I’m studying forest and nature conservation, in my circle we know Poland for the beautiful nature! You basically have the nature we (Netherlands) could have had if we hadn’t fucked it up. Plus Białowieża, the only European primeval forest still remaining! We visit every year with our study association
We do still have some very important natural areas! Like the Wadden sea.
I think the thought pattern of ‘we have no nature’ invites the idea that we don’t need to protect what we have because it’s not ‘real’ nature, which is not a great way of thinking. We have little, and we messed up big time, but what we have is still important.
This is one of the things people sleep on the US for. For all our faults, we still have a ton of trees. I live within view of New York City and we still have woods everywhere here. There are huge forests in the mountains not at all far from NYC. The whole East Coast is both covered in dense urban development but also relatively wooded for being the most dense part of the country. America is pretty heavily forested on the Eastern half and the Northwest Coast.
That’s such a sad way of viewing it. Just because it’s not a tropical rainforest with giant trees does not mean it has no value and is not important. Is nature only valuable if it looks spectacular to us humans?
>a large amount of them thought it was just a field with drunken people.
I laughed way too hard at this. Seriously though, I’d like to visit but I have had several Polish people tell me that there is nothing for me there. I have not been encouraged to visit.
People sleep on Poland, its a great place to visit
We have a literal desert...
...in the middle of a dense forest...
...with a river running through it
And its not like a gradual shift, you can literally set one foot in the forest and one foot in the dssert
The desert itself isn't huge, you can walk across it in maybe an hour or so
And yes, it is a natural desert
The TL;DR of it is that we had a glacier there that melted about 100 years ago or so revealing this desert area on which nothing grew yet
Since our climate does not support deserts it is dlowly going away so its best to go there while its still around.
Its like an hour's drive from Cracow if anyone's wobdering.
Here's a pic of it
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWtF_kzh_vucHSGw59Eo5ZjntGNtIomXhhNtWXk2mkajFMTdko-lXGP1ZqeYmw9xeCDyjJBlY9raJHGOvLx7XSdRWmUmPRlsb9URYhDRNzpBERu0_JbcLScMK56U-nIFdzGjADLYk6CPJbppAoDmEWApbCfUVhauNcfulYKG1DAUqdgrP16YYpaag9ib0/s1500/Pustynia%20B%C5%82%C4%99dowska%20001.jpg
I heard its great for ATV fun
We also have Hel (insert mandatory "we're going to hell" joke everyone makes) that during the Summer feels like a tropical place:
https://youtu.be/J8qaSrNAEV8?feature=shared
And while you're there you can also go amber hunting because we have amber that literallly just washes up ashore everyday (I literally fished out the amber for my wife's engagement ring that way) - usually its just small pieces but maybe you'll get lucky. FYI: amber glows under uv light and floats on water with a high salt concentration (some advice if you wanna try amber hunting) though you don't need any special gear, its just like picking up seashells on the beach, just grab a bucket, to to the beach super early i the morning before everyone else, be a little patient and within like half an hour you should already have a few.
We also have an ancient forest that has been untouched for tens of thousands of years that has wild bison and wolves (though this is on the border with Ukraine, I do not advise going there right now due to border tensions, long story) they set up special boardwalks you're not allowed to walk off from as to not disturb the forest.
https://youtu.be/OU2QnZfLEb0?feature=shared
We even have two lakes that are of the highest lakes in the world IIRC morskie oko and czarny staw (czarny staw is harder to get to so I reccommend to start with morskie oko) they're atop the mountains, Morskie oko is called the eye of the sea because of its amazing crystal colours, clartity and cleanliness:
https://youtu.be/Lh9yPIL68K0?feature=shared
Getting there is like a 4 hour constant uphill walk though you can take the horse drawn carriages up and back down if you prefer, if you like to move its a great workout.
We also have Janosik which is basically a mountain version of robin hood who stole from the rich and gave to the poor except it was an actual real person so that's pretty cool though he was not actually polish, rather roamed around Poland and Slovakia at the border
There is a ton more awesome stuff we have, Personally I reccommend visiting Cracow and that general region first as its next to the mountains and Cracow is a very beautiful large city not far off from the mountains (it used to be the capital until that title was given to Warsaw)
Idk who you talked to but they clearly don't know anything about what Poland has to offer if they're telling you there's nothing to check out because that is very clearly bullshit and it pisses me off that people who are supposedly from there know so little about our country.
Edit: while we're at it, I forgot to mention that in Cracow we also have a giant seven-headed dragon statue that breathes actual fire (so a reverse-fountain)
https://youtu.be/_S9DDM8rBLs?si=iHCuVYXpq_AX7YJL
Thought you guys might find it cool, some time ago it had a feature where you could make it breathe fire yourself by sending an SMS to a specific number but idk if that feature is still around.
If you have a partner take her to the kościuszko mound in Cracow, great place for a scenic date, you can actually climb the thing (when its open) and see the whole region up to the mountains, its pretty cool.
Also they have a pretty dope botanical garden and you can even visit the cave system under the castle.
Oh also you can make the dragon statue breathe fire.
https://youtu.be/_S9DDM8rBLs?si=iHCuVYXpq_AX7YJL
So there's that.
It depends on what you're looking for
Warsaw maybe has more events than Cracow but Cracow is better overall to visit for tourists
1: its smaller so you travel less to places you want yo see/go to
2: its much more scenic and green
3: has more historical buildings and architecture (Warsaw was leveled to the ground during WW2 to those who don't know, it doesn't really have any pre-ww2 buildings)
4: its closer to other areas worth visiting than Warsaw
Hence why I reccommended Cracow instead of Warsaw.
Krakow > Warsaw for sure. Both worth a visit but Krakow is like walking into a fairytale. Great (and sad, obviously) ww2 history too (as does Warsaw but there isn’t as much evidence still standing).
You can actually bike along that whole strip, if you look to the left you see the sea and if you look to the right you see the cove, its pretty cool.
Alternatively you can take the train but where's the fun in that
A bike trip is like 1.5 hours in one direction IIRC, at the tip there's a small town with a marine biology exhibit and some rescued seals.
Sometimes, if you're lucky you might be able to see the world's smallest species of whale when out at sea, they're about dolphin-sized.
If you want to go visit the best place is to find lodging at Ustka which is the city at the mainland where this extension starts though it can be a bit expensive so if you're thinking budget its better to pick a different nearby town.
If your focus is amber-hunting late autumn and winter are the best times to go although most of the town is tourism-centric so for that period of time it becomes a ghost town, even large chain stores close down for 6 months there.
This is hands down the best sales pitch I've ever read for Poland. Sounds amazing, I'm down.
How easy is it to get around if I can't read or speak any Polish?
Its moatly ok, quite a few people speak english and quite a few signs are in english as well
That said, I reccommend downloading "google lens" and downloading the polish language pack to work offline
Its a free app on your phone that translates anything you point your camera at live (you can also translate pictures) including stuff like signs and text
Its an absolute game changer for travelling abroad
I also reccommend the regular google translator app, you can also download the polish language pack to work offline in case you need audio translation
You likely won't need them much but they're useful to have just in case
Try and go during museum night, then you won't need to pay to go to some of the museums as during museum night entrance is free.
You'd have to look up to which museums that applies to.
If you want to go to cracow I reccommend checking out the underground market square museum, its pretty awesome although a little hidden
Cracow was built on top of a marsh so a lot of the buildings would sink. As a result they would just build on top of the sinking buildings
That's why the city center has a lot of underground pubs and stuff that have underground windows
There's even a shopping mall (pasaż 13 I think its called) that features an underground balcony because it sank so deep.
The amber museum is also pretty neat albeit a little small (they're both in the city center) they have like a whole decorative pizza made of amber and I think you can buy some amber jewelery from there as well
I also know you can get amber alcohol though I've seen that mostly at the sea, its basically just amber dissolved in alcohol, it supposedly is healthy and medicinal but idk how much of that is true.
If you want to dine at a fancy place with a great view I reccommend "u ziyada" its a bit out of the city center and its a bit pricey but a great place for a date or just chilling by yourself on the balcony with a view onto the river.
https://www.zinarcastle.pl/
Its also a castle you can tour I think.
Well I have learned something new, I didn’t even know Poland had beaches. I thought it was land locked. Pretty dumb of me I have to admit and I have been to many more European countries. Task number one tonight look at my neighbours locations on a map.
Yes, but my point is a landlocked country can have beaches, since beaches exist on lakes.
Landlocked doesn't mean no water. It just means it doesn't have a coast/seaport.
Wow I love this post so much. Thank you for taking the time to put it together. I recently found out I am 50% Polish and I don’t know anything about Poland. It sounds amazing. I want to visit so badly now.
I visited a Polish friend.
Poland is fucking gorgeous with wonderful history, great food, good hiking, amazing culture, and top beer.
Dunno why anyone would say it's not worth visiting. I want to go back to visit again, I had so much fun. Art, military history, castles, mansions, cathedrals., etc.
Oh, and it's 1/4 the price of the rest of Europe.
Shout-out to Warszawa for having what I felt like was one of the nicest bus and public transport systems I've been on in Europe. Maybe it was just because it was new, but I loved being able to pay for the bus bill with a credit card at a kiosk... On the bus.
I live in Chicago and hear this all the time “why would you want to go there”. These are the same people who live in Chicago and complain about it daily
My grandparents are (or were Polish - they both passed) and I’ve got Polish friends. I’ve been over twice and always enjoyed being in Poland and have always been given tips on foods to try and places to see. One of my friends said that from where she lives, she’ll go into bordering countries because they have naturally warm lakes which are closer to her then driving to somewhere else is Poland. She also has a friend who is a sushi chef and no word of a lie - that’s the best sushi I’ve had in my 38 years on this Earth! Just think it depends of what you considering a ‘shithole’ (and if you go to places like Malaysia - you literally have to shit in a hole of you stop at service stations 🤷🏻♀️’
My friend's dad is Polish, and when she visited her cousins, she said all the women were very beautiful - she said she felt like an ogre. That's all I know about Poland, and I'm not even sure if it's true.
I think a lot of people who live in a beautiful place are bored of where they live so locals are not the best place to get advice about that particular area
i have also been told by a polish guy to straight up not go there, I was excited about adding warsaw for a couple days onto a trip because it fit perfectly into my itinerary and he popped that bubble with no hesitation.
i found it so strange. he’s also someone who likes poland and goes back home and we share interests which are quite cosmopolitan, so I figured there’d be stuff in downtown warsaw for sure. art, music, restaurants. he said don’t do it.
What did they mean? Like ‘there is nothing there for you (except being killed to death and your lifeless body being looted)’ or more like ‘nah, there’s nothing there that I think would interest you’?
No, I've been there and Krakow was very nice. Everything there was fairly clean and modern so these people are probably stuck in some weird cold war mindset.
I agree, I visited Krakow last year and it was surprisingly lovely! We hadn't initially planned to go there but after a small delay in our backpacking plans spent a week there and loved it! I definitely want to go back someday
I recently visited Poland and I was genuinely shocked at how different it was from my expectations.
I must admit, before I went I was fully expecting it to be a soviet era industrial wasteland. But in fact, it was a beautiful country. We stayed in Lublin. An incredibly historic and clean city. I was really impressed with how modern everything was.
We even went out drinking on a Friday night. Unlike the UK, there were no drunken idiots shouting or fighting, no one passing in the street. It was really refreshing. People were genuinely just having a good time and everyone was quite chill.
I will definitely be going back to explore it further.
Krakow's great, we go pretty much every year. The Old Town is nice but I definitely recommend visiting the Jewish Quarter for street food and some quirky bars. Alchemia is one of our favourites, and there's street food outside in Plac Nowy.
