The BEST Guide to POLAND
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Posts by pawian  

Joined: 30 May 2008 / Male ♂
Warnings: 1 - O		 Last Post: 1 min ago
Threads: Total: 221 / Live: 149 / Archived: 72
Posts: Total: 25408 / Live: 19325 / Archived: 6083 		From: Poe land
Speaks Polish?: Yes, but I prefer English
Interests: Everything funny

Displayed posts: 19474 / page 619 of 650
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pawian   
8 Aug 2012
Food / Are there any Polish wines worth purchasing? [65]

As anybody who has been to Poland will know, more wine is sold in Warsaw than anywhere else in Poland.

Sold doesn`t mean consumed. Warsavians buy the wine but put it on the shelves.
pawian   
8 Aug 2012
Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1400]

Pawian,are you serious you've actually tried to do this?

Yes. Why not?

Pawian;I wouldn't recommend doing this in Poland unless it's during the very early spring,other wise you could very well kill yourself.

Wow, I didn`t know about it.

I have always dreamt of eating like Alaskan natives. Do you remember our participation in the thread about Eskimo people? That`s where we met for the first time. :):):):):)

If you or I tried it,we would more than likely get sick the first time,but not deadly sick and then after that our system could handle it.My brother said he got sick the first time he ate it.Now he loves it.

Good. I am sure I would love it too.

There is a bit similar food in Krakow region.

Allow cottage/farmer cheese to rot for a few days, until mould is thick and smelly. Then fry it in the frying pan, adding salt, dill, chive and a lot of cumin. Finally, spread on a slice of toast and consume. Delicious!

/pierogi_2_300x300.jpg - Eating Poland
pawian   
7 Aug 2012
Food / Are there any Polish wines worth purchasing? [65]

But it simply doesn't have a good reputation, partially because of what Pawian posted :)))

What`s that about Pawian??????

I needed a local to make a call to a friend, and then we met in a parking lot in town.

Impressive! Almost like a crime act! :):):)
pawian   
7 Aug 2012
Food / Are there any Polish wines worth purchasing? [65]

You are Cracovian Pawain? Is wine more popular in your region of Poland than elsewhere?

Yes, I think it is, because natural-born Krakowians and even rustics who live around the city are more cultural people than those in the rest of Poland. And everybody knows that wine is the most cultural drink (champagne is also wine, btw).

Pawian,what do you consider the best brands of Polish wines;the ones in the pics?

Yes, we can say so.
pawian   
7 Aug 2012
Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1400]

Of course I would. I even tried to prepare this dish. I buried the heads but when I tried to collect the fermented ones, I found an open hole in the ground and the heads missing. It happened a few times. I still don`t know what happened. Did the dogs dig them for dog food or some naughty kids to play with?
pawian   
4 Aug 2012
News / Does Polish hotel have right to turn down Americans and Israelis? [73]

As for Americans, the hotel owner reasons to turn them down might be this:

rawstory.com/rs/2012/08/02/vermont-farmer-crushes-7-police-cars-with-tractor-over-pot-arrest/

A Vermont farmer used his tractor to crush seven Orleans County Sheriff's Department squad cars on Thursday because he was angry ......
pawian   
4 Aug 2012
News / Chechen Congress in Poland, Russia frowns [90]

It seems Chechenya was pacified. Nothing in the news, except for sporadic reports about minor clashes in the mountains.
But the ferment is brewing and will again explode one day or another.
pawian   
4 Aug 2012
News / Does Polish hotel have right to turn down Americans and Israelis? [73]

There was a similar case of an Austrian hotel a few years ago. The reaction was more or less the same as in Poland.

jta.org/news/article/2009/05/11/1005058/austrian-hotel-refuses-jewish-family

According to the daily Tiroler Tageszeitung, the owner of the Haus Sonnenhof apartment hotel in the village of Serfaus in the Austrian Tyrol told a Viennese Jewish family it did not take Jewish guests, citing "bad experiences" in the past.

The Serfaus region has become so popular with Orthodox Jewish vacationers in recent years that some local hotels have koshered their kitchens and provide timed lights and other accessories for Shabbat observance.

