Travel / Travel from Poland to Germany [4]

There is many different possibilities. By coach, by train, by plane. Plane tickets are expensive because 24th December is in two weeks time from now. It's short time.

There exists a direct train to Heidelberg from Praha in Czech Republic. Unfortunately, it seems to be quite expensive. On the webpage of the Czech Railways the price is 1953 CZK, so about 300 PLN / 70 EUR.

The train from Praha to Germany goes at 18:30 and reaches Heidelberg at 4:58 (it goes further on to Zurich in Switzerland).

To Praha from Poland you can get inexpensively by PolskiBus coach. It goes from Warsaw through £ódź and Wrocław. There is one that reaches Praha at 17:50 - the bus station "Florenc", quite close to the main railway station from which the train to Germany goes. One station by the underground, according to Google Maps. But still 40 minutes might be a bit risky when you have to move within the city.

The earlier one reaches Praha at 13:20, but goes from Gdańsk through Bydgoszcz, Poznań, Wrocław.

Earlier you have to get from Ostrowiec to one of these cities in Poland. There are some coaches, but no direct trains. And still it is quite complicated and there is a few stages where something may go wrong. I wouldn't recommend this idea.

By PolskiBus from Poland (or also by train) you may get directly to Berlin. What is better here, you can get directly from Ostrowiec to Kraków, from where there is a PolskiBus coach to Berlin.

In Germany from Berlin there is no direct train to Heidelberg and generally speaking the trains in Germany are pretty expensive, especially if you don't book your ticket in advance (I mean a bigger "advance" than 2 weeks, when the journey is at Christmas time). But there are some buses, that are not so expensive and go directly. I could find buses of two different companies, two leaving Berlin at 7:00 and 8:30 (journey lasts for about 8 h 40 min), and another one, more expensive and slower one, at 7:30. It would fit to go by PolskiBus that leaves Kraków at 23:15 on December, 23rd and reaches Berlin in the morning at 7:00.

To Kraków from Ostrowiec - there is a train.

It would look so:
- Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski - Kraków:
16:48-20:40 Regio train (Przewozy Regionalne) 31,20 PLN
Warning - this train has no seat reservation, so it might be crowdy, especially that day, but it starts in Ostrowiec, so just be earlier on the station to have a seat

- Kraków - Berlin ZOB:
22:15-7:00 PolskiBus coach 120 PLN
- Berlin ZOB - Heidelberg
8:30-17:05 MeinFernBus.de coach 33 EUR (let's say that it's about 150 PLN)
Together it's about 300 PLN one-way (coaches would be probably cheaper with return tickets, in case of the train there is no price difference). The coach from BiletyAutokarowe.pl costs one-way 260 PLN, so it's cheaper and much more convenient because without changing vehicles. But according to a search engine on that webpage, it does not go on December, 24th. Only on the 22th. And then on 26th. The buses and train that I have found go all on December, 23rd/24th.

Life / Will an English bought TV work In Poland? [20]

Nothing in the data sheets about this.

About that when the TV has "HD" label it must have MPEG4 I am not so convinced. Older TVs had "HD" labels (Full HD or HD Ready, depending on the screen resolution), but they could only use HD signal from external sources, like Blu-Ray player or satellite receiver.

Even if it doesn't receive Polish TV (which is quite unlikely), you can always plug an external TV receiver by HDMI. The price of such one is about 120 PLN.

Life / Will an English bought TV work In Poland? [20]

This TV works with the voltage 100-240 V AC, 50/60 Hz. So it would work in the US too. You underestimate it :)

Language / Dziadzia / Babcia - help me with spelling/pronunciation [81]

Just put "babcia" or "dziadek" (or whatever you want, even this weird "busia") into Google Translate, turn it to translation from Polish, and click the loudspeaker button on the left-hand side. It will show the correct pronounciation for sure.

Work / Moving from India to Warsaw to study. Need information about Warsaw city, jobs etc. [40]

Russian was something like English now. Or even less. People were taught Russian in schools, like now English, but there wasn't such pressure for it like now for English, without command of which it is difficult to find any job, maybe except a road sweeper.

Russian in some part of Poland was something like a second language in over 100 years before the FIRST World War. When Poland didn't exist on the world map and its area was divided between Russia, Germany (earlier Prussia) and Austro-Hungary (eariler Austria). The 6 decades after the Second World War (or rather 4,5 decades) have a little in common with this.

Travel / Do trains in Poland arrive on time? [38]


In Polish EZT for Elektryczny Zespół Trakcyjny. Which has an English equivalent: EMU - Electric Multiple Unit.


It depends on what you exactly mean.

Until a few years ago the main companies that operated the trains in Poland were PKP Przewozy Regionalne and PKP Intercity, both national ones, belonging to a holding called PKP (Polskie Koleje Państwowe - Polish National Railways). The division was that PKP Przewozy Regionalne operated the city commuter trains (so called "osobowe") and also most of the inter-city ones (so called "pospieszne"). Except for the most comfortable and fastest ones, so called "ekspresowe" and "InterCity", operated by the PKP Intercity. It was convenient, because one could buy one ticket for a whole train journey and it didn't matter how many times one changed a train and between which categories.