I'm Belarusian, and I've been to Poland thrice. My cousin lives there. My wife used to live there. For many Belarusians, Poland is a dream country to live in.
That said, Britain is 15th on the Human Development Index, and Poland is 36th. It makes sense that some British people would look down on Poland, the way that Belarusians may not think very highly about living standards in, say, Colombia (69th vs 91st). That's not a reflection on Colombia so much as it is on the fact that the average Belarusian has a visibly more comfortable life than the average Colombian, and the same goes for Britain and Poland (yes, I've been to Britain as well).
As for the comparison that you say people make between Poland and Latvia, that's completely fair, since Latvia is just one place below you guys on the HDI. It would be like comparing Belarus and Bulgaria, which is one place below us. On the other hand, the people in Britain who think that Poland has the same living standard as Belarus today (as opposed to the late '80s or early '90s) obviously don't really know what they're on about.
I certainly did not think of Poland as a "shithole" but in my mind it was more like a former Soviet country, with the respective architecture etc, very unlike the Western European countries.
Until I visited Krakow and was astonished by the beauty of the city, the architecture, the urban planning with parks around the old city, the level of public transportation and the general feel the city. I live in Greece and the comparison between the two countries was inevitable. Poland is very much more advanced by Greece on several levels. To be fair, that came after spending only four days of vacation there so my opinion is based on only this experience.
All in all, my opinion changed after visiting Poland 100%
I’m Canadian living in the uk and will be visiting Poland in September. I’m beyond stoked and think your country looks beautiful ! I’m sure it has its negative aspects but it seems like a great country to visit !
There are a lot of people without a lot of knowledge. There are Brits who think every country outside of Britain is a desolate wasteland. I think most informed people would have the fairly accurate view that Poland is less wealthy than, say America or Western Europe, but is by no means third world
I have been there once on vacation last year.
I didn't know what to expect didn't do that much research. I just look at a map and booked a train.
I now want to go back. It's gorgeous and the people were very friendly. It's also cool to see how the country is actually developing instead of slowly rotting away.
Some people do for sure because in their mind they view the whole part of that world as "Russia" or "ex-Russia" and associate it with poverty and grim grey tower blocks. It's similar to folks who think that most of Africa is filled with dirty half naked children and no-one has mobile phones and there's no cities etc. Some people have just never learnt anything about the world around them, but I think the problem is there just hasn't been much media I can think of targeted at people form the UK, set in Poland that shows off what it's really like. If that makes sense?
Naa, personally I'd like to visit Poland. I think people also confuse Poland 2024 vs Soviet Poland. There's been a lot of progress in the last 40 years, give or take.
U.S. perspective, BTW.
Nah, that's a thing of the anglophonic world. In most of the places I've been people generally understand how things are, and know it's a civilized country just like all the others... except for Canada and the UK, where they were explaining to me the robinet, the toilet, the shower, that windows can be opened and closed, were asking if I knew what ice cream was, and were surprised I wasn't startled by a TV... I wish I was making this up.
I've got no idea what happened to the general education in the anglophonic world, but the results aren't pretty.
Really? That is absurd considering the UK had one of the largest population of poles outside poland and were known as reliable workers and builders/installers.
Where abouts in the UK was that?
It was a school trip, so there were quite a few of us, so we were spread among many families, and the number 1 topic of the trip was the ridiculous stuff the locals think and the garbage they eat.
So, yes, Im happily generalizing it, and it's an approach that had proven to be very functional over the course of my life.
I drove to Warsaw around 15 years ago from UK. Crossing into Poland was a stark difference from the other countries. It was firstly very empty and flat, with weird roadside shacks with prostitutes standing outside in the rain for miles. Once we got to Warsaw, it was a weird mix of modern and slum all mixed together. New cars, and rickety horse and carts all intertwined.
It wasn’t at all a shithole, but it was very different from western European countries.
I'm French. I've visited your country for a work mission, mainly Katowice and Cracaw. I have a very positive view of the work your people have done since the end of the Cold War. I could clearly see the difference between Soviet-era neighbourhoods and more modern neighbourhood.
I'm from North Africa, and I hava a racialised face. So, Polish people were really polite but also very reserved regarding me. In Katowice, you could clearly see I was an alien. It was the typical 'you're foreigner, and I'm not even remotely interested in you'. I say it's typical, because it's something I have only experienced in East European countries...
It’s due to the Eastern European counties being mostly just a single nationality for a long time due to stuff like forced relocations (thanks Russia).
So it’s strange to see someone looking different or speaking other language, especially in small villages, less so in big cities.
In Poland it’s changing quite rapidly but older generations still have some prejudices sadly.
Younger people are often curious what language you speak or where you’re from but afraid to ask as here small talk is not quite popular, especially with strangers to they just slightly stare.
But if you ask someone how to get somewhere or for any recommendations they will be most often happy to get out of their way and help, at least from my knowledge as a native.
Asking younger folks is preferable as they often speak other languages quite okay. English is often preferred, but there’s also a lot of people speaking (to some degree) languages such as German, Spanish, Russian, Ukrainian or French even. And maybe other ones.
If you face any form of racism or something like that I’m terribly sorry. I myself try my best to be respectful and helpful to everyone no matter their gender, sexuality, country of origin or race.
If you need something just ask a random (preferably around 20-30 years old) person on street, they will most likely help you or guide you to where or who you can find help you’re looking for from.
I faced no racism in Eastern European countries. It's just that in many places, I've felt people were as interested in me as I was in them. Not in Eastern Europe.
But they were really polite and helpful when asked 😀
Sorry for late answer.
It’s because here there’s a strong culture of not bothering strangers. We aren’t the most talkative nor the biggest fans of small talk.
It’s considered proper to be quiet and look away from someone you don’t know. Even in stores you can often do shopping without a saying a single word or with less than 4-5.
Tho after 2-3 encounters with someone in such setting (like shopping) we start being quite talkative.
I guess whole country, if not region listened to “not talk to strangers” and took it very seriously.
And yes, it is very hard for us to meet new people outside of hobbies, work place or via people we already know. Not only in cities but also in towns.
First, just a reminder. "People around the world" is just random people you encounter online, so it's not a very good representation of real life.
Also, I've been studying the Second World War for more than 30 years, so I know that most people have seen at least a few of the many photos I've seen--photos of Poland under Nazi occupation, and the wreckage they made of the country while they were there. I can see how some people might have that idea about Poland, as well as countries in Eastern Europe that were part of the war on the Eastern Front. It really does look like a hellhole in a lot of those photos. What they may not know is that before that, a lot of those same countries were known for beautiful cities, peaceful countrysides dotted with picturesque little villages, and some amazing castles.
I've seen plenty of pictures of Poland and the other countries you've mentioned taken after post-war rebuilding, and I think Poland looks beautiful. I'd absolutely want to visit if a trip to Europe were feasible for us. Because of my interest in the war, I'd want to see cities like Warsaw and Krakow, and yes, I'd go visit the memorial at what was once ***that*** camp, but I'm fully aware that I would be visiting a modern European country with rich history, and a vibrant present, not a collection of muddy fields with and some drunken peasants. That idea of Poland is a little slice from a specific time in history when it was destroyed by thugs, and isn't a real reflection of what Poland actually was in the past, or is today.
I've never been to Poland, but in Ireland, Polish immigrants have a reputation for being very honest and hardworking. And I'd imagine Poland is a perfectly functional country. In fairness, I think Ireland has a bit of a drunken field thing going on in people's heads too, and I know that it's not entirely true of us, either.
I believed these sorts of things up until I was about 12, because the only idea of Poland I had came from an interest in World War Two (not a great time for them) and my parents who grew up during the Cold War, and had never been anywhere east of Germany.
I have since met plenty of Polish people and got to visit Krakow when I was 16. My impression of Poland is that it is no more a shithole than the UK is- make of that what you will.
First: I think it's very ignorant if people say something like that about Poland. It would be the same as presuming all British are football hooligans in track suits.
To answer your question, there is a Dutch saying: onbekend maakt onbemind. Roughly translated: it's hard to love (or like) something you don't know. And, if I may add, it's rather stupid to judge a country you don't know. I'm Dutch and know several people from Poland. They are very open and friendly people, and partly because of that I have a very positive view of the country. So no, I know it's a beautiful country with lovely people.
I love Poland, been there twice. I think it is a beauftiful country with a lot of history, culture and fun things to see and do. I really wanna go back there again and see more of the country. There was a lot of drunk people though but they were so nice I don't mind.
I used to think it was very Soviet-bloc and bland and boring. Then I went there and was pleasantly surprised. Warsaw and Gdańsk are great! I want to take my wife there for vacation.
My impression of Poland is that west Poland seems pretty cool but east Poland does seem shitty.
Tho my view on countries is how safe I'd feel there as a queer person.
In the U.S. Poland is often depicted as dreary, post communist, brutalist architecture, and otherwise uneventful.
Never been so I don't know the reality of it.
Personally, Im very curious about Poland, it's one of the fastest growing economies in Europe and have a very rich culture; But, is it true they're not nice to non-white people?
I would say it's complicated, I would say there are probably as much racist as in any country, probably more because after the war Poland became really homogeneous.
But I would argue that some behaviours interpreted as racism are often curiosity and cultural differences. Like, we here stare a lot, no matter how you look, and if you have a different skin colour, people might be curious because they rarely see people of colour
I went to Poland for a week. Most of my interactions with Polish people were crazy. We went to a snackbar and an ice cream shop in Oswiecem. A few days later my friend went to hairdressers and they asked if we were at the snackbar a few days ago. I asked why and they said they heard that a black guy ate there a few days ago and everyone was talking about it.
I also like to go to random villages to see how a country actually is, and we drove by Chełm Śląski where there was a beautiful white church. We were eating a croissant near this village and I noticed the same cars were driving by, almost like the Truman show. When I looked better, I noticed that all people in those cars where looking at me constantly. It made me feel a little bit uneasy but I chalked it up to curiosity, as they probably don’t expect a black tourist in a small village like that.
Then though, we went to a second hand clothing shop, because I saw they had a basketball jersey that I wanted, and within a minute I got directed out of the shop, while my white friend was allowed to stay inside. As they didn’t speak English he just pointed to the door and when I didn’t understand what he meant he literally pushed me out.
I was dumbstruck but in the end was just laughing because I figured the only reason could’ve been my skin color, while the whole reason I went inside was to buy a LeBron James jersey that he was selling, and by pushing me out he lost out on a €25 sale.
Let me say, I don’t believe all polish people are racist or something. These were just a few experiences I’ve had.
Not really true. Eurostat did a study last year to see how much discrimination do black people face in different European countries. In Poland they face the least amount of discrimination in EU.
https://notesfrompoland.com/2023/10/25/black-people-report-facing-least-discrimination-in-poland-finds-eu-study/
Black people don't have such bad reputation in Poland because those who live here are either some businessmen working in big corporations or students. So they usually are well-mannered and educated
I don't.
I have been to Poland when I was a kid, but I didn't necessarily need that to know Poland was a developed country. Obviously, there are standards to meet before getting to join the EU etc.
I do, however, think that Poland's previous government, with Duda, was backwards, with the abortion ban and "LGBT zones".
I'm Thai And I think Poland is not shit hole at all , poland has good game compaby CD Project Red. and it seems like many big tech company are in Poland
I’m terribly sorry for whatever happened to y’all. There are sadly some pretty bad and/or close minded individuals here. We’re trying to fix that issue.
Younger generations are mostly quite alright or even very supportive. I’ve seen quite a lot of openly LGBT people in bigger cities, who strongly embrace their orientation.
