Peter Whyte-Venables is a freelance British artist, writer, editor, and fully qualified English teacher and proofreader based in Warsaw, where he lives alone, owned by two cats and a beloved young son.
Widely travelled in Europe and SE Asia, he finally settled in Poland in 2009, after a succession of jobs ranging from road-builder to Special Forces soldier to artist to builder to basecamp manager for Cambridge in central Borneo to parliamentary candidate to novelist to professional proofreader, where he finds himself now, when not teaching English to the president of Poland’s premier bank. His artistic exploits included commissions from Phil Collins and HRH Princess Michael of Kent, and his various meanderings included a four-month overland coast to coast crossing of Borneo with a friend, a tramp right across Transylvania, and a solo four-month motorcycle round Europe.
One of my more unusual commissions. (Two Derwent B9 graphite pencils, one sharp, one flat, on A3 190gm smooth)
Peter’s interests include motorcycles, dinner party conversation, aviation, reading, history, people and current affairs.
His passions – those all-important passions, eh? – are really just writing, the English language, and the above-mentioned son, whereas the cats are neither an interest nor a passion. They are merely a hugely welcome and cuddly adjunct to the chaos.
Contacts made via petevenables@gmail.com will be responded to more or less immediately upon being read.
This post is part of a series of posts following the adventures of a man on a mission to explore 20 countries around Europe on a motorcycle – go to One for the road.
Chapter 6
Being British and therefore having grown up under the dense shadow of football, rugby, football, cricket, golf and football, I’ve never really noticed ice hockey before, and so am captivated now by the blinding speed and astonishing skill of it. The goal’s only as wide as the goal-keeper’s arms, the ball’s invisible, and they play even when the pitch – a quarter of the size of a football pitch yet still crowded with twelve players – is completely frozen over.
I am the only customer, so the chef and the receptionist and I watch the game while the small blonde barmaid chatters in the background like a forgotten telex machine.
After an hour or so, I look over my shoulder, wondering when the bus/tractor/lorry parked outside with its noisy diesel engine running might either switch off or sod off. There is no lorry or bus: it is the cooler of a huge Coco Cola machine immediately behind me.
Bulging IKEA bags
We ride through many kilometres of lush woods and tumbledown houses. The villages are largely deserted, and once we go through a beautiful, secret valley which together with the humidity reminds me of the rolling country of Sabah in northern Borneo. Once again a railway line follows the road almost constantly, and as ever, I wonder what these houses are like inside. Stacks of cut timber are everywhere, as are the wandering dogs. A sign for Tescos 25km, then another at 3km. The entire country, town and village alike, seems to be largely deserted, and most of the people to be seen, traipsing along the roadsides in their lime green and brilliant orange sports kit with their bulging IKEA bags, have very dark skins.
Crumbling red bricks
There are blocks of communist flats in every town and sizable village, to house the people who work in the numberless adjacent factories, with their astonishingly high chimneys, all banded white and red. They surely can’t be a thousand feet high, some of these chimneys, but they certainly look like it. These faded and colourless factories, with their walls sprayed with liquid cement to keep up the crumbling red bricks, look not so much defunct as condemned. To a Westerner travelling on the same continent as, say, Switzerland and Germany, the squalor is startling to say the least, and as for the roads – those bikers I’ve spoken to so far have told me that the roads in Bulgaria and Romania are so bad I’ll need a GS not a road bike.
Wooded hills
Another surprise is the extent of the wooded hills, hour after hour. I constantly twist in the saddle to look all around to appreciate it, and once I can see, all the way to a very far distant horizon, the full 360 degrees. This not-very-main road is excellent, and every so often a castle appears on a distant hilltop.
For hours, this drizzling high cloud doesn’t let the sun through. And then suddenly – sunshine! The road begins to steam.
Trencin
Trencin, just before the Czech border. Although there are dozens of pensions and hotels, I follow signs for a campsite, which take me across the river and onto an island, and through a gaudy area of 1970s recreational facilities, with the concrete and the steel pool and the stadium all painted in faded colours. I check in at the campsite office/shop. There’s a motorcyclist in here, a short, pot-bellied man in his forties wearing a leather jacket with tassels up and down the sleeves and across the shoulders, above a skull and crossed bones and the legend Black Kings. He seems nervous, pointing here and there and glancing round at me. His shopping consists of packets of noodles, twenty Marlboro cigarettes, some cake, some jam, and now a small bottle of vodka, which he slips into a jacket pocket before shooting me a challenging look on his way out.
The campsite lady speaks only speak German, but we sort something out and I’m shown to my cabin, which is clean and small. The facilities are basic but sufficient, and speakers mounted on trees and huts everywhere broadcast constant Country and Western music.
Black Kings
It’s still early, so I sit at the table on my little veranda and watch the bikers who are camped across the way, a band of bikers in black leather jackets with Black Kings logos, whose Japanese easy-rider style bikes, with high bars, backrests for the sisters and forward-mounted footpegs for the brothers, are parked in a neat line. One of them I recognise as a Sportster 883, the baby of Harley Davidson’s range; it is small, slow, heavy, under-powered, but it is a Harley. While the men stand around smoking and discussing the day’s ride and compare the performances of the Virago (550cc) and the CM250TB (250cc) and the Drag Star (650cc), the girls queue for the washrooms.
Uneasy Rider
After a while, tubby Uneasy Rider leaves them and trudges across the grass back to the shop, from where he soon re-emerges and returns to re-join the group, all the while completely ignoring me and the battered old BMW at my side. It doesn’t take many seconds to see that he’s the oldest over there, and when he and several of the others go to the bikes and stand around gazing admiringly at the 883, it becomes equally obvious that he is the Black Kings’ leader.