Then the government decided to pass all the local commuter trains to the local governments of all the provinces (województwos). To do this, they moved all the "pospieszne" trains from PKP Przewozy Regionalne to PKP Intercity (which will be important later on, also these from £ódź to Warsaw - it is rather a commuter route in terms of that most of passengers commute to the workplace with these trains every day, but it's also quite long). PKP Intercity had created a short time before a new brand of trains called TLK - "Tanie Linie Kolejowe" ("Cheap Railways"), wanting to compete with the "pospieszne" of PKP Przewozy Regionalne. It looks strange that one national company wanted to compete with another one, but it's just Polish government, sometimes it is impossible to understand it. So after this movement they changed all the "pospieszne" into TLKs (later on, probably together with an increase of ticket prices, they changed their name into "Twoje Linie Kolejowe" - "Your Railways"). And it's how the current TLK train category emerged.

With the "pospieszne" trains, PKP Intercity took over also all the carriages and locomotives needed to operate them. Przewozy Regionalne (they left the PKP holding, and they no loger have anything in common with the PKP, apart from that they are running on tracks managed by another company from the PKP holding, and the mentality of the employees is similar, especially the trade unions are extremely influential) stayed mostly with old-type electric multiple units (in Polish - EZTs) of the EN57 type. Sometimes called (especially by train spotters and other train fans) "kibel" from the specific "toilet" smell inside. If someone doesn't know, "kibel" in Polish is a quite impolite (but definitely not vulgar, AFAIK it came from the jail slang) word for a toilet.

PKP Intercity started to cancel many of former "pospieszne" trains, argumenting that they are inaffordable and bring financial loses (which is quite a stupid explaination, if it brought money, the governement wouldn't have to involve in it at all - but again, noone will understand the Polish government). So Przewozy Regionalne decided to fill this niche, in case of specific trains either without any subsidies (and the trains brought money, though), or with subsidies from the local governments. They named this new category of trains "InterRegio", and the former "osobowe" were named, in contrast, "Regio". Later on they created also a new, a bit more comfortable train category (for sure you won't met there EN57 EMUs), but still an affordable one, called "RegioExpress".

Since Przewozy Regionalne have not much locomotives and carrieges (they have to hire locomotives for inter-city trains either from the Czech Railways, or from the company of the PKP holding that specializes in cargo transport), most of the InterRegio trains run on the EN57 multiple units. It's the explanation if you meant just the InterRegio trains.

If you ask why you sometimes (but rarely) can meet EZTs designed rather for commuter trains running the TLK trains, the explanation is also connected with all what I mentioned a moment ago. Yet in the times of PKP Przewozy Regionalne in the PKP holding, operating also most of the inter-city trains (exactly about 10 years ago), the route from £ódź to Warsaw started to be renovated. Now they are finishing these renovation works - it took so much time to them. Time, in which the trains went not faster, but yet slower and they were extremely unpunctual - delays were the order of the day. Together with this renovation, they (meaning PKP Przewozy Regionalne) purchased new trains for this route. Pesa Bydgostia multiple units - the type ED74. And they were used on this route for a few years, but they met a lot of criticism from the passengers. They were to small for this route, which is probably the most popular train in Poland (maybe apart from the city railways for example in Tricity). And too uncomfortable for such a long journey (during the renovation works it was and still is about 2 hours, after the finish it is going to be more than 1 hour). Indeed they are good rather just for real commuter trains.

In Przewozy Regionalne it wouldn't be such a problem. They could move these units to other, really commuter, routes and introduce some of the carriages they have on the Warsaw-£ódź line. But these Bydgostia units, together with all the vehicles for "pospieszne" trains, were taken over by the PKP Intercity. At some moment they had to withdraw these trains form this route due to the fact that the number of trains daily had to be reduced because of the lasting renovation works. Their capacity was to low to fit in all the passengers, taking into account that they can be linked, AFAIK, maximum in sets of 2 units. And they are one of the most modern trains PKP Intercity has, so they don't want to sell them (again stupid, but it's impossible to understand our government). This way they appear on long-distance routes although they shouldn't.

A bit of explanation about the other things I started talking about and might catch someone's interest. The names of the categories of the most comfortable trains. In the communist's times they were called "ekspresowe" only. In the 90s they introduced a new category - InterCity. It was stable during the 90s and initially after 2000, but later on they started to juggle with their names, so that at some moment for example a category "Express InterCty" appeared.

And now "Express InterCity" is the only category of this kind of trains, of course apart from "Express InterCity Premium", which are the Pendolinos.

A very new idea, which appeared together with the introduction of the Pendolinos, was to change the name of the TLK trains operated with the most modern carriages to "InterCity". It's now not a premium category, it's a standard one, like TLK. The prices are, AFAIK, the same as in case of TLKs.

Another thing. I mentioned that the local governments have in fact no control of the Przewozy Regionalne, because it's their common possesion. What is more, the trade unions are there very influential. It's why they tend to buy new trains (I mean vehicles) on their own, not by Przewozy Regionalne, and then lend them to the Przewozy Regionalne. They tend also to create their own railway companies and resign from the services of the Przewozy Regionalne, even though they still have shares in it (bear in mind that the Przewozy Regionalne bring losses, not money, so noone would like to buy their shares; to posses their shares means to have a debt). This way the following companies appeared:

- Koleje Mazowieckie (Mazovian Railways) - their are the oldest one and they weren't created as a separate company, but separated from the Przewozy Regionalne

- Arriva RP - it's not a company owned by a local government, but a government of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Province hired a "private" company (in fact connected with the German Railways) instead of Przewozy Regionalne to operate local trains

