Quick note to talk about a blog I just heard about that is written by some English students in Poland, there to check out the country before the EURO Cup in 2012:
http://misja21.blox.pl
Blog Description:
"Gazeta Wyborcza", the country's leading daily, has invited journalism students from City University London to visit 21 biggest cities in Poland and determine whether they are ready to host the UEFA EURO 2012 championships. What is it like for foreigners to meet Polish people? Are any of the common stereotypes actually true? Here is our editorial project, Mission 21.
I think this is a fantastic resource because of how expansive it is; I did not have a chance to visit many of the cities that these bloggers have gone to, such as Opole and Szczecin. And there is a lot of great information on food, activities, and sites to see around the country.
Showing posts with label Wieliczka. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wieliczka. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Polish Favorites: Tourism around Poland
First, I will give general information of cities I would recommend seeing before giving more detailed thoughts on Warsaw, where I spent the most time and saw more tourist spots.
Other than Warsaw
1. Tri-City (Gdansk, Gdynia, Sopot)
This area was a big favorite with many others on my program. Gdansk has a lot to see and to do: Solidarity Museum, the famous shipyards, Old Town area, and historic sites (meeting halls, monuments/statues, churches, etc.). Gdynia is a very green-looking area and has more famous places and monuments, important to WWII history of the area. Sopot is just a very pretty, yet sometimes expensive, seaside town. It reminded me of resort towns/cities in the US, such as Atlantic City. It has a beautiful boardwalk and a bustling little area on the shore with hotels, shops, and restaurants. It was nice to come here to see the great Baltic Sea.
2. Wroclaw
I swear, whenever I mentioned going to or having been in Wroclaw, the Polish people I would be talking to would not stop praising the city as their favorite or somewhere they were dying to visit. The Americans on my program tended to overlook this city - except for one girl who may have visited after the program ended and the students who would ask me about my thoughts on Wroclaw when I spoke of it - but anyone I knew who was Polish or had a chance to go were only positive about it (which was uncommon for most places, since there were usually good and bad comments about anywhere from Warsaw to Krakow). Not exactly sure what I recommend most, except maybe the Panorama Raclawicka (http://www.panoramaraclawicka.pl/en/what_to_see.html) and walking around the city and over its many bridges (especially seeing Old Town and the Rynek). I also hear the zoo is pretty great.
3. Krakow (Nearby: Auschwitz & Wieliczka Salt Mine)
Visiting Krakow is not a one-day event; it really does need a few days to see a better amount of the city and some sites nearby. Krakow has its Old Town with the amazing Rynek, which houses the famous Sukiennice, churches, and tons of stores and cafes/restaurants. There is also Wawel (cathedral with royal tombs and castle), the newly-opened Schindler Factory Museum, Nowa Huta (for Social-Realist architecture), other churches, Kazimierz (former Jewish district that now has synagogues, hip galleries and cafes, plus the best zapiekanki in town - so I've heard), Jagiellonian University (such as the library and Collegium Maius), monuments (Battle of Grunwald Monument and Kosciuszko's Mound), St. Florian's Gate, the Planty (park with walkway around Old Town), and many other museums (I heard the Ethnography Museum is good). For trips outside the city that are not too far of a bus or car ride away, my main recommendations are Auschwitz in Oswiecim [http://en.auschwitz.org.pl/m/] and Wieliczka Salt Mine (very popular with the other American students, who licked everything, which is allowed) [http://www.kopalnia.pl/home.php?id_language=2].
4. Honorable Mentions
For a few hours or if there is a lot of time to visit around Poland: Lodz (I recommend Manufaktura [http://www.manufaktura.com/EN/HomePage/Default.aspx] and walking along Piotrkowksa Street), Poznan (did not have much time there, but the Stary Browar [http://www.starybrowar5050.com/en/miejsce/idea] and Old Town's Rynek are great), Torun (see the birthplace of Copernicus and the university named in his honor, plus walk around the pretty brick Old Town, see the leaning tower, and maybe try some fresh piernik (gingerbread) - there is even a museum for it where visitors can make their own; I also walked the bridge connecting one side of the city to the other, not by choice but it was still a nice way to say "hello" and "goodbye"), Lublin, Legnica, Malbork Castle (on the way to or from the Tri-City area)
5. Places I would go
Some places I would see if I had more time (and may see in the future one day): Rzeszow, Bialystok, more of the Baltic Coast, more of Poznan, Białowieża National Park, Zakopane/Tatra Mountain Region, Zamosc, Gniezno
Other than Warsaw
1. Tri-City (Gdansk, Gdynia, Sopot)
This area was a big favorite with many others on my program. Gdansk has a lot to see and to do: Solidarity Museum, the famous shipyards, Old Town area, and historic sites (meeting halls, monuments/statues, churches, etc.). Gdynia is a very green-looking area and has more famous places and monuments, important to WWII history of the area. Sopot is just a very pretty, yet sometimes expensive, seaside town. It reminded me of resort towns/cities in the US, such as Atlantic City. It has a beautiful boardwalk and a bustling little area on the shore with hotels, shops, and restaurants. It was nice to come here to see the great Baltic Sea.