By evening, he has made another two quick trips to the campsite shop – still not even glancing at the motorcyclist sitting ten yards away, and when I look across and see that he has gathered his expectant flock around him in a circle by their camp fire, it’s not difficult to guess why the two extra trips.
Castle
To reduce the size of his audience by at least one, I walk into town for supper, relishing the sight of the old castle atop the hill. My route takes me between the trees and through the 1970s recreational facilities of the playground, which is constructed almost entirely of steel and concrete, all of which is rusty and painted. Even the attractions in the children’s section are all steel and concrete, from climbing frames to ping pong tables.
Trencin is an attractive university town of 18th and 19th Century buildings and artful modern pedestrian plazas, and when I settle into a cosy restaurant, all shadowy nooks and creaking floorboards, and order supper, I realise I’ve left the guidebook on the table in my cabin, leaving me with nothing to do for an hour but resolutely refuse to watch the pretty and perfectly-formed young barmaid, whose naked body appears to have had a T-shirt and jeans painted onto it, go about her duties.
Uneasy Rider looks pleased this morning, with his saggy belly and thinning hair, when I see him striding across the grass to the shop. He looks older, though, and must have forgotten to buy porridge during his many shopping trips last night. The campsite is otherwise deserted, and I sit in the sun, smoking and writing, for an hour until Mrs Campsite is ready to return my passport.
Czech Republic
At the border, a grim Slovak guard takes my passport into his office, returns after I’ve watched him through the window making various phone calls, points at the back of the bike, barks, “Baggage!”, and points to where he wants me to park. The tank bag, top box and two panniers unlocked and waiting in a row on the pavement for him, I sit on the kerb, smoking and chewing four-day old bread, and watch a hawk hovering high above the neighbouring field. A shiny new Slovakian Mercedes 500SEL is turned back (oddly, since it contained what appeared to be an entire family), then one of the guards comes out with my passport and gestured up the road, towards the wooded hills of the Czech Republic.
But I ignore him, because I’m kicking myself for not bothering to read the guidebook before leaving the campsite.
The site of Trenčín has been occupied since before Roman times, and the town itself was occupied by the Germans and became the regional headquarters of the Sicherheitsdienst and the Gestapo, but it is the castle that’s really worth seeing . . . a typical medieval fortification situated high on a rock above the city . . . first noted in 1069 when the region was controlled by King Boleslaw I the Brave of Poland . . . as one of the few stone castles in Slovakia it resisted the disastrous invasion of Mongols in 1241 . . . climb the stairs for superb views over the surrounding area . . . towers and palaces . . . However, Trenčín is best known for a Roman inscription carved into a cliff below the castle dating from 179 AD, a soldier’s graffiti celebrating a battle against German tribes: To the victory of the Emperor and the army which, numbering 855 soldiers, resided at Laugaricio, by order of Maximianus, legate of the 2nd auxilliary legion.
This post is part of a series of posts following the adventures of a man on a mission to explore 20 countries around Europe on a motorcycle – go to One for the road.
Chapter 5
We cross the border into Slovakia, riding through a rich area of huge modern villas, neat and tidy old prosperous farms with ancient tractors in yards and glossy horses in fields, and many pokoj for rent in a landscape of hills and woods of many greens beneath a sky which is wide and blue.
Shanty village
We pass through a small town where I see my first gypsies, walking along the dusty verge, very dark skinned, with moustaches, brawny arms and laden with big blue IKEA bags. Then I see where they were walking to: on the very edge of town, just after a huge sign informing motorists that the next branch of Tescos is 64km away, there is a little shanty village of ramshackle huts and lean-toes and decrepit dwellings surrounded by patches of beaten yellow dirt. Dogs wander aimlessly and in a large open area an old man sits alone in a wheelchair.
Levoca
Seeing a sign for somewhere called Levoca, I swing left off the highway; it’s early but the sign has a kind of castle-thingy logo, so it’s probably pretty. Sure enough, I bump through a pretty arched gateway in some ancient-looking town walls, trickle through pretty streets until I find a cheap hotel, where for £30 I can dump all the kit in a spotless, airy, modern room, with bath and shower, air-conditioned, satellite TV, tea and coffee-making facilities and a double bed, and then, on the insistence of the owner, park the bike in the locked garden.
The sun, swallowed by the high white sheet that has been drawing across the sky from the west since I left Zakopane, has gone in by the time I hit the pavement with the camera. I walk around the near-empty streets, but every shot I choose contains at least one traffic sign, a Landcruiser or Mercedes M Class from Austria, and a trio of local teenagers dressed entirely in the ubiquitous brightly-coloured nylon sports kit, the boys staring at me and the girls arm in arm, giggling. I wonder what to do; it’s a bit early to start drinking, or have supper, but the town has a deserted feel about it. I’d guess it positively buzzes as a happening destination in season, but possibly not alone on a fairly chilly pre-season afternoon, with the sun a haloed white disc in a white sky making for very flat light for photography, and a strong wind lifting all the dust.
Mini-Krakow
But considering I turned off the highway on a whim, I’ve chosen well. Lewoca is a kind of mini Krakow, with a beautifully preserved and maintained main square which contains a number of striking buildings which during the late Middle Ages were the residences of the local nobility, which have since been turned into shops, but since they haven’t demolished the fronts and installed vast plate glass windows plastered with adverts for cheap spectacles and mortgages and charity shops, it’s difficult to tell.