- Koleje Śląskie (Silesian Railways)
- Koleje Dolnośląskie (Lower-Silesian Railways)
- Koleje Wielkopolskie (Greater-Poland Railways)
- £ódzka Kolej Aglomeracyjna (£ódź Urban Agglomeration Railway)
- Koleje Małopolskie (Lesser-Poland Railways) - started operation this Sunday, together with Pendolinos in PKP Intercity

There are also companies operataing urban trains within the biggest cities, and so:
- PKP Szybka Kolej Miejska w Trójmieście (PKP - Fast Urban Railway in Tricity), belonging to the PKP holding - in fact it operates also regional trains, so should rather be classified as a member of the previous group, but initially it was only for the urban agglomeration

- Szybka Kolej Miejska w Warszawie (Fast Urban Railway in Warsaw), belonging to the local government of the city of Warsaw
- Warszawska Kolej Dojazdowa (Warsaw Commuter Railway) - belonging mostly to the local govermnent of the Mazovian Province, being a reminder of the suburban light railway system from before the Second World War (an interesting thing is that a similar system in £ódź after the war was classified as trams and developed in totally different way, unfortunately in Poland doesn't exist anything like "light railway", there is a sharp distinction between trams and heavy railway)

I think, that's all.

Travel / Do trains in Poland arrive on time? [38]

EW55 are no longer used, they were used until 1995.

According to this: pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/PKP_Szybka_Kolej_Miejska_w_Tr%C3%B3jmie%C5%9Bcie#Obecny - all the trains of the company operating on this route have toilets.

The table shows (according to the columns):
Series / Manufcturer / Number of cars in unit [r - with driver's cabin, s - with motors, d - passive without the cabin] / Number of seats (in brackets - number of paces for standing passengers) / Number and power of motors, maximum velocity / Properties / Year of introduction / Number of them

The properties are (according to the legend on that page):
renovated / no compartments / with compartments / chopper-based motor startup / asynchronous motors / passenger information system / video surveillance system / facilities for the disabled / bicyces allowed / toilet / baby changing table

Life / TV+Internet providers in Katowice? [10]

Usually every neighbourhood has another one available. Yoy won't probably have much choice. Either the cable TV provider that is available at your flat (who would provide Internet too, if you wish), or Internet from Orange (from the public telephone network) and TV from one of the satellite providers.

Travel / Do trains in Poland arrive on time? [38]

Pendolino - probably not at all for a long time yet.

But they are buing 40 new EMUs now: 20 from Stadler and 20 from Pesa. Ones dedicated to inter-city trains, unlike Bydgostia. They are going to service also the route: Białystok/Lublin - Warszawa - Koluszki - Częstochowa - Katowice - Bielsko Biała.

Travel / Warsaw to Prague Trains [21]

The best to look for trains in/from Poland - rozklad.sitkol.pl
To book tickets - on the website of the national train operator - intercity.pl
Use the original city names, so Warszawa (Warsaw in Polish) and Praha (Prague in Czech).

The system of ticket reservation seems to have some technical problems now, it cannot find a connection to Prague tomorrow evening, although according to the search engine from the first link there is such a train.

You can also try to book the tickets at the Czech Railways - cd.cz/eshop
But it seems that it works so that you have to buy a ticket from Poland to Czech Republic from the Polish train operator and the ticket from Czech Republic to Poland from the Czech Railways. Maybe it's possible to buy a return ticket but it must be done at the Polish Railways.

The price of the return ticket from Czech Republic to Poland seems to be 821 CZK, which is about 130 PLN.

You can always buy tickets in the offices at the stations. Then there is a trick to make it cheaper. In Warsaw at the ticket office you ask for a ticket for a specific train to a border point - "Zebrzydowice Gr.". It's not easy to buy such a ticket, the ticket sellers at the stations often make difficulties with this, but in Warsaw at the main station you should manage to do this (they have there something like "customer service office"). Then you buy the ticket for the Czech segment of the route at the first station in Czech Republic (Bohumin) where the train stays for 3 hours (it may change the platform because it's divided there into a few trains in different directions).

The standard price at Polish Railways for the train from Warsaw to Prague, according to this site:
intercity.pl/pl/site/dla-pasazera/oferty/zagraniczne/cena-relacyjna-polska%E2%80%93czechy.html
is 65 EUR + 3,5 EUR for the seat. It's about 300 PLN. So this combination with buying the ticket to the border seems to be quite affordable.

29 EUR is the price if the ticket is bought early enough, according to this:
intercity.pl/pl/site/dla-pasazera/oferty/zagraniczne/podrozuj-do-czech-juz-od-19-euro.html
- and such a ticket is found by the webpage of the Czech train operator from Czech Republic to Poland. But for this price a limited number of tickets is available and you won't rather manage to buy such a ticket for tomorrow (but you may try).

If you make this combination with a Polish ticket to the national border and then a Czech ticket, the prices seem to be such:
* Warszawa-Zebrzydowice: 65 PLN
* Bohumin-Praha: 309 CZK = about 50 PLN
Together - about 115 PLN. Price comparable to the one with a standard ticket bought early enough. A bit lower but also more problematic.

If you prefer to try with the a bit more expensive but also more convenient and problemless version:
1/ Check tomorrow morning if it's possible to buy the ticket for about 130 PLN on the webpage intercity.pl (now it doesn't work) - fo this train:

rozklad.sitkol.pl/bin/traininfo.exe/pn/99444/218986/163726/48715/55?ld=c&seqnr=2&ident=e4.013278190.1419539634&date=26.12.14&station_evaId=5100065&station_type=dep&journeyStartIdx=1&journeyEndIdx=18&backLink=tp&

2/ If you don't manage, go to the main station in Warsaw, the best - go to the "Centrum Obsługi Klienta PKP Intercity" at that station. And ask if this ticket is available. If yes - buy it, if not - either buy the one for about 300 PLN, or buy the ticket according to the combined version.

