The BEST Guide to POLAND
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Posts by pawian  

Joined: 30 May 2008 / Male ♂
Warnings: 1 - O		 Last Post: 22 mins ago
Threads: Total: 221 / Live: 149 / Archived: 72
Posts: Total: 25343 / Live: 19260 / Archived: 6083 		From: Poe land
Speaks Polish?: Yes, but I prefer English
Interests: Everything funny

Displayed posts: 19409 / page 647 of 647
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pawian   
18 Feb 2009
History / Can anyone from Poland tell me about Auschwitz and The Ghetto? [582]

From a polish perspective what did you what did you learn about in school about The ghetto's and The Jewish camps in Poland since 1938.

Books about Holocaust are done at school, especially high school level. Recently we went to the theatre to see a play based on Marek Edelman`s story :Zdążyć przed Panem Bogiem. It was really thought-inspiring.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marek_Edelman

There are a few other books about Holocaust on the list which students are supposed to read for Polish classes. Later high school exams include these books.
pawian   
18 Feb 2009
History / The restoration of Polish cities from WW2 destruction [123]

I have always been fascinated with the process of rebuilding of Polish major cities after the WW2. For me it is an amazing phenomenon. There had been a city, next there were ruins, which eventually turned into a city again. Pure magic!

Let`s see how much effort Poles had to put into the work.

Warsaw should go first as Poland`s capital and most heroic city ever.

The losses of Warsaw during WW2:
1. 800.000 people dead (that is twice as much as American army casualties which amounted to 400.000).

80 percent of the left riverside Warsaw ceased to exist, with such major districts as the Old Town, the New Town and Downtown.

10% in September 1939, 10% during Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (Germans levelled the Jewish district to the ground), 30% during Warsaw Uprising 1944. The remaining 30% are houses intentionally destroyed by German demolition units which carried Hitler`s mad order to eradicate Warsaw from the surface of the earth.

Warsavians who had survived the war and started coming back to their city after being forcefully expelled by Germans, saw the ocean of ruins in the place where once beautiful city was located.

Some examples

The church of St. Alexander

King Zygmunt III column lies on the ground, broken

The Royal Castle
1945 - the total destruction

Krasiński Palace - only the front wall was left. I cant` show you the photo now.
strony.aster.pl/stolice/pliki/wa_krasinskich01.jpg

Prudential - the pre-war skyscraper

It had a very strong construction of welded steel beams. The famous picture shows the building hit by a 2-ton shell from the heaviest mortar ever used by Germans during the Warsaw Uprising.

The ruin of the Polish Bank was only partly rebuilt after the war, like that famous building in Hiroshima, as a war memento.

Hiroshima - the Bomb Dome

The Old Town

Warszawa_Rynek--

warsaw-wiosna--

stare-miasto--
pawian   
13 Feb 2009
Travel / Castles and Palaces in Poland (with pictures) [155]

Palace in Smilowice
smilowice

The palace was rebuilt from the scratch. It is near Krakow, for many years the ruins had haunted me and one day, out of the blue, the palace was reborn. Incredible.

Ruins

nowe-brzesko.iap.pl/img.html?oid=6757288

See more on this site palacsmilowice.com

Krakow used to be a fortress under the Austrian partition in 19 century. Those smart Austrians even adapted Wawel Castle for barracks and stables. Total lack of respect towards the Polish cultural and historical heritage! :):):)

Today the forts are car parks and wine storage houses.
pawian   
28 Jan 2009
Life / If I could introduce something from my country into Poland, I would.... [175]

Maybe it's different in other cities, mafketis, but the Poles get my respect for being relatively clean on the streets.

I agree. Tonns of rubbish in streets like in Naples, Italy last year are unthinkable in Poland.

thefirstpost.co.uk/features/2005/07/images/070530newspic.jpg

Cheese. Blue cheese. Soft, creamy blue cheese with a delicate flavour, possibly made with goat's or ewe's milk.

You are a lousy shopper if you can`t find blue cheese in Poland.

[quote=pawian]I agree. Tonns of rubbish in streets like in Naples, Italy last year are unthinkable in Poland./quote]
Sth strange is happening to images. They don`t show. What`s wrong?
pawian   
25 Jan 2009
News / Original cars manufactured in Poland [64]

But with less room inside than the Trabant and with a smaller trunk. I know because my family had one in 70s.
pawian   
11 Jan 2009
News / Original cars manufactured in Poland [64]

My wife`s father had a Mikrus for 10 years. He sold it in late 70s because spare parts were getting unavailable and bought a Syrena.

Mikrus is one of the exhibits in the Urban Engineering Museum in Krakow:
pawian   
2 Jan 2009
Travel / Poland wildlife and similar wild life where you live. [243]

He is not kidding..

Of course I am not.

there are some huge critters buzzing about....