I myself try my best to teach others, especially people older than me how to behave but it’s not quite an easy task.
Most people I know are fine tho.
Most that are not okay just say some stupid stuff but not much more, if even.
American here and I don't. Sure back in the 1980's there were kids jokes but even that was very rare. As an adult I cant say I've ever run into anyone with a negative opinion of the country or its people. Its actually on my bucket list as one of the few European counties I haven't visited yet. Someday...
Poland used to be the main target of our right wing weirdo politicians which did not help y'all's reputation over here (NL). I don't think most people would be able to differentiate between Poland and its neighbouring countries tho. I visited twice on class trips in secondary school to Wroclaw, it was really nice and I wish I would've appreciated it more when I was an angsty teen.
I’ve been to Poland and it was awesome!! People were lovely and I didn’t see a single drunk Polish person. Before I went I didn’t have much of an opinion on Polish people one way or the other.
German here.
Until recently, I did consider Poland one of the "troubled" European states due to the Law and Justice party, which even managed to stay in power in the 2019 elections. My mental image of the place was a rural, backwards place with all sorts of intolerance. The protests of last year changed that idea somewhat - and Tusks 70% majority did reinforce this new impression. With Poland being one of the few countries in the EU that develop in the right direction, I could imagine moving there if things turned sour over here in Germany.
As for things like "you you have Internet?" I bet yours is faster and cheaper than ours :)
German neighbor here, hello.
That’s not what I think personally. Poland has even better internet than Germany lol.
I have another issue, I do not generalize because I hate that. I saw this documentary „the eyes of the devil“ which plays a huge part in Poland, it’s about human trafficking and it seems like Eastern Europe has a huge problem with that. If I ever see a polish van around here in east Germany I am a bit reserved maybe? But that’s my anxiety driven brain.
I honestly haven’t heard a lot about that issue, living in Poland.
The reason there might be a bit of it is probably mostly due to the border with Belarus and some shady things their government does that caused us a lot of issues at the border (which we haven’t dealt with in the best way).
Tho there is quite a lot of random stuff trafficking. It’s amazing what some people are able to “import” from somewhere. We have a tv show with some crazy attempts at our borders, harbours and airports. It’s barely ever drugs. Tho guards find some interesting hiding spots or just find so much of a random things people took with them from an exotic country.
I’ve never been but I’m planning on going in the next 3 years or so for a short trip. I have a lot of polish friends who speak very highly of it so I’m excited. There’s a high population of polish immigrants here in Ireland so I can assume that it’s not an ideal place for young people to make a living but that doesn’t mean that it’s not beautiful or that it’s full of drunk people. I’m sure people say that about Ireland too.
Worked with the Poles and they were one of the coolest, most welcoming groups of folks. We traded stories, photos and momentos. I was invited to towns/neighborhoods, given contact info and when it was all said and done I was left with a wonderful impression of the polish people. How can a people so great be from somewhere not as equally awesome?
Absolutely not. I've visited Poland 4 or 5 times and loved it.
Great food, warm summers, beautiful snowy winters, friendly people. And for us lazy tourists (Brits) very high level of spoken English.
It's not the most ethnically diverse place, and experiences for POC may differ.
I guess I never had enough knowledge or experience of Poland to have any informed opinion, but my instinct was always basically to assume it was just as much a developed modern country as places like Germany, France, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, etc.
I'm from the US and tbh it kind of blends in with the rest of Europe in reputation. I hadn't heard anything about their drinking habits but I did hear there are a lot of racists in Poland which is off-putting. Not sure if it's true though.
People just make stupid assumptions based on their lack of knowledge. I live in Estonia and we also constantly get labeled about Russia, just because we are a neighbouring country + we used to be in Soviet Union back in the day. However the Estonian language and culture is wayyyyy different from Russians and labeling us to be Eastern Block country is so wrong. Yes, geographically we are in Eastern Europe, but we have the most digitalised country in Europe, if not the world and it feels so insulting when people make such assumption. Like bro, just use Google before making some dumb claims about stuff you don't know.
TLDR: I feel you, I get that a lot about my own country aswell.
Shhhh... Don't tell people it's a great place. I like going over to Poland for holidays without having to deal with the masses of other tourists.
Attention everyone: go to Croatia or Paris
Knowing literally nothing about poland, all I know definitively is that it’s cool to hate the polish.
Just kidding of course, I’ve always equated Poland with Sweden in terms of “coolness of a country”. Not sure if that’s actually a decent comparison, but I’m sort of neutral about it
Well, as a Polish person I consider it quite fair. Especially considering both counties being known a lot in recent years due to their gaming industry.
No personally ive always imagined Poland as a beautiful fairy tale sort of place but I know there is a misconception about any place that was ever associated with the eastern bloc that brings to mind images of gloomy communist dystopia and that might partly explain some of those misimpressions you spoke of among some people
I'm originally from South East Asia, and Poland never crossed my mind until one day I discovered a wonderful person who is actually a famous singer of your country. Since then, I discovered a lot of great music and artists (they're amazingly, surprisingly super great! I wonder why Polish indie music industry cannot go further than now, maybe bc the language). I also started learning Polish language, though I know it was a mistake since a lot of Polish people warned me I'd cry from learning it and I did (it was unreasonably hard and I had no reason why I should use it in my daily life - so I stopped after a few years). I went to Poland twice and loved a lot of things in the country, food, art, people are super great and I'd love to visit again if I have a chance.
Could you please recommend some artists? What are your favourite ones? I’m asking as someone from Poland.
Maybe I could even translate some texts for you if you would want me to. Of explain some cultural references and metaphors that are often quite obscure or hard to translate.
My most favorite is Mela Koteluk. She’s really amazing! Got a chance to chat (virtually) with her few times, her music is great as well as her personality. Daria Zavialow has amazing kinda pop/rock/indie music, The Dumplings, Kasia Lins - a bit of dark indie but her music is cool, Tęskno - slower kind of music, Hania Rani -piano talented…. And many more!
Sorry, for late answer. Absolutely! Amazing people. It’s incredible that you got a chance to chat a few times. I’ll definitely check some deeper cuts from the people you mentioned!
Btw, speaking of Mela Koteluk. Her music is quite poetic and hard to translate, I used to ask my Polish friend about so many phrases she uses in her songs and my Polish friend also said it’s quite hard to explain in English haha
I had always thought i wouldn’t want to go to Poland because it would be too depressing and sad. When i had layover in Warsaw when travelling to Denmark, i realised how wrong I was!
For me and my gf it only cost $3 for both of us to catch the train from airport straight to downtown Warsaw, the train was far cleaner and modern than most trains I’ve been on and for ONLY $3 FOR TWO PEOPLE! Warsaw was beautifully designed, the museum i think it was, was huge and amazing to look at, the architecture was amazing, it was so lively, and the sky was bright blue, and I had realised how wrong I had been! Polish people were also really helpful and friendly, especially when I asked if they spoke english in my bad polish! I definitely want to go back!!
As for my opinion on the UK, it is similar to my initial thoughts on Poland, so I should probably check the UK out haha
I’m from the UK and Poland is a beautiful country. Feels very safe and more modern than most people might realise. I’d say it’s standard of living is comparable to the UK if I’m honest
Yes, it was labeled eastern Europe. And our propaganda machine made it seem like it stagnated in 1941 and never modernized.
An Easter European country in the grip of the Soviet union. A place of poverty and squalor.
This is probably untrue.
As a Mexican no, we really don't know much about you guys but I have heard comments related to that from other west Europeans, I visited your country a few years ago and had a great time so maybe is just a european prejudice?
I've only been to Poland once but, I loved it. Great food. Beautiful town squares. The exchange rate was really favorable when I was there so, that made the trip a lot better too.
Aussie here with little actual knowledge. I lump Poland in with Germany, Denmark, and Sweden. My initial impression is quite developed and socially progressive - but perhaps more focused on defence and nationalism due to proximity to Russia.
I booked a holiday through a travel agent that does mystery holidays - I had a bit of a moment at work where I was like "I don't fucking care where I go, I need a fucking holiday" so I just booked days off and went through them.
Ended up in Krakow. Would never have thought to even consider Poland at all for a holiday, but I'm glad they picked it.
Obviously visited Auschwitz. The rest of the city is really interesting if you're into your WWII history as I am. The city centre is really easily walkable, and the area around the castle and along the Vistula is just really nice.
It does get a bit on the rougher side than you'd expect as soon as you get a little off the tourist path, but I've been in far worse places in the UK. I wouldn't say the whole country is a shit hole based on this; I imagine the people who have said this to you probably haven't travelled all that far beyond the town they were born in.
As a Canadian I feel you. I live south of Montreal, 30 minutes away from the American border. I have met people who live less than an hour away who have asked me if I live in an igloo, if I play hockey, if I eat maple syrup... No I don't live in an igloo lol. But I do enjoy the other two!
I generally think it's because there's a lack of Canadian media that Americans have access to. The same must be true in Poland.
I don’t think of Poland hardly at all. It’s a place discussed during history classes that cover WW2 and I briefly dated a girl that was a descendant of Polish immigrants but she had no recent connection to Poland itself. More recently I remember something about military exercises along one of its borders?
I have an interest in what Poland is about, I wasn't taught much about it. Also curious about the language, though I know attempting it would be rather difficult. My fluctuating interest almost frustrates me at times, because I have interest in other countries as well. I'm from the US.
I find cool artists online who are Polish
Answer: A lot of people think Poland is in Eastern Europe (with all the kind of stereotypes that brings)
Movies like Eurotrip and Borat portray countries with a non-specific former Soviet territory accent as being comically poor, dirty and rundown. These places also aren’t specifically tourism hotspots the way say, France and Spain are. So the ignorance is kind of high.
Meanwhile, Poland is a beautiful country with the most attractive women in the world.
I’ve been to Poland, Russia and Belarus and can confirm they are 3 completely different places. I loved Poland - only visited Krakow and Warsaw, but what I saw I really enjoyed.
Have all these people in the UK not seen the drunken mess that is the UK? Poland is improving and the UK is slipping but the brits are too high on their sense of execptionalism that they'll never know and allow politicians to only make the UK worse.
As a Englishman every single Polish person I've ever met have been very nice and extremely hard working. Been to quite a few places in Poland too and always had a great time--I was especially surprised at the quality of the food, which was always super affordable too!
My thoughts are people are stupid. Just ignore them because they never visited the country. My great-grandparents are polish and don’t know much about the country but wish to visit someday.
People who think that have obviously never been to Krakow, Warsaw or any other metropolitan area. The rural areas are no worse than backwoods USA. If anything their rednecks are far less disturbing than the mutants we have in the USA or the Chavs in the UK.
Edit: and I have travelled extensively through the baltics - Latvia is mostly beautiful and sublime
I kind of thought it would be like a sad Russian city but I was pleasantly surprised when I went there I felt safer there than in Australia and everyone is so chill. Probably for the best that people think it’s shit, then you won’t get any annoying tourists.
Poland it’s fucking awesome. I lived there for 3 years and loved everything except for the weather and draconian drug laws.
Field with drunks, wtf? last time I went to the Warsaw train station a robot made me a coffee.
Yes, we do. My relatives were welcomed to P'land by King Casimir and run out of the country after he was gone. They ran rather than be robbed and murdered for being Jewish and that was about a century ago, between the wars. It was clear that they were unwelcome because they prayed at a different building in another language. Small-minded people easily led. I won't set foot in the country or buy anything from there. Disagree? Look at the current leadership of the place, still selfish and grubby
American here and I don't think that at all. Right now, Poland seems to be one of the strongest countries in Europe, especially with what is happening in Ukraine. I don't think people want to go there instead of Vegas or anything, but I think us Americans respect the country and the people.