Local officials branded the refusal as "unacceptable." The incident shocked the local tourist industry and made headlines around the world.

This reeks of gimmickry. "Look at us", we're so anti-America/Israeli that we don't want their filthy bodies polluting our rooms. They hoping to cash in on Anti-western/Israeli vitriol while there's a fad for it, replacing those guests with zealots who have more money than sense. When it becomes less fashionable (read: economical) to exclude one group's money over another, they will no doubt change the policy, put out a "NOW UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT!" banner, and pretend to have expelled those bad eggs.

Who knows? Suggestions of attempts to boost publicity for the place might be correct.....

Look at the quote in the excerpt above: The incident shocked the local tourist industry and made headlines around the world.
pawian   
4 Aug 2012
News / The Political Circus of Poland [306]

which makes a mockery of anyone elses ill feeling towards country of origin.

It is such bad taste to heal one`s national complexes in this way.

It hasn`t happened for years! Unheard of.

PO (government) and PIS (opposition) joined forces over the issue of controvercial Justice Minister, Gowin, who is massively criticised by leftist parties for certain words he uttered yesterday. He said he didn`t care about the law when the public interest is at stake. It was meant as an explanation to the scandal caused by his order to send copies of Amber Gold files from a local Gdańsk court to his office in Warsaw. Leftist parties consider it an infringement of judicial system independence etc etc.

PiS say Gowin is a good minister who intends to break the system of official and informal connections in the legal system in Poland.

Poland justice minister

Justice Minister apologized yesterday for his controversial word that is in the nose letter of the law . - I am ready to stand before the Tribunal of State - said. But does not provide for the dismissal.

- Sorry for the wording. I stand by the content of these words. Where the letter of the law is unclear or even contradictory , it must decide the spirit of the law and the public interest . A public interest is such that the truth about Amber Gold saw the light of day - Jaroslaw Gowin said on TVN . He also added : - sometimes succumb to emotions , never succumb to pressure.

PS. Gowin apologised for his words but stood by his order to send him the files.

PS2. I voted the guy in last elections. Out of pure sympathy. I quite like him.

Sympathy
2. an affinity or harmony, usually of feelings or interests, between persons or things to be in sympathy with someone
pawian   
4 Aug 2012
News / Does Polish hotel have right to turn down Americans and Israelis? [73]

The famous case of Zakopower folk group in 2009. Part of the group were allowed in, the other part, with the same visas, on another day, were denied entry.

freerepublic.com/tag/zakopower/index

usa.se.pl/rozrywka/plotki/zakopowera-deportowany-usa_112038.html
pawian   
3 Aug 2012
News / Does Polish hotel have right to turn down Americans and Israelis? [73]

The hotel should not of publically stated he wouldn't accept Yanks and Israelis, he should have just excluded them privately.

Very clever.
But a bit unfair, too - you arrive at the premises without a booking because of technical problems and out of the blue learn you have to look for another accommodation.
pawian   
3 Aug 2012
News / Does Polish hotel have right to turn down Americans and Israelis? [73]

This reminds me USSR times, when foreigh tourists were charged much more at Soviet museums, galleries, hotels, restaurants etc. I read funny reports how Polish tourists tried to look like locals to avoid higher payments.

How about Russia today? Is the old communist custom kept?

Accordingly to my lawyer, in both cases the business owners did not break any law.

I think so. Private property is a holy place and you can do what you want there.
If you do things according to moral rules is another matter.
pawian   
3 Aug 2012
News / Does Polish hotel have right to turn down Americans and Israelis? [73]

They are taking revange on Poland for murdering Jews (that's the way they think in their sick minds).

I am not sure if that is the correct explanation.
Aren`t Jewish youth generally spoilt by their parents so they also cause immense trouble at home/school in Israel, not only in Poland?

When abroad, they feel even more unconstrained than at home..... That is why they break everything in hotels.

haaretz.com/culture/arts-leisure/rescuing-parents-from-the-tyranny-of-spoilt-youth-1.30000

The parents apparently were not upset that Prof. Omer, a psychology expert, had just referred to their children - students at Ironi Daled high school in Tel Aviv - pejoratively as "aggressive adolescents" who are "occupiers, drunk with power" and "tyrants."

