History / 20 years of Poland in the EU. [317]


Nothing sad about that.


I'd forgotten that Marx, Engels and Liebknecht were Eskimos.


They aren't though, are they. To describe litter-free bottle caps as "fighting the majority" is just bizarre.

News / Is NORD STREAM dangerous for Poland's natural enviroment? [540]

I've not noticed a change. Sometimes I travel from Belgium or the Netherlands to Poland via Germany, with a few tight changes in the early part of the journey and it always works. You even get phone notifications telling you the percentage likelihood of making your connection.

However yes, people do say, as you have, that things have deteriorated.

As a Brit, I do see some irony. DeutscheBahn invested heavily in privatised rail and bus franchises in the U.K., never carried out the infrastructure investment that they'd agreed to as part of that, increased the fares, failed to meet the minimum service level agreements, took 'profits' out to subsidise their core activities in Germany and whined like pussies when they lost the franchises due to their poor behaviour.

On the whole though, I've had good experiences with public transport in Germany. The railway line has been down for a while between Berlin and the Polish border, however they have to do maintainance, and you can still get the S Bahn to Erkner then a regional train to Frankfurt if you don't want (as I don't) to get on a coach from behind Hauptbahnhof that they lay on to get people to the Warsaw Express.

History / 20 years of Poland in the EU. [317]


Don't worry, we had 14 years of fúcking Tory grifters. So we voted them into oblivion.

Green issues are important. Yes they go too far sometimes in appealing to the emotions of people who don't understand the issues, and I sometimes think I'd happily watch certain green activists being fed head first into a mincing machine however the bottle cap thing is a genuinely good move.

Nobody's forced to like the policies of every single political party in their country, however those who moan the most are generally the least likely to engage politically and actually do something about it in the run up to elections when political parties need activists to help. Many of those who moan don't even vote; and they are in no position to complain about positive things achieved by those who do.

News / Is NORD STREAM dangerous for Poland's natural enviroment? [540]


I've always found the trains quite good in Germany. More efficient than most places except maybe the Netherlands and Britain.

History / 20 years of Poland in the EU. [317]


Are they?

If anyone is angry about something that doesn't inconvenience them in any way, perhaps they should look for something else to get all hot and bothered about.

Like the fact that there are so-called 'investors' who are making more money from their jobs than they are themselves.

History / 20 years of Poland in the EU. [317]


That depends where you are.The UK, Germany, Poland, fine (though bottled water is very big in Poland). In many places, tap water isn't what it ought to be.


I very rarely drink them for that reason (plus they're generally quite nasty except for one or two old favourites, however the attached bottle caps are an inconvenience to nobody.

History / 20 years of Poland in the EU. [317]


Are attached bottle caps a 'nuisance' to you?

For me, they're neither here nor there.


Worldwide, plastic bottles are a bigger nuisance.

History / 20 years of Poland in the EU. [317]


Has Poland left then?

Anyway, I'm defending their sensible rule about plastic bottle caps.


And yes, PL benefits from this too.

Whining about attached bottle caps, an inconvenience to nobody, is just durny, and strangely fits his unfortunate user name.

History / 20 years of Poland in the EU. [317]


No, they are litter. Do try to pay attention.


Who is that? Given that Poland is a full member of the EU. That term 'overlords' just sounds like a trashy comment from a tabloid newspaper's comment field made by someone with an IQ of 90.

Why are you against a practical anti-littering measure? As Lenka says, in what way do you "suffer"?

Off-Topic / Stock Market and Trading Talk [1011]


WIG investments used to be a land of opportunity. There are still of course companies close to what Americans call 'junk bonds' and Brits call Penny Shares however there was money to be made with some of the bigger ones.

Plus of course there's sometimes money to be made with Penny Shares providing your blood pressure levels can handle it and you can afford to take a loss when it doesn't pay off.