Jeepsies
I try one; it is a classic grocery store. The next sells wool, rolls of material and cloth and other sewing materials. Another has an i on a small blue sign outside, so I go inside for information and find that it’s an internet café. The young owner speaks very good English, which he uses to let me know while I’m waiting for a connection that he’s very worried about the gypsies, he would never go to Romania because of them, and that they would ruin any Eastern European itinerary.
Gypsies, he says, are a problem.
“Why?” I ask. “What do they do?”
Nothing, he says, misunderstanding me. “They do not work, can not work, and do not want to work. They are not a big problem here, in Slovakia, but to the east, they are more aggressive. Many problems.”
“How many live here in Levoca?”
He considers for a moment. “Maybe a hundred and fifty.”
“But there’s no problem?”
“Jeepsies are always a problem. You’ll see.”
“Hey!” says the young man sitting at the next console, looking annoyed. “Do you sell headphones for all this noise?”
Main buildings
Out in the main square, I stand and look around. The grass here is a rich green; the sun dapples through the new leaves of the many trees, beneath which townsfolk gradually arrive to sit on benches and chat and idle, and beyond which the three main buildings can be noted: the magnificent Old Town Hall (15th-17th century) and museum, with its frescos high on its wall; the Evangelical Lutheran Church (1837), and the 14th century Roman Catholic Church of St. James, which is currently being re-roofed and contains a beautifully carved and painted wooden Gothic altar, at a sixty feet high the largest in Europe.
Having been three minutes too late for the museum, I try to get in to see this, but arrive at the iron gate of the church just as it clangs shut. “Hello!” a tall, distinguished lady I haven’t noticed calls out to the woman walking rapidly away into the shadows within. The woman keeps going. The lady turns to her husband and shrugs. He produces a tourist map of the town, and they stride off, and after a moment I follow.
Hungary
On a low pedestal of stone set outside the Town Hall is a large wrought iron cage from the 17th century, and the notice explains how ‘miscreants’ were locked in here for periods of public humiliation. For eight hundred years, right up until 1918, this area was part of Hungary, during which time Levoca underwent 23 name changes, including six in 1786 alone (Lewoče, Lőcse, Leutschau, Leuchovia, Leutschovia, Leutsaria), and another four in 1808, though in fact most people here were German. Granted the status of royal town in 1317, and sited conveniently on an intersection of trade routes, Levoca went on to enjoy centuries of successfully exporting iron, copper, furs, leather, corn, and wine, while developing as a noted cultural centre.
Satellite dishes
Although Levoca was largely destroyed twice during the Middle Ages, a respectable number of ancient buildings escaped, to blend nicely with the Renaissance town that emerged. Many of these buildings, which their smart gardens, double garages, window boxes and big clean windows, neat stacks of firewood, have walls that have never been finished. The red hollow brick construction, whose pointing and finish wouldn’t be out of place in a poor Indian village in the Colombian jungle, have been left exposed. Having spent God knows how much building the place, you’d think the owners would spend a few more korunas and get Boris the Builder to whack some rendering over the walls. Satellite television dishes, of course, are everywhere.
Spotless
I wondered what it was, apart from the sun through the new leaves of the trees that kept catching my eye. Now I noticed what it was: a complete absence of litter. No chewing gum, no cigarette cartons or blowing crisp packets. The square grass was a spotless lawn, and the granite pavement was equally spotless.
Pope John Paul II
Nearly all of the ancient walls survive, and I see that the gateway I bumped through earlier was the monumental 15th century Kosice Gate. From a vantage point looking north, the full scale of how picturesquely sited the town is revealed. To the north, a kilometre or so out of town, at the end of a long, tree-lined road, a church sits atop the traditional pilgrim site of Marianska Hill, where in 1995 Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass.
As I look out, the church actually disappears as the cloud finally comes to earth, and a few seconds later it begins to rain, a steady wet rain that carries a powerful argument for an early supper. I had thought of further exploring the town in search of a good restaurant, but when I return to the square, I find lurking in doorways away from the rain groups of swarthy people, peering out. Some are clearly of Indian origin, others merely sun-burned from years of outdoor work, but all wear either only the bleached denim or vivid sports clothes so common here, particularly among the men.
The men, when I do glance at them, are already looking at me: no downcast eyes of the oppressed here, but the direct, challenging start of the angry. Yet I can’t see a way out for them. They themselves generally seem to be uninterested in education.
I pass a sign saying EURO PUB. BEER/DRINKS, but I decide that I might as well go back to the hotel, where I stand waiting at the bar for a while before a movement catches my eye. I look down, and see that the chef – easily recognisable by the internationally-ubiquitous uniform of fat-spattered trainers, checked trousers and an expression of disdain – is scrunched beneath the counter, watching, six inches from my knees, a small television set. A certain synchronicity of sound makes me look up to the television set up on the bar wall; the Russians and Czechs are knocking hell out of each other in a game of ice hockey.
This post is part of a series of posts following the adventures of a man on a mission to explore 20 countries around Europe on a motorcycle – go to One for the road.
Chapter 4
The road between Krakow and Zakopane is undergoing massive works, so it’s endless adverts and diesel fumes and 60km before I can do 80kph. We pass through a patch of cut-grass smell, and then there’s two pretty girls hitch-hiking northwards, something I’ve not seen in Britain for decades.
Alpiney
Mile after mile of green sprinkled and banded by bright yellow dandelions, and roadside stalls selling goatskin and sheepskin rugs begin to appear. A young girl stands in the middle of a field with her cow and blonde ponytail and slim blue jeans. Three hours later, it all becomes alpiney, with log cabins and big advertising hoardings, mostly for rooms.
