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WE ARE BACK FROM POLAND AND HERE IS OUR REPORT

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RjrogallaThreads: 12 Posts: 61 Joined: Mar 14, 08 Gender: Male	Jun 17, 08, 20:31 #41
H.K Phooey: Thats an interesting observation. I don't believe the Polish are particularly agressive drivers. They have reputation as notoruiously bad drivers and this is deserved. But on the most part, they are not agressive. In my epxerience. Although there was one driver who wanted to fight me because i didn't let him intimidate and push past me. So maybe I am completely wrong about them being agressive drivers. Maybe they are notouriously bad and agressive drivers. It is all relative. We had two very close calls in Poland. Once we were confronted by a car heading right at us and we only had seconds to move out of the way or I'm sure we would have been killed. He was playing chicken which was scary. The other was we were going 80 miles an hour on A2 and we didn't get off the "fast "lane fast enough with our Nissom Micro and the driver behind us (large Opel) honked his horn and as we were going to the "slow" lane he intentionaly came VERY close to our car when he passed us which was scary. His car nearly hit my rear view mirror. Other then these two we survived. Its worse then Italy and Portugal and even NY but if you drive defensively you will be fine.

TereskaUSAThreads: 2 Posts: 8 Joined: Jun 19, 08 Gender: Female	Jun 19, 08, 22:38 #42
Thank you so much for the great report. We are leaving for Poland at the end of this month (June), and your report is so helpful! We are visiting my family and friends in Warsaw and in Szczecin. After that we want to go to Krakow for 2-3 days, then to Bilgoraj to visit more family - and return to Warsaw to fly home (California). I was in Poland 35 years ago, and I'm sure everything will look different. We will also probably rent a car since we need to go to so many different locations. I have never used a GPS and I'm wondering if the car rental agency rents GPS with maps - and if they would program it for me? I'm a bit nervous about the horrible drivers.... but we will definitely follow your advice = stay out of their way! Does anyone have any other suggestions? Does anyone suggest taking the train instead? Terese

RjrogallaThreads: 12 Posts: 61 Joined: Mar 14, 08 Gender: Male	Jun 20, 08, 19:38 #43
TereskaUSA: We will also probably rent a car since we need to go to so many different locations. I have never used a GPS and I'm wondering if the car rental agency rents GPS with maps - and if they would program it for me? I was told they don't provide GPS at least not with National car rental. GPS is VERY easy to use and I wouldn't go without one. I have a TomTom from Walmart and ordered a East Europe map from TomTom which I have on a SD card that I would sell for $50. New its $78 and it will only work on a TomTom. If you decide to use a GPS make sure the car you rent has a cigarette lighter so you can plug it in. If you have any questions pls don't hesitate to ask.

TereskaUSAThreads: 2 Posts: 8 Joined: Jun 19, 08 Gender: Female	Jun 21, 08, 17:59 #44
Rjrogalla: I have a TomTom from Walmart and ordered a East Europe map from TomTom which I have on a SD card that I would sell for $50. New its $78 and it will only work on a TomTom. If you decide to use a GPS make sure the car you rent has a cigarette lighter so you can plug it in. Oh, I am leaving tomorrow morning - otherwise, I would buy your maps for sure! I guess we will hope to rent a car that has a GPS. Or else I can go buy one right now at Costco. Do you think I can buy the maps easily in Poland? I will be in Warsaw for a couple days before renting the car. Your posting has been very valuable to me. Thank you. (I printed it to take along on the road.)

KowalskiThreads: 12 Posts: 612 Joined: Sep 13, 06 Gender: Male	Jun 21, 08, 20:04 #45
TereskaUSA: Does anyone have any other suggestions? Does anyone suggest taking the train instead? If you take Express train from Szczecin to Krakow your journey would take some 9 hrs and you are likely to change trains in Warszawa. I've done it several times and had enjoyed it. It seems long but you can have a meal on board and changeover in Warszawa makes your trip in fact less monotonous. There are some direct trains from Szczecin to Krakow as well though. First class is really comfy and there's a bar on board to spend some time. Price is right too, 115 or 156 pln regular ticket.

