Travelling to Poland

Gdansk is a city in northern Poland. Of course this city is also connected with the newer part of Polish history, which implies on the beginning of the end of communism.  It’s a city where the protest against government started in a shipyard and they established the Polish trade union Solidarity. But if we set the historic facts aside, Gdansk represents a nice city with a beautiful old city centre, which shows an impact of northern countries but the prices are luckily still Polish. The travellers can get the opportunity to live in a hostel in the city centre, near the river, the sights, museums, shops and so on and get breakfast that can consist even of chocolate waffles. Even better, you can get on a train for 50 cents to the city Sopot near Baltic sea in 15 minutes. A question might pop into your head: “Poland has sea? Poland has beaches? How the hell does a Polish beach look like?” Positive surprise is assured.

The next little surprise is Zakopane. I didn’t know this city before, which shows that I don’t follow ski jumping. For ski jumping enthusiasts this is the place. Besides ski jumping, Zakopane is something special as the locals claim that they sometimes get snow even in August. Nothing unusual, snow throughout the year. But so what? The city looks like a happy place in winter, when we imagine a warm fireplace in a small wooden house, hot chocolate and a view outside a window of snowflakes falling down. If relaxing, walks and occasional snowball fight aren’t enough, the solution is to rent skiing equipment and go to the nearest ski slopes, which is in case of living in one of the hostels like Szarotka, less than a kilometre away.

The last city in Poland that I think don’t get enough attention is this year’s capital of culture and my part time home, Wroclaw. Of course this city also has a rich history and culture, especially because it has been a German city in the past. I may be here too long, as history is becoming more and more interesting for me. Wroclaw is a city, which was a big surprise for me. The first surprise is that Wroclaw is a student city, more then 150,000 students study here. This is more noticeable at holidays and in summer when students leave the city and are replaced with tourists. Tourists can visit big squares in the city centre, parks, museums (Muzeum Narodowe Wrocław, Panorama Racławicka, Pawilon Czterech Kopuł Oddział Muzeum Narodowego we Wrocławiu etc.), there are also a lot of shopping centres, events on the streets, in the theatres and so on. What also surprised me was the information that Wroclaw has 12 islands and more than 100 bridges and that you’re supposed to watch your step while walking because you may notice a dwarf or two. Dwarf? Yes. The city has many dwarfs that use to represent part of Polish history but now became a way to advertise different products. 

 

These are my three cities, imprinted in my memory. Everyone who travels to Poland can discover their favourite ones. Travelling throughout the country is easier with Polskibus, vodka in new meaning of the word, interesting traditional food and low prices. Tourists are charmed by what they see and as one of the guides on Free Walking Tour said, Poland is in front of a new golden age and they expect a lot of young people, wanting to live in Poland. Before you make a decision like that or generally, before you visit Poland, you have to know that it isn’t obvious that people will know how to speak English. Sometimes you’ll have to mime something, but that isn’t a problem, right?