Yes. Run for your lives!!!!

i was tootling along on the Harley one evening , and had my visor up enjoying the breeze....I swear the beetle that smacked into my eye nearly blinding me was the size of a B29 bomber...Sometimes on a summer evening they drone past me in the garden , they seem so much bigger here than back in the UK , Polish food must be better than whatever the beetles eat in the UK.....

Exactly.
pawian   
2 Jan 2009
Travel / Why do you visit Poland? [223]

I also visit Poland to visit museums here:
E.g. :
Krakow
Warsaw
Biskupin

etc etc etc.
pawian   
2 Jan 2009
Travel / Poland wildlife and similar wild life where you live. [243]

What's the beetle Pawian?

I am sorry, I don`t possess my book on beetles any more. During vacation, while perusing the book in the forest, I was attacked by a giant beetle, some unknown species. Them! scared me shitless so I ran away, leaving my book behind.

Sorry.

The situation looked like that.
pawian   
30 Dec 2008
Travel / Why do you visit Poland? [223]

I am not allowed to vote because I am here :)

Hey, nobody has set such rules... I have voted of course. My reasons to visit nothern Poland (I live in the south) are the same as Szymek`s - I can`t wait to see the Polish seaside. I have enough of the mountains.

The first sight of the sea after a long year is breathtaking. It feels like orgasm.
Then it is even better (provided the weather permits):
pawian   
19 Nov 2008
Food / Do Polish people really love cabbage ?? [78]

Slipped into oblivion???

see and look for this text:

A teraz przez Was moja kapusta nie rozumie, co do niej mówię, nooby!

Ok, ok, I think I can accept this slang meaning of kapusta if you insist.... :):):)

But, obviously, it isn`t too popular. Probably only in provincial areas....

I know the difference between cabbage and onions!

Are you sure of it? :):):)
pawian   
17 Nov 2008
Food / Do Polish people really love cabbage ?? [78]

:):) I get this attempt of a joke here. Children are found in cabbage which metaphorically means they are found in girls. That`s what you mean?

However, I may assure you that kapusta has never been used as a slang expression for a girl or girlfriend in Poland. Google "kapusta dziewczyna" and you will see zero results.

Sorry, someone has misinformed you.
pawian   
17 Nov 2008
Food / Do Polish people really love cabbage ?? [78]

But cabbage field is literal here. An old superstition, or rather a politically correct reply to the question where children come from, is that they are found by parents in cabbage or are brought by a stork.

So, kapusta still has nothing to do with girls, girlfriends, even in slangish meaning.
pawian   
17 Nov 2008
Food / Do Polish people really love cabbage ?? [78]

Neither have I.

Probably Z darius meant sth else.

But in other slangs "kapusta" means money.

Yes, that`s it.

I have been here for 3 months

hotdog has cabbage
hambuger has cabbage
kebab has cabbage

Hmm, are you sure you don`t mistake fried onion for cabbage??????
pawian   
16 Nov 2008
Food / Polish Pizza !! The best in the world? [330]

Have you made them at home ?

Yes.
Actually, the one above is the same pizza, before and after baking. It is quite easy because you can buy excellent pizza bases in Polish supermarkets.
pawian   
16 Nov 2008
Food / Polish Pizza !! The best in the world? [330]

Yeah, i think Polish pizza sucks too, cmon, who though of mountain cheese on a pizza!!!

Cmon, if they put blue cheese on pizza, what`s wrong with mountain or goat one?

That makes our pizza so tasty and healty :)

Polish sausage pizza in every Polish home!!
pawian   
16 Nov 2008
Food / Polish Pizza !! The best in the world? [330]

Pizza isn't Polish national dish and it depends where you eat it :)

That`s true.
But during summer holidays we travel a lot around Poland and have pizza almost every day. I have not complained so far...
pawian   
16 Nov 2008
Food / Do Polish people really love cabbage ?? [78]

Popular cabbage dishes in Poland are:
1. Bigos (made from sauerkraut and fresh cabbage).
2. Kapuśniak soup
3. Pierogis stuffed with cabbage and mushrooms.
4. Gołąbki rolls
5. Boiled cabbage salad

And my favourite
4. Sauerkraut carrot salad, often served in our school canteen.

If I skipped some dish, correct me.
pawian   
4 Nov 2008
Food / What is your favorite Polish Vodka? [653]

'I once enjoyed a visit from a relative of mine' is better pawian.

Sorrru , I hagve frink too mcugh hoem made wine tonight and my Engoish sliopped out of comntroll, dsort of.
Thabnks for correcxtions.
pawian   
4 Nov 2008
Food / What is your favorite Polish Vodka? [653]

Once I have enjoyed a visit by a relative of mine. He brought a bottle of Pan Tadeusz vodka. As much as I don`t like vodka (I prefer wine), his was quite agreeable to my taste buds. Strong but with a little sweet flavour.