Real Estate / Polish government targeting British property buyers!! [10]


Not quite. In France, buyer and seller can use the same notary, yet the notary is obliged the verify information re the property

History / Modern myths and legends about communist past in Poland [227]

Pawain's post 163 hits the proverbial nail right on the head

Food / What Polish foods do foreigners generally not take to? [115]


Not only in America, it is called fromage de tête in France


What about haggis?? And anyway eating is about pleasure not need, at least for most people in developed countries


Love it! One of my favourite treats is speading marrow from the bone on a toast with a sprinkle of salt.

Travel / Poland's LOT Air Problems [43]


Because it is the airline who decides on the seat configuration and space between rows not the manufacturer

Life / Importance of Religion in Poland [187]

it's the eternal fight between the Barbarians (Orthodoxs or Russians/Serbs) and Civilization (Catholics or Poles)!!

News / "POLISH death camps" term used by "Parade Magazine" Anti-Polish Bigots [249]

@Bratwurst Boy


I was recently for the first time ever in Uzbekistan, whose national hero is Tamerlan (Amir Timur). The night when a Russian anthropologist opened Tamerlan's tomb on 22/06/1941, he discovered the following script in the grave "when I will return to daylight, the world will shake". It is on that very night that Hitler launched Barbarossa operation against Russia.

in 1942, Stalin ordered for Tamerlan's body to be reburied according to islamic ritual in his Gur Emir tomb. Shortly after this completed came the USSR victory at Stalingrad, widely seen as the turning point of WW2!

Why did Stalin order the body to be buried again? No one knows for sure, but a potential explanation might be sheer admiration: Tamerlan managed to slaughter around 17 mios people, more than Stalin and more than 500 years earlier, so with more limited means!

News / "POLISH death camps" term used by "Parade Magazine" Anti-Polish Bigots [249]

@Bratwurst Boy

No I am afraid the rest is not legend, you can easily check on the web..

News / Polexit? Almost half of the Poles believe that Poland would be better off outside of the EU [548]

@Spike31

You're right about Germany and the Netherlands being the only beneficiaries of the euro.. but that is entirely other Europeans' (and especially Southern Europeans) fault. if you go back to pre euro era, you will find that the countries more in favour of adopting the euro were the likes of Italy, Greece or France and certainly not Germany. What is the reason for this? Simple: lack of basic understanding of how the economy works .. The analysis on their side was, as always, political and not economical in the sense that they viewed the upcoming euro as a proxy for the DM, as strong currency and said " can we have a bit of that, can Germany share a bit of that strength, surely our standard of living will then get closer to that of Germans" .. Worse of the lot was Mitterrand, the French president at that time, a total ignoramus as far as economy was concerned , who only agreed to German reunification when Kohl agreed to take on the euro as a replacement for the D mark (to which the Germans was opposed). 15 to 20 years later, what is the outcome? It is indeed the main exporting European countries which have benefited for the stability of the Euro (before the D mark used to appreciate regularly, making exports more expensive) whereas the other more "fickle" countries who used to devaluate on a regular basis to maintain competitiveness and release pressure out of the system cannot do so anymore..

Life / Opłatek, not presents, epitomises the true Polish Christmas spirit [85]


Not quite, it is probably the sole occasion in the year when members of families get together (at least in Europe where Thanks giving does not exist)

History / Recommended Poland's history books [177]

Merged:

Just bought "the Books of Jacob" by Olga Tokarczuk, the Litterature Nobel prize winner.

I haven't started it yet. Have you read it and if yes, what do you think of it?

History / Recommended Poland's history books [177]

@Ziemowit

Indeed, the version I bought is the French translation.. and I agree it is very thick..I hope it will not end like another very thick Polish book which I bought years ago and stopped reading half way through (le Manuscrit trouvé à Saragosse/Rekopis Znaleziony w Saragossie by J Potocki) !!

Polonia / Polish Zloty Can't Exchange in France!.. [24]


In fact, it is because France is (with Poland) the country of bureaucracy.. There is a indeed a very generous benefits system but to be able to use it one must speak and understand French (no forms in Urdu etc available!) and fill in numerous forms and answer many questions (even when done on line).. A deterrent for many foreigners..

Polonia / Polish Zloty Can't Exchange in France!.. [24]

@Miloslaw
I lived in London between 1993 and 2001 and remember seeing forms in all sorts of languages at my local Social Security outlet when I went to get a NI number

Life / How to really meet Polish people in Poland and actually socialize with people in their Late 20s/Early 30s? [34]


you do still need a passport or ID, admittedly not for crossing borders but for airline security checks before boarding..