Getting somewhere
When the Tatry finally appear through the spring haze, an unbroken line that fills the horizon, their sides and cols streaked with snow, I stop for petrol, then climb over a wooden fence to sit on a grassy bank and revel in the sun. A light plane rocks and crabs, swaying in the wind, and I sit and watch some kind of bird of prey rise in broad circles in a thermal, up and up without moving its wings. A thousand metres away, a shepherd descends the slope with a spread of sheep as densely white as spilt milk.
I begin to feel that I am getting somewhere.
Zakopane
It’s not much further on that the houses begin to grow steep roofs, with little wire fences running along the gutter to hold the snow back when it comes, and then we cruise into the outskirts of Zakopane, past a McDonald’s and a Tesco’s. I ride the streets for a while, looking for a suitable room, before remembering that I am a YHA member.
I almost immediately find the sign at the top of a drive, about fifty yards down which a red and white bar bars the way. There’s an intercom machine on a post, and when I lean across and ask it if this is the way to the YHA there is a resounding “NIE!”, but just as I’m wondering what to do next the bar lifts, and we roll on down.
Wellington boots
I park the bike and walk round to the front of a large, newish building, and up the stairs to the reception area, where I ask a young man about rooms. He just looks blankly at me, so look around for help and see another young man, dressed all in black, with heavy-duty Wellington boots. Then I realise they all are, but for some reason this doesn’t stop me asking him if there are any free rooms, and he says no, because this is the Fire Station. The hostel is back up the drive, right by the big sign that says YHA.
Bike problems
The bike starts immediately and just as immediately dies and won’t re-start. Sighing, I take the tank bag off and trudge up to the large hostel, and am given a bed in Room 782, which has four other beds, then go back down to the bike, which now condescends to start, but misses when I turn the handlebars, indicating an electrical problem, which after a lot of pinching and tweaking, I narrow down to a bend in the cable near the steering yoke. I squeeze hard, and the lights come on. I let go. They go out. I slit the sheath and at once see the tiny, fine green of corroded copper.
I take a four-inch length of surplus extra wire (at least I hope it’s surplus) from inside the headlight cowl, splice it in and press the starter button. The engine starts instantly. Now all I need is the insulation tape that has been in the tool box for the last year but strangely now isn’t.
It’s a Kind of Magic
I make a wide detour of a couple of very weathered old men in baseball caps and very loud sweaters, bottle in hand, dancing a jig on the pavement, and go in to a bar, to find all rustic pine and many locals whiling away the lunchtime. Pop music, table football, ancient skis, cowbells, china beer mugs, the sort of lanterns you use on dark snowy nights with your horse-drawn sleigh. The jukebox plays Queen’s It’s a Kind of Magic, while outside farmers sit beneath parasols and drink beer and four goats and a sheep graze.
People clump to and fro across the bare wooden floor. A middle-aged university professor-looking type of bloke wins nothing during the time it takes me to drink two beers. As I leave, he moves onto the next machine and starts again.
It’s only a short walk into town, and as I leave the bar a horse-drawn cart, like a huge cattle trough with a lorry wheel at each corner, rumbles past, identical to the ones still so common in Romania. Although Zakopane is Poland’s premier ski resort and hiking centre, it’s actually quite a small town which has grown from being a very small village which in the 17th century served the local mining and metallergy industries, but now serves the tourists, who, attracted by the unique food, architecture, music, and costume of goral culture, now annually outnumber the inhabitants ten to one.
Krupówki
The town spreads out very clearly from the junction between just two streets, the main one of which, Krupówki, is a steeply sloped thoroughfare lined throughout with souvenirs shops, restaurants, horse-drawn rides in carriages in summer and sleighs in winter, and the street performers found in any European resort.
Bloody Yanks!
I find an internet café and pay some nominal sum for half an hour’s use. The young American couple using the console next to me are absolutely typical of their type; flawless and tanned skin in which frank and friendly eyes and big white teeth shine whitely, and both have heavy, glossy hair. They wear chunky and sensible clothes, and open sandals.
They speak with that penetrating American confidence that truly unaware people have, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. Within five minutes he gets up to go and find the guy who runs the place. “Excuse me,” he drawls audibly from the reception hall, with a voice that glows with the warmth of a Texan evening, “but is it possible to get Windows in English?” Typical brash Yank behaviour, is my inescapable reaction.
I don’t hear the reply, but when he comes back to his seat, sits down and reaches for his mouse, his sleeve falls back, revealing the bright red plastic band round his wrist, one of those things that everybody from presidents to fifteen-year old schoolgirls wears to show how much they care about whatever the current must-have bleeding heart must support.
And I read, repeated all the way round it, interspersed with the shape of a maple leaf, the word CANADA.
Local architecture
Zakopane has a specific style of architecture based on the motifs and traditions of the Carpathian Mountains, which is exploited throughout the town, along the back streets of which I stroll in order to work up an appetite for an early supper. Some could be used by Hollywood for horror films requiring ramshackle timber buildings with steepled towers, flapping shutters, leafless trees and lightning crackling in the background, while others are simply lovely ancient dwellings; the new ones have been built with enormous orange pine logs of a kind you’d never see in Britain, and roofed with sheets of shining tin. Plastic goats, rabbits, gnomes, storks are popular garden ornaments, and everywhere there is the sound of lawn mowers at work.