2. Wroclaw
I swear, whenever I mentioned going to or having been in Wroclaw, the Polish people I would be talking to would not stop praising the city as their favorite or somewhere they were dying to visit. The Americans on my program tended to overlook this city - except for one girl who may have visited after the program ended and the students who would ask me about my thoughts on Wroclaw when I spoke of it - but anyone I knew who was Polish or had a chance to go were only positive about it (which was uncommon for most places, since there were usually good and bad comments about anywhere from Warsaw to Krakow). Not exactly sure what I recommend most, except maybe the Panorama Raclawicka (http://www.panoramaraclawicka.pl/en/what_to_see.html) and walking around the city and over its many bridges (especially seeing Old Town and the Rynek). I also hear the zoo is pretty great.
3. Krakow (Nearby: Auschwitz & Wieliczka Salt Mine)
Visiting Krakow is not a one-day event; it really does need a few days to see a better amount of the city and some sites nearby. Krakow has its Old Town with the amazing Rynek, which houses the famous Sukiennice, churches, and tons of stores and cafes/restaurants. There is also Wawel (cathedral with royal tombs and castle), the newly-opened Schindler Factory Museum, Nowa Huta (for Social-Realist architecture), other churches, Kazimierz (former Jewish district that now has synagogues, hip galleries and cafes, plus the best zapiekanki in town - so I've heard), Jagiellonian University (such as the library and Collegium Maius), monuments (Battle of Grunwald Monument and Kosciuszko's Mound), St. Florian's Gate, the Planty (park with walkway around Old Town), and many other museums (I heard the Ethnography Museum is good). For trips outside the city that are not too far of a bus or car ride away, my main recommendations are Auschwitz in Oswiecim [http://en.auschwitz.org.pl/m/] and Wieliczka Salt Mine (very popular with the other American students, who licked everything, which is allowed) [http://www.kopalnia.pl/home.php?id_language=2].
4. Honorable Mentions
For a few hours or if there is a lot of time to visit around Poland: Lodz (I recommend Manufaktura [http://www.manufaktura.com/EN/HomePage/Default.aspx] and walking along Piotrkowksa Street), Poznan (did not have much time there, but the Stary Browar [http://www.starybrowar5050.com/en/miejsce/idea] and Old Town's Rynek are great), Torun (see the birthplace of Copernicus and the university named in his honor, plus walk around the pretty brick Old Town, see the leaning tower, and maybe try some fresh piernik (gingerbread) - there is even a museum for it where visitors can make their own; I also walked the bridge connecting one side of the city to the other, not by choice but it was still a nice way to say "hello" and "goodbye"), Lublin, Legnica, Malbork Castle (on the way to or from the Tri-City area)
5. Places I would go
Some places I would see if I had more time (and may see in the future one day): Rzeszow, Bialystok, more of the Baltic Coast, more of Poznan, Białowieża National Park, Zakopane/Tatra Mountain Region, Zamosc, Gniezno
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Young Blood
Happy 3rd of May Constitution Day! :-D Sadly, this meant a lot of places were closed, but not too many. And, it did mean wonderful celebration and decoration with many people and Polish flags around.
Today was the FUN trip to the salt mine. Because of no traffic, the bus ride was really fast and our group had a private English tour (lots of licking, lots of salt...). The mines were amazing. There is so much to see: statues made of salt or wood, several chapels, chandeliers, and all sorts of passages. We spent maybe three hours there and, as visitors, we see only 2%! It was a neat trip and I will show pictures soon. Word of the Day: Krasnoludki (gnomes in Polish; they can be found in the mine ;) )
After that trip, I headed into town and bought my first zapiekanka. I wanted quality (since many sold from gas stations, supermarkets, etc. are not so great). I had to even WAIT since it was that fresh from the oven at a real restaurant that had a to-go window with a shortened menu [http://www.restauracja-horoscope.pl]. It had a proper baguette, cheese, mushrooms, spinach, chives, and garlic sauce (was surprised about the mushrooms, but was hoping for tomato sauce - thought the waiter mentioned ketchup, but maybe he thought I selected only garlic sauce when I heard him ask about that and then ketchup, but I kept just saying yes to it all in Polish... maybe it was forgotten, but I would have wanted tomato sauce over ketchup anyway.) I am glad I did not settle for a junky zapiekanka. When it comes to Polish foods, street ones or not, there still are a few more I have yet to try (of course some I would not try or eat if I had had before ;) :-P ) - kebabs (may sample here since I want a vegetarian one and a place with good kebabs is nearby my hotel and offers them), obwarzanek (sort of a pretzel-bagel hybrid on the streets of Krakow served either plain, with sesame seeds, with salt, or with poppy seeds), nalesniki (other than the vegetable tart I had with nalesniki in it and the one time I had it at someone's home over Easter/Spring Break), potato pancakes, oscypek (smoked cheese that I am uncertain I will try...) meats, non-Polish foods (some Asian, American - hot dogs and hamburgers, some other ethnic