RjrogallaThreads: 12 Posts: 61 Joined: Mar 14, 08 Gender: Male	Jun 23, 08, 17:48 #46
TereskaUSA: Oh, I am leaving tomorrow morning - otherwise, I would buy your maps for sure! I guess we will hope to rent a car that has a GPS. Or else I can go buy one right now at Costco. Do you think I can buy the maps easily in Poland? I will be in Warsaw for a couple days before renting the car. The maps are only available by downloading from a WEB site to a very small SD card that you would plug into a GPS unit. I would suggest calling all car rental agencies for Europe and see if you can find a car in Poland with the unit already installed. They would show you how to use it. In the US all rental agencies rent GPS units. I'm certain you cannot buy the digital map in Europe but if you find a car with GPS the map would already be loaded.

WooPeeThreads: 3 Posts: 137 Joined: Jul 1, 08 Gender: Male	Jul 1, 08, 18:20 #47
Wow what a great trip!! I really can imagine the feeling when you were entering your father's church! Pretty amazing..

JashiwiThreads: - Posts: 24 Joined: Aug 25, 07 Gender: Female	Aug 6, 08, 20:34 #48
Thank you for posting this. :) I am planning to travel to Poland next year, and I was wondering if someone would write a review of sorts, about visiting Poland. Thank you, once again. (I do have a few questions about traveling in Poland.) That's a shame. That a woman mentioned to you, that Americans smile too-much. I smile quite commonly, every-day (a cheerful person and up-beat woman, by nature) so I'll do my best to have others do so in Poland. :) Traveling is becoming more and more expensive. It's the ticket to fly over-there, that is one of the kickers

GabThreads: - Posts: 162 Joined: Apr 10, 08 Gender: Female	Aug 6, 08, 21:51 #49
Hi all, Whoever is traveling to Poland next, please don't forget to add Wroclaw to your itinerary. Parts of Wroclaw are absolutely stunning!

EurolaThreads: 5 Posts: 1865 Joined: Dec 2, 06 Gender: Female	Aug 6, 08, 21:58 #50
Gab: add Wroclaw to your itinerary I second that. I was there last may and recommend greatly.

RjrogallaThreads: 12 Posts: 61 Joined: Mar 14, 08 Gender: Male	Aug 7, 08, 00:04 #51
I was just contacted by someone who was just in Poland and read my trip report and only lives a few miles from us in the country ! What a great forum.

LAGirlThreads: 12 Posts: 556 Joined: Apr 11, 08 Gender: Female	Aug 7, 08, 01:32 #52
makes more more want to see Poland beautiful place language and culture. it is easey to find why people hard to smile much. my ex was polish and I always wanted to go to Poland. I hope to go one day.Krakow looks amazing. thanks for the report becuase people judge Poland too easily. they are sure better then Ruassians.More Powers to the Poles.

RjrogallaThreads: 12 Posts: 61 Joined: Mar 14, 08 Gender: Male	Aug 7, 08, 02:56 #53
LAGirl: makes more more want to see Poland beautiful place language and culture. it is easey to find why people hard to smile much. my ex was polish and I always wanted to go to Poland. I hope to go one day.Krakow looks amazing. thanks for the report becuase people judge Poland too easily. they are sure better then Ruassians.More Powers to the Poles. We were warned before we visited Poland that most Polish people don’t smile and unfortunately its true. We feel very bad for all the Polish people who have suffered so much especially the past 70 years with Hitler and the Communist. How could anyone endure such humiliation and deprivation over their turbulent history and still smile. Its unfortunate most Americans have no idea what Poland and other European countries including Russia went through during both World Wars. We have traveled a lot and have seen much and we think every American should have an education about the hardships of countries in the past and present in our school system. I believe if we had this in our educational system we would have a better understanding and provide more financial aid to countries that are in need. We are proud to be Americans but we are saddened about the lack of knowledge most Americans have about the rest of the world. Our world is beautiful, that is inhabited with very special people like those in beautiful and historic Poland. I am sorry for venting but my wife and I felt it had to be said. We hope we have not offended anyone and hope we can get some Polish people to smile from what we have said. Bob & Dorothy