After a delicious meal as the only customer in a huge and echoingly deserted Chinese restaurant, I return to the hostel, where I find arranging her possessions on one of the beds in Room 782 the most beautiful young lady I have seen for two days: a halo of fine flaxon hair around an open, broad-cheeked face with blue eyes and a smiley mouth.
00ps7
Suzi is Austrian, and when she hears that I’m English, her eyes light up. “Ooh, you’re English! I just love your English accent, and English gentlemen are sooo sexy you’re motorcycling alone through Europe wow that’s so cool I just love James Bond I’ll be here for a few days I’m going out for dinner now but see you tomorrow don’t leave without me byee!”
I go to bed with a light heart.
At some point during the night, I surface briefly and the aloo baingan masala I had for supper blatters forth in the longest and most stentorian fart I have heard in my life, which just goes on and on out into the darkness, before I snuggle back into sleep.
It is six when I wake from my early night, and I remember the conversation with Suzi and my heart lifts again and I raise my head to see if she’s also awake – is it too early to suggest going into town for breakfast?
Her bed is empty. I sit up and look around. Her shelves are empty, her pack gone. I dress and go down to Reception, where I ask the boy on duty if the Austrian girl changed her room last night.
“No,” he says. “Miss Weiss checked out an hour ago.”
“She didn’t say where she was going?”
“No,” he says again. “She seemed to be in a big hurry.”
This post is part of a series of posts following the adventures of a man on a mission to explore 20 countries around Europe on a motorcycle – go to One for the road.
Chapter 3
High clouds are clearing a late afternoon sun as supper, meatballs, with chips and salad and a Zywiec beer, is taken alone at a long table in a refectory full of many long tables, all adorned with Easter bunnies and other oddments of Christianity. I’ve noticed today the daffodils and yellow tulips and the cemeteries all inundated by new, fresh, brightly coloured flowers.
Across the hall, a family of indeterminate nationality eat their supper, and when they’ve finished they get up and every one of them turns to mouth ‘bye’ to me. It is the youngest girl who pauses to push in the last chair beneath the table before scampering after the others. I can safely presume which nationality they are not.
Auschwitz
Up in my room, I look out of the window. In the dusk, beyond the garden, the road, the land around the SS building, are the headlights of cars driving along the road by the railway line that transported so much immeasurable and unimaginable suffering to many hundreds of thousands of people, and the disbelief is . . . total. Incomprehension, that that is the very same road as can be seen in all the wartime photographs, and the railway which I have been following. This building is sponsored by the Catholic Church, but I can’t help but feel that salvation for the inmates of KL Auschwitz didn’t come via the Almighty, who had ignored it for the previous four years, but via the men of the Red Army.
Krakow
When I reach Krakow, I go straight to the Saski, an elegant old place near the centre with a uniformed doorman and an iron and brass lift and many carpeted corridors along to my room on the top floor. Here, my tiny balcony overlooks a mosaic of lawns and yards, lifeless except for a weeping willow which trails threads of bright new green life down to the sodden ground.
There is no towel, and afterwards, as I stand on the balcony with the chill April air raising bumps on my still-damp skin, there comes a heavy sprinkle of cold water. I look up to see a pigeon preening herself on a trembling branch just above me.
Medieval market square
Every country has its own ‘must-see’ landmarks, and few people walking into Krakow’s medieval market square, the largest such square in Europe, can resist a “Wow!” when they first see the dreamlike setting for the many historic styles of architecture bordering the square.
As I reach the end of the road the market square opens out before me and I mouth a silent, “Wow” – wow because it’s a stunning picture, but silent because I’ve seen it before and I don’t want to do what I did last time, which was to walk into a lamp post as I gazed around.
Cloth Hall
In the middle is the old Cloth Hall, with the two towering spires of St Mary’s church to the left. Straight ahead is the Town Hall tower, while over there is the Church of St. Adalbert, whose foundations are a thousand years old. I stroll a full circuit of the trafficless square, rustling with the murmur of hundreds of tourists going about their lattes and beers.
Tourism
Tourism is Krakow’s main industry, as seven million local and international visitors come here annually, the Poles (the great majority) to admire with pride, the Germans, Scandinavians and Japanese to say, “Wow” at the Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque buildings, the Americans to head straight for the Jewish Quarter, and the Brits to make it their Stag Party Destination of Choice, so that they can hold drinking competitions in which the winner is the first to throw up, and athletic competitions in which the stark naked winner runs a complete circuit of the square the fastest, in front of hundreds of international tourists having their supper and admiring the tranquillity of an evening in what was the European Capital of Culture in 2000.
I make my way to my old café, the ancient Camelot, with its rickety pine furniture and floor and flyblown wartime posters advertising beer and theatres. Keneally in his Schindler’s Ark describes how Schindler’s secretary found a basement bar north of the square where he could hold private parties; ‘an excellent jazz cellar in the narrow streets north of the rynek, the city square . . . popular with the students and younger staff at the university’, and I reckon this it.
It’s down a side street, with the 800-year old Baroque Church of St. John the Baptist and John the Evangelist across the road, its related buildings all around from the Eighteenth Century. I find a seat at a small corner table, and settle in to watch the world go by.
Matchlessly beautiful
You’d think that ‘matchlessly beautiful’ is a sweeping statement to make about a city which is bigger than Glasgow, boasts a vast, scratch-built socialist realist district, a steelworks which when it employed 40,000 people was the largest blast furnace in Europe and whose pollution forty years later is still adversely affecting old Krakow’s buildings and people; and is now Poland’s most important economic centre after the capital.
