Law / English-speaking bank in Warsaw ? [33]


Is that a new policy (or is it specific to a product) ? I closed my citibank account last year and I'm pretty sure i was paying 5zl even when withdrawing from the Euronet machines. I've switched to HSBC which has no charges.

Law / English-speaking bank in Warsaw ? [33]


HSBC is great but only their Premier service is available in Poland at the moment. You need a large minimum balance to qualify for the account or you need to have an HSBC account in another country (which I do).

The website is in English, all staff speak English and no fees.

Law / English-speaking bank in Warsaw ? [33]


150K PLN minimum or an HSBC Premier account in another country, not sure about their business account as i just have a personal account.

Life / Gyms in Warsaw [44]

there's a new gym just opened in złote tarasy:

purepoland.com/tarasy/

Work / Does it make sense to move from the UK to Wroclaw for this salary? [50]

I think you would struggle to be honest, if you've been earning say 25-30K GBP a year gross in the UK then it would be quite a drop in standards for you to survive on 4500zl gross a month here.

I'm an application developer here too in Warsaw, the IT salaries being offered in Poland were around 10-15k zl a month gross (for specialised skills) until the credit crunch hit.

Law / Stała Karta Pobytu and how to protect it in Poland [11]


Yes it's a pain in the ass to carry around compared to the old credit card sized ID you used to get, mine is folded up in my wallet and is a bit tattered already just after a few months.


I've been stopped by the police a few times and they always required my polish ID.

Life / Gyms in Warsaw [44]


purepoland.com/node/36
says 230zl , am sure you could negotiate it to 200zl. They give free tours for potential members so go in the evening to see how busy it it.

Law / Coffee Heaven (Poland's biggest coffee chain) for sale [33]

Do the majority of Coffee Heaven customers actually spend that much money there? Seems to me like a lot of them just nurse a coffee there for a few hours.

They also tend to have a lot of staff in each of their premises which means for quick service but higher costs i suppose. I also imagine they have a lot of wastage from their sandwiches as I've rarely seen anyone buy one.

Travel / Fish and Chips in Warsaw [53]


I tried it on Monday evening and was pretty happy with it, had large fish and chips (23zl), was cooked while I waited and tasted fine. My clothes were reeking of the cooking smell from the shop though for a while after - they need better ventilation. I'll definitely be back though.

Food / Burgers, why not in Poland? [54]

HardRock Cafe burger is the best I've had in Warsaw, way better than Champions imo.

Food / Burgers, why not in Poland? [54]


I found the steaks in Rodeo Drive (Warsaw) to be excellent but their burgers far too small - maybe the Poznan chefs are more generous. The Warsaw restaurant has since closed.

Travel / Fish and Chips in Warsaw [53]


I think I had the cod thus the higher price. I chatted with the owner a bit, they're only just opened a couple of weeks. I noticed they had open fryers compared to the closed ones that most UK chippies have so that probably doesn’t help with the ventilation.

Food / Butternut Squash in Poland [13]


on ul. Polna i take it ?

Food / Butternut Squash in Poland [13]

where on Polna though? it's quite a long street. cheers

News / New Polish gambling law - outlawing gambling except in casinos [34]

this law wont happen, the Polish government forgot they were in the eu.

thenews.pl/business/?id=123895

Law / Car Insurance costs in Poland. [24]

I drive an SUV in Warsaw and get a discount with Allianz for having 6 years of no claims (and they counted my UK no claims in that), i also get a further 20% discount for having an anti theft tracker device installed in the car, and then 15% more discount as i have my flat contents insurance with them too.

Law / Car Insurance costs in Poland. [24]


it maybe depends on what agent you use within Allianz, I'd been paying contents insurance with them for a few years and just switched my car insurance to them too as what they were offering was cheapest especially with the combined flat/car insurance discount. I had to provide a certificate from Admiral in the UK to prove my UK no claims. The lady I deal with at Allianz even sends me a christmas card each year :)

Work / Working in Poland in a Non-Polish Speaking Job? - How? What? (no teachers!) [16]

What? Programmer for one of the big Polish banks.
How? By contacts and my niche knowledge of a particular software package.
How much? More than I would earn teaching english.

Study / "MAGISTER" OR "MASTERS DEGREE" - ARE THEY THE SAME? [75]


You're wrong there Harry, here's a good explanation of the 4 year degree system in Scotland:

independent.co.uk/student/into-university/clearing/the-beauty-of-scotland-is-the-fouryear-degree-606867.html

"An undergraduate honours degree in Scotland takes four years and offers much greater breadth and flexibility than most degree courses in England. Students typically join a faculty and in the first year are encouraged to take a variety of courses within their area of study. It is not until the second or third year that they are expected to specialise in the subject in which they wish to graduate"

Life / You are Polish if... [433]

- you sleep on a sofa bed
- you can't reverse park
- you put ketchup on a pizza

Work / Have just moved to Warsaw and need some job advice... [10]

Neil

Welcome to Warsaw, it's not easy for foreigners to find work here in Poland other than teaching English but with your many talents you might have more luck.

You could submit your CV to some of the IT agencies and with your other skills you need to start making contacts, so the expat bars could be a worth a visit - Bradley's etc.

Travel / Indian or Mexican food in Warsaw. [60]

for me Blue Cactus is the best place in town for Mexican food but it's not cheap, burrito is 44zl, Corona 14zl etc

Life / British sky satellite TV in Poland [87]


I can confirm Harry is correct here about only some channels working as I have a 1m sky dish too in Warsaw, additionally the sky sports channels and ESPN work also if you subscribe to them.

Classifieds / Poland Tartan Army [19]

I've joined :)

Travel / Fish and Chips in Warsaw [53]

they're here: fishandchips.pl/index.php/en/find-us

News / Decoded talks inside Poland's president's plane are released in Internet [337]


This is the bit I don't get, they were on autopilot until 6 seconds before the crash, why had the autopilot taken them so low ? Had the altitude been programmed incorrectly ?

Love / ARE POLISH WOMEN CATTY...? [75]

The original source article in Polska Times.

News / Weekend of carnage as 41 people lose their lives on Poland's roads [44]

I don’t like that there are very few speed limit signs, I’m often driving in Poland and have no idea what the speed limit is supposed to be. You seem to be expected to know by the type of road.

Also, the give way to the right at junctions is ambiguous in many situations because of this yellow sign you're supposed to have seen or not seen prior to the junction. The driver should be left with no doubt when they should stop and give way.