Travel / Best places to visit in Poland [87]

If you are going to see Krakow, I would definitely do trips to the Wieliczka Salt Mines and Aushwitz nearby. Other points of interest in the SE of the country would be Rzeszow (and the Lancut Palace Estates) and Przemysl. Further away Torun, Gdansk-Sopot-Gdynia, Wroclaw, Poznan are the major cities worth a visit. A lot of people enjoy the nature in the NE corner: Europe's last primeval forests in Puszcza Bialowieska, and the undeveloped Suwalszczyzna would be my recommendations. In the north there are Kaszuby and the Tuchola Pinewoods. In the South you will find numerous mountain/hilly areas with pictoresque trails, palaces, castles, ruins... And the Baltic Coast with the sand dunes is not bad when the weather is good... As there are loads of places worth visiting, it all really depends on what you would like to see and how much time you've got - we would also be able to give you more detailed info then.

Life / Showing respect and appreciation by Polish people, forms of greetings in Poland. [31]

How about this one: Shoes need to go off when entering someone's home (even if hosts insist you keep then on - the one exception would be of course if hosts can be seen wearing them).

I quite like it, and it keeps the germs, etc. away! ;-)

Food / Where would you take foreign guests for Polish food dinner in Krakow? [6]

Wierzynek was not to be missed years ago, a place with great tradition... not sure how it fares today?

Life / Classic Polish movies free - and legal - to view online [13]

Well said - couldn't agree more...

Life / What's the best Polish radio station? [36]

I like TOK FM [tokfm.pl/Tokfm/0,130137.html mainly because in addition to the radio, they have an extensive Podcast library, so you could choose and download whatever interests you...

Study / Private Universities vs Public Universities in Poland [31]

in general the public ones hold more esteem at the usual levels...

Study / Private Universities vs Public Universities in Poland [31]


not sure that would be necessarily the case for areas such as engineering and sciences - the material covered in PL or any other UE nation for that matter would very often be more specialised that in the US.


again, very sweeping statements. while that may be true for some areas of study, if you look at the medical courses offered for example, they are about 1/3 of their US price tag, and offer US recognised degrees...

Study / Private Universities vs Public Universities in Poland [31]


This is a good point - having an overseeing QA entity in place in the form of ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) is a big plus. I think that one of the greatest ills of the education system in general in PL is the omnipresent cheating at all levels, which goes without saying does not reflect well on alumni of Polish universities.


That is true, there is a number of exams, and medical alumni of foreign universities will have ONE extra exam to test their language and patient skills, so overall not an insurmountable task.


This has been discussed on the forum in some detail... My opinion is that what you get out is directly proportional to what you put in (rubbish in -> rubbish out). You will find plenty an unsuccessful slacker faulting their university for not giving them the tools to be able to pass the required exams, when the reasons are more often simple and hit closer to home. but that does require, i am afraid, just a bit of maturity and honesty... which may be too much to handle for some.

Study / Going to Medical School in Poland (University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn / and others) [51]

2013 Ranking Table and link here:

perspektywy.pl/portal/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=719:uczelnie-medyczne&catid=92&Itemid=230

I think most will agree that the top three generally hold most prestige...

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Genealogy / Last Name Information - Lewandowski [16]

Lewandowski is one of the most common Polish surnames...

USA, Canada / Polish friends, what would be your preferred US state/city to live in? [17]

Hawaii & sunny California

USA, Canada / Polish friends, what would be your preferred US state/city to live in? [17]

"Connected" to what "church"???

Life / Conflicting views about life in Poland? [45]


I would see it as a +. Gets people to cook proper meals from scratch ;-)


Not sure what "decent" means to you. Most people would agree that Twinings and Dilmah are excellent and readily available in PL.

Life / Conflicting views about life in Poland? [45]


If the issue is not quality, but strength, surely one could adjust the tea:water proportions to suit rather easily?

Language / What computer keyboards are in use in Poland? [34]


Note the two are different...

Language / What computer keyboards are in use in Poland? [34]

The British layout features an oversized return/enter key which I like a lot...

Life / What are the best cars to buy in Poland? [40]

How does it all have to do with how your average Pole treat their car (as opposed to any other nation)???

Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [269]


Judging from a western perspective, Poland still remains under very heavy RCC's (Roman Catholic Church) spell not only in personal lives, but also in politics/government (should be secular by law). This is especially noticeable in smaller cities/towns, not to mention villages, and RCC is most often the 'one and only righteous' moral voice, and other views or religions (even Christian) are not well digested...

Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [269]

I think that in PL a much bigger challenge than racism and anti-Semitism is RCC's omnipotent influence and dominance in the public sphere - no separation of Church and State in practice...

Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [269]

If I can speak from my experiences with Polish-Americans here, especially of the 50+ group, unfortunately, while not actively anti-Semitic, many do harbour anti-Jewish sentiment and subscribe to the


. What's also worrying is that, very often, these same people are at the same time very religious and supporter the RCC's involvement in the public sphere.

Life / Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent [269]


Well, unlike people of your sort, I have the courage to face up to the problem instead of looking away or pretending there's no problem.


It sure does. I also see very little real tolerance for other religions. Too often it is along the lines: we (the RCC) are the only one true and real church, we own the monopoly on being always right in moral and religions matters, while everyone else, while 'tolerated' (i.e. not openly criticised), is by default assumed to be morally less important and less right... I never quite understood why, but such condescendingness is not only irritating, it is plain wrong.


Yet you would be surprised how many of the religious zealots/anti-Semites do not know that Jesus was a Jew himself...

Genealogy / Do I look Polish? (my picture) [375]

If you said you were from Russia, Hungary, Romania I'd also believe you...

History / Whom do the people in Poland hate more: Germans or Russians? [869]


Times are always a changing - time to move on folks instead of dwelling on the past needlessly. Even the title of this post is disturbing, to say the least...

To Mod: I say it's time to close this thread - don't you agree?

Language / "Poles" or "Polish people" - which is better to use? [200]

I think you've got it backwards. If I remember correctly, on that poster is a professional model hired specifically for that 'Polish plumber campaign' in France...

Life / What is Poland's view on obesity? How healthy, fit are Poles? [166]

It's true that the diet in PL in not a healthy one - it seems like a glorified PRL diet: parówki, kanapki, crisps, pepsi/coke/nasty cheap juice, lots of white bread and plenty of highly processed foods + sugar... Polish children (under 10 or 12yo) are now supposedly most (or nearly) obese in the EU... I think the problem is mainly with the parents' sheer ignorance on the subject of basic nutrition... most seem to don't care, the more sweets/comfort foods the better... perhaps it stems from their personal experiences where such foods were luxury during the PRL years, and that they can afford it they think the more the better for their children...


Agreed. Unfortunately, bad eating habits die VERY hard; in fact, most people would actually prefer to suffer the consequences than change, ie give up their comfort foods even when faced with disease/death... overall, much too much meats i PL diet - especially the nasty cheap and processed types... also, the food tends to be cooked to death...


I doubt any melons grow in PL. The golden rule is to eat local stuff. The good think in PL are the local food markets - from spring to autumn you can find good stuff grown locally with a little effort...


OK, bit it is the same all over when you have universal health care - have you ever seen what's served in, for instance, British hospitals?

Food / Panga Fish (available in Polish stores); I'll never eat it again. Alternative? [49]

There was a documentary not that long ago about fish farming in different parts of the world: panga, cod, salmon. And believe it or not, panga was not the worst of them. They had some Norwegian farmed salmon analysed in an independent lab in Switzerland I think, along with ordinary supermarket foods. It turned out that the Norwegian salmon contained levels of toxins that were tens if not hundred times higher than even the not so healthy stuff like pre-cooked hamburgers that they concluded that it was 'the most toxic food you could buy'. This had to due with the way the fish feed was made - apparently it is not controlled in the same way as that for other animals used for meat. Frozen packaged fish such as panga (but probably other as well) are soaked in solutions which contain anti-freeze. Now contrast that with the adverts you see for say Norwegian farmed salmon as the healthiest food there is...

Food / Panga Fish (available in Polish stores); I'll never eat it again. Alternative? [49]

The simple trick is to stick to local food as opposed to exotics - the closer to the source, the better simply because it requires less processing which is the real culprit in out diets... not to mention the environmental impact involved in transport alone...

Genealogy / Do I look Polish? (my picture) [375]


That would be due to Gypsy, Tatar, or other 'eastern' ancestory...

Law / Buying a USED CAR in Poland, my personal experiences and TRAPS to avoid !! [133]


Bollocks... All depends what you are looking for and what your needs are. I was looking for a small, fuel efficient, cheap car mainly for city driving and I've found a Renault in great shape for age for 12k, with dealer installed LPG system, directly from from its... third owner. So you could still find a real deal, but I admit it is tougher than say, in the UK.

News / Poland's PiS party members and crime [346]

The problem is they attempt to ride on the 'morally righteous and superior to others' wave at the same time... The reality they draw their support from the ciemnogród...