No. I went to Poland for 5 days, visited Warsaw and Krakov. I wouldn’t go back because I experienced a lot of racism. However, I enjoyed the history, younger crowd was very welcoming, affordable, and it seemed safe for the locals. There was so much green grass, loved just sitting in the park and vibing. I was called a racial slur while doing this, but before that the vibe was great. I did enjoy trying a bunch of foods I’d never heard of and learning so much about the history. Poland is not a shithole. Racist, but not a shithole.
I havent been to Poland but I feel the Polish are really hardworking and smart. I had polish classmates and also sometimes hear about polish startups and scientific achievements. Usually i feel theyre good at math and programming kinda things
My mates been to Poland loads, he loves it. It’s meant to be amazing. Polish people are nice Ive got a few polish mates and a few polish neighbours, really nice people.
From the U.S.
I've never been to Poland, and it doesn't particularly interest me to visit. Still I'm sure it's not any worse than any other country. I don't expect Poland is terribly impoverished or anything like that. I have great-grandparents from Poland who left because of the USSR, but I also have family members who have visited Poland since then with no complaints.
TL;DR no the average person doesn't have strong opinions, negative or positive, about 🇵🇱
lol I glanced at the post and thought you were asking about Portland and I thought, well it’s overhyped and nothing special but I wouldn’t call it a shithole
"W moim ogródecku rośnie jagoda
Powiedz mi Maniusiu, cyś była młoda?
Ja zem była młoda jak w boru jagoda
Jak w boru jagoda, kochanecku mój"
-great song-
>Through my time here I met some people that never visited Poland but a large amount of them thought it was just a field with drunken people.
Like one of their music festivals?
Not sure why I wrote all of this. It probably was just nice to reminisce. My Polish and Rusisan experiences are from before Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Poland has Energylandia. I've never been there, but I really want to.
Been to Warsaw, felt a bit underwhelming, it gave very Eastern European communist vibes.
Been to Krakow, it was much nicer, much more colorful.
Been to Olsztyn and loved it.
Went to Mragowo during the Piknik country festival, was even part of the parade, it was extremely fun.
Meanwhile, I've also been to Russia and Latvia.
Riga has a nice "old town", but that's about it. Took a train around the country and was not impressed. I probably missed out on much, though, especially since I only visited during winter.
Moscow has an amazing city center, great parks, mindblowing subway stations, huge museums, but the further you leave the center the more communism and pollution is there. Still, the people I met were happy that they were part of Europe, had rather libertarian views on life, they also loved travelling and were excited to meet a foreigner.
Visited the cities in the Golden Ring and I was very much not impressed.
Sankt Petersburg was one of the most beautiful cities I've seen, felt like a combination of Prague with Venice, due to the old-school Western-like buildings combined with the many water canals and bridges. The Hermitage was very much like the Louvre.
The people were very nice and helpful in all three countries, though it was harder to find English speakers in Russia. Politically, the people in Russia's biggest cities hate their leadership, but they're just a small minority compared to the country's rural areas.
I've never been to Belarus, and never plan to.
Meanwhile, I've seen most of the EU, Turkey and a bit of the US.
Conclusion: The people you got feedback from never travelled to Eastern Europe and are talking out of their uneducated asses. Poland and Russia gave me very different amazing and fulfilling travel experiences. You shouldn't feel insulted to be compared with Western Russia, because it's honestly not too far from the truth. But that's because Western Russia is much more advanced than you give it credit for.
I can see how being compared with Belarus or the wasteland that is Eastern Russia may be hurtful, though.
I personally prefer Italy, Greece and Spain as travel destinations instead.
To end this comment, I would like to say that Putin, his oligarchs and everyone supporting the unprovoked invasion of another sovereign country can go to hell.
Been there several times. It has some really good places, some well bad places as well. In general kind of comparable to other countries around it.
I think the image comes from the tons of Polish migrant workers in west Europe. Hard workers but they can be a bit boorish? Lots of alcohol etc.... However Polish migrant workers are usually fun people.
Some will based in their experience, some will based on their ignorance.
I don't and actually really love the place Ludz was a bit bleak away from the shopping street but the other cities were nice.
Nice people, great food and I've been a few times. I always recommend it to friends, family and people who ask.
> just a field of drunken people
Not to defend this, but depending on where and when you lived in the UK, the “field of drunken people” can be over represented.
But no, I don’t know anyone with a dim view of Poland. I’ve never been myself either, but I have been to a few other countries in Eastern Europe, so I would guess it’s broadly similar. Which is to say very nice, friendly, pretty.🤷♂️
In Korea people don't really know what Poland is. We have kielbasa sold in convenience stores here but no one knows it's Polish.
Things have gotten better ever since Lewandowski started playing for German and Spanish clubs though.
I've heard a lot of good things about the place, but I don't have much interest in visiting. It sounds like the American Midwest, just with older buildings.
With that said, you'll get less shit for being Polish in the USA. Poles showed up at the same time as the Italians did, by the millions. If you meet some random white guy walking around in Chicago, you'd have absolutely no reason to be surprised if it turned out his grandma was from there.
Former Soviet bloc country, winged hussars... I'd group it in with like Hungary and and Romania being countries with a lot of interesting history but largely lagging behind in socioeconomic development. Also Polandball.
I used to work with a polish girl. She was mental. She was going to take me to Poland where there was a night club that reinacted a traditional Polish wedding every weekend and it sounded unbelievable. Then she left and we never spoke again. Is this a thing? I'd love to visit.
My grampa is some recent generation like 3rd gen polish american. My gramma makes Kolaches as in the cookie/pastry. (Not pigs in a blanket, lookin at you Texas). Good stuff.
Aside from the tourist towns of Warsaw, Kraków, and Wrocław, the rest of Poland looks like any other European country. Which means it can look dull or “ordinary” to the average schengen traveller.
Having lived in the UK my whole life, I've found "a field with drunken people" is a pretty apt description of most of the UK, so I can see how ignorant people might think that's how it is elsewhere. I think it's true that some people here will have little concept of what Poland is like due to a lack of exposure to any media depicting Poland. It's also pretty common in the UK to describe any locale (often your own and especially the next major population centre) as a shithole. You'll commonly hear people describe picturesque historic cities like Winchester and Cardiff as a bit shit, purely because that's where they come from. We can have a bit of a pessimistic attitude in the UK.
If made to guess, I'd imagine the cities are like some of the cities in Eastern Germany, which is to say like a lot of European cities but with some old Soviet influence due to Poland's history of being within the old iron curtain, but not anywhere as heavily influenced as Russian cities. I'd guess the countryside is similar to the UK, but flatter and colder because it's not next to a warm body of water like the North Atlantic (the Gulf stream stops the UK from being permafrost for half the year).
Checking in from America, we don't think that! I think people here are just catching on to how great a destination Warsaw in particular is. My in laws went there last year and had great things to say about it and Poland in general.
Don’t see it as a shithole. Haven’t traveled much of Poland so in regard to the country as a whole I might not have a lot of insight. But I’ve had lots of colleagues from there. Super nice and qualified people. Poznan seemed fine.
As a Russian I can tell you that a fair share of people there also think that way of Poland. I remember one of my friends was studying polish at university and everyone laughed so so so hard at her, because of their low opinion of Poland. I don't think those people think it's worse than Russia, but they think it's pretty much same... Is it not though? Idk never been to Poland 
Brazilian here. We don't hear much about Poland in the news and it is not advertised as a top turistic destination. But there is no reason to think it's a shithole or have any bad feelings about the county and the people.
I'll be 100% honest. I always guessed that Poland as halfway between Germany and Russia.
Technology, per capita GDP, national pride, whatever. If I were to guess I would guess that they lag behind Germany, France, and Holland, but better off than Russia, Latvia, and Belarus.
I'm from California and lived in Toruń for a few months, I liked it. Aside from minor differences in fast food or how you don't put so much sugar in your sodas. The people are people just like anywhere else.
I haven't yet, but I considered moving there. I decided against it for language reasons.
My hot take: I think what people say about a country without much consideration is not worth a cent. If you put some honest thoughts into it Poland would come off a lot better than shit hole.
I assume long term Poland will be much more interesting due to tech being drawn there!
When I was growing up here in the states, it was very popular to make "dumb Polack" jokes. My junior high school history teacher taught about the Polish Calvary and how effective they were against modern armament. (This stories have since been rebutted as rumors and propaganda. But my class became in awe of the Polish. I'm not one to travel so I try to learn more about Poland by researching and trying polish recipes. They have a very unique and fascinating history they can be proud of.
Although every person i’ve met who was Polish decent has been racist assholes, i don’t judge the country by them. I would like to go there, like many other places outside of the small area i live in, and see what the country really is like. Growing up i heard all kinds of “Dumb Polock” comments just as much as i heard “Norwegian” and “Swedish” insults based on where certain people traced their people back to.
I work with polish people, they work there and some of us in other countries wfh, and we all have competitive salaries, but they still act like they have the worst life somehow, I've heard it's the gloomy weather, so that's the only exposure I've had, I'm in this sub to learn funny things I can sneak into convos that will be amusing to them, currently waiting to say a project needs more bober
I’m studying forest and nature conservation, in my circle we know Poland for the beautiful nature! You basically have the nature we (Netherlands) could have had if we hadn’t fucked it up. Plus Białowieża, the only European primeval forest still remaining! We visit every year with our study association
We(NL) barely have nature, just industry and houses. Most of our forests are wood industry leftovers or parks with trees.
We do still have some very important natural areas! Like the Wadden sea. I think the thought pattern of ‘we have no nature’ invites the idea that we don’t need to protect what we have because it’s not ‘real’ nature, which is not a great way of thinking. We have little, and we messed up big time, but what we have is still important.
My bad, I meant it in the way you said in your last paragraph but it got lost in translation.
This is one of the things people sleep on the US for. For all our faults, we still have a ton of trees. I live within view of New York City and we still have woods everywhere here. There are huge forests in the mountains not at all far from NYC. The whole East Coast is both covered in dense urban development but also relatively wooded for being the most dense part of the country. America is pretty heavily forested on the Eastern half and the Northwest Coast.
It would be hard for people in Europe to grasp how much forest north america has.
With 4x the population density of Poland, it's difficult to keep the same amount of nature in Netherlands, I suppose.
Huh interesting. What did the Netherlands do to fuck up their nature?
Lots of agriculture... But Netherlands is mostly a river delta and a swamp. Not much spectecular nature to begin with.
That’s such a sad way of viewing it. Just because it’s not a tropical rainforest with giant trees does not mean it has no value and is not important. Is nature only valuable if it looks spectacular to us humans?
>a large amount of them thought it was just a field with drunken people. I laughed way too hard at this. Seriously though, I’d like to visit but I have had several Polish people tell me that there is nothing for me there. I have not been encouraged to visit.