3/ Buy a return ticket at the webpage of the Czech Railways - cd.cz/eshop - for 821 CZK. The earlier the better, because the cheaper ticket may disappear.

If you prefer to use the less convenient but most inexpensive version:

1/ Go to the main train station in Warsaw tomorrow - you may do it even directly before the departure, but have some time to wait in a queue and just to make the transaction of buying the ticket (although if you don't manage to do it on time, you may do it onboard from the conductor with a payment of 10 PLN extra). Buy a ticket (national, not international one) for this train:

rozklad.sitkol.pl/bin/traininfo.exe/pn/99444/218986/163726/48715/55?ld=c&seqnr=2&ident=e4.013278190.1419539634&date=26.12.14&station_evaId=5100065&station_type=dep&journeyStartIdx=1&journeyEndIdx=18&backLink=tp&

only to the point "Zebrzydowice Gr.". If the seller don't want to do this, be stubborn. It may help if you give the seller the code of the "Zebrzydowice Gr." "station", which is 8821. If he/she still don't want to do this, buy a ticket just to the Zebrzydowice station (the last one before the border). It should also work. Buy also a return ticket, otherwise you will have to pay 10 PLN extra to the conductor in the return train, because there is a ticket office in Zebrzydowice, but the train doesn't wait there, it only stops for a short moment. This is your return train:

rozklad.sitkol.pl/bin/traininfo.exe/pn/508305/355409/527780/94455/55?ld=c&seqnr=1&ident=cm.021331190.1419543016&date=30.12.14&station_evaId=5400014&station_type=dep&journeyStartIdx=0&journeyEndIdx=15&backLink=tp&

2/ Buy tickets for the sections of the "there" and return trains in Czech Republic however you want (from Bohumin to Praha and from Praha to Bohumin). The simplest way is online on the webpage of the Czech Railways, because you don't have to leave the train at night and go to the ticket office at the station. But for the return train it's safer to buy it at the station in Prague because there you can buy it to the Czech-Polish border without any problem.

The simplest way (but, of course, not the most comfortable one, and the price is practically not different) is by bus - polskibus.com

Travel / Warsaw to Prague Trains [21]

Visa shouldn't be a problem at all, there is no border control between Poland and Czech Republic.

From the Polish-Czech border to Bohumin the train has still Polish crew and they cannot do anything with tickets in the area of Czech Republic.

Travel / Warsaw to Prague Trains [21]

In Bohumin the train will wait 3 hours, just go to the ticket office at the station. If it's closed then (I don't know), the Czech conductor that boards the train there will sell the ticket.

Polonia / Polish satellite TV abroad [40]

You won't rather buy a card anywhere other than in Poland, because the contracts of TV companies with content suppliers allow them to broadcast in only within the area of Poland. They unofficialy let people take the cards and receivers abroad, because a lot of people use them abroad and otherwise they would lose a great amount of clients. But theoretically the TV companies shouldn't do it, so they won't make it officially possible to buy they cards abroad.

Bad news for you is that TVP Kultura and TVP Historia will no more be broadcast free-to-air, probably from 1 January 2015. TVP resigns from broadcasting FTA on the Astra satellite. They will use Hot Bird only. FTA will be TVP Polonia and TVP Info only. On Hot Bird.

All the information is here: satkurier.pl/news/109133/nowe-parametry-tvp-polonia-od-1012015.html

In short:
* the new parameters of TVP Polonia (on Hot Bird, FTA) are:
Eutelsat Hot Bird 13D (13°E)
tp. 133 (11,179 GHz, pol. H, SR 27500, FEC 3/4, DVB-S/QPSK)
The signal should be better than on the old TVP Polonia broadcast on Hot Bird.
* from 15 December 2014 on the new parameters on Hot Bird TVP Polonia is present
* form 31 December 2014 (about 23:30) TVP channels on Astra will be off
* from 1 January 2015 the transmission of TVP Polonia on Hot Bird will be a permanent one, not test one
* on the old parameters on Hot Bird TVP Polonia will be probably present for some time yet, for example 2 weeks
* TVP Kultura on Hot Bird will be encoded from 29 December 2014 (about 0:00), maybe they will start encoding later on
* TVP Info on Hot Bird (the signal used now by digital platforms) will start to be FTA 1 January 2015 (about 0:00), maybe earlier
* TVP Historia won't be FTA any more

What is more:
* the Polish digital platforms will probably move from MPEG2 to MPEG4 transmission in the middle of 2015 (or later on), so SD receivers will have to be replaced with HD ones; Cyfrowy Polsat exchanges now all their SD receivers with new HD ones in their selling points, even those without any contract, used by People as FTA receivers - for free

* the TNK SD offer will be valid until 31 October 2016, so topping up the account for a longer period is pointless

In terms of problems with Hot Bird reception, maybe the dish setting is inaccurate. Otherwise - try to replace it with a bigger one (of greater diameter).

Life / Electricity in Poland: plug and voltage? [72]

Fuse shouldn't be applied on the N wire. After it blows, device doesn't work but it is still under voltage.

In Poland there is no fuses in plugs and sockets, so there is no problem with it. In the wall wiring the L and N are distinguished (for the sake of the main fuses, RCDs etc.), as well all the way from the local transformator station to the house, but in the device - they shouldn't.

