Travel / Travelling from NI to Poland [32]

One word of advice: A4 from Goerlitz/Zgorzelec is the only serious motorway connecting Poland and Germany. So if it won't destroy your plans better enter Poland via Zgorzelec and from there go A4 straight to Wroclaw. A18 (if you drive from Berlin) has only one line finished.

PS. If you go A4 remember to fill up your fuel tank, because it is relatively new parts of this highway don't have fuel stations yet (but maybe that changed in recent months, my data are a few months old)

Szerokiej drogi ;-)

News / What is Poland's politics towards Norway? [56]

Tusk repaired some school in Tromsö in Norway in 89' so I bet he knows it ;-) What an old thread anyway

Travel / Travelling from NI to Poland [32]


If he go via Berlin then the closest crossing would lead him into halffinished A18. In my opinion it would be better if he from begining will direct at Dresden, and from then straight into recently finished A4. I was driving it in last November and it was ok. The only problem was that petrol stations wasn't there yet by then.


I never drove by it myself. I've read somewhere that this road is in or just before tender phase. So couple of years before it became a highway.

Travel / Travelling from NI to Poland [32]

I think we have misunderstanding. I was talking only about Polish part, so I meaned A4 vs A18 in Poland. I suppose you are talking about German roads. I assumed that German highways are more or less ok, and the only bottleneck could be Polish part of the journey. To avoid that bottleneck one should choose A4 (in Poland), that's all.

News / The creator of The First Polish Computer Died [6]

Oh my... Peterweg, go back to school... You could start with this: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_notation

Fact is, Poland didn't contribute much in the begining of computer science era. Bet certainly it is not zero. Beside, it is not polite to spoil thread dedicated to a man who is important for Polish science.

Jacek Karpiński was a fine and wise man and deserves to be remembered

News / What is Poland's politics towards Norway? [56]

err.. @Kenneth78, I believe you are citing wrong person...

Food / Do you call it kiszka or kaszanka? [55]

in central Poland definitely kaszanka, as for kiszka, wiki says that it is used mainly in Cracow region...

Life / I'm from Polish descent. CAN YOU GUYS EXPLAIN THE EU TO ME? [115]

Explain the EU on internet forum? Amusing :-) Can you explain the Canada to me?
Oh, what the hell lets give it a shot...

On personal, individual level EU is about freedom, like freedom of travel anywhere you want, freedom of working anywhere you want, freedom of commerce, etc...

On the other hand, on state level it is about diminishing power of states goverments and rising power of local govs., and rising power of European Commision.

So, you can see there is many opposing forces in place here, and equation is complicated not black and white choices. So far, as a citizen of Poland I've got more freedom that I had before, that is why I'm in favour of EU. But don't worry, if at some point EU central gov. will gather to much power, we Poles will gladly help to destroy it as we used to in such cases ;-) In short most of simple people likes EU because it gave more freedom, but some politicians don't like it, because EU rules restraint their power.

PS. One thing that always should be remebered is that EU come into being as a tool to restrain Germany. EU is kind of golden cage for them.

Secondly, of course the biggest countries often use their weight to push others around. But it is not the question of being pushed or not. It is question of tools that someone is using to push you. Inside EU Poland is usually pushed gently and can influence pushers or even sometimes can push herself. Outside of EU Poland's options in European politics would be much smaller.

Work / Average monthly salary in Poland is around 1000 PLN (few hundred bucks). [387]

Average monthly salary is not good measure. Better is median salary.
So maybe average is about 3200 PLN gross, but median is about 2500 PLN gross. Which means that half of working population is getting less than 2500 PLN gross and the other half is getting more. Of course it don't count untaxed money...

So to conclude, those of you who argue that salaries in Poland are easily above 3000 gross because you know plenty of people who get that much are just speaking about the wealthier half.. In the same time, those of you who think that almost everybody in Poland gets 1000 are just know mostly people from the second half..

By the way, title of this thread is misleading because neither average nor median salary in Poland is 1000. But it is close to minimum salary.

Life / I'm from Polish descent. CAN YOU GUYS EXPLAIN THE EU TO ME? [115]


That is the tricky thing. On the one hand the way the Lisbon treaty was reinforced was quite dogdy. But in the same time it strenghtened Euro Parliament. But in the same time it weakened states...