"You can't give in to them," he lectured for over an hour, telling parents how to regain control over their modern children - assuming that all the parents present had indeed lost control and were helpless. Not a single word of empathy for today's youth was uttered. Even the word "rebellion" was not mentioned - it is too positive.
pawian   
3 Aug 2012
News / Does Polish hotel have right to turn down Americans and Israelis? [73]

The ombuds office is lodging a complaint against a hotel in southern Poland which refuses to accept tourists from the USA and Israel and informs about it on their website.

The Ombudsman took the matter ex officio resort in Malopolska , which on its website announces : "Do not serve guests from the United States and Israel" and inflate prices for foreign tourists . On Friday morning, they were sent a letter to the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection in Krakow , to the Municipal Police Headquarters in Nowy Sacz and to the Speaker's Office . The controversial offer guesthouse informed editors Kontaktu24 Stefan .

Rightly or not?

After all, it is a private hotel and the policy they apply is their business.

Ombud`s office claims it is ethnic and racial discrimination.

What could be the hotel owner`s motives?

First thing that comes to my mind is the threat of a terrorist attack.
Second, Israeli tourists, especially youth, are believed to like demolishing sites where they stay.

PS. The whole matter is strange because I tried to locate that hotel in google and couldn`t. All results go back to the news article.

Could it be a provocation?
pawian   
2 Aug 2012
Travel / What is the weather like in Poland where you are now? [202]

The only drawback is that it shows forecast for only 2 following days

Longer forecasts are a joke anyway. :):):)

right now we are in the middle of an epic thunder storm... lovely...

It is going to hit Krakow tomorrow.... I don`t care. We went to the lake for extensive swimming today and are going to have a rest tomorrow.
pawian   
2 Aug 2012
History / Warsaw Rising 1944 - National Disaster or Triumph of Spirit ? [515]

If Warsaw Uprising had not broken out, we may assume that Warsaw would NOT have been that drastically destroyed, and lots of civilians would have been spared.

Quite correct.

The speed of Soviet offensive that started in January was so high (at least 5:1 advantage in any kind of weapons, soldiers) that the Germans would not have had a chance to destroy the city to that extent.

Yes. Of course, you mean Nazi German plans to change Warsaw into a fortress city and defend it at all cost.

The Germans fiercely defended only their pre-war cities.

Yes.

Most Nazis perpetrators of war crimes in Warsaw Rising weren`t tried after the war.

Let`s see the most notorious ones:

Erich Julius Eberhard von Zelewski or Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski (1 March 1899 - 8 March 1972) was a Nazi official of the Third Reich and a member of the SS, in which he reached the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer (General).

After more than two months of heavy fighting and the total destruction of Warsaw, Bach-Zalewski managed to take control of the city while committing the cruelest atrocities in the process.[9] For his exploits in Warsaw, Bach-Zalewski was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross by the Nazi regime on 30 September 1944.

Bach-Zelewski went into hiding and tried to leave the country. However, US military police arrested him on 1 August 1945. In exchange for his testimony against his former superiors at the Nuremberg Trials, Bach-Zelewski never faced trial for any war crimes. Similarly, he never faced extradition to Poland or to the USSR. He left prison in 1949.

s
pawian   
1 Aug 2012
Law / Old Polish money banknotes - what's their value today? [415]

Now it is worth zero, as Polish banks stopped exchanging them in year 2010.

What was the inflation rate in 1982? About 100%?

The communist central bank produced those banknotes like a rabbit.

But, if he had a collector`s item, in a special case with an official certificate, we could talk about dollars, not cents.

Exactly, about 20$.:):):)
pawian   
1 Aug 2012
History / Warsaw Rising 1944 - National Disaster or Triumph of Spirit ? [515]

American civilians weren't as directly affected by the war as in Europe

Yes, comparing the losses, Warsaw alone lost twice as much people (800.000) as US (400.000) during WW2. Not to mention the rest of Poland....

Make sense?

Yes.

The sirens in Krakow are wailing. It is 17.00 hours sharp.