"... dzien dobry" Poland by picek

It's not hard to reach Poland. The asphalt is silent. The coldness of it is dramatic. In December you'd better wear decent shoes and coat. Don't forget your rain coat as umbrella doesn't resist the wind very good.
Road may be dramatic... or anonymous. Many of the cars and trucks and train stations and passengers you see. Some things you prefer to let unnoticed.
What it has to do with Poland? Everything... it is surprising country in a way. Beautiful, complex, strange. You will find cheap cigarettes there (imported from Ukraine), but I prefer Sobieski from time to time. You will have an amount of wodka to choose in any bigger super market. Or beer... or anything you want. Super markets are in any strategically important town or city. It is somehow surprising the high appearance of it, especially if you compare it by unemployment rate. However, there are app. 38 milion of population and of course the shops are always crowded. You see beggars moved to old city centres... go to Katowice, main train station.

Move into inner core of the city, main streets. You'll find your favourite places to eat, seen world wide. You'll find fashion shops and banks... and people selling encaged little rabits or flowers or plastic toys, cheap clothes. O, there would be second hand shops with clothes, too. Everywhere in town. Many of them... go to Dabrowa Gornicza, Zory, Myslowice, Olkusz, Sosnowiec, Gliwice... later you continue to Krakow, Kazimierz Dolny, Warsaw,Gdansk or where ever your heart want to go. Go to Mazury, mountains, countryside... it's worth to go and see everything. From one or another point of view.

silesian working class block building in Katowice

A good thing in Poland for those interested in an underground culture is, that there are many bands, many zines, distributions, a decent number of squats and gigs. There is good tradition of film making scene (Kieslowski), there are often interesting exhibitons (Exhibition of Soviet posters before WW2 in Katowice) and performances, often ones with commercial touch, if that doesn't bother you. The old architecture is quite charming in old places or old city centres. Meanwhile, the real socialist buildings/blocks are fascinating, too. They're virtually everywhere. They take vast areas. Lots of people live there, majority.
It is fascinating technical heritage, huge projects these were. Yet, how must one feel who lives there...