etc.). I have had a paczek (singular for paczki) with rose jam filling, a gofra (singular for gofry) with strawberry jam topping, ice cream/sorbet, a zapiekanka with spinach and mushroom and chives, and other dishes (several soups, pierogi, meats, surowki/salads, croquette, vegetable tart, kasza/buckwheat rice, salads, side dishes), candy - toffee Pawelek, vanilla ptasie mleczko, chocolate bar with hazelnuts, princessa waffle bars, one chocolate-covered biscuit candy from a vending machine, paluszki - pretzel-like rods, piernik (gingerbread/cakes), and krowki (caramel candy that I had a while before coming to Poland and not here)... will have to research the rest to see what I am missing, such as pho that is popular due to the Vietnamese minority. ;) After the zapiekanka, I walked around and it sadly began to rain. I hid in a Coffee Heaven (http://coffeeheaven.pl/) for a bit to read and to have green tea, but ended up heading back to the hotel in the rain for a bit before dinner. At dinner, I had a chicken broth soup with chives, thin noodles, and carrots and a salad with chicken, almond slices, some avocado slices, red peppers, lettuce, tomatoes, and balsamic sauce, with sorbet scoops for dessert. Now I am relaxing before Wawel and other tours tomorrow, with a free time before a concert in the evening. We have dinner alone, but will be reimbursed. I am thinking about what to have: kebab? Vegetarian? [http://vegarestauracja.pl/ may be the place... or my old standby Green Way...] We'll see. I received a lot of good info today about history, culture, books, Poland, and the others on the program. The cold and rainy weather was the main downside of the day.
Today was the FUN trip to the salt mine. Because of no traffic, the bus ride was really fast and our group had a private English tour (lots of licking, lots of salt...). The mines were amazing. There is so much to see: statues made of salt or wood, several chapels, chandeliers, and all sorts of passages. We spent maybe three hours there and, as visitors, we see only 2%! It was a neat trip and I will show pictures soon. Word of the Day: Krasnoludki (gnomes in Polish; they can be found in the mine ;) )
After that trip, I headed into town and bought my first zapiekanka. I wanted quality (since many sold from gas stations, supermarkets, etc. are not so great). I had to even WAIT since it was that fresh from the oven at a real restaurant that had a to-go window with a shortened menu [http://www.restauracja-horoscope.pl]. It had a proper baguette, cheese, mushrooms, spinach, chives, and garlic sauce (was surprised about the mushrooms, but was hoping for tomato sauce - thought the waiter mentioned ketchup, but maybe he thought I selected only garlic sauce when I heard him ask about that and then ketchup, but I kept just saying yes to it all in Polish... maybe it was forgotten, but I would have wanted tomato sauce over ketchup anyway.) I am glad I did not settle for a junky zapiekanka. When it comes to Polish foods, street ones or not, there still are a few more I have yet to try (of course some I would not try or eat if I had had before ;) :-P ) - kebabs (may sample here since I want a vegetarian one and a place with good kebabs is nearby my hotel and offers them), obwarzanek (sort of a pretzel-bagel hybrid on the streets of Krakow served either plain, with sesame seeds, with salt, or with poppy seeds), nalesniki (other than the vegetable tart I had with nalesniki in it and the one time I had it at someone's home over Easter/Spring Break), potato pancakes, oscypek (smoked cheese that I am uncertain I will try...) meats, non-Polish foods (some Asian, American - hot dogs and hamburgers, some other ethnic etc.). I have had a paczek (singular for paczki) with rose jam filling, a gofra (singular for gofry) with strawberry jam topping, ice cream/sorbet, a zapiekanka with spinach and mushroom and chives, and other dishes (several soups, pierogi, meats, surowki/salads, croquette, vegetable tart, kasza/buckwheat rice, salads, side dishes), candy - toffee Pawelek, vanilla ptasie mleczko, chocolate bar with hazelnuts, princessa waffle bars, one chocolate-covered biscuit candy from a vending machine, paluszki - pretzel-like rods, piernik (gingerbread/cakes), and krowki (caramel candy that I had a while before coming to Poland and not here)... will have to research the rest to see what I am missing, such as pho that is popular due to the Vietnamese minority. ;) After the zapiekanka, I walked around and it sadly began to rain. I hid in a Coffee Heaven (http://coffeeheaven.pl/) for a bit to read and to have green tea, but ended up heading back to the hotel in the rain for a bit before dinner. At dinner, I had a chicken broth soup with chives, thin noodles, and carrots and a salad with chicken, almond slices, some avocado slices, red peppers, lettuce, tomatoes, and balsamic sauce, with sorbet scoops for dessert. Now I am relaxing before Wawel and other tours tomorrow, with a free time before a concert in the evening. We have dinner alone, but will be reimbursed. I am thinking about what to have: kebab? Vegetarian? [http://vegarestauracja.pl/ may be the place... or my old standby Green Way...] We'll see. I received a lot of good info today about history, culture, books, Poland, and the others on the program. The cold and rainy weather was the main downside of the day.
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