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]


Gregrog, shame on you!! Absolutely crucial word in Polish and you've made an error!
It should be "Ty ch*ju!" ;-)

Work / Average monthly salary in Poland is around 1000 PLN (few hundred bucks). [387]

Errr... [scratching in the head]... You know guys as Pole I really appreciate that you care so much about minimum, average and median salary in Poland ;-) It seems to me that some of you should try finding job at GUS, I'm sure they could use such passionate truth seekers ;-)

Work / Average monthly salary in Poland is around 1000 PLN (few hundred bucks). [387]


Well, of course statistics is the highest level of lies ;-) But on the other hand, what you are hearing on the street is just another kind of statistics too... As for "gray zone" or "black market" it can be measured too for some extent. It is actually quite stable in Poland and is valued as about 28% of GDP (in UK for example it is about 10%). Quite frankly I have no idea how to transer that into median registered salary. Should we add 1/3 so about 800zł? I'm not sure it is working that way. But one thing I'm sure of is that you overestimate "gray zone" size. I'm mean of course many people have some sideline, untaxed jobs, etc., but it is rarely constant situation and what is important often it is seasonal. In the end what really matters in home ecomony is how much one can bring in whole year.

History / Chance of Lwów once again became coming part of Poland [344]

Czarnkow1940, do you live in Poland ?

History / Chance of Lwów once again became coming part of Poland [344]

Me to. To answer your question, there is no chance and no need for that.

History / How was Poland compensated after World War 2 [47]

@Czarnkow1940, I wonder, before you start a thread like this, do you make some research by yourself, or you just want to make a pool about pf users knowledge? On another thread you've wrote that you are living in Krakow. Go to university library there and you will find plenty of relevant historic books about the subject. Then, enlighten us...

I can throw you some fragmentary stuff but in the end what would be the value of this?
The subject you are asking is both highly subjective and rather wide. It is highly unlikely that you will find valid and exhausting answer here.

History / How was Poland compensated after World War 2 [47]


There were few years when Stalin recognized Polish gov. in London (since agreement on 30.07.1941, after Germans invade USSR), of course he did that until USSR take upper hand on east front. Agreement was one-sided broken by USSR on 25.04.1943.

Anyway that short period of cooperation had some highlights, actions against Poles in USSR were stoped to some extent, and Stalin agreed to let go some of Poles (including those who were kept in Gulags and prisons), and let them to create Anders Army. According to different sources thanks to that agreement about 41000 of soldiers and 74000 of civilians were let go from Gulags (Poles, Ukrainians, Belarusians and Jews). Those people flew from USSR via Iran, part of them stayed in Anders Army. Those soldiers fought against Germans in Africa and later in Italy, for example in battle on Monte Cassino. Anyway, after Stalin broke agreement, he started to create his own Polish army under communist leadership.

Did Poland lost the war? Yes, one of the two invaders won. But Poles had to cooperate with one of them to survive. I've read somewhere, that added up Polish forces were fourth largest army in WWII in Europe, bigger than France forces. But due to disperse (east front, west front, Africa, Middle East) political power of Polish authorities was small. At least Poland didn't become one of the USSR republics.

Travel / Poland from a Persian Tourist's Perspective [269]


Well, next time take some bottle of vodka with you, those people are much better than they look ;-) All jokes aside, statistical Polish village is conservative place, it takes time to crack the ice there.

PS. Darius, what about this nuclear bomb project in Iran? In your opinion, do your country really need that weapon? If so, then what for? After all if I'm not mistaken Poland is in a range of Persian rockets.

Life / Womans day in Poland? [242]

Ladies, best wishes to you all :-)

Life / I'm from Polish descent. CAN YOU GUYS EXPLAIN THE EU TO ME? [115]


Well, "absolute independence" can be achieved, in grave... but even that one is not for sure ;-)

Life / I'm from Polish descent. CAN YOU GUYS EXPLAIN THE EU TO ME? [115]

@FUZZYWICKETS
Whatever CNBC is telling, Germans didn't bail-out Greeks yet. Many people in media seems to trying make an impression that Germans are pushed to the wall, well they aren't. There is no law which can force them to pay, there is even no law which can allow them to pay. What is more, Germans are quite comfortable with weaker Euro. In the end, maybe Germans will pay, but probably only if it will be convenient to them. BTW. certainly weak Euro is not USA or UK dream what partially can explain Anglo-saxon media attiutude. Currently there is big world competition named "who can weaken currency more" in hope for export trade profits, because internal markets in developed world are weak.


As for this defense argument it is for many years USA choice. Nobody is forcing USA to have all this forces in Europe.

Life / Has anyone in Poland that you know been affected by H1N1? (swine flu) [44]

@wildrover, I have to worry you, cold don't kill viruses, bacteria maybe, but not viruses.
Viruses can infect in temperatures below 0 Celsius degrees, and can survive in temperatures far below 0. Scientists even keep viruses for experiments in temperatures as low as -196 Celsius degrees.