In older installations you may meet even one fuse for the whole flat, or for example three ones, one for each phase, for a detached house. These old installations are often made with only 2 wires, where the N wire plays role of PE too. It's quite dangerous (and in such a situation there should be definitely no fuse on the N wire), but it's how the wiring was made in the past, and it is still commonly met in Poland. In newer installations one modern circuit breaker might be for example only for lightning and another one only for sockets in one room, there are three wires and there is an RCD, at least for the bathroom (although according to the current norms the whole installation should be secured by RCD), but it is an idealistic case. Sometimes the electrical wiring is installed by people that aren't even electricians, or they are electricians, but they don't really know how to do what they are supposed to do (for example they finished their education in their profession 40 years ago and they didn't extend it any more) - and investors, especially private ones, use their services wanting to save money. Unfortunately - skimping on safety.

Nevertheless, regardless of whether the wiring is made correctly or not, whether it's old-fashioned one or modern one, the order of L and N in the sockets and plugs in Poland doesn't really matter. It is important everywhere between the transformator station and the socket, but between the socket and the device (and inside the device) - not. Again in theory, because sometimes some devices demanding specific order of L and N are met (it's especially about gas water heaters), but they shouldn't really be sold on the Polish market with plugs. They should have bare wires to connect them to the installation permanently through a switch. But the manufacturers don't care about this and also any apropriate institutions don't react. And - if they were produced without plugs, what most of people (meaning normal people buying such a heater, not electricians) in Poland would do is they would just install a plug and connect it to a wall socket. It's common with instantaneous electric water heaters of the power of, I think, more than 3 kW, which are sold without plugs, and what most of the customers do, is - you may guess :) They install plugs on their own.

Life / Electricity in Poland: plug and voltage? [72]


There is no risk because there are no fuses, breakers, anything like this in plugs and sockets. RCD is somewhere in the flat (if somebody is lucky, because it's still not very common, in new installations it should be installed, but older norms demanded it only for "wet" rooms like bathroom, even older ones, from something like 30 or 40 years ago, didn't demand it at all; RCD is quite a new solution - earlier the only security means was a traditional fuse, often one for the whole flat, and the earth pins in sockets were connected to the N wire - when the voltage appeared on e.g. the metal casing of a device, it blew the main fuse, at least if the installation was made correctly and was in good condition, because for example breakage of N somewhere near the main fuse was very dangerous), but never in the plug, socket, never in the appliance, so the user can be sure that it breaks L, and not N.

In walls L and N are distinguished. Correctly N should be marked by a wire with blue isolation, PE by yellow-and-green one, L by brown one or of any other color. But never take this color markings for granted! For example in lightning circuits the yellow-and-green is used often as a live wire, because if you want to buy a 3-wire cable (to install in the wall), the easiest to buy is the one that has wires of colors: brown, blue and yellow-and-green.

If somebody is doing something inside an appliance and wants to be sure it's not live, he/she unplugs the plug from the socket.

Sometimes there are plugs with a switch (such ones to install them on the cable on your own, for example if the original one is broken - like in the photo a few posts before - rather than original ones installed by device manufacturer, which are impossible to disassembly), but they don't ensure that there is no voltage inside the device.


I am not an expert, but according to this:
ise.pl/index.php?option=com_jfusion&Itemid=39&jfile=viewtopic.php&f=23&t=13209 (forum of electricians)

RCD controls the geometrical sum of currents in wires: L1, L2, L3 and N - if it's greater than the given value (parameter of the RCD) it will break the circuit.

If there is short circuit to the appliance casing and then to PE or to ground (L-PE, N-PE) then the current leaves the circuit omitting the RCD - thus geometrical sum of currents is much greater than the one with which the breaker is triggered.

If there is L-N or Lx-Ly short circuit, then the RCD will not work (but then the traditional fuse or breaker works).

The current flows in to the circuit, the same current doesn't flow out, because it flows through a human to ground - then it doesn't matter if it has a way to return to the RCD, or not, RCD will be triggered.

But remember that if it's an installation in Poland, there is very often no RCD at all. And it might be OK from the legal point of view - it depends only on the time when the installation was made.

RCD won't disconnect N unless it's incorrectly installed or workers of the energy supplier made a (very costly) mistake and exchanged L and N somewhere outside the flat. There were even situations then during works they connect by mistake two different phases instead of L and N and then in sockets there is 400 V instead of 230 V (of course for a moment, until they see their mistake). This is even more costly, the energy suppliers must return money to people for the damaged devices, but I've heard about such situations.

I would add that in the past it was very common that the lightning switch disconnected N instead of L. Normal switch, of course, not a breaker.

Life / Electricity in Poland: plug and voltage? [72]

In Poland any of these is legal, the only thing is that if for example a cooker is installed not by a licensed specialist, it has no guarantee. The case is just different mentality of people. Of course the owner of the house as a person responsible for it would be in big problems if somebody is killed by gas or electricity there and the installation is made against the norms that were valid when it was being made.

Travel / Mobile internet for tourists in Poland? [35]

It seems that Cemal lands in Gdańsk.

It seems that from the airport in Gdańsk you have a bus 110 to the Gdańsk Wrzeszcz train station (it is NOT the main station in Gdańsk) - or N3 every hour at night (but if you are going to go to a mall, which probably opens at 10 a.m., it won't rather be useful) - and next to it there is a big mall Galeria Bałtycka.

ztm.gda.pl/rozklady/rozklad-110_20130513-1-2.html
ztm.gda.pl/rozklady/rozklad-0N3_20140104-1-1.html

If you take a taxi, it shouldn't be problem at all.

