The strangest things in Poland

They sound like the ones im rather partial to. great toasted.

Southern, I dunno how much u have travelled but Poland is not as different as u make it out to be. Go and live in Asia and u can comment til the cows come home.

I have travelled in almost all eastern european countries.Poland has a very special atmosphere in my opinion,you feel constantly that you are in Poland and not in another country.

Last month, the local bakery I went to did this lovely chleb wielozarnisty. Bought two loaves a week and it's absolutely delicious with cheese, ogorki and kielbasa. Haven't managed to find anything in the UK like that. The closest was a mixed rye and granary loaf I found at Waitrose. The Polish delis sell white rye bread which is ok, but doesn't compare to the fresh granary a bakery does.

I know two things that Polish people may find strange about the UK.

1) Windows that open outwards. I think I am right in saying that all Polish windows open inwards so they can be cleaned. Makes sense really.

2) Hot and cold water taps. All Polish taps seem to be mixer taps. There is no benefit to having separate hot and cold taps.

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One thing I think is really nice about Poland is the friendliness of the people. I met, through a friend, a man that couldn't speak English at all, but he came up to me and said "David Beckham"... just in an attempt to make conversation. I smiled and said "Yes, David Beckham" and he replied... "Chelsea, Liverpool" etc.etc.

Its really good that although we couldn't understand each other, he still made the effort to be friendly.

Posh ?

That's gotta be the funniest post of the year so far :))

Sat-nav systems in cars that get people lost within a stone's throw of the country's biggest airport.

Or can that happen in any country?

Oslol,

I've got a Tomtom with eastern europe and its been brilliant. Its gone wrong about twice so far but thats probably because the roads have recently changed but I just keep going straight ahead until it plans a new route - no problem at all.

It went wrong when I first got off the ferry at Dunquerke and I thought at that point it was going to be rubbish, but it was fine and it got me through Germany and all the way to Southern Poland perfectly.

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And Bartolome, Dobzre, Posh, tak, tak!

Eeerm... Spice Girls ?
Edit: Some strange and funny thing here

(The upper sign says: 'Deep puddle', the bottom sign 'Recommended diversion for cars after rainfall')

my partner is also black and he was feeling uncomfortable when people were staring at him (us actually) all the time. i got sick of it and when we went to visit krakow i started making faces at people who were staring at us and guess what, they immediately looked away. lol

yeah - really rude. i found the best thing to do is slap them upside the head and then stare at them

there are also people who try to skip the queue and as soon as they see a pregnant woman, get ahead of her. i mean: wtf? it`s especially older women who think: `when i was pregnant no one let me go first or let me sit down blah blah` and now they want revenge.

I have been in some precarious situations in my life but none more so than queuing with the old dears of Warsaw. Bubba's right - just shout and give 'em a slapping.

Monty Python's Hells grannies sketch was based upon a trip to PL by John Cleese

sort of driving licence for the bicycle;) lol,i think it doesnt exist now but when i was a little girl i had to pass the exam:)

hehe i got mine when i was 10 years old. gosh, was i proud of myself! :)

Hahaha... that's quite extreme but I guess since it works... I still can't imagine you slapping an old granny on the head... hehehe :)

in the case of grannies you can laugh as you stare at them, especially if they fall over

But surely you don't ekhmmm... "help" them to fall over, right? ;)

i find it strange that they stand right behind you at the kiosks, so when you turn around you actually find them under your feet... then they expect you to say sorry, even though its their fault.

they annoy me... i was pushing my bike on the path, and this old granny cycled up to me and started giving me hell for not using the cycle path... i would have understood her point if SHE were to use the cycle path herself.

ok, sorry.... this is the strangest thing thread, not the anti-granny thread :)

Thx Dariusz matey. I just wanted to state the obvious with a bit of good ol British sarcasm thrown in 4 good measure.

Paul Stobbart, that was just too funny. I know what u mean, they stand right behind u. I used to just walk out of the lifts even quicker when they stood there as the doors opened. Barged them off their feet. Weighing more than Mirko Crocop helps, tho I'm not fat. 103kgs, hey yes!!

granny hater :)


So true. Breathing room can sometimes be a foreign idea in Poland.

The staring thing is also very true and very annoying. It makes a person feel like an alien...

In Poznan there are a few streets that have free parking (sometimes also at the train station), but if you try to park there you're face to face with a strange looking man asking for zloty to park. My gf insists on paying them because she says they can do sth to your car if you don't.

Next time when I park there alone I won't give them anything. If they touch the car, they have trouble :)

I've only seen this in Poznan. Has anyone else run in to this situation?

Do you speak Polish fluently ? :)



I drive my car everyday and any stranger asks me to pay for parking. Sometimes there are private pakinkings and you need to pay for it, generaly in the centre you pay for parking but not for the strangers ... you pay in machine ...

No, but I'm usually a passenger accompanied by 2 locals, but women. I think they do it because they believe these guys will do sth.

It's not every day, but I'm usually there while something is going on and parking is hard to get. I like to use the new underground parking now.

The strangest thing about Poland

I've heard of this but it wasn't Poznan. Seems like if the payment wasn't made then when you return there is something wrong with your car, flat tyres or a scratch or broken windscreen wipers or something small that lets you know, you should have paid the fee.

Personally, I wouldn't pay it.

is it on Plac Wolności?where in front of bank entrances there are these strange guys walking along the street ready to catch you...wrrrrrr ;)
in this situation the underground parking is the only one solution. maybe these guys do their job to encourage people to park underground?...sth like city council "tajniaki"?...;))

Honestly I think it is unusual, maybe it happens to you. I don't have problems I have Polish numberplates. In the past I used to park my car on French numberplates and it wasn't a problem as well. Maybe you have different expirience ...

don't pay :) and don't worry ;) that is all



there are so many cameras there ... ;) I wouldn't be worried about my car there ...

but seriously, of course, this situation should not happen, there are park tickets machines everywhere...i'd ask for what actually you pay, since you park within "strefa parkowania" and pay a ticket!