Life / I'm from Polish descent. CAN YOU GUYS EXPLAIN THE EU TO ME? [115]


Well, I'm not sure about that. Certainly that is what they are trying to do lately. Whether by choice or by no other choice both US and UK are producing accounting entries on their central banks books with great volume and speed. The goal obviously is to stay afloat and stop deflation before all this excess homes fall on their heads and topple banking system. I would say they are definitely trying to inflate but so far they failed. If they finally will succeed and trigger some internal inflation then externally it would mean currency devaluation, well it would if others wouldn't do the same. As for production it is kind of cliche that US or UK don't produce anything anymore. They are and still have quite big industrial base.


Old habits die hard ;-)


You mean going broke is a sign of rebellion and getting better position? What a great idea!
Bail us out so we can get our 13-th and 14-th pay or we do, hm... what exactly?

Law / The Euro, is it a good idea for Poland? [66]

I think it is idea worth of consideration but not before Euro stabilize and Polish economy will synchronize with Eurozone. So, 5 or 10 years? Definitely not now (on the other hand it would be probably good to enter with cheap currency... but it would demolish western economies ;-) so they don't let us now anyway :-))


Hm... I'm not sure about that, country unilaterally pegged usually don't have access to central bank loans, and is vulnerable to currency attack a'la Soros vs BOE. When country finally violently "unpegs" then all debtors are screwed, that is way Latvia is fighting so much to not "unpeg"...

Anyway, it would be nice to not have to change Zloty to Czech Korona everytime when I go skiing.. Life would be easier with one currency, but both Eurozone and Poland are not ready for that.

PS. comment by Forlana from "The Economist" forum:
"To put in another way, it is often said here in Poland that the Euro is a powerful tool for growth and an excellent shield, but a heavy one. Be sure you can carry it before you take it..."

very accurate allegory in my opinion

Food / Polish v Western farm produce? [14]


Polonius3, check your data. AFAIK food, including processed food is one the few domains where Poland has positive trade balance. Maybe in some areas of this domain western products are more competitive, but in general it is rather the other way around.

As for veggies, it depends from the season. For example, in the spring there is a lot of costly spanish tomatoes on the market, but as soon as domestic products shows up, they displace imported once. It is not like polish food is so much better, I'm sure fresh spanish tomatoes are great, but to make them fresh entire year is different story.

Travel / Travelling from Wrocław to Prague [7]

There was a direct train, but it was canceled on last autumn. Since then you have to change trains in Pardubice in Czech Republic. It is not going through Germany but through mountains/hills between Czech and Poland. Entire trip takes around 5 to 6 hours. I was travelling using that option in last December. It was bearable Czech train but nothing fancy.

PS. Be aware, there are more than one stop in Pardubice, you have to choose proper one.

Travel / Which city is better to visit: Warsaw or Krakow? [169]

Warsaw is the city of contrasts, Krakow is probably the most beautiful big city in Poland.
"Uniqueness" is relative thing. In my experience city tours tend to vanish if you don't merge it with some event. So if for example you like pop and rock music you can try TriCity instead of Warsaw or Krakow and take part in Opener festival:

opener.pl/en
Pearl Jam and Massive Attack will be there this year :-) Old town in Gdansk is nice, there is sea there, there is fantastic bike road on Hel Penisula (if you ride from West to East...).

Just a thought ;-)

PS. If you will choose Krakow and if you will be passing Wroclaw you can visit this city too

News / THE ARMY OF POLAND - THE REALITY [395]

Ad 1. you can start here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_Armed_Forces

Ad 2. Professional army has pros and cons. In my opinion core professional army is better option than conscription. Quality of professional soldier is way better than conscripts.

But in the same time, I think it should be mixed with some kind of National Guard. Which is actually happening right now. This type of forces is currently being created, in the beginning only 10000, and only previous soldiers can sign up. Probably after assesment of usability and costs in next years size of this forces will grow.

To sum things up, Polish army can bite, but certainly in case of similar situation like WWII would be destroyed again. But there is no point to be neurotic, Polish geopolitical position is fantastic now if we compare it to previous few hundred years... We of course could have army like North Korea or Nuclear program like Iran, but both examples aren't attractive or needed.

Law / What do you think about the Gerlach company? [28]

I'll tell you only that we use their stuff in our family for generations, the same stuff :-) They surely had good quality, not sure how it is now.

PS. I have no problems with their website

Travel / Driving to Poland from England - any tips? [264]


True, if he is going to Ustron near Cieszyn, then going there via Frankfurt (Oder) and Poznan is bad choice (at least for another 2-3 years). Much better would be entering Poland in Goerlitz/Zgorzelec and use A4.