AussieSheila
24 Jul 2010 / #1
I travelled to Poland 2 weeks ago and stayed there for 9 days. I visited Silesia (katowice, chorzow) Wisla, Zakopane, drove through Krakow without stopping, Warsaw, Danzig and also Hel. It was my first and only visit, and my experience was more or less of what I expected.
The country: Poland is not a beautiful country when it comes to flora/fauna, physical landcapes and architecture. You will be utterly disappointed if you want to enjoy nature in the country. There is nothing distinctive in the country about wildlife, architecture, rivers, mountains or beaches. The only exception might be Zakopane which is beautiful with high hills, pristine lakes, national park, rivers and impressive wooden architecture. The cities and towns look like the poorest suburb you can find in a city in the west.
We travelled from Warsaw to Danzig by train and I was hoping to see some beautiful countryside along the way, but there was nothing worth looking out through the window as the railway was lined with poor,dirty and crumbling suburbs, towns, villages, industries and farms. The disappointment was exacerbated by the train conductor who insisted we pay more because we bought student discount fares. Apparently, only Polish national can claim student discount in Poland.
Warsaw and Danzig have nothing important that is worth visiting. We went to that tall building in Warsaw and viewed the city from there, because the air was so polluted we can't really see anything beyond 1 or 2 km. We tried to use the coin operated binocular but it was broken (it took the coins though).
Hel has fine beaches and clean too. Although another disappointment was there was no waves on the sea. No surfing, no bodyboarding!
The People: People I've met were generally friendly or no different than in other countries, although they look glum and depressed in many places, especially in offices and shops. Normal courtesy and politeness you'd expect in shops and offices in the west doesn't exist in Poland. The most courteous were not surprisingly, employees of Mc Donalds, KFC, Biedronka. Others, especially that woman at Warsaw train stn ticket counter, gave us the look and attitude that we disturb their peace by buying the products and services they were selling. Queue jumping is common (at airport, train stn, tram stop, bus stop and everywhere) and so does spitting in public.
I've read alot about polish girls and boys being beautiful, slim unlike girls in western countries. From what I saw, this is true to some extent. I saw less young overweight people but many overweight adults. I made my own conclusion behind this and I think it is because of poverty and lack of junk food. Most kids and teens here have money to buy whatever they want to eat, whenever they want, but in Poland many teens and young people just dont have the money. Junk foods like Mc Donalds and KFC are out of reach of vast majority of the population. I don't know if this is a reason to celebrate or not, as I believe most people in Poland would rather be well fed than go hungry.
Conclusion: Poland still has a long way to go, socially, culturally, economically and realistically if it want to be part of the "West". The only thing that can rival western standard is prostitution and night club. In everything else, the country is way behind. I think it is not that hard to crack a smile for a change, instead of sulking and look miserable to everyone.
The country: Poland is not a beautiful country when it comes to flora/fauna, physical landcapes and architecture. You will be utterly disappointed if you want to enjoy nature in the country. There is nothing distinctive in the country about wildlife, architecture, rivers, mountains or beaches. The only exception might be Zakopane which is beautiful with high hills, pristine lakes, national park, rivers and impressive wooden architecture. The cities and towns look like the poorest suburb you can find in a city in the west.
We travelled from Warsaw to Danzig by train and I was hoping to see some beautiful countryside along the way, but there was nothing worth looking out through the window as the railway was lined with poor,dirty and crumbling suburbs, towns, villages, industries and farms. The disappointment was exacerbated by the train conductor who insisted we pay more because we bought student discount fares. Apparently, only Polish national can claim student discount in Poland.
Warsaw and Danzig have nothing important that is worth visiting. We went to that tall building in Warsaw and viewed the city from there, because the air was so polluted we can't really see anything beyond 1 or 2 km. We tried to use the coin operated binocular but it was broken (it took the coins though).
Hel has fine beaches and clean too. Although another disappointment was there was no waves on the sea. No surfing, no bodyboarding!
The People: People I've met were generally friendly or no different than in other countries, although they look glum and depressed in many places, especially in offices and shops. Normal courtesy and politeness you'd expect in shops and offices in the west doesn't exist in Poland. The most courteous were not surprisingly, employees of Mc Donalds, KFC, Biedronka. Others, especially that woman at Warsaw train stn ticket counter, gave us the look and attitude that we disturb their peace by buying the products and services they were selling. Queue jumping is common (at airport, train stn, tram stop, bus stop and everywhere) and so does spitting in public.
I've read alot about polish girls and boys being beautiful, slim unlike girls in western countries. From what I saw, this is true to some extent. I saw less young overweight people but many overweight adults. I made my own conclusion behind this and I think it is because of poverty and lack of junk food. Most kids and teens here have money to buy whatever they want to eat, whenever they want, but in Poland many teens and young people just dont have the money. Junk foods like Mc Donalds and KFC are out of reach of vast majority of the population. I don't know if this is a reason to celebrate or not, as I believe most people in Poland would rather be well fed than go hungry.
Conclusion: Poland still has a long way to go, socially, culturally, economically and realistically if it want to be part of the "West". The only thing that can rival western standard is prostitution and night club. In everything else, the country is way behind. I think it is not that hard to crack a smile for a change, instead of sulking and look miserable to everyone.