But you don’t get to be cited as one of Europe’s most beautiful cities for nothing, and while Gdansk, Warsaw, Poznan and Wroclaw all had their ‘old town centres’ rebuilt after the war, in Krakow you get the unmistakably real thing. There seems to be some mystery surrounding exactly how it escaped the same fate as Warsaw, which as everyone knows was flattened in 1945.
Apparently, demolition charges had been laid everywhere but the local Wehrmacht commander simply ignored his orders and went home to his wife, a decision of unimaginable consequence, since the architectural design of the Old Town has survived every upheaval since medieval times, and its almost unparalleled heritage of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque buildings – Krakow, for centuries Poland’s royal capital, boasts six thousand historic sites – is home to more than two million works of art.
Jagiellonian University
I am sitting within metres of a dozen stunning twenty-something girls, which shouldn’t come as any surprise, since more than 200,000 students are studying here in Krakow’s twenty-four colleges, and at the Jagiellonian University (founded in 1364), with its library of more than 4 million books, and Poland is as famous for its young ladies as it is for its, er, libraries.
I tell the waiter that I’ll have three beers while I study the menu; he misunderstands the situation and brings three sets of cutlery with the beers, while I listen to a conversation going on at the table to my left. A young British man has just started work here as an English teacher, which is a coincidence because I have an interview tomorrow morning not just for the same qualification but at the same school, and his parents have come all the way from Watford to congratulate him on his achieving his Cambridge Certificate of English Teaching. Mark is a football fanatic, and worries them with talk of knives, gangs, the eight deaths (eight?) after a recent game, but that “everyone came together at the Pope’s anniversary, so don’t worry.”
Kasia
“Kasia’s name has eight different endings, depending on the context,” he tells his parents, Kasia being the anorexic teenager sitting beside him, with her huge eyes and pasted makeup, miniscule bra-less breasts, and jeans that are slung so low that occasionally they show her topmost pubes.
Breakfast the next morning is in a McDonald’s. There are fourteen others here, three of whom are in animated argument over a newspaper article, five individuals are studying, and one is reading a novel. None is as old as 30, and this is eight o’clock on a Saturday morning. None of my British friends – the youngest of whom is 28, with most in their 40s – will be up for another three hours. The restaurant itself is immaculate, and every single person clears their table when they leave.
The buds are growing visibly every day. The trees which were black four days ago are now sprinkled with emerald.
I go to a pub recommended by the school. The Stary Port is a basement bar just round the corner, a labyrinth of connected smokey dark rooms. At the table opposite me is a young couple. The boy’s face has deep parenthesises drawn down around his mouth, his skin has suffered bad acne, and a scrubby blond beard doesn’t quite cover it. His eyes, deep set and brilliant blue, are the only kind of eyes that could be set in such a serious and cadaverous face. His greasy blond hair is long, and he draws strongly on his cigarette.
Whatever is troubling him has his girlfriend’s sympathy, and they both sit, watching the candles and the darkness. He could have stepped straight into the uniform of a U-boat captain after a long and hazardous mission. However how important his problems were or were not, he wasn’t putting anything on. He is about 25 years old. His girlfriend brings two beers and a plate of chips. He stares and sucks on his cigarette and says nothing.
I conclude that he too has just been accepted at the language school.
A podgy young man returns from the loo, slides forward, his face on his forearms and his long hair falls across the table. I have already read the slogan on his T-shirt: FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION.
The next morning, I wake to an ash-blue sky, with the bells of sweet, ancient Krakow tolling the first Mass, and begin to pack the panniers.
The Kuyavia-Pomerania (Kujawsko-Pomorskie) region in Poland is located in the north-central part of the country, and is known for its beautiful landscapes, rich history, and cultural heritage. The region is bordered by the Vistula River and the Masurian Lake District to the east, the Pomeranian Voivodeship to the north, and the Greater Poland Voivodeship to the south.
Main cities & towns
The main towns and cities in the Kuyavia-Pomerania (Kujawsko-Pomorskie) region of Poland include:
Bydgoszcz: The capital of the region and one of the main economic and cultural centers of the region. It is known for its historic buildings and monuments, such as the Gothic-style St. Martin’s Church, the Baroque-style Town Hall, and the Opera Nova, as well as for its industrial development and modern infrastructure.
Toruń: This is one of the oldest cities in Poland and is known for its well-preserved medieval Old Town, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Toruń is also famous for being the birthplace of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus.
Grudziądz: This is a charming town located on the banks of the Vistula River, it’s known for its rich history and cultural heritage, and for its well-preserved medieval Old Town.
Włocławek: This is an important economic center of the region and is known for its industrial development, particularly in the field of textiles. The city also has a rich cultural heritage and is home to several historic buildings and monuments.
Inowrocław: This is a charming town with a rich history and cultural heritage, it’s known for its beautiful parks, historic churches, and the Inowrocław Saltworks, which is one of the oldest and most important salt mines in Poland.
Brodnica: This is a small town with a rich history and cultural heritage, it’s known for its well-preserved medieval Old Town, its historic church and the Gothic-style town hall.
These are some of the main towns and cities of the Kuyavia-Pomerania region, but the region is also home to several other smaller towns and villages, each with its own unique history, culture and attractions.
Natural landscapes
One of the main attractions of the Kuyavia-Pomerania region is the beautiful natural landscapes. The region is home to the Tuchola Forest, one of the largest and most diverse forests in Poland. The forest is a popular destination for hiking, camping, and wildlife watching, and is home to a variety of plant and animal species.
