First Impressions About Warsaw & A small guide

I came from Warsaw, Poland nearly a month ago. It was such a tiring period but I finally have some free times. And I want to share my first impressions and opinions.

People

Positives

- Many people I met here quite friendly and helpful, First of all thanks to Esek from PF. He helped to find a perfect apartment with a good price and even directly from owner without any agency fees.

- More People than I expected talks and understand English, They also don't get offensive when you talk to them in English. It's also easy to find someone talking in English in Banks and Phone services.

- My flat owner is also very kind, Every time we speak He asks if I need anything.

- Many of them quite kind other than some drunk scumbags you can meet at night.

Negatives

- Everytime I am out, At least one or two people ask for a cigarette. This is not a negative indeed but something strange for me (And yes unfortunately I am a heavy smoker).

- People in service business I met so far is strange, In hotel I asked for laundry service and I was ready to pay for it but they said laundry is busy for two days :).

Also in some cafes service is too slow and bad (I've been generally in crowded places and I was alone maybe they don't want one person occupy their table). Also in some restaurants I have been, they directly charged the tip (even it was not in the receipt) which is strange behavior for me. I should try to find some places in better quality maybe.

Shopping & Exchange Offices

- If you are a foreigner Don't use the exchange offices in centrum, In my first time I exchanged some money and they paid me % 10 less than normal rate. It was different than the the rate I saw on the panel. I argued but I also didn't have much time so accepted.Later I always exchanged money in Shopping Centers with exact rate.

- I frequently go to Carrefour, but especially meat and chicken never fresh there (generally very close to expiration date). Any suggestion for a better supermarket would be helpful.

Public Transport

- Public transport is very good and understandable. If you know the name of the place you want to go you can easily use busses,trams or subway without any polish knowledge.In every stop there are explanations and maps which are quite useful. I only needed taxi twice when I have heavy loads.

City

- Many places I've been is green and peaceful, Also my apartment is in a area like that. There are big parks in the city where you can jog. I love the city so far.

Touristic Places

- I have been to old town twice, It is a nice place and I am planning to spend more time there to see all buildings.

To sum up, Warsaw is quite beautiful, peaceful and green place. To whom who may want to see the city I recommend without any hesitation. Negative things that you can face here is something you can face everywhere in the world. I was very much worried before coming here because of negative comments I read in some PF threads but I am happy to see that negative comments has nothing to do with the truth (at least for me ). Also Polish People are very kind and helpful.

Great report!


That brings some memories about "szlugach" ;)

Upmarket supermarkets in Warsaw are Bomi, Alma, Piotr i Paweł and Mini-Europa.
You pay close to Western European prices, but the quality is imcomparable higher compared to C4.

Piotr i Paweł is great. They had Benedict Aioli, which is something I always wanted in the UK and could rarely get where I lived, so I was extra delighted to find it in Warsaw.

I find the chicken here in restaurants lovely but the chicken bought in supermarkets often not so nice.

Thank you,
And what is "szlugach" ?

And one more question, How I can pay my gas, electricity and aster bills ?

My plan was after receiving bills to pay them using my bank. But my flat owner couldn't find the post box key yet so I don't have any bills and installment number.

You can't pay them without the invoice numbers. But it takes at least a couple of months before they cut you off, so don't sweat it for now.

Merged: Study Trip to Warsaw - Need information about companies, hostels and restaurant/clubs

Goodafternoon,

Synergy is a student association with over 1.900 members that all study at the business university of Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

We are planning a study trip in march 2011 with a group of 40 students and 2 teachers.

It will be a educational trip with company and cultural visits. Therefore, I would like to ask if anyone could give us proper information about local companies to visit, cheap hostels, restaurant and recommended clubs.

1. What big local companies could we visit from the center of Warsaw that would be able to give us a presentation and lunch (preferable). Such as Philips, Deloitte and Coca cola?

2. Which hostels do you recommend and would give us a discount for a group of 40? We prefer a location in the center of Warsaw obviously.

3. Are there any good restaurants/clubs we could visit?

4. Is there anyone in Warsaw around 16-28 march 2011 we would like to show us the university and the city life of Warsaw? (Erasmus students for example?)

Would be really helpful if anyone has some information about Warsaw, because it's hard to find proper information via internet.

Thanks in advance,

Synergy Student Association
External Relations
Atlas Committee