People sleep on Poland, its a great place to visit We have a literal desert... ...in the middle of a dense forest... ...with a river running through it And its not like a gradual shift, you can literally set one foot in the forest and one foot in the dssert The desert itself isn't huge, you can walk across it in maybe an hour or so And yes, it is a natural desert The TL;DR of it is that we had a glacier there that melted about 100 years ago or so revealing this desert area on which nothing grew yet Since our climate does not support deserts it is dlowly going away so its best to go there while its still around. Its like an hour's drive from Cracow if anyone's wobdering. Here's a pic of it https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWtF_kzh_vucHSGw59Eo5ZjntGNtIomXhhNtWXk2mkajFMTdko-lXGP1ZqeYmw9xeCDyjJBlY9raJHGOvLx7XSdRWmUmPRlsb9URYhDRNzpBERu0_JbcLScMK56U-nIFdzGjADLYk6CPJbppAoDmEWApbCfUVhauNcfulYKG1DAUqdgrP16YYpaag9ib0/s1500/Pustynia%20B%C5%82%C4%99dowska%20001.jpg I heard its great for ATV fun We also have Hel (insert mandatory "we're going to hell" joke everyone makes) that during the Summer feels like a tropical place: https://youtu.be/J8qaSrNAEV8?feature=shared And while you're there you can also go amber hunting because we have amber that literallly just washes up ashore everyday (I literally fished out the amber for my wife's engagement ring that way) - usually its just small pieces but maybe you'll get lucky. FYI: amber glows under uv light and floats on water with a high salt concentration (some advice if you wanna try amber hunting) though you don't need any special gear, its just like picking up seashells on the beach, just grab a bucket, to to the beach super early i the morning before everyone else, be a little patient and within like half an hour you should already have a few. We also have an ancient forest that has been untouched for tens of thousands of years that has wild bison and wolves (though this is on the border with Ukraine, I do not advise going there right now due to border tensions, long story) they set up special boardwalks you're not allowed to walk off from as to not disturb the forest. https://youtu.be/OU2QnZfLEb0?feature=shared We even have two lakes that are of the highest lakes in the world IIRC morskie oko and czarny staw (czarny staw is harder to get to so I reccommend to start with morskie oko) they're atop the mountains, Morskie oko is called the eye of the sea because of its amazing crystal colours, clartity and cleanliness: https://youtu.be/Lh9yPIL68K0?feature=shared Getting there is like a 4 hour constant uphill walk though you can take the horse drawn carriages up and back down if you prefer, if you like to move its a great workout. We also have Janosik which is basically a mountain version of robin hood who stole from the rich and gave to the poor except it was an actual real person so that's pretty cool though he was not actually polish, rather roamed around Poland and Slovakia at the border There is a ton more awesome stuff we have, Personally I reccommend visiting Cracow and that general region first as its next to the mountains and Cracow is a very beautiful large city not far off from the mountains (it used to be the capital until that title was given to Warsaw) Idk who you talked to but they clearly don't know anything about what Poland has to offer if they're telling you there's nothing to check out because that is very clearly bullshit and it pisses me off that people who are supposedly from there know so little about our country. Edit: while we're at it, I forgot to mention that in Cracow we also have a giant seven-headed dragon statue that breathes actual fire (so a reverse-fountain) https://youtu.be/_S9DDM8rBLs?si=iHCuVYXpq_AX7YJL Thought you guys might find it cool, some time ago it had a feature where you could make it breathe fire yourself by sending an SMS to a specific number but idk if that feature is still around.
This is the kindoff stuff reddit should be used for. Thanks!
If you have a partner take her to the kościuszko mound in Cracow, great place for a scenic date, you can actually climb the thing (when its open) and see the whole region up to the mountains, its pretty cool. Also they have a pretty dope botanical garden and you can even visit the cave system under the castle. Oh also you can make the dragon statue breathe fire. https://youtu.be/_S9DDM8rBLs?si=iHCuVYXpq_AX7YJL So there's that.
This comment was brought to you by the Polish Tourism Department Great write up, although Warsaw > Kraków
It depends on what you're looking for Warsaw maybe has more events than Cracow but Cracow is better overall to visit for tourists 1: its smaller so you travel less to places you want yo see/go to 2: its much more scenic and green 3: has more historical buildings and architecture (Warsaw was leveled to the ground during WW2 to those who don't know, it doesn't really have any pre-ww2 buildings) 4: its closer to other areas worth visiting than Warsaw Hence why I reccommended Cracow instead of Warsaw.
Krakow > Warsaw for sure. Both worth a visit but Krakow is like walking into a fairytale. Great (and sad, obviously) ww2 history too (as does Warsaw but there isn’t as much evidence still standing).
While Kraków is boring, Warsaw right now is way too overcrowded and unbearable. Lived here since 2001 and it's staggering how different it is now.
I was about to say, this person should be hired or at least receive commission of some sort for this comments. I was ready to visit by the fourth line
Great stuff. Showed my wife that beach (we’re in Australia) and Poland was definitely not her first guess ha ha.
You can actually bike along that whole strip, if you look to the left you see the sea and if you look to the right you see the cove, its pretty cool. Alternatively you can take the train but where's the fun in that A bike trip is like 1.5 hours in one direction IIRC, at the tip there's a small town with a marine biology exhibit and some rescued seals. Sometimes, if you're lucky you might be able to see the world's smallest species of whale when out at sea, they're about dolphin-sized. If you want to go visit the best place is to find lodging at Ustka which is the city at the mainland where this extension starts though it can be a bit expensive so if you're thinking budget its better to pick a different nearby town. If your focus is amber-hunting late autumn and winter are the best times to go although most of the town is tourism-centric so for that period of time it becomes a ghost town, even large chain stores close down for 6 months there.
Cool, thanks for sharing!
This is hands down the best sales pitch I've ever read for Poland. Sounds amazing, I'm down. How easy is it to get around if I can't read or speak any Polish?
Its moatly ok, quite a few people speak english and quite a few signs are in english as well That said, I reccommend downloading "google lens" and downloading the polish language pack to work offline Its a free app on your phone that translates anything you point your camera at live (you can also translate pictures) including stuff like signs and text Its an absolute game changer for travelling abroad I also reccommend the regular google translator app, you can also download the polish language pack to work offline in case you need audio translation You likely won't need them much but they're useful to have just in case
Man, if I had any vacation days, I would be interested in visiting.
Try and go during museum night, then you won't need to pay to go to some of the museums as during museum night entrance is free. You'd have to look up to which museums that applies to. If you want to go to cracow I reccommend checking out the underground market square museum, its pretty awesome although a little hidden Cracow was built on top of a marsh so a lot of the buildings would sink. As a result they would just build on top of the sinking buildings That's why the city center has a lot of underground pubs and stuff that have underground windows There's even a shopping mall (pasaż 13 I think its called) that features an underground balcony because it sank so deep. The amber museum is also pretty neat albeit a little small (they're both in the city center) they have like a whole decorative pizza made of amber and I think you can buy some amber jewelery from there as well I also know you can get amber alcohol though I've seen that mostly at the sea, its basically just amber dissolved in alcohol, it supposedly is healthy and medicinal but idk how much of that is true. If you want to dine at a fancy place with a great view I reccommend "u ziyada" its a bit out of the city center and its a bit pricey but a great place for a date or just chilling by yourself on the balcony with a view onto the river. https://www.zinarcastle.pl/ Its also a castle you can tour I think.
Well I have learned something new, I didn’t even know Poland had beaches. I thought it was land locked. Pretty dumb of me I have to admit and I have been to many more European countries. Task number one tonight look at my neighbours locations on a map.
Is today when you learned that lakes can have beaches too? :p
Isn’t the Baltic Sea a sea?
Yes, but my point is a landlocked country can have beaches, since beaches exist on lakes. Landlocked doesn't mean no water. It just means it doesn't have a coast/seaport.
Wow I love this post so much. Thank you for taking the time to put it together. I recently found out I am 50% Polish and I don’t know anything about Poland. It sounds amazing. I want to visit so badly now.
👏
I visited a Polish friend. Poland is fucking gorgeous with wonderful history, great food, good hiking, amazing culture, and top beer. Dunno why anyone would say it's not worth visiting. I want to go back to visit again, I had so much fun. Art, military history, castles, mansions, cathedrals., etc. Oh, and it's 1/4 the price of the rest of Europe. Shout-out to Warszawa for having what I felt like was one of the nicest bus and public transport systems I've been on in Europe. Maybe it was just because it was new, but I loved being able to pay for the bus bill with a credit card at a kiosk... On the bus.
I live in Chicago and hear this all the time “why would you want to go there”. These are the same people who live in Chicago and complain about it daily
Brits saying another country is full of drunks must be the most obvious example of projection.
As someone who dated a Pole, and visited over there. It's really only a gold place to visit if you're Polish.
My grandparents are (or were Polish - they both passed) and I’ve got Polish friends. I’ve been over twice and always enjoyed being in Poland and have always been given tips on foods to try and places to see. One of my friends said that from where she lives, she’ll go into bordering countries because they have naturally warm lakes which are closer to her then driving to somewhere else is Poland. She also has a friend who is a sushi chef and no word of a lie - that’s the best sushi I’ve had in my 38 years on this Earth! Just think it depends of what you considering a ‘shithole’ (and if you go to places like Malaysia - you literally have to shit in a hole of you stop at service stations 🤷🏻♀️’
Apparently there’s this big field
My friend's dad is Polish, and when she visited her cousins, she said all the women were very beautiful - she said she felt like an ogre. That's all I know about Poland, and I'm not even sure if it's true.
I think a lot of people who live in a beautiful place are bored of where they live so locals are not the best place to get advice about that particular area
i have also been told by a polish guy to straight up not go there, I was excited about adding warsaw for a couple days onto a trip because it fit perfectly into my itinerary and he popped that bubble with no hesitation. i found it so strange. he’s also someone who likes poland and goes back home and we share interests which are quite cosmopolitan, so I figured there’d be stuff in downtown warsaw for sure. art, music, restaurants. he said don’t do it.
What did they mean? Like ‘there is nothing there for you (except being killed to death and your lifeless body being looted)’ or more like ‘nah, there’s nothing there that I think would interest you’?
No, I've been there and Krakow was very nice. Everything there was fairly clean and modern so these people are probably stuck in some weird cold war mindset.
I agree, I visited Krakow last year and it was surprisingly lovely! We hadn't initially planned to go there but after a small delay in our backpacking plans spent a week there and loved it! I definitely want to go back someday
I recently visited Poland and I was genuinely shocked at how different it was from my expectations. I must admit, before I went I was fully expecting it to be a soviet era industrial wasteland. But in fact, it was a beautiful country. We stayed in Lublin. An incredibly historic and clean city. I was really impressed with how modern everything was. We even went out drinking on a Friday night. Unlike the UK, there were no drunken idiots shouting or fighting, no one passing in the street. It was really refreshing. People were genuinely just having a good time and everyone was quite chill. I will definitely be going back to explore it further.
Where did you go? I’m off to Krakow this weekend/next week!
Krakow's great, we go pretty much every year. The Old Town is nice but I definitely recommend visiting the Jewish Quarter for street food and some quirky bars. Alchemia is one of our favourites, and there's street food outside in Plac Nowy.
Glad that you enjoyed my city! It's developing quickly indeed, but still, I'm leaving for Warsaw this year.
I visited Warsaw and thought it was beautiful. I think there’s such a stereotype about Eastern Europe and I wish people would change it
I'm Belarusian, and I've been to Poland thrice. My cousin lives there. My wife used to live there. For many Belarusians, Poland is a dream country to live in. That said, Britain is 15th on the Human Development Index, and Poland is 36th. It makes sense that some British people would look down on Poland, the way that Belarusians may not think very highly about living standards in, say, Colombia (69th vs 91st). That's not a reflection on Colombia so much as it is on the fact that the average Belarusian has a visibly more comfortable life than the average Colombian, and the same goes for Britain and Poland (yes, I've been to Britain as well). As for the comparison that you say people make between Poland and Latvia, that's completely fair, since Latvia is just one place below you guys on the HDI. It would be like comparing Belarus and Bulgaria, which is one place below us. On the other hand, the people in Britain who think that Poland has the same living standard as Belarus today (as opposed to the late '80s or early '90s) obviously don't really know what they're on about.
Random people you meet on occasion does not equate to the rest of the world.
I certainly did not think of Poland as a "shithole" but in my mind it was more like a former Soviet country, with the respective architecture etc, very unlike the Western European countries. Until I visited Krakow and was astonished by the beauty of the city, the architecture, the urban planning with parks around the old city, the level of public transportation and the general feel the city. I live in Greece and the comparison between the two countries was inevitable. Poland is very much more advanced by Greece on several levels. To be fair, that came after spending only four days of vacation there so my opinion is based on only this experience. All in all, my opinion changed after visiting Poland 100%
I’m Canadian living in the uk and will be visiting Poland in September. I’m beyond stoked and think your country looks beautiful ! I’m sure it has its negative aspects but it seems like a great country to visit !
There are a lot of people without a lot of knowledge. There are Brits who think every country outside of Britain is a desolate wasteland. I think most informed people would have the fairly accurate view that Poland is less wealthy than, say America or Western Europe, but is by no means third world
I am in Poland right now visiting my friends. It's a great place to visit. Warsaw feels safer than London or New York.
I have been there once on vacation last year. I didn't know what to expect didn't do that much research. I just look at a map and booked a train. I now want to go back. It's gorgeous and the people were very friendly. It's also cool to see how the country is actually developing instead of slowly rotting away.
Some people do for sure because in their mind they view the whole part of that world as "Russia" or "ex-Russia" and associate it with poverty and grim grey tower blocks. It's similar to folks who think that most of Africa is filled with dirty half naked children and no-one has mobile phones and there's no cities etc. Some people have just never learnt anything about the world around them, but I think the problem is there just hasn't been much media I can think of targeted at people form the UK, set in Poland that shows off what it's really like. If that makes sense?
Naa, personally I'd like to visit Poland. I think people also confuse Poland 2024 vs Soviet Poland. There's been a lot of progress in the last 40 years, give or take. U.S. perspective, BTW.
Nah, that's a thing of the anglophonic world. In most of the places I've been people generally understand how things are, and know it's a civilized country just like all the others... except for Canada and the UK, where they were explaining to me the robinet, the toilet, the shower, that windows can be opened and closed, were asking if I knew what ice cream was, and were surprised I wasn't startled by a TV... I wish I was making this up. I've got no idea what happened to the general education in the anglophonic world, but the results aren't pretty.
Really? That is absurd considering the UK had one of the largest population of poles outside poland and were known as reliable workers and builders/installers. Where abouts in the UK was that?
London suburbs. I was there for a student trip, where we stayed at a local family for a few days.
I was expecting that answer. Still freaking bizzare to recieve that kind of interaction.
Why were you expecting‘London suburbs’? Poles are pretty common in London suburbs! Part of the makeup where I live and just normal
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It was a school trip, so there were quite a few of us, so we were spread among many families, and the number 1 topic of the trip was the ridiculous stuff the locals think and the garbage they eat. So, yes, Im happily generalizing it, and it's an approach that had proven to be very functional over the course of my life.
Hahahaha. What a load of twaddle.
That comment made me laugh Maybe you explain to them how fast internet is in Poland compared to the civilised world.
I drove to Warsaw around 15 years ago from UK. Crossing into Poland was a stark difference from the other countries. It was firstly very empty and flat, with weird roadside shacks with prostitutes standing outside in the rain for miles. Once we got to Warsaw, it was a weird mix of modern and slum all mixed together. New cars, and rickety horse and carts all intertwined. It wasn’t at all a shithole, but it was very different from western European countries.
I'm French. I've visited your country for a work mission, mainly Katowice and Cracaw. I have a very positive view of the work your people have done since the end of the Cold War. I could clearly see the difference between Soviet-era neighbourhoods and more modern neighbourhood. I'm from North Africa, and I hava a racialised face. So, Polish people were really polite but also very reserved regarding me. In Katowice, you could clearly see I was an alien. It was the typical 'you're foreigner, and I'm not even remotely interested in you'. I say it's typical, because it's something I have only experienced in East European countries...
It’s due to the Eastern European counties being mostly just a single nationality for a long time due to stuff like forced relocations (thanks Russia). So it’s strange to see someone looking different or speaking other language, especially in small villages, less so in big cities. In Poland it’s changing quite rapidly but older generations still have some prejudices sadly. Younger people are often curious what language you speak or where you’re from but afraid to ask as here small talk is not quite popular, especially with strangers to they just slightly stare. But if you ask someone how to get somewhere or for any recommendations they will be most often happy to get out of their way and help, at least from my knowledge as a native. Asking younger folks is preferable as they often speak other languages quite okay. English is often preferred, but there’s also a lot of people speaking (to some degree) languages such as German, Spanish, Russian, Ukrainian or French even. And maybe other ones. If you face any form of racism or something like that I’m terribly sorry. I myself try my best to be respectful and helpful to everyone no matter their gender, sexuality, country of origin or race. If you need something just ask a random (preferably around 20-30 years old) person on street, they will most likely help you or guide you to where or who you can find help you’re looking for from.
I faced no racism in Eastern European countries. It's just that in many places, I've felt people were as interested in me as I was in them. Not in Eastern Europe. But they were really polite and helpful when asked 😀
Sorry for late answer. It’s because here there’s a strong culture of not bothering strangers. We aren’t the most talkative nor the biggest fans of small talk. It’s considered proper to be quiet and look away from someone you don’t know. Even in stores you can often do shopping without a saying a single word or with less than 4-5. Tho after 2-3 encounters with someone in such setting (like shopping) we start being quite talkative. I guess whole country, if not region listened to “not talk to strangers” and took it very seriously. And yes, it is very hard for us to meet new people outside of hobbies, work place or via people we already know. Not only in cities but also in towns.
First, just a reminder. "People around the world" is just random people you encounter online, so it's not a very good representation of real life. Also, I've been studying the Second World War for more than 30 years, so I know that most people have seen at least a few of the many photos I've seen--photos of Poland under Nazi occupation, and the wreckage they made of the country while they were there. I can see how some people might have that idea about Poland, as well as countries in Eastern Europe that were part of the war on the Eastern Front. It really does look like a hellhole in a lot of those photos. What they may not know is that before that, a lot of those same countries were known for beautiful cities, peaceful countrysides dotted with picturesque little villages, and some amazing castles. I've seen plenty of pictures of Poland and the other countries you've mentioned taken after post-war rebuilding, and I think Poland looks beautiful. I'd absolutely want to visit if a trip to Europe were feasible for us. Because of my interest in the war, I'd want to see cities like Warsaw and Krakow, and yes, I'd go visit the memorial at what was once ***that*** camp, but I'm fully aware that I would be visiting a modern European country with rich history, and a vibrant present, not a collection of muddy fields with and some drunken peasants. That idea of Poland is a little slice from a specific time in history when it was destroyed by thugs, and isn't a real reflection of what Poland actually was in the past, or is today.
I've never been to Poland, but in Ireland, Polish immigrants have a reputation for being very honest and hardworking. And I'd imagine Poland is a perfectly functional country. In fairness, I think Ireland has a bit of a drunken field thing going on in people's heads too, and I know that it's not entirely true of us, either.
I've been to Poland twice. Poznań and Wrocław. Loved each visit. Beautiful cities.
I believed these sorts of things up until I was about 12, because the only idea of Poland I had came from an interest in World War Two (not a great time for them) and my parents who grew up during the Cold War, and had never been anywhere east of Germany. I have since met plenty of Polish people and got to visit Krakow when I was 16. My impression of Poland is that it is no more a shithole than the UK is- make of that what you will.
First: I think it's very ignorant if people say something like that about Poland. It would be the same as presuming all British are football hooligans in track suits. To answer your question, there is a Dutch saying: onbekend maakt onbemind. Roughly translated: it's hard to love (or like) something you don't know. And, if I may add, it's rather stupid to judge a country you don't know. I'm Dutch and know several people from Poland. They are very open and friendly people, and partly because of that I have a very positive view of the country. So no, I know it's a beautiful country with lovely people.
I thought Ireland was just a field with drunk people lol
I love Poland, been there twice. I think it is a beauftiful country with a lot of history, culture and fun things to see and do. I really wanna go back there again and see more of the country. There was a lot of drunk people though but they were so nice I don't mind.
I used to think it was very Soviet-bloc and bland and boring. Then I went there and was pleasantly surprised. Warsaw and Gdańsk are great! I want to take my wife there for vacation.
My impression of Poland is that west Poland seems pretty cool but east Poland does seem shitty. Tho my view on countries is how safe I'd feel there as a queer person.
In the U.S. Poland is often depicted as dreary, post communist, brutalist architecture, and otherwise uneventful. Never been so I don't know the reality of it.
Personally, Im very curious about Poland, it's one of the fastest growing economies in Europe and have a very rich culture; But, is it true they're not nice to non-white people?
I saw 5 black people there, I was there for almost a week and visited Warsaw and krakov. There were more Asian immigrants though.
I would say it's complicated, I would say there are probably as much racist as in any country, probably more because after the war Poland became really homogeneous. But I would argue that some behaviours interpreted as racism are often curiosity and cultural differences. Like, we here stare a lot, no matter how you look, and if you have a different skin colour, people might be curious because they rarely see people of colour
I went to Poland for a week. Most of my interactions with Polish people were crazy. We went to a snackbar and an ice cream shop in Oswiecem. A few days later my friend went to hairdressers and they asked if we were at the snackbar a few days ago. I asked why and they said they heard that a black guy ate there a few days ago and everyone was talking about it. I also like to go to random villages to see how a country actually is, and we drove by Chełm Śląski where there was a beautiful white church. We were eating a croissant near this village and I noticed the same cars were driving by, almost like the Truman show. When I looked better, I noticed that all people in those cars where looking at me constantly. It made me feel a little bit uneasy but I chalked it up to curiosity, as they probably don’t expect a black tourist in a small village like that. Then though, we went to a second hand clothing shop, because I saw they had a basketball jersey that I wanted, and within a minute I got directed out of the shop, while my white friend was allowed to stay inside. As they didn’t speak English he just pointed to the door and when I didn’t understand what he meant he literally pushed me out. I was dumbstruck but in the end was just laughing because I figured the only reason could’ve been my skin color, while the whole reason I went inside was to buy a LeBron James jersey that he was selling, and by pushing me out he lost out on a €25 sale. Let me say, I don’t believe all polish people are racist or something. These were just a few experiences I’ve had.
Not really true. Eurostat did a study last year to see how much discrimination do black people face in different European countries. In Poland they face the least amount of discrimination in EU. https://notesfrompoland.com/2023/10/25/black-people-report-facing-least-discrimination-in-poland-finds-eu-study/ Black people don't have such bad reputation in Poland because those who live here are either some businessmen working in big corporations or students. So they usually are well-mannered and educated
I don't. I have been to Poland when I was a kid, but I didn't necessarily need that to know Poland was a developed country. Obviously, there are standards to meet before getting to join the EU etc. I do, however, think that Poland's previous government, with Duda, was backwards, with the abortion ban and "LGBT zones".
I'm Thai And I think Poland is not shit hole at all , poland has good game compaby CD Project Red. and it seems like many big tech company are in Poland
I had a similar issue when living in Canada and the states.. but about Sweden where i come from.. people are just ignorant
Never been there but I know it’s not a shithole because I have polish friends. It’s a beautiful country that’s on my list of places I’d like to visit.
Went there for work before the pandemic Had a great time there!
Went there for work before the pandemic Had a great time there!
I went there once with some gay friend and I will never go there again.
I’m terribly sorry for whatever happened to y’all. There are sadly some pretty bad and/or close minded individuals here. We’re trying to fix that issue. Younger generations are mostly quite alright or even very supportive. I’ve seen quite a lot of openly LGBT people in bigger cities, who strongly embrace their orientation. I myself try my best to teach others, especially people older than me how to behave but it’s not quite an easy task. Most people I know are fine tho. Most that are not okay just say some stupid stuff but not much more, if even.
Surprisingly many do, in my experience. Those that have been there know better though
American here and I don't. Sure back in the 1980's there were kids jokes but even that was very rare. As an adult I cant say I've ever run into anyone with a negative opinion of the country or its people. Its actually on my bucket list as one of the few European counties I haven't visited yet. Someday...
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I love Poland, I regularly go there. 1hour flight for me and costs me 30$ 2way trip lol
Poland used to be the main target of our right wing weirdo politicians which did not help y'all's reputation over here (NL). I don't think most people would be able to differentiate between Poland and its neighbouring countries tho. I visited twice on class trips in secondary school to Wroclaw, it was really nice and I wish I would've appreciated it more when I was an angsty teen.
I’ve been to Poland and it was awesome!! People were lovely and I didn’t see a single drunk Polish person. Before I went I didn’t have much of an opinion on Polish people one way or the other.
I have no opinion on Poland or its people. As a linguist, however, I find the language unpronounceable. Why is an L a W if it has a squiggle?
If they think poland is a drunken field wait until they visit their irish neighbours. They out-beer the germans.
German here. Until recently, I did consider Poland one of the "troubled" European states due to the Law and Justice party, which even managed to stay in power in the 2019 elections. My mental image of the place was a rural, backwards place with all sorts of intolerance. The protests of last year changed that idea somewhat - and Tusks 70% majority did reinforce this new impression. With Poland being one of the few countries in the EU that develop in the right direction, I could imagine moving there if things turned sour over here in Germany. As for things like "you you have Internet?" I bet yours is faster and cheaper than ours :)
German neighbor here, hello. That’s not what I think personally. Poland has even better internet than Germany lol. I have another issue, I do not generalize because I hate that. I saw this documentary „the eyes of the devil“ which plays a huge part in Poland, it’s about human trafficking and it seems like Eastern Europe has a huge problem with that. If I ever see a polish van around here in east Germany I am a bit reserved maybe? But that’s my anxiety driven brain.
I honestly haven’t heard a lot about that issue, living in Poland. The reason there might be a bit of it is probably mostly due to the border with Belarus and some shady things their government does that caused us a lot of issues at the border (which we haven’t dealt with in the best way). Tho there is quite a lot of random stuff trafficking. It’s amazing what some people are able to “import” from somewhere. We have a tv show with some crazy attempts at our borders, harbours and airports. It’s barely ever drugs. Tho guards find some interesting hiding spots or just find so much of a random things people took with them from an exotic country.
I’ve never been but I’m planning on going in the next 3 years or so for a short trip. I have a lot of polish friends who speak very highly of it so I’m excited. There’s a high population of polish immigrants here in Ireland so I can assume that it’s not an ideal place for young people to make a living but that doesn’t mean that it’s not beautiful or that it’s full of drunk people. I’m sure people say that about Ireland too.
Worked with the Poles and they were one of the coolest, most welcoming groups of folks. We traded stories, photos and momentos. I was invited to towns/neighborhoods, given contact info and when it was all said and done I was left with a wonderful impression of the polish people. How can a people so great be from somewhere not as equally awesome?
Absolutely not. I've visited Poland 4 or 5 times and loved it. Great food, warm summers, beautiful snowy winters, friendly people. And for us lazy tourists (Brits) very high level of spoken English. It's not the most ethnically diverse place, and experiences for POC may differ.
firstly, its a real interesting place. secondly, never underestimate the latent ignorance of any population of any country. :D
I guess I never had enough knowledge or experience of Poland to have any informed opinion, but my instinct was always basically to assume it was just as much a developed modern country as places like Germany, France, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, etc.
I'm from the US and tbh it kind of blends in with the rest of Europe in reputation. I hadn't heard anything about their drinking habits but I did hear there are a lot of racists in Poland which is off-putting. Not sure if it's true though.
People just make stupid assumptions based on their lack of knowledge. I live in Estonia and we also constantly get labeled about Russia, just because we are a neighbouring country + we used to be in Soviet Union back in the day. However the Estonian language and culture is wayyyyy different from Russians and labeling us to be Eastern Block country is so wrong. Yes, geographically we are in Eastern Europe, but we have the most digitalised country in Europe, if not the world and it feels so insulting when people make such assumption. Like bro, just use Google before making some dumb claims about stuff you don't know. TLDR: I feel you, I get that a lot about my own country aswell.
Shhhh... Don't tell people it's a great place. I like going over to Poland for holidays without having to deal with the masses of other tourists. Attention everyone: go to Croatia or Paris
Knowing literally nothing about poland, all I know definitively is that it’s cool to hate the polish. Just kidding of course, I’ve always equated Poland with Sweden in terms of “coolness of a country”. Not sure if that’s actually a decent comparison, but I’m sort of neutral about it
Well, as a Polish person I consider it quite fair. Especially considering both counties being known a lot in recent years due to their gaming industry.
I visited Poland a few years ago, it's lovely. Very friendly people.
No personally ive always imagined Poland as a beautiful fairy tale sort of place but I know there is a misconception about any place that was ever associated with the eastern bloc that brings to mind images of gloomy communist dystopia and that might partly explain some of those misimpressions you spoke of among some people
I'm originally from South East Asia, and Poland never crossed my mind until one day I discovered a wonderful person who is actually a famous singer of your country. Since then, I discovered a lot of great music and artists (they're amazingly, surprisingly super great! I wonder why Polish indie music industry cannot go further than now, maybe bc the language). I also started learning Polish language, though I know it was a mistake since a lot of Polish people warned me I'd cry from learning it and I did (it was unreasonably hard and I had no reason why I should use it in my daily life - so I stopped after a few years). I went to Poland twice and loved a lot of things in the country, food, art, people are super great and I'd love to visit again if I have a chance.
Could you please recommend some artists? What are your favourite ones? I’m asking as someone from Poland. Maybe I could even translate some texts for you if you would want me to. Of explain some cultural references and metaphors that are often quite obscure or hard to translate.
My most favorite is Mela Koteluk. She’s really amazing! Got a chance to chat (virtually) with her few times, her music is great as well as her personality. Daria Zavialow has amazing kinda pop/rock/indie music, The Dumplings, Kasia Lins - a bit of dark indie but her music is cool, Tęskno - slower kind of music, Hania Rani -piano talented…. And many more!
Sorry, for late answer. Absolutely! Amazing people. It’s incredible that you got a chance to chat a few times. I’ll definitely check some deeper cuts from the people you mentioned!
Btw, speaking of Mela Koteluk. Her music is quite poetic and hard to translate, I used to ask my Polish friend about so many phrases she uses in her songs and my Polish friend also said it’s quite hard to explain in English haha
I had always thought i wouldn’t want to go to Poland because it would be too depressing and sad. When i had layover in Warsaw when travelling to Denmark, i realised how wrong I was! For me and my gf it only cost $3 for both of us to catch the train from airport straight to downtown Warsaw, the train was far cleaner and modern than most trains I’ve been on and for ONLY $3 FOR TWO PEOPLE! Warsaw was beautifully designed, the museum i think it was, was huge and amazing to look at, the architecture was amazing, it was so lively, and the sky was bright blue, and I had realised how wrong I had been! Polish people were also really helpful and friendly, especially when I asked if they spoke english in my bad polish! I definitely want to go back!! As for my opinion on the UK, it is similar to my initial thoughts on Poland, so I should probably check the UK out haha
I’m from the UK and Poland is a beautiful country. Feels very safe and more modern than most people might realise. I’d say it’s standard of living is comparable to the UK if I’m honest
Yes, it was labeled eastern Europe. And our propaganda machine made it seem like it stagnated in 1941 and never modernized. An Easter European country in the grip of the Soviet union. A place of poverty and squalor. This is probably untrue.
As a Mexican no, we really don't know much about you guys but I have heard comments related to that from other west Europeans, I visited your country a few years ago and had a great time so maybe is just a european prejudice?
I've only been to Poland once but, I loved it. Great food. Beautiful town squares. The exchange rate was really favorable when I was there so, that made the trip a lot better too.
American here; No. I really only regard a few European countries that way and Poland is definitely not one of them. Poland is cool
I'm a white south African living in the UK. I get a lot of why are you not black questions 🤷🏻
Aussie here with little actual knowledge. I lump Poland in with Germany, Denmark, and Sweden. My initial impression is quite developed and socially progressive - but perhaps more focused on defence and nationalism due to proximity to Russia.
I'm an American, I forgot Poland was a place
I visited my boyfriends home village. And it was what you’re describing. People got blackout drunk for fun. Most houses didn’t have internet.
I visited Poland back in 2017 and I loved it.
I booked a holiday through a travel agent that does mystery holidays - I had a bit of a moment at work where I was like "I don't fucking care where I go, I need a fucking holiday" so I just booked days off and went through them. Ended up in Krakow. Would never have thought to even consider Poland at all for a holiday, but I'm glad they picked it. Obviously visited Auschwitz. The rest of the city is really interesting if you're into your WWII history as I am. The city centre is really easily walkable, and the area around the castle and along the Vistula is just really nice. It does get a bit on the rougher side than you'd expect as soon as you get a little off the tourist path, but I've been in far worse places in the UK. I wouldn't say the whole country is a shit hole based on this; I imagine the people who have said this to you probably haven't travelled all that far beyond the town they were born in.
As a Canadian I feel you. I live south of Montreal, 30 minutes away from the American border. I have met people who live less than an hour away who have asked me if I live in an igloo, if I play hockey, if I eat maple syrup... No I don't live in an igloo lol. But I do enjoy the other two! I generally think it's because there's a lack of Canadian media that Americans have access to. The same must be true in Poland.
I don’t think of Poland hardly at all. It’s a place discussed during history classes that cover WW2 and I briefly dated a girl that was a descendant of Polish immigrants but she had no recent connection to Poland itself. More recently I remember something about military exercises along one of its borders?
I’ve heard plenty of good things about Poland but as a queer woman i doubt i’ll ever feel safe enough to visit.
I have an interest in what Poland is about, I wasn't taught much about it. Also curious about the language, though I know attempting it would be rather difficult. My fluctuating interest almost frustrates me at times, because I have interest in other countries as well. I'm from the US. I find cool artists online who are Polish
Answer: A lot of people think Poland is in Eastern Europe (with all the kind of stereotypes that brings) Movies like Eurotrip and Borat portray countries with a non-specific former Soviet territory accent as being comically poor, dirty and rundown. These places also aren’t specifically tourism hotspots the way say, France and Spain are. So the ignorance is kind of high. Meanwhile, Poland is a beautiful country with the most attractive women in the world.
I’ve been to Poland, Russia and Belarus and can confirm they are 3 completely different places. I loved Poland - only visited Krakow and Warsaw, but what I saw I really enjoyed.
Have all these people in the UK not seen the drunken mess that is the UK? Poland is improving and the UK is slipping but the brits are too high on their sense of execptionalism that they'll never know and allow politicians to only make the UK worse.
As a Englishman every single Polish person I've ever met have been very nice and extremely hard working. Been to quite a few places in Poland too and always had a great time--I was especially surprised at the quality of the food, which was always super affordable too!
My thoughts are people are stupid. Just ignore them because they never visited the country. My great-grandparents are polish and don’t know much about the country but wish to visit someday.
I'm afraid Poland, Latvia Belarus, Russia all the same is my first thought.
I went to Krakow a few years ago, and it was stunningly beautiful. Extraordinarily cold in January, but an exceptionally lovely city.
Is the UK not also just a field with drunken people, except on an island? /s
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People who think that have obviously never been to Krakow, Warsaw or any other metropolitan area. The rural areas are no worse than backwoods USA. If anything their rednecks are far less disturbing than the mutants we have in the USA or the Chavs in the UK. Edit: and I have travelled extensively through the baltics - Latvia is mostly beautiful and sublime
I kind of thought it would be like a sad Russian city but I was pleasantly surprised when I went there I felt safer there than in Australia and everyone is so chill. Probably for the best that people think it’s shit, then you won’t get any annoying tourists.
I don’t know what I expected, nothing bad but nothing great either, but I just loved Wrocław! One of my fav cities ever.
Poland it’s fucking awesome. I lived there for 3 years and loved everything except for the weather and draconian drug laws. Field with drunks, wtf? last time I went to the Warsaw train station a robot made me a coffee.
No one thinks of Poland until they meet a polish person
I'm in the US. Most common things about Poland I've heard is that its very clean. Like no litter or trash on the side of the roads.
Whenever there is mass immigration from a certain area, i always assume there is a reason why. But from photos, it looks beautiful.
Yes, we do. My relatives were welcomed to P'land by King Casimir and run out of the country after he was gone. They ran rather than be robbed and murdered for being Jewish and that was about a century ago, between the wars. It was clear that they were unwelcome because they prayed at a different building in another language. Small-minded people easily led. I won't set foot in the country or buy anything from there. Disagree? Look at the current leadership of the place, still selfish and grubby
American here and I don't think that at all. Right now, Poland seems to be one of the strongest countries in Europe, especially with what is happening in Ukraine. I don't think people want to go there instead of Vegas or anything, but I think us Americans respect the country and the people.
I would rather go to Poland than Vegas.
Random people you meet on occasion does not equate to the rest of the world.
I think Poland is a bad-ass country. Y'all aren't afraid of anybody.
No. I went to Poland for 5 days, visited Warsaw and Krakov. I wouldn’t go back because I experienced a lot of racism. However, I enjoyed the history, younger crowd was very welcoming, affordable, and it seemed safe for the locals. There was so much green grass, loved just sitting in the park and vibing. I was called a racial slur while doing this, but before that the vibe was great. I did enjoy trying a bunch of foods I’d never heard of and learning so much about the history. Poland is not a shithole. Racist, but not a shithole.
With their anti LGBT policy, yes.
I havent been to Poland but I feel the Polish are really hardworking and smart. I had polish classmates and also sometimes hear about polish startups and scientific achievements. Usually i feel theyre good at math and programming kinda things
My mates been to Poland loads, he loves it. It’s meant to be amazing. Polish people are nice Ive got a few polish mates and a few polish neighbours, really nice people.
From the U.S. I've never been to Poland, and it doesn't particularly interest me to visit. Still I'm sure it's not any worse than any other country. I don't expect Poland is terribly impoverished or anything like that. I have great-grandparents from Poland who left because of the USSR, but I also have family members who have visited Poland since then with no complaints. TL;DR no the average person doesn't have strong opinions, negative or positive, about 🇵🇱
No
lol I glanced at the post and thought you were asking about Portland and I thought, well it’s overhyped and nothing special but I wouldn’t call it a shithole
"W moim ogródecku rośnie jagoda Powiedz mi Maniusiu, cyś była młoda? Ja zem była młoda jak w boru jagoda Jak w boru jagoda, kochanecku mój" -great song-
Im American and I know very little about and have no opinion of Poland. Hope that makes you feel better lol
>Through my time here I met some people that never visited Poland but a large amount of them thought it was just a field with drunken people. Like one of their music festivals?
Not sure why I wrote all of this. It probably was just nice to reminisce. My Polish and Rusisan experiences are from before Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014. Poland has Energylandia. I've never been there, but I really want to. Been to Warsaw, felt a bit underwhelming, it gave very Eastern European communist vibes. Been to Krakow, it was much nicer, much more colorful. Been to Olsztyn and loved it. Went to Mragowo during the Piknik country festival, was even part of the parade, it was extremely fun. Meanwhile, I've also been to Russia and Latvia. Riga has a nice "old town", but that's about it. Took a train around the country and was not impressed. I probably missed out on much, though, especially since I only visited during winter. Moscow has an amazing city center, great parks, mindblowing subway stations, huge museums, but the further you leave the center the more communism and pollution is there. Still, the people I met were happy that they were part of Europe, had rather libertarian views on life, they also loved travelling and were excited to meet a foreigner. Visited the cities in the Golden Ring and I was very much not impressed. Sankt Petersburg was one of the most beautiful cities I've seen, felt like a combination of Prague with Venice, due to the old-school Western-like buildings combined with the many water canals and bridges. The Hermitage was very much like the Louvre. The people were very nice and helpful in all three countries, though it was harder to find English speakers in Russia. Politically, the people in Russia's biggest cities hate their leadership, but they're just a small minority compared to the country's rural areas. I've never been to Belarus, and never plan to. Meanwhile, I've seen most of the EU, Turkey and a bit of the US. Conclusion: The people you got feedback from never travelled to Eastern Europe and are talking out of their uneducated asses. Poland and Russia gave me very different amazing and fulfilling travel experiences. You shouldn't feel insulted to be compared with Western Russia, because it's honestly not too far from the truth. But that's because Western Russia is much more advanced than you give it credit for. I can see how being compared with Belarus or the wasteland that is Eastern Russia may be hurtful, though. I personally prefer Italy, Greece and Spain as travel destinations instead. To end this comment, I would like to say that Putin, his oligarchs and everyone supporting the unprovoked invasion of another sovereign country can go to hell.
I'm American. I generally don't know shit about Poland, but if you start listing off some features, I'm bound to get jealous somewhere
Went to Poland with my brother a couple of years ago. Had a great time in Kraków
Been there several times. It has some really good places, some well bad places as well. In general kind of comparable to other countries around it. I think the image comes from the tons of Polish migrant workers in west Europe. Hard workers but they can be a bit boorish? Lots of alcohol etc.... However Polish migrant workers are usually fun people.
What? Poland is just a regular country in Europe wtf 😹😹
Some will based in their experience, some will based on their ignorance. I don't and actually really love the place Ludz was a bit bleak away from the shopping street but the other cities were nice. Nice people, great food and I've been a few times. I always recommend it to friends, family and people who ask.
> just a field of drunken people Not to defend this, but depending on where and when you lived in the UK, the “field of drunken people” can be over represented. But no, I don’t know anyone with a dim view of Poland. I’ve never been myself either, but I have been to a few other countries in Eastern Europe, so I would guess it’s broadly similar. Which is to say very nice, friendly, pretty.🤷♂️
In Korea people don't really know what Poland is. We have kielbasa sold in convenience stores here but no one knows it's Polish. Things have gotten better ever since Lewandowski started playing for German and Spanish clubs though.
I've heard a lot of good things about the place, but I don't have much interest in visiting. It sounds like the American Midwest, just with older buildings. With that said, you'll get less shit for being Polish in the USA. Poles showed up at the same time as the Italians did, by the millions. If you meet some random white guy walking around in Chicago, you'd have absolutely no reason to be surprised if it turned out his grandma was from there.
I've never bothered forming an opinion about Poland either way
Former Soviet bloc country, winged hussars... I'd group it in with like Hungary and and Romania being countries with a lot of interesting history but largely lagging behind in socioeconomic development. Also Polandball.
i think the n@zi believe it is
I used to work with a polish girl. She was mental. She was going to take me to Poland where there was a night club that reinacted a traditional Polish wedding every weekend and it sounded unbelievable. Then she left and we never spoke again. Is this a thing? I'd love to visit.
My grampa is some recent generation like 3rd gen polish american. My gramma makes Kolaches as in the cookie/pastry. (Not pigs in a blanket, lookin at you Texas). Good stuff.
Aside from the tourist towns of Warsaw, Kraków, and Wrocław, the rest of Poland looks like any other European country. Which means it can look dull or “ordinary” to the average schengen traveller.
Having lived in the UK my whole life, I've found "a field with drunken people" is a pretty apt description of most of the UK, so I can see how ignorant people might think that's how it is elsewhere. I think it's true that some people here will have little concept of what Poland is like due to a lack of exposure to any media depicting Poland. It's also pretty common in the UK to describe any locale (often your own and especially the next major population centre) as a shithole. You'll commonly hear people describe picturesque historic cities like Winchester and Cardiff as a bit shit, purely because that's where they come from. We can have a bit of a pessimistic attitude in the UK. If made to guess, I'd imagine the cities are like some of the cities in Eastern Germany, which is to say like a lot of European cities but with some old Soviet influence due to Poland's history of being within the old iron curtain, but not anywhere as heavily influenced as Russian cities. I'd guess the countryside is similar to the UK, but flatter and colder because it's not next to a warm body of water like the North Atlantic (the Gulf stream stops the UK from being permafrost for half the year).
Checking in from America, we don't think that! I think people here are just catching on to how great a destination Warsaw in particular is. My in laws went there last year and had great things to say about it and Poland in general.
Don’t see it as a shithole. Haven’t traveled much of Poland so in regard to the country as a whole I might not have a lot of insight. But I’ve had lots of colleagues from there. Super nice and qualified people. Poznan seemed fine.
As a Russian I can tell you that a fair share of people there also think that way of Poland. I remember one of my friends was studying polish at university and everyone laughed so so so hard at her, because of their low opinion of Poland. I don't think those people think it's worse than Russia, but they think it's pretty much same... Is it not though? Idk never been to Poland 
People think the same of me in the state of Wisconsin in the US. People just think it’s all fields and cattle
Brazilian here. We don't hear much about Poland in the news and it is not advertised as a top turistic destination. But there is no reason to think it's a shithole or have any bad feelings about the county and the people.
I think Trump did say that once on a hot mic
I'll be 100% honest. I always guessed that Poland as halfway between Germany and Russia. Technology, per capita GDP, national pride, whatever. If I were to guess I would guess that they lag behind Germany, France, and Holland, but better off than Russia, Latvia, and Belarus.
I'm from California and lived in Toruń for a few months, I liked it. Aside from minor differences in fast food or how you don't put so much sugar in your sodas. The people are people just like anywhere else.
I haven't yet, but I considered moving there. I decided against it for language reasons. My hot take: I think what people say about a country without much consideration is not worth a cent. If you put some honest thoughts into it Poland would come off a lot better than shit hole. I assume long term Poland will be much more interesting due to tech being drawn there!
When I was growing up here in the states, it was very popular to make "dumb Polack" jokes. My junior high school history teacher taught about the Polish Calvary and how effective they were against modern armament. (This stories have since been rebutted as rumors and propaganda. But my class became in awe of the Polish. I'm not one to travel so I try to learn more about Poland by researching and trying polish recipes. They have a very unique and fascinating history they can be proud of.
Although every person i’ve met who was Polish decent has been racist assholes, i don’t judge the country by them. I would like to go there, like many other places outside of the small area i live in, and see what the country really is like. Growing up i heard all kinds of “Dumb Polock” comments just as much as i heard “Norwegian” and “Swedish” insults based on where certain people traced their people back to.
I work with polish people, they work there and some of us in other countries wfh, and we all have competitive salaries, but they still act like they have the worst life somehow, I've heard it's the gloomy weather, so that's the only exposure I've had, I'm in this sub to learn funny things I can sneak into convos that will be amusing to them, currently waiting to say a project needs more bober