Lakes & rivers
The region is also home to several beautiful lakes and rivers, such as the Charzykowska Lake, the largest lake in the region, and the Brda River, which is popular for canoeing and fishing. The region is also home to the Wda Landscape Park, which is a beautiful area of rolling hills, meadows, and forests that is perfect for hiking and cycling.
Rich history and cultural heritage
The Kuyavia-Pomerania region is also known for its rich history and cultural heritage. The city of Bydgoszcz, which is the capital of the region, is home to several historic buildings and monuments, including the Gothic-style St. Martin’s Church, the Baroque-style Town Hall, and the Opera Nova, which is one of the most modern opera houses in Europe.
Castles & palaces
The region is also home to several historic castles and palaces, such as the Ciechocinek Palace, the Golub-Dobrzyń Castle, and the Rydzyna Castle, which are popular tourist attractions. The region is also known for its traditional crafts, such as pottery, woodcarving, and weaving, and visitors can find a wide variety of handmade goods at local markets and shops.
Industry and commerce
The Kuyavia-Pomerania region is also an important center of industry and commerce. The region is home to several large manufacturing companies, including the Bydgoszcz Industrial Park, which is home to several leading companies in the automotive and electronics industries.
Off the beaten path
Despite its industrial development, the Kuyavia-Pomerania region remains a relatively undiscovered destination in Poland. Visitors to the area will find a unique blend of natural beauty, rich history, and cultural heritage that makes it a great destination for those looking to explore off the beaten path.
Biskupin
Biskupin is an archaeological site located in Poland, in the Kuyavia-Pomerania region. It is an ancient fortified settlement that was built by the Lusatian culture, an early Iron Age culture that existed in Central Europe between the 8th and 5th centuries BCE. The settlement was discovered in 1933 by archaeologist Józef Kostrzewski, and is now considered one of the most important archaeological sites in Poland.
Hidden gem
In conclusion, the Kuyavia-Pomerania region of Poland is a hidden gem that offers a unique blend of natural beauty, rich history, and cultural heritage. The Tuchola Forest, the lakes, and the Wda Landscape Park are perfect for outdoor enthusiasts, while the traditional crafts and historic buildings and monuments of the region are perfect for those looking to experience the local culture. The region’s industrial development also makes it an important center of commerce in Poland. It’s a destination that should not be missed for those who are interested in exploring Poland.
FAQ
Q: What is the Kuyavia-Pomerania (Kujawsko-Pomorskie) region in Poland known for?
A: The Kuyavia-Pomerania region in Poland is known for its beautiful landscapes, rich history, and cultural heritage. The Tuchola Forest, the lakes, and the Wda Landscape Park are popular destinations for outdoor enthusiasts, while the traditional crafts, historic buildings and monuments are popular among those interested in experiencing the local culture. The region is also an important center of industry and commerce in Poland.
Q: What are some popular things to do in the Kuyavia-Pomerania region?
A: Popular activities in the Kuyavia-Pomerania region include hiking in the Tuchola Forest, visiting the beautiful lakes and rivers, exploring historic buildings and monuments, visiting the Bydgoszcz Industrial Park to learn about the region’s industrial development and experiencing traditional crafts, local cuisine and culture.
Q: What are some popular traditional crafts in the Kuyavia-Pomerania region?
A: Traditional crafts in the Kuyavia-Pomerania region include pottery, woodcarving, and weaving. Visitors to the area can find a wide variety of handmade goods at local markets and shops.
Q: What are some popular dishes in the Kuyavia-Pomerania region?
A: The Kuyavia-Pomerania region has a rich culinary heritage, which includes traditional dishes such as kiełbasa, kaszanka, and kapuśniak, among others. Visitors can find many local restaurants and taverns that specialize in regional cuisine.
Q: How can I get to the Kuyavia-Pomerania region?
A: The Kuyavia-Pomerania region is located in north-central Poland. The main city of the region is Bydgoszcz, which can be reached by train or bus from other major cities in Poland. The region is also easily accessible by car and has good road connections.
Q: Are there any national parks in the Kuyavia-Pomerania region?
A: Yes, the Tuchola Forest is one of the main attraction of the Kuyavia-Pomerania region, it’s a national park and it’s one of the largest and most diverse forests in Poland. The forest is a popular destination for hiking, camping, and wildlife watching.
Business travel can be both exciting and challenging, especially for those who are new to it. Whether you’re traveling for a conference, a meeting, or to close a deal, it’s essential to be prepared and organized to make the most of your trip. In this guide, we’ll provide you with tips, hints, and recommendations to help you navigate the world of business travel like a pro.
Preparation & planning
First and foremost, it is essential to plan ahead and book your flights, accommodation, and transportation well in advance. This will not only give you the best chance of getting the cheapest fare, but it will also allow you to choose your preferred seating and make any special requests. Additionally, it is important to check-in online as early as possible and print out your boarding pass, as this will save you time at the airport.
Allowances and restrictions
When packing for your trip, it is essential to be mindful of the airline’s baggage allowances and restrictions. Most airlines have strict carry-on and checked baggage limits, so be sure to check these before you leave. Additionally, it is a good idea to pack a change of clothes and any essential items, such as medications, in your carry-on luggage in case your checked baggage is delayed or lost.
Timing
It is also important to arrive at the airport with plenty of time to spare. Aim to arrive at least two hours before your scheduled departure time, as this will give you enough time to check-in, go through security, and find your gate. Additionally, it is a good idea to bring a book or magazine to keep yourself entertained while you wait for your flight.
Accommodation
When it comes to your accommodation, it is essential to book a hotel that is close to your meetings or conference venue. This will save you time and money on transportation, and it will also give you the opportunity to explore the local area during your free time. Additionally, it is a good idea to book a hotel that offers business-friendly amenities, such as a business center, a fitness center, and high-speed internet.
Time management
One of the most important aspects of business travel is staying organized and on schedule. It is essential to have all of your travel documents, such as your passport, visa, and itinerary, in one place and easily accessible. Additionally, it is a good idea to use a calendar or planner to keep track of your meetings and appointments.
Meetings and presentations
When it comes to meetings and presentations, it is essential to be prepared and professional. This means doing your research, being familiar with your topic, and having all the necessary materials on hand. Additionally, it is a good idea to dress professionally and arrive early to make a good impression.
Networking
Another important aspect of business travel is networking. Whether you’re attending a conference or a meeting, it’s a great opportunity to meet new people and make connections. Take advantage of the opportunity to exchange business cards, and be sure to follow up with any new contacts after your trip.
Stay healthy
Lastly, it is essential to take care of yourself while traveling. This means staying hydrated, eating healthy, and getting enough sleep. Additionally, be sure to take advantage of the opportunity to stretch your legs and move around during the flight, as this will help to prevent blood clots and improve circulation.
In conclusion, business travel can be a great way to explore new destinations and make connections. With a little bit of planning and preparation, you can make the most of your trip and arrive at your destination feeling refreshed and ready to work. Remember to plan ahead, pack smart, arrive early, stay organized, be prepared for meetings and presentations, network and take care of yourself. Happy travels!
Many people try to learn Polish; however, it is a very difficult language, and most westerners struggle with pronunciation. It’s a good idea to try though and to help you, we’ve put together this small learn Polish guide, which is ideal for tourists.
To make it easier for you and not to complicate things, we have shown you how to pronounce each word or phrase (in brackets).
Unlike the English alphabet with 26 letters, the Polish alphabet has 31 letters. Polish consonants, vowels and diphthongs are sometimes really hard to fathom and at times you will not believe that the word/phrase and the pronunciation match – but trust us it’s true!
This Polish for tourist's guide been designed as a ‘Starter Pack’ and will provide you with the very basics you will need if you want to make the effort to speak Polish when you arrive in Poland. A good time to try out your Polish is after a few Polish vodkas, you’ll have more confidence and will find those pesky Zs and Ws easier to pronounce.
Basic Expressions in Polish
Yes = Tak (tak) No = Nie (n’yeh) Please = Proszę (prrosheh) Thank you = Dziękuję (diyen’kooyeh) Thank you very much = Dziękuję bardzo (diyen’kooyeh barrdzo) Hello = Dzień dobry (diyen dobrri) Hi = Cześć (chesh’tch) Good morning = Dzień dobry (diyen dobrri) Good afternoon = Dzień dobry (diyen dobrri) Good evening = Dobry wieczór (dobrri v-yechoorr) Good night = Dobranoc (dobrranots) Goodbye = Do widzenia (do vee-dzen’ya) Excuse me = Przepraszam (pshe-prrasham) Never Mind = Nie szkodzi (n-ye shkodjee) Where is the toilet? = Gdzie jest toaleta? (g-jeh yest twa-leta)
January = styczeń (stichen) February = luty (looti) March = marzec (mazhets) April = kwiecień (kf-ye-tch’yen) May = maj (muy) June = czerwiec (cherrv-yets) July = lipiec (leep-yets) August = sierpień (sh’yerrp-yen) September = wrzesień (v-zhe-sh’yen) October = pażdziernik (pazh’diyerr-n’eek) November = listopad (leestopat) December = grudzień (grroodiyen)
Yesterday =wczoraj (f-cho-rruy) Today =dzisiaj (dieesh’yuy) Tomorrow = jutro (yootrro) Next week = w następnym tygodniu (v nastemp-nim togodn’yoo) At the weekend = w weekend (v weekend)
Communication Problems
Do you speak English? = Czy mówi pan po angielsku? (chi moovee pan po an-g-yelskoo). Note: pan is used when speaking to a male, pani is used when speaking to a female.
Does anyone here speak English? = Czy ktoś tu mówi po angielsku? (chi ktosh’ too moovee po an-g-yelskoo) I don’t speak much Polish = Nie mówię dobrze po polsku. (n’yeh moovyeh dobzheh po polskoo) Could you speak more slowly? = Bardzo prosżę mówić wolniej? (barrdzo prrosheh moovitch voln’yey) Could you repeat that? = Bardzo proszę to powtórzyć? (barrdzo prrosheh to pof-too-zhitch) Excuse me (Pardon)? = Słucham? (swoo-ham) What does this/that mean? = Co to znaczy? (tso to znachi) I understand = Rozumiem (rro-zoom-yem) I don’t understand = Nie rozumiem (n’yeh rro-zoom-yem) Do you understand? = Czy pan rozumie? (chi pan rro-zoom-yeh) How are you? = Jak sie masz? (Yahk sheng mah-sh) Fine, thank you = Dziekuje, dobrze. (Jenkoo-yeng dob-zhe) What is your name? = Jak masz na imie? (yahk mah-sh nah eem-ye) My name is _____ = Nazywam sie ______. (Nah-zivam sheng ____)
Where / When / What / How / Why / Who / How
WHERE? / GDZIE?
Where is it? = Gdzie jest? (g-diyeh yest) Where are you going? = Gdzie pan idzie? (g-djeh pan ee-djeh)
Common answers:
across the road = