"Poland - Polska" a Poland Travel Page by annase

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Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum

I have been to Poland twice and I think it’s an excellent country. The first time I visited the country was in 1999 – somewhat 10 years after the communist rule collapsed. I flew to the capital Warsaw and took a train to the coast town of Gdansk where I spent a few days. After a few days, I moved on to Hel, Gdynia, Poznan and finally to Wroclaw from where I carried on to Czech Republic.

The second time I went to Poland was 2005. I drove to Krakow and visited the concentration camp nearby. From Krakaw I carried on all the way to Lithuania, stopping before the border over night (can't remember the name of the place now) in a old style Russian style of hotel and right at the border to have lunch. I loved it that they spell salad with this sort of dash or line going through the letter L (in case this works, it would look something like this: Ł), and since I know that letter is pronounced more or less like 'v' or 'w', I was totally with it when the lovely lady who didn't speak any English asked me whether I wanted any salad with my meal.. :-) It was a bit difficult to get by at times, since not everyone speaks English nor even German (not that my rubbish German helps me very much anyway).

In the past 15 years or so Poland has undergone huge economical, political and strcutural changes. What amazes me most is the fact that it has successfully been able to put its troubled history behind it. Firstly, the truly disturbing and painful memory of the Holocaust and secondly, the decades and centuries of foreign occupation. I am in awe, because before the World War II, my own country, Finland, had a very similar position in Europe as Poland (and the rest of the central and eastern European countries that became the so called ‘Eastern Block’ after 1945), since they were both ruled by foreign forces, ‘the Great Empires’ as they call them.

The only difference is that during the World War II, Finland beat the hell out of the occupying force, the Soviets (thanks to their advanced tactics in winter: the ability to ski!!!) whereas Poland had been run down of resources that was in no position to defend itself. The Soviets had set their minds into having access to East Germany through Poland and there simply was nothing ( not even the allied forces) stopping them.

Anyway, those days are gone now.. Since then Poland has become a member of European Union, NATO, the United Nations, OECD and the World Trade Organization. One of its aims is to meet the criteria for entry into the European currency, Euro, between 2009 and 2013 which would evetualyl replace Polish ‘zloty‘. In 2012, Poland hosts the 2012 European Football Championships together with its neighbour Ukraine.

Having being in the 'crossfire' of both West and East, the country has been majorly influenced by both. This has inspired its architecture, folklore and art. It is the birthplace of many well known individuals, including Pope John Paul II, Marie Curie, Nicolaus Copernicus, Frederic Chopin, Roman Polański and Krzysztof Kieślowski.

Although many people see Poland as an ethnically unified, monocultural and monolingual country, it actually has a long multicultural history as the country has played host to several languages, cultures and religions in the past. Before the country became known as Poland, Slavic, Celtic, Baltic and Germanic tribes populated the regions. There was a particularly significant (estimated at 3 million) Jewish population in Poland prior to the Holocaust which reduced the numbers to about 300,000. The officially recognised ethnic minorities in addition to Jews include nationals of many of its neighbouring countries such as Germany, Ukraine, Lithuania and Belarus.

The country shares borders with Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave. There are small Polish minorities in Ukraine, Belarus, and Lithuania as well as the UK, Ireland and the US.

There are lots of lakelands in Poland. The forests are full of mushrooms, wild berries and herbs and the lakes provide opportunities for swimming, water sports and angling. Lakes are often interconnected by rivers and canals that are particularly suitable for sailing and kayaking. There are numerous camping grounds, bivouac sites and waterside hostels along the lake fronts. Also passenger boats also sail over many lakes and they offer cruises and transportation from one place to another.

The 'Swietokrzyskie' mountains include a fir covered national park with rock rubble and numerous grottos and caves. The 'Sudeten' mountains and the Carpathians are great for hiking. The densely forested Carpathian Range also includes the youngest alpine-like mountain range, the Tatras. The Tatra mountains offer excellent opportunities for mountain climbing and hiking. The whole area of the Tatras forms the Tatra National Park. The town of Zakopane is situated at the foot of the Tatras. It is the number one winter sports capital of Poland (as well as one of the biggest tourist traps in the area).

It is possible to ski in the mountains from December through March (or even all the way until May in the upper parts). There is a variety of ski lifts including T-bars, J-bars, chair lifts gondolas and funiculars. All the ski trails are marked.

Eastern Poland comprises the territories of 3 provinces that border Ukraine. The lands are well endowed with diversified landscapes and dotted with numerous historical ruins and monuments of architecture.

An area called 'Polesie' is full of vast and dense forests, marshes, bogs, flood waters, lakes and small rivers. It is an ideal location for outdoor activities such as hiking, cycling, angling and canoeing.

The Polish coastline is hundreds of kms long and consist of sandy beaches that open up the Baltic Sea. There are several marked and supervised beaches. It is also often possible to come across a piece of amber amidst the shells and pebbles that are washed onto the beaches. One of the most interesting seaside resorts is a place called Hel. It is located on the tip of of a very narrow peninsula. You can access it either by train or boat from Gdynia or Gdansk. There are lots of sandy beaches. It really was the crown in my Poland travels for me. :-)

The traditional Polish cuisine is heavy and hearty. This type of culinary specialities include sausage (kiełbasa), red beet soup (barszcz), duck blood soup (czernina), dumplings (pierogi), cabbage rolls (gołąbki), pork chops (kotlety schabowe), stew (bigos), various potato dishes and a fast food sandwich (zapiekanka). Desserts include doughnuts (pączki) and gingerbread (pierniki). However, if you still think that Poland is all cabbage and sausage, think again! I was pleasantly surprised to find a vegetarian fas food place in 1999 in Wroclaw though, since I was extremely put off by the fact that I'd have to eat all the traditional foods that are extremely heavy. Luckily not..

A few years back in 2005 or 2006, I noticed that my local supermarket in the UK (Tesco) started selling Polish goods such as ginger biscuits. I was so thrilled and almost bought some ginger biscuits, but did not in the end. One of the cinemas near me also were showing 'Borad' with Polish subtitles when it came out. It seems like Poles have made big outside their home country. :-)