FrankThreads: 26 Posts: 1364 Joined: Aug 14, 06 Gender: Male	Aug 7, 08, 03:00 #54
Bob and Dorothy...great report.....very reflective, common sense based and useful, good luck, Frank

RjrogallaThreads: 12 Posts: 61 Joined: Mar 14, 08 Gender: Male	Aug 7, 08, 03:01 #55
Jashiwi: That's a shame. That a woman mentioned to you, that Americans smile too-much. I smile quite commonly, every-day (a cheerful person and up-beat woman, by nature) so I'll do my best to have others do so in Poland. :) Traveling is becoming more and more expensive. It's the ticket to fly over-there, that is one of the kickers Please read my response.

rychlikThreads: 17 Posts: 137 Joined: Aug 6, 08 Gender: Male	Aug 7, 08, 05:48 #56
Fantastic post. I can't wait to go back.

GabThreads: - Posts: 162 Joined: Apr 10, 08 Gender: Female	Aug 7, 08, 10:40 #57
Hi all, From now on let's share our experiences from our trips, wherever we travel. I'm quite impressed by this great report, lots of helpful pointers for those of you who have never visited Poland :) I excluded myself from this group because I go to Poland quite frequently considering the distance and the costs :) I wish we (Polish folks) could smile more. When a friend visited me in Poland once before I moved to the States permanently, he noticed the same exact thing. "Did someone die?" was his question LOL Oh well, I didn't know how to explain it to him. And that was long before Poland joined the EU. My experience even here and now is that we don't smile in the USA either. So I guess it is our thing :) I mean not everybody at least. Anyways, gotta go :) G.

jimszThreads: 1 Posts: 3 Joined: Aug 7, 08 Gender: Male	Aug 7, 08, 20:06 #58
Nice report! I am thinking of planning a trip for the future to Poland and this forum is proving to be valuable!

LAGirlThreads: 12 Posts: 556 Joined: Apr 11, 08 Gender: Female	Aug 8, 08, 01:44 #59
agree with you mosat American people dont know about Poland or other countries youa re very right or to even care about the Polish language. I say your report was very good i loved it. Americans need to get their heads out of their asses and into relaity that there are other countires besides the usa. and like to see a Polish Smile :).

rychlikThreads: 17 Posts: 137 Joined: Aug 6, 08 Gender: Male	Aug 8, 08, 22:28 #60
I've been in Canada 20 years and went to Poland last year, pretty much as a tourist and see family I haven't seen in a looooong time. Saw Warsaw, Wroclaw, Brzeg and Karpacz. Gotta say Poland's very picturesque. Warsaw was my fave city because of the history and because of the all the great things you can see there. It's the capital. It's got the most monuments and some great parks and architecture. The city's regaining that pre WWII charm. The city is more pretty than Toronto or Ottawa. Wroclaw is a great city as well and Brzeg is quite a fantastic town. I could live there. And Karpacz in the mountains is beautiful.

dunkles54	Aug 19, 08, 08:07 #61
Very nice report. I enjoyed reading about your experiences. We had a similiar experience last fall. We went to Northern & Central Poland. Gdansk, Malbork, Lubawa. For 10 days we spent about $3,000 including car, etc. People don't realize that there are castles, palaces, etc. that you can stay in for $50-150 per night! It didn't seem to us that people smiled very much either. We visited the village that my great-grandfather came from. We did not find relatives there, however, until we returned home. Now, I have oodles of cousins, and can't wait to go back.

jrpThreads: 1 Posts: 3 Joined: Aug 20, 08 Gender: Male	Aug 21, 08, 12:39 #62
Bob, Thank you very much for sharing this information about your recent trip. It is right on time for me because I just booked a trip to Poland with my father for late September. My father is Polish and we are going to visit the villages his parents came from and do some family-tree research. I tried to send you a PM, but the forum software wants me to make three posts before allowing me to send a PM. We will be arriving in Krakow and plan to stay there for four days. The villages where my grandparents came from are Futoma and Harta, both of which are just south of Rzeszow. We will be in Poland for a total of 15 days. We will rent a car once we are ready to leave Krakow. My father is fluent in Polish, so reading the road signs will not be a problem. I am glad you bought your Tomtom GPS to Poland, because I am shopping for a GPS right now and was looking at the Tomtom XL. It sounds like your Tomtom performed well for you. Which model do you have? Do you think it would it make more sense to rent a diesel car? They get better mileage and diesel is a little bit cheaper in Poland when I checked. I have looked at a few rental agencies on-line, but have not seen any diesel cars yet. I just discovered this great forum and will be making another post in the genealogy area. Jeff

CalicoeThreads: 1 Posts: 206 Joined: Aug 15, 08 Gender: Female	Aug 21, 08, 14:23 #63
Rjrogalla: I read in this forum how beautiful the polish girls were. I was raised in polish communities and I was very skeptical. But WOW how BEATIFULL they are! We always thought the Danes had the most beautiful girls now we are sold on Poland as being number 1 in our travels. So, I'm just curious: what has changed in the appearance of the "old-fashioned" Polish girls to the stark-raving beauties of today? Anyone have a theory? Nice to hear about your travels. I definitely want to go soon.

RjrogallaThreads: 12 Posts: 61 Joined: Mar 14, 08 Gender: Male	Aug 21, 08, 19:06 #64
jrp: I am glad you bought your Tomtom GPS to Poland, because I am shopping for a GPS right now and was looking at the Tomtom XL. It sounds like your Tomtom performed well for you. Which model do you have? I have a TomTom One XL and love it. I also have a memory card that slips into the TomTom that has maps of Poland and other Eastern European countries. I paid $86 and you can have it for $50. It got us through Poland without a problem. I would suggest you get the GPS unit a week before you go so you get used to it. The car you rent will have to have a cigarette lighter. Do you think it would it make more sense to rent a diesel car? They get better mileage and diesel is a little bit cheaper in Poland when I checked. I have looked at a few rental agencies on-line, but have not seen any diesel cars yet. I never looked into a Diesel but I've been told they are cheaper to run. Bob

Serduszko	Oct 13, 08, 05:25 #65
Your report sounds very similar to my experience in Poland this year. Poland indeed is a beautiful country! It has a lot of history thus lots of historical views and monuments! The food is irresistible and very fresh and natural! The restaurants and food are cheap. The people are very friendly but most unfortunately like you said, have lost their smile due to the current situation in Poland, sadly. Poland is such a beautiful country that it makes me sad that the younger generation is trying to escape from Poland because of the horrible situation in Poland. What makes me angry though is that Polish people can never get along and fight with EACH other instead stick together and be a strong nation!

LAGirlThreads: 12 Posts: 556 Joined: Apr 11, 08 Gender: Female	Oct 16, 08, 20:32 #66
Polska Piecny.

rychlikThreads: 17 Posts: 137 Joined: Aug 6, 08 Gender: Male	Oct 16, 08, 21:56 #67
Serduszko: Your report sounds very similar to my experience in Poland this year. Poland indeed is a beautiful country! It has a lot of history thus lots of historical views and monuments! The food is irresistible and very fresh and natural! The restaurants and food are cheap. The people are very friendly but most unfortunately like you said, have lost their smile due to the current situation in Poland, sadly. Poland is such a beautiful country that it makes me sad that the younger generation is trying to escape from Poland because of the horrible situation in Poland. What makes me angry though is that Polish people can never get along and fight with EACH other instead stick together and be a strong nation! You make it sound like Poland is communist again.

stilwtrjenThreads: 2 Posts: 14 Joined: Nov 9, 08 Gender: Female	Nov 11, 08, 09:52 #68
My husband and I are both pretty smiley people. At first we would get people that would just scowl at us or give us that look like "what are you smiling at" but we refuse not to be ourselves! Now it's almost a contest when we go walking in the park to see how many people will smile back. Usually children smile, wave, say hello. Sometimes this makes the parent(s) (or nanny I guess) smile as well! If I see the same people on the street often, or even more than once, I've started saying hello to them. It catches even the old people off guard but they are usually the ones that say hello back. The first couple days we were in our apartment it was really warm. We had all the windows open to air it out. Some of the neighbors just stared for a long time. We tried waving and smiling and they just stared. But we won't give up!

gtdThreads: 3 Posts: 880 Joined: Sep 8, 08 Gender: Male	Edited by: gtd Nov 11, 08, 09:57 #69
stilwtrjen: We tried waving and smiling and they just stared. But we won't give up! Yeah nothing like annoying the locals with your totally out of place habits to make friends :))) Seriously I have nothing against you being positive...but it is a bit pushy to try and force that on everyone else. Would you go trot around in a muslim place in Daisy Dukes because you like them? Overbearing friendliness is NOT a Polish characteristic and a bit rude of you to be so forceful with it to be honest. You likely make more people uncomfortable than anything.

SeanusThreads: 17 Posts: 17705 Joined: Dec 25, 07 Gender: Male	Nov 11, 08, 10:04 #70
Superb, a very balanced view of many things connected with Poland. The tips are also useful as pointers for people new to Poland. It's good to see such a fair and well-considered posting.

gtdThreads: 3 Posts: 880 Joined: Sep 8, 08 Gender: Male	Nov 11, 08, 10:05 #71
Seanus: It's good to see such a fair and well-considered posting. Thanks! ;)

SeanusThreads: 17 Posts: 17705 Joined: Dec 25, 07 Gender: Male	Nov 11, 08, 10:10 #72
Hey, I haven't got round to commenting on candidness yet ;)

mykonThreads: 1 Posts: 3 Joined: Aug 21, 08 Gender: Male	Dec 12, 08, 19:23 #73
THANKS FOR YOUR DETAILED REPORT ON YOUR TRIP TO POLAND.Question. where did you find a tom tom gps with the latest east europe maps on it?I am having a difficult time finding one for easr europe.

rinny1	Jan 1, 09, 12:06 #74
Thanks for all the great info, I'm hopeing to go to Poland to do genealogy reseach, do you have any suggestions on where to start, right now the only clue to my ancestors is they came from Prussia in 1883. Also can you suggest an area with less expensive hotels,as I'm certain I'll need an extended stay to find the info I'm looking for? thanks for any help you can provide. Rinny

jaxThreads: - Posts: 1 Joined: Mar 22, 09 Gender: Male	Mar 22, 09, 23:24 #75
Nice post Rjrogalla ; ) I am also from Wisconsin. Just moved to Olsztyn permanently from Milwaukee. Of all things that u made mention of. . the no-smile factor was the toughest thing for me to get used to. In fact. . its still tough and I'm not quite used to it yet. Milwaukee is one of those places where almost everyone will at least make eyecontact w you as u walk passed them on the sidewalk. I've been w my Polish girlfriend for 4 yrs now. We met in Milwaukee working at a private countryclub. As we spent 3 summers together, she always thought it was funny when i would say hello to a complete stranger walking down the street, or make small talk with a cashier, or even say "How ya doing" someone i didnt know. She also thought it was strange when i would say "Hey" Hi, w'sup. hows it going, etc to a person whom i wasnt friendly with. I remember the first time i visited PL last march and april, we went into a take out pizza place to get a pizza that we had ordered over the phone. I greeted the lady at the counter with a warm and friendly "czesc". My girlfriend blushed w embarassment and the lady almost fainted. It was then that i realised that i wasnt in Milwaukee anymore. In fact yesterday. . as we stood in the checkout line at a large grocery store, i looked around at 100+ people. It was like we were on the set of "Dawn of the Dead". 100+ ppl, 100+ frowns. It's a bit sad. . and it can be draining and infectious. But so can smiles. Sometimes. . .giving a smile will get you a smile. . .sometimes not. When the weather is bright and sunny. . spirits are high. .and smiles are bountiful. I'm fortunate that i am able to teach English in a private school here in Olsztyn. Sometimes i can't believe that i get paid for laughing for hours on end with my students. The most gratifying part of it all is when almost every student has a smile on their faces as the walk out of the classroom. Priceless. Anyways.. . it was nice to read your post. Until next time. . . . ; )