Travel / Buying PLN online with EURO [7]

For example walutomat.pl. Probably the cheapest one from Polish online currency exchange platforms.

Unfortunately seems to be only in Polish.

Life / Electricity in Poland: plug and voltage? [72]


Automat schodowy. In Poland it is usually used in stairwells in blocks of flats. Typical solution how it was constructed, at least in the past (now they are probably based on electronics): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relay#Time_delay

The switch is a normal doorbell switch (such one that returns to the "off" position immediately after pressing it), the delay of the turning off is generated by the relay.

Life / Electricity in Poland: plug and voltage? [72]

This thing from Allegro seems to be a more modern one, based on electronics. But the operation is the same. It is triggered by a doorbell switch (meaning such one with a spring, that closes the circuit only for the moment when it is kept pressed) and then keeps the lighting on for some time (which can be set by the potentiometer). This one keeps, in addition, the light dimmed (probably it decreases the voltage by half, because, according to the description, it can't be used with fluoroscent lamps) for about 30 sec. before turning off - to let the user turn the light on again safely (i.e. not in darkness - remember that it's used mostly in staircases) before it goes off.

google.pl/search?q=staircase+light+timer

I have never met in Poland such one that would just be:


Probably nobody have come into this simple idea in the continental Europe and nobody was so smart to copy this solution from the UK :)

On the other hand, I heard that in the UK you have always two separate taps for the cold and hot water above sinks. And it's always driving people from the continental Europe crazy :)

Life / Electricity in Poland: plug and voltage? [72]


It seems that it exists in Poland, but it's terribly expensive:
tim.pl/simon54-lacznik-z-opoznieniem-wylaczenia-bialy-dwc10t-0111-wmdc-008n0t-011

And they describe it as something innovative :)

Look for "łącznik z opóźnieniem wyłączenia".

Travel / Mobile internet for tourists in Poland? [35]


Highways (blue sign with a viaduct at the beginning, blue direction signs, mostly paid) - 140 km/h, expressways (almost the same standard as highways, blue sign with a car at the beginning, green direction signs, free of charge) - 120 km/h. Normal roads inside built-up areas (marked by white signs with black town buildings shape) - 50 km/h, apart from the nighttime between 11 pm and 6 am - then 60 km/h. Outside: if they have one roadway - 90 km/h, with two roadways - 100 km/h.

I understand that you have to visit all these cities and towns.

By DK (for "droga krajowa" - "national road") I will denote the main roads (white numbers on red background), by DW ("droga wojewódzka" - "province road"), if I will need, the secondary roads (black numbers on yellow background).

From Warsaw to Gdańsk I would go by DK10 to Toruń and then A1. If you prefer highways, you may choose A2 to £ódź and then A1. It would take probably slightly more time, and definitely more fuel, but at the route Warsaw-£ódź-Toruń highways are free of charge. For the section from Toruń to Gdańsk you will have to pay 30 PLN. If you don't have to pay, you may choose the DK91 instead A1. It's the old DK1, from before the construction of the A1. It's also a good, wide road, but with only one roadway and many built-up areas. It's definitely slower and less comfortable.

Back to Warsaw through Toruń - the same route.

From Warsaw to Radom - choose DK7, whose big section is now an expressway S7.

From Radom to £ódź I would choose DW740 to Potworów, then DK48 to Tomaszów Mazowiecki, and then DW713 to £ódź.

In £ódź there is many road construction works, so be careful. For the best, tell us where you accurately have to go in £ódź, we will give directions. Driving in £ódź is quite tricky now as a lot of streets is closed for traffic.

From £ódź to Ostrów Wielkopolski - To Sieradz you have a new expressway, S8. Then you have to leave it, drive DK12 to Kalisz and then DK25 to Ostrów. Unfortunately you have to go through a city - I mean Kalisz.

From Ostrów to Katowice - you have a road DK11. It may be quite crowdy, but it's probably the best choice.

From Katowice to Kraków - the most comfortable will be the A4, but it's also paid, like the A1 from Toruń to Gdańsk. You will pay 18 PLN. As a free alternative I may recommend DK94.

From Kraków to Warsaw the best will be probably DK7 through Kielce and Radom, whose parts are modernised to the expressway standards and marked as S7. You don't enter Kielce at all as there is a bypass road; the road through Radom seems to be straight and simple.

You may see practically all the roads on Google Street View, it covers Poland very well. I recommend it especially in terms of how to go through cities, and how the places where you have to turn left or right from the main road look like. Unfortunately it don't have the newly built roads (S8 from £ódź to Sieradz) and it won't show the current road interruptions in £ódź.

