. They'll stamp a bank statement for you. You could open a PLN account and a separate foreign currency account and leave most of your sterling in that, get statements for both and get them stamped.

Food / Oils and fats in Polish foods [34]

A look at what's on offer on the websites of supermarkets such as Carrefour, Biedronka or Auchan gives as good a picture as any of the most commonly used products. There is definitely an increased awareness of the dangers of an excess of saturated fats.

Travel / Poland in photo riddles [3134]


I'm merely asking you to expand on your statement that Polish history is beyond belief. I'd say it was about on a par with that of most European countries.


Has an even longer history, including the system of electoral monarchy. And that's basically what I'm saying, that the history of different countries, particularly in a single region, contains similarities, parallels and equivalents. Poles and Irishmen for example fought along side each other in Napolean's army, in the Irish Legion which admitted a small number of Poles to its ranks. So both countries were participants in the Napoleonic wars even though both countries were under foreign occupation at the time. Of course that's what led them there in the first place and Napolean hoped to land the Irish Legion in Ireland as an invasion force to keep the British army occupied but like many of the best laid plans of mice and men.................

Travel / Poland in photo riddles [3134]


1. How are the szlachta unusual??
2. Elected monarchies are not peculiar to Poland.
3. Well, rather than the number of times it was partitioned, it would be more true to say that it's highly unusual for a country to disappear completely from the map and cease to be known even by its own name anymore. That is most unusual I agree - and it happened partly because of Poland's unique geographical location right in the centre of Europe between three very powerful neighbours.

4. The Battle of Vienna - what about it??

Travel / Poland in photo riddles [3134]

I don't think Polish history is that extraordinary, not much more so than any other European country anyway. In what way do you find it beyond belief?