Law / Medical Malpractice in Poland - seeking accountability? [146]

I remember my first hospital visit in poland.
I had a rare form of salmonella and had to go to the hospital of infectious diseases in wroclaw. The doctor was trying to insist that I stayed for a week but when I saw the facilities I was out so fast. In a hospital of infectious diseases there was no soap or toilet paper.

I cannot imagine how I could have stayed there suffering from bouts of bloody diahorrea every 20 minutes.
Every time I visit the hospital it seems dirty dark and depressing. And I very often see doctors who take money for nfz procedures.
There is still a long way before poland has medical care that I would feel comfortable with - luckily I have private insurance through my employer now and so I don't have to worry as much.

Life / Feasibility and cost of a bicycle in Krakow? [13]

Not sure about Krakow but I commute 120km a week in Wroclaw and it is streets ahead of using a car or public transport.

You can spend as much or as little as you like, but make sure that you buy a bike that fits you- watch out for bike shops trying to manipulate you, which has unfortunately happened a couple of times to me.

Don't bother with the mask, they do nothing but restrict breathing and give you a sweaty face. Particles from diesel smoke are extremely fine and cannot be filtered by these masks and the carbon monoxide simply passes through too.

Buy two quality locks - not an armoured cable lock. Use at least one quality d lock and lock the rear wheel, frame and an immovable object together and lock your front with the other.

If you lock securely then thiefs will just move to the badly locked bike 2 metres away.

News / Grafitti plague in Warsaw [84]

Chichimera - you have inspired me to create 'art' by going on an artistic crime spree through Wrocław - Look out for the artistic bloodstains left on the road after my car chase, the crying children looking at their artistically destroyed teddy, and the artfully destroyed town hall.

Where do you draw the line between what is acceptable and what is not in art? It may be done artistically and may even be art, but that does not make it pretty for the majority of society.

Contracted grafitti is often beautiful and in an appropriate place, but the 'plague' the OP was talking about is of little to no artistic value to the majority of people - and it is the majority of people who have to look at it and clean up after it.

I like grafitti and the idea it embraces, but not the mindless teenage defacement of property.

UK, Ireland / A Brit moving to Warsaw with his Polish wife [12]

+1 on avoid living with the in laws for too long.
I am still living with family after 4 years and it has driven us mad!
Turning food down is a nightmare, especially as my in laws are constantly eating. In the end I had to be a little rude for them to get the point.

USA, Canada / What do Poles think about drinking raw milk? In America, unpasteurized milk is PROHIBITED. [49]

Some diseases pass from some animals to humans.
Yes you can get sick from bad milk, just the same as you can get sick from tens of thousands of other things.

Print a warning on the label and be done with it. If people are educated as to the risks they can make their own decisions and eat or not eat.

I don't see cigarettes and alcohol removed from the shops, and they are guaranteed to harm you.

There are many ways for food to become inedible and poisonous before it reaches our plate but that doesn't mean we have to ban every food item around 'just in case'.

USA, Canada / What do Poles think about drinking raw milk? In America, unpasteurized milk is PROHIBITED. [49]

It is not actually that easy to find raw milk in the cities. Recently they have introduced mlekomats with fresh milk though, and it is so much tastier than the regular crap you buy in the shop.

From my experience in wroclaw the majority of people use uht milk.

It may be a different story in the villages though.

The prohibition of raw milk is ridiculous as it limits for example the ability of cheese makers to make the most of their product.

Travel / Restaurant reviews in Poland. [86]

I have had numerous bad meals out in Wroclaw and only a few have stood out as being good.
Pod gryfami- a bit of a maze in the basement but nice polish food.

Novocaina - food was good, but the service was awful. I was served the wrong pizza. The waiter then spent the evening offering it round to new customers as a 'special offer'. In the end he tried to charge us for two pizzas.

Masala. Only visited once, but it had great food and service, my only issues were that the food is offered at different levels of spiciness, but they just add chopped chillies to make it spicier. This just give a mild curry with pockets of fire.

Agawa in the south park - I enjoyed the food here. Simple italian in a nice atmosphere. Just check that they are not having a party as they won't serve you food if they are.

Food / Why carp for Polish Christmas? [157]

It is a little bizarre to me that it is the traditional dish for wigilia, but so many people dislike it.
After 4 years here I would say that at least 20% of people are not keen on carp at Christmas.

News / Why is Poland developing so slowly or in the wrong direction? Who is responsible ? [317]

I love many things that have changed in the last few years due to an increase in money flow, but In my opinion the biggest problem is public attitude to the community.

I feel a great sense of "it isn't my responsibility" or "If I change, it won't do anything".

Take the roads for example. Many people are unwilling to drive slower because they say that everybody else still drives fast, but it would greatly improve the safety of Polish roads.

Dog owners happily foul public greens and footpaths which, when it comes to summer, are unusable for picnics or for children to play on. Nobody seems willing to either clean up, or speak out against the owners. I have only once in 4 years seen sombody cleaning up after their dog.

These are large things to change, as it requires everybody to work together and unfortunately in Poland too many people are pulling against each other for progress in any particular direction to be realised.

Younger people have more hope for the future now, which will hopefully impact their image of the community they live in and maybe they will invest more in making the country a more pleasant place to live in, instead of only trying to make the small sphere around themselves better.

Law / What are the bike laws in Poland? [30]

The laws in Poland regarding cycling unfortunately don't take into account the fact that cycle lanes are erraticly and illogically placed.
I know many places where to ride legally I would have to transition from cycle path to road 10 times to go 2 km. Clearly I have a choice - cycle the whole distance on the road, ride on the pavement(which is usually sufficiently wide to have the cycle path continue on it, why it doesn't, I don't know) or deal with the transitions.

I usually choose the road even though I have to put up with drivers arguing that I should be on the cycle path!

Sometimes there are outright ridiculous parts, for example a shared use path that starts just before a bus stop. Or a cycle path sign that is placed at head height intruding into the cycle lane. You really have to be stupid to design this - or not have a clue about what cyclists really need.

Now it is winter I have even more issues - the cycle paths are either not cleared, or overrun by pedestrians. The roads are sometimes safe, but more often than not there are parts that are too risky, so you are forced to ride in places on the pavement.

What would happen if I hit a pedestrian walking on a cycle path that had been cleared, whilst the pavement alongside hadn't. Is the council liable for 'forcing' pedestrian to use the cycle path, or am I liable because common sense indicates that a collision with a pedestrian is a risk?

Language / Podcasts in Polish at higher levels than beginner [10]

There are a few different polish podcasts on itunes - just covering the real basics. Also I have listened to the cd's that came with two of my language books.

Thanks for the advice - I will check them out.
Nick