About the mobile phone - according to the Polish websites of the operators, it seems that:

* in Plus:
you buy a SIM for 5 PLN, top up and then you can choose by a special code an offer (it will take money from what you have topped up):

- unlimited calls to all phone networks in Poland - 25 PLN / 30 days
- unlimited calls and text messages (as above) - 30 PLN / 30 days
- unlimited calls, text messages and 500 MB for Internet - 35 PLN / 30 days
- unlimited calls and messages within Plus network - 10 PLN / 30 days
You may use also Internet packages:
- 300 MB - 7 PLN, active for a month
- 500 MB - 9 PLN (as above)
- 1 GB - 15 PLN
- 3 GB - 25 PLN

* in Orange:
You can buy such SIM card sets: (I neglected these that rather won't be interesting, for example a "safe" one for children)

- Orange Yes: 5 PLN or 10 PLN - you get 200 MB of Internet, and you may activate free calls or free messages wto other people in Orange network (in Poland)

- Orange Smart: "Facebook" set for 5 PLN - bonuses of MB with each top-up (table is here: orange.pl/kid,4002009309,id,4003784071,article.html) and at the beginning 500 MB or 50 text messages for free; you may also activate free access to Facebook and a few other (but Polish) websites

- for 20 PLN - free 1 GB for internet at the beginning and then bonuses for internet with each top-up
Internet packages:
- 200 MB active for 1 day - 2 PLN
- 200 MB active for a month - 5 PLN
- 1 GB (active for a month) - 12 PLN

* in T-Mobile
SIM for 5 PLN and then you may activate:
- "Jump" - 10 PLN/week, free calls and text messages within Poland and 50 MB of Internet
- "Frii" - to choose, everything for free:
1. free calls within Polish T-Mobile and Heyah
2. free text messages within Poland
3. 50 MB of Internet every day
Internet packages:
- 250 MB for 1 day - 2 PLN
- 250 MB for a month - 6 PLN
for a month:
- 1 GB - 10 PLN (unless you have "Jump", mentioned above, then 500 MB only for this price)
- 3 GB - 20 PLN
- 6 GB - 30 PLN

* in Play:
5 PLN for a starting set with SIM and then to choose:
- "Formuła SMS" - free messages within Play, for 7 PLN/month
- "Formuła 3 w 1" - free messages within Poland, calls within Play and 100 MB - free for the first 7 days ("to try") and then 14 PLN/month

- "Formuła 4 w 1" - as "Formuła 3 w 1" + calls to networks other than Play within Poland for 0,09 PLN/min and 1 GB Internet - 21 PLN/month

- "Formuła Mini Max" - if you spend more than 9 PLN for text messages and more than 29 PLN for calls, they will be free within all Polish networks (for a month beginning from the moment you started spending these money)

- "Lubię To" - bonuses of data transfer after every top-up
packages of MB available (valid for 1 month):
- 300 MB for 5 PLN
- 1 GB - 9 PLN
- 3 GB - 20 PLN

These are the main networks, I didn't check the virtual operators. For more details you have to search the Polish versions of the operators or find a selling point of the specific network where somebody is able to speak English.

You may check also:
play.pl/en (all the information are much more readable than in the Polish one, even for me, although it is lacking of details, for example that in "Lubię To" the "free" data transfer has limited speed so that it's practically impossible to use it)

I can't unfortunately find English versions of other operators webpages.

Life / Hairfall treatment covered under public/private medical insurance in Poland? [8]

If you have private medical insurance, the better would be make use of it than use the public services. I think you need to contact with your insurance company, they will direct you.

In terms of public insurance - you can go to any dermatologist that (or whose clinic) has a contract with the National Health Fund (NFZ - you will see the characteristic NFZ logo near the entrance). To dermatologist you don't need any referral.

Life / Hairfall treatment covered under public/private medical insurance in Poland? [8]

You tell first that you are covered by the public insurance, then you say that you aren't. Decide :)

The public insurance covers visits at the doctor (including specialists - although sometimes there are queues for a few months, there are situations that somebody must go to the doctor private because otherwise, during the time of waiting, his/her sickness will get much worse), stays in hospitals, including operations and so on, also for example some basic dentist services (although limited, for example fillings without mercury are, AFAIK, free only for the front teeth), but does not cover medicines. There are only discounts for some prescribed ones, but generally speaking you have to pay for them.

I don't know what about the private insurance. You must ask at the insurance company or read the terms.

Travel / Mobile internet for tourists in Poland? [35]

The map you've found is the target highway network in Poland that is going to be built, many of roads from this map don't exist yet.

Here:
skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1310317
you've got a map on which the condition of the roads is marked. Descriptions are in Polish, but below the map you have exemplary photos what each color means.

Here:
skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=869740
two maps with all the roads that are currently being built or having already some documentation needed to build them - with the official dates of their opening. In this case you have to translate the descriptions if you want to read something from it.

Plus coverage is OK. The free calls and SMS-es in Plus are only to mobile phones in Polish networks. First you buy the SIM set and top-up the account so that you have at least 30 PLN on it (a top-up is "doładowanie" in Polish - pronounciation: dowadovanye; a set with a SIM is "starter" pronounced normally like in English). Then to activate it you need a code: *136*11*15# and normally it renews after 30 days if only you have enough money on the account, unless you deactivate it with the code: *136*00*15# (don't do it before the 30 days are almost up, I am not sure, but probably you don't have then all the bonuses any more unless you activate it for 30 PLN again).

It's here:
plus.pl/na-karte the second tab.

Here are all the call and SMS prices:
plus.pl/documents/16/ca46084c-6d67-4ea5-97c8-3450c0f394e6?title=Cennik_taryfy_Plus_na_Kart%C4%99_bez_limitu.pdf
(it doesn't take into accont the additional bonus you activate with the code)

The internet packages are here:
plus.pl/uslugi/pakiety-internetowe-w-plusie-na-karte

I made a mistake and gave you the information on the internet packages for those who have contracts with the operator and pay every month according to this contract.

On the page I gave you now the code for activation are in the 3rd column, for deactivation in 4th column. I think the rest of this table is readible for foreigners to :)

Life / How do the Polish feel about air pollution in their cities? [35]

Wood and coal used to heat houses isn't such a problem. The problem is that many people burn garbage in their stoves and boilers. And it's virtually impossible to control this.

Another problem is that in many old buildings in the city centres there is still no central heating. When each flat, and even each room there has its own stove to heat it, there must be much of smoke even if they burn wood and coal. If some of them are burning garbage, it can be only worse. It's a problem in each big city. But as for example £ódź lays on flat terrain (in fact on a slope, but in this case it doesn't change anything), what's more, its centre has a grid of streets crossing with a right angle, which gives good ventilation of all the city, and thus there is not much problem with it there, Kraków is in a hollow and all the polluted air concentrates there.

In this situation the authorities of Kraków are going to introduce a ban on boilers and stoves in which solid fuel is used. But it will take much time until people will manage modernize the heating in their houses.

Life / Most UK DAB radios don't work on Poland's DAB network [12]


They should play just audio only in Polish DVB-T :) Without the vision. Because the difference is in the standard of video encoding.

But the problem is also with older (although modern, LCD ones) TV bought in Poland. They also had no MPEG4-compatible tuner. And, on the other hand, the newer TVs sold in the UK (at least those which are compatible with HD signal received from a standard aerial, not cable or satellite) should work in Poland without any problem (I am not sure what about EPG and teletext, but they are not necessary for watching TV :) - however, in Poland we don't have so called "digital teletext" like in the UK, there is still the traditional one, which, of course, is digital too - and has always been).

According to national regulations the TVs and TV boxes sold in Poland should be able to decode surround sound in the E-AC3 system (Dolby Digital +), so theoretically TV stations may stop broadcasting standard stereo audio signal and leave E-AC3 surround only. Like it is already with HD - the 2 main channels of the national TV are now broadcast only in HD in the terrestrial TV (from standard aerial) and a receiver incompatible with HD will not give you any picture (in the best situation - sound only), even if you have an old-fashioned CRT TV. You need a TV box that supports HD. MPEG4 is not enough.

And now they are thinking about introducing the next channels in DVB-T2...

Life / Most UK DAB radios don't work on Poland's DAB network [12]


No. British standard TV set , with any embedded DVB-T tuner, should definitely receive sound. On its own, without any extra boxes. In terms of the picture, it depends on the supported video encoding standards (should be MPEG4 for all the channels and HD for the channels: TVP1 and TVP2).

It depends on the firmware of the TV, it may work so that it doesn't even try to decode sound if the vision isn't received correctly. But generally speaking sound should be working on each TV with DVB-T.

After connecting a TV box you won't have any problems at all. Then the TV works in fact as a monitor. It might be even a TV from the USA, with ATSC instead of DVB-T - and it should work connected by HDMI, Scart, Composite or whatever.

Here are the official requirements for the digital TV receivers in Poland. Receivers fulfilling them must receive Polish DVB-T correctly and without problems. On the other hand, it is illegal to sell in Poland receivers that don't fulfill them unless you inform the buyer on paper about it and get their signature (if it's sold online a form confirmed by pressing a button on a webpage is allowed):

dvbt.pl/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/px_rozp._w_sprawie_wymagan_techn._i_eksploat.pdf

According to them, every external tuner has to have the following outputs:
- digital: HDMI for picture+sound and S/PDIF (electrical or optical) for sound only
- analog: Scart for picture+sound and any stereo audio output (might be minijack, cinch - whatever)
And it has to scale down the HD picture if analog output is used.

Food / Confusion over flour names in Poland [46]

For shortcrust pastry (ciasto kruche) the best is mąka krupczatka. But other types will be also OK. In Poland there is many different kinds of flour ("mąka") and they all are the plain flour. Different is the content of minerals (you will find on the package something called "typ" - the higher it is, the darker is the flour, whole-wheat flour is of the type of even 2000, while standard flour is something between 400 and 600) and grain size (krupczatka has bigger grains than the other types).

According to Wikipedia:


So practically each flour sold in Poland will satisfy this condition. We don't have anything like flour with leavening agent. Or, at least, I haven't met anything like this in Polish shops. We just add baking powder or baking soda during the process of preparing a cake :)

Travel / Wroclaw to Lublin - the best way to travel [5]

Unfortunately there is no direct plane from Lublin to Wrocław. There is one from Warsaw Modlin. But from Warsaw to Wrocław there are many alternatives. Trains, including Pendolinos (Express InterCity Premium category, so called EICP), PolskiBus buses, as well as trains. The time of the whole journey is comparable.

From Lublin to Warsaw you may check bus companies - especially PolskiBus, because many of other buses that go on this route are uncomfortable, crowded minibuses.

I think the train will be the best option. But don't choose the InterRegio train (IR Bolko), it is operated with rather incomfortable suburban units. The night train (TLK Karkonosze) has sleepers apart from normal carriages with seats.

In terms of trains - the only company flying to Warsaw from Lublin is Eurolot. It seems to be quite expensive, but check their website. I am not able to do it now, because their webpage is making some strange things, at least on my PC. They land on the Okęcie (Chopin) Airport in Warsaw, so still you would have to transfer to Modlin (which is, I think, about 50 km from Warsaw, while Okęcie is within the city) if you want do continue with Ryanair, not to mention that you would probably wait for the other plane very long, which makes the whole deal pointless. Alternatively Eurolot seems to have also a connection from Warsaw to Wrocław, mabe it is adjusted to the flight from Lublin. You have to check on the Eurolot page.