Life / How to really meet Polish people in Poland and actually socialize with people in their Late 20s/Early 30s? [34]

@kaprys

Not quite! UK citizens do not need the have an ID with them when in Britain; however they need to have either ID or passport with them when travelling in the EU.

And even when crossing EU borders by car, you need to carry some sort of identification with you (ID or passport). Most of the time, you will not be stopped and not need it, but if stopped, you need to be able to show it

Language / What is your biggest problem with Polish language? [158]


A bit more complicated than that, Polish language, like all languages, reflects how the Polish mind works. And in my experience (living 6 years in Poland and having a Polish wife for the last 35 years), it works as an alliance of opposites. Rigorous when it comes to following/respecting procedures, yet impulsive and emotional, like most Slavs. When I was in Poland 10 years ago, I used to say to foreigners visiting Poland that the best way to get insight into Polish mentality was to stand at the corner of Marzalkowska and Grzybowska (close to where my offices were) and watch. Unlike in the UK or France, pedestrians would wait for the green man before crossing, thus epitomizing the respect of procedures side. On the other hand, you just had to watch how motorists behaved to see the Slavic side!

News / Poland economy is a financially drained economy of suppliers? [33]

Ha, ha.. Condor was a loss making business (-14€ mios at operating level in 2017) subsidiary of bankrupt UK tour operator Thomas Cook and is being bought by a half bankrupt airline.. As the German environment Minister once said (admittedly talking about another topic), "it is not by putting two cripples together that you get an Olympic swimmer"!!

Language / What is your biggest problem with Polish language? [158]


Have heard this several times over during my life but cannot quite reconcile it with the fact that French people are among the least "liked" in Europe (although food, culture.. etc is widely admired). Can't have it all I guess!

Love / Polish girls and contraceptives [68]

@Torq

Depends how you read what your link says. Poland sits alongside Kosovo as the worst performing country in this matter..

News / Scandals, conflicts, tensions, arguments - real life examples from Poland [439]


I think it is an utterly stupid comparison. I 'm no fan of PiS or Mr K, and disagrees with most of what they say or do, but such comparison discredits the speaker and just ends up feeding the ambient paranoia

History / BEATS OF FREEDOM - A HISTORY OF POLISH ROCK MUSIC [106]


Agreed. Went through a month long Stranglers revival in June, and replayed most of their songs. I was not a big fan of them in the 70s( probably because of Cornwell's tendency to eruct rather than sing) but some of their songs are brilliant 'Down in the Sewer and its keyboard riff..). Pity some of the lyrics are plain misogynistic and even flirting with paedophilia..

When I moved to PL in 2005, I discovered Dzem.. What a great band, went to see them several times in concert (Stodola in Warsaw..); even have memories of being drunk and singing Wehikul czasu late one night (or rather early one morning) with clients in Ustron :)

News / Scandals, conflicts, tensions, arguments - real life examples from Poland [439]

@pawian
OK, but unless I am misinformed, PiS is not suggesting to annihilate those groups?

Real Estate / Residential real estate values go down in Poland [455]

How have residential real estate prices in Warsaw performed over the past 2 years? Stable, slight decrease or increase?

News / Religious extremists advocate murdering gay Polish politician [42]


What about the thousands murdered by the communists (incl Kz Popieluszko)? Unless you consider that commies were not leftists..

Real Estate / Residential real estate values go down in Poland [455]

You mean sharp decrease?? Or maybe simply prices have gone nowhere..

Love / What Do Polish Women Think Of French Men? [26]


Why??

History / Roman Dmowski-Patriot, Nationalist, Anti-Semite? [237]

if the human body is perfect, which I seriously doubt, how do you explain that most of us still have an appendix, a completely useless organ?

Real Estate / Residential real estate values go down in Poland [455]

Indeed, +20% over 2 years is quite susbstantial. Would you say that this type of rise also applies to large houses in Warsaw (Wilanow)?

Real Estate / Residential real estate values go down in Poland [455]

Thx. To your first question, answers are yes (part one) and no (part two) :)

Real Estate / Residential real estate values go down in Poland [455]

Indeed that was our bet when we built the house 11 years ago, plus the fact that Warsaw will continue to grow fast, given that it is currently undersized if you compare to other capital cities in Europe, its population being less than 10% of the population of the country. And since the house has been let ever since we built it, we are in no hurry..