News / Is NORD STREAM dangerous for Poland's natural enviroment? [540]


Yes, and I'd even say they'd lose it all.

Intelligence services in Europe and elsewhere no longer share information with Germany since their government and military are so thoroughly riddled with r*SSian assets. That's a huge reputational blow and a sign of instability that it's important for Germany to mitigate.


Expensive, however it it has to be done sooner or later, preferably sooner.


Yes. Germany is a friend of Germany. They tried to use a dodgy hydrocarbons deal with a pariah state in order to undercut and steal a march on other European countries who actually are supposed to be their friends. It didn't work, and now they're licking their wounds.

We forget that until relatively recently, it was legal in Germany for firms doing business abroad to put the bribes through their accounts. Usually however, common sense is a better long term approach than greed and naked self-interest.

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1450]


The texture, The effect is really different.

@Milo

They are really good and simple. Really moreish. BTW, I said chopped dried chilli but actually meant chilli flakes. Only a bit though. And it helps if you don't handle the dough any more than needed,

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1450]


True. I find that the stronger it is, the better it works and sometimes add Parmesan or the cheap and just as good Dziugas (from Lithuania) or Grano Padano (good value from Biedronka), if it's not strong.


My OH insists it is however he's from a part of that country where traditionally there are a lot of Poles and his mum (who I suppose he got the recipe off) is half Polish.

What goes down well in my house is a simple biscuit dough (essentially shortcrust pastry with a little less marge/butter and a bit of baking powder) with some (20% is good) wholemeal flour and as much grated cheddar and Parmesan worked into it as you can without it getting greasy. Finely chopped dried chillis and/or herbs are optional. A bit of paprika works. Then roll out, chill in the fridge for a bit, make into rings with a cookie cutter (though they're never very neat due to the amount of fat, then bake for a few mins until golden and let them cool upside down. If you make that, I promise they won't be sitting around for very long.

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1450]


Yes. It works nicely. I also put grated onion in, as they do in Ukraine. They both keep the kotlety ńiće and moist, especially if they're heavy in the breadcrumbs.


I've never figured it out, but the final results from cutting them and from tear g them are really different.

The food in the picture looks wonderful, and yes, cheese and flour sounds better than bisquick. The only advantage of bisquick is probably that it contains baking powder however cheese would give it a nicer effect and make it more substantial.

I'm hungry now.


Probably courgette unless your plate and cutlery are humongous.

The red drink? Is it from pigwa?

Travel / Poland in photo riddles - part 3 [818]

Something to do with crossing the road near schools?

Travel / Poland in photo riddles - part 3 [818]

Car breakdown service? Bailiffs/debt collectors?

Travel / Poland in photo riddles - part 3 [818]

Looks like it's painted up to suggest a police car. Is it from a monitoring company or maybe a car breakdown service?

History / 20 years of Poland in the EU. [317]


They are; you just don't notice them.

You've mentioned that you always throw them away correctly. Sadly, all too many people don't.


Good that there's less sugar in them, however that's a national rather than an EU thing as far as I know. Poland (like the U.K.) have them quite low in sugar; in Italy, it's like drinking syrup.


We always should.

With plastic (especially softer plastics) the problem isn't the oil they're made of (a tiny bit of crude oil makes a lot of soft plastic) but instead what happens afterwards. It's around for potentially thousands of years if it isn't recycled or burnt.

The caps also go down drains and cause problems too.

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1450]


I suppose so. It wasn't anywhere particularly posh, so maybe it was that they cast actors from the working men's club scene. Ivy Tilsley, Jack and Vera Duckworth and a few others came from that environment. Paul Shane from Hi De Hi lived in the next village too.


Tony Blair actually mentioned it from the dispatch box. Then again, Elsie Tanner was his step mother in law due to marrying Tony Booth.

About Leczo, it really is only a summer thing when peppers are in season, however it's delicious. You can buy frozen bags from Hortex marked leczo but it's not the same as fresh.

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1450]


One of my favourites. It really does make a difference tearing the peppers rather than cutting them.

.
That looks nice.

You'll maybe say it's heresy, but grated, a bit of courgette doesn't hurt kotlety mielone;-)

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1450]


That was a sensation. The actress was a really nice person. As I remember, she was busted for pot back in the early 80s. I've not really watched it since those days, though in the urban parts of the north it used to be almost a religion. At one point, there were three permanent museums dedicated to it.

When I was a little kid, Ida Clough (who worked at Baldwin's) lived quite near and when I was a teen, Ivy Tilley lived just across the fields opposite our house. Then Percy Sugden moved into the Manor House in our village, but I'd left home by then.


And English. As etui is French and Polish.


That's their strength, as long as they're done fairly quickly.

Thinking about courgettes, I was just out at the supermarket (but couldn't take a photo due to the phone being on charge here) and saw the very pale courgettes that you see in Africa. The palest of them are almost white. They're a bit more bitter than the European kind.

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1450]

No. Courgettes can be cooked too, and marrows are huge.


We aren't Germans who have to define everything or they start to panic at the chaos of it all.

They become marrows when they look like marrows.

History / 20 years of Poland in the EU. [317]

I don't hear about it that much at all and am very pleased that serious crime rates in general are falling, though there was a knife murder in my town last year. The perp (or perps since there were two) weren't from outside Europe though; they were from the country that sits directly to the east of Germany.

And thank your lucky stars it's not guns..

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1450]


Very much so. The only difference is the size when you pick them. A bit like the colours of peppers.


Deirdre Hunt/Langton/Barlow/Rashid/Barlow's stuffed marrows on Corrie were famously bad. People used to make a sort of jam with them just to use them up. Courgettes are nicer though; however they're so ubiquitous in Iraq that I got sick of eating them every day in the camp canteen. That and pumpkins plus all sorts of squash. Every day for four years. The first two years were at an Italian oil camp so they boiled it all to mush.

I had sliced ones once that were 'quick pickled' and was surprised at how good they were when done like that.

Fried with garlic sound great, though I tend to boil them for a very short time, almost just blanching them so they're going translucent but are still firm.

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1450]


Size.

Plus the taste since marrows (being larger) are more bland.

Those in the photos are marrows. Our neighbour gives us some when she's gotta glut in her garden and I stuff them too, but only because I dislike throwing food away.

It's a good idea to use fatty meat as you have. In the Middle East they use lambs liver which works quite well

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1450]


Courgettes or marrows?


Pattypan squash? I always prefer that pickled. It has a nice crunch.

Travel / Best route for driving Berlin to Leszno, Krakow, and Vilnius [12]


Probably best to not hire a car and instead go by train. Also, a night or two in Berlin on the way might be worthwhile. Driving standards are low in Poland accident rates are very high and the train service is both excellent and cheap. To Vilnius, there are cheap and quick flights from Warsaw on LOT.

Looking at itineraries, Berlin to Leszno is a long drive, several hundred km. I'd stop off on the way.

Those itineraries involve a serious amount of driving and look very tiring.

History / 20 years of Poland in the EU. [317]

Of course.

We didn't actually do that much there this time, just relaxation and a bit of shopping since my OH can't walk very far, I was really tired (and hadn't walked more than a couple of hundred metres due to being in Africa for 90 days) and the weather was crazy hot.

Nice cold beer though

We did visit Frankfurt am Oder though due to having to change trains. A nice little town. I could happily live there even though the hill from the station to the town is so steep it's cruel!

History / 20 years of Poland in the EU. [317]


True. We had great kebabs in Kreutzberg though and plenty of walking around. Just a bit of relaxation after a stint at work.

My favourite bar is still there though, Brinks Eck in Hermannplatz. Still a Hertha supporters' pub and still a raucherkneip

History / 20 years of Poland in the EU. [317]

I'm fairly optimistic about the future.