dkaiserThreads: 4 Posts: 8 Joined: Apr 22, 09 Gender: Male	Apr 26, 09, 03:15 #76
My husband and I visited Poland for 2 weeks in the summer of 2006 and loved every minute of it! Reading all of your posts today has brought me back, and since we are planning a longer trip (a month) this summer, it was good to get some reminders, as well as learn about Europeans' reticence in smiling. (We were part of a tour on our last trip, and did not really notice any problem with getting smiles in return. Of course, we were part of a tour, and perhaps the locals just cut us a little slack, since we were obviously "not from here.") We visited Zakopane, Katowice, Krakow and Warsaw. The Tatra Mountains are breathtaking! It was like looking at a picture in a calendar, so beautiful. Krakow was our favorite, the Market Square made us feel . . . part of history, I guess, to be standing where other people had stood and shopped and gone about their daily activities, hundreds of years before us. We also had to opportunity to enjoy a piano recital of Chopin music in Warsaw, a lovely experience if you get the chance. (I understand there is also a regular performance of Chopin piano music at the Chopin Memorial each weekend in the summer, near Łazienki Park in Warsaw.) The trip we are planning this summer includes Wrocław, Poznan, Warsaw, Łodz and Krakow, and we have been able to find several self-catering websites with apartments at very reasonable rates, for most of our days. (We are part of a tour for about 10 days in the middle of the trip, so will be staying at hotels some of the time.) What was really interesting to us is that the apartments sent us a booking form, but most would not take a deposit. They asked us to sign and date the form and email it back to them. Both my husband and I thought it very refreshing - here in the States you are required to book with a deposit or credit card, it seemed that PL is less suspicious (?), and ready to believe you when you make a commitment to book a room. (Hope you understand what I am feebly trying to impart . . .) Any thoughts on this? We are planning to fly into Łodz and take the train into Warsaw the next day, will be staying at the Focus Hotel (sp?) for that night. Does anyone have any suggestions for which train or ?? We'll be staying at a self-catering apartment (the owner has been lovely, emailed us, offered to pick us up at the train, told us some of the best sights, etc.) for the first 3 nights in Warsaw, in a flat on the 3rd floor of an old apartment building. We were thinking we may wander over to the zoo while in Warsaw, does anyone recommend that? Also, can someone explain about the bears on the island? (I've been told something vague about that, but would love to hear more!) Thank you in advance --

krysiaThreads: 29 Posts: 3752 Joined: Aug 10, 06 Gender: Female	Apr 26, 09, 05:35 #77
dkaiser: We were thinking we may wander over to the zoo while in Warsaw, does anyone recommend that? Also, can someone explain about the bears on the island? (I've been told something vague about that, but would love to hear more!) It's a nice Zoo, the elephant enclosure is on of the most modern ones in Europe. There is constant remodeling and new buildings replacing the old ones. The bear enclosure was built in 1952 as an invitation to the zoo.

KrzysztofThreads: 3 Posts: 1227 Joined: Jul 26, 07 Gender: Male	Apr 26, 09, 23:08 #78
dkaiser: to the zoo while in Warsaw, I think Poznań Zoo should be your priority this time: Other thread on Polish Forums

delphiandomineThreads: 10 Posts: 1977 Joined: Nov 25, 08 Gender: Male	Apr 26, 09, 23:46 #79
dkaiser: We were thinking we may wander over to the zoo while in Warsaw, does anyone recommend that? Wroclaw zoo is better, I think... :)

WroclawThreads: 49 Posts: 4231 Joined: Apr 1, 06 Gender: Male	Apr 26, 09, 23:57 #80
delphiandomine: Wroclaw zoo is better, I think... :) Lots of rebuilding going on at the moment. It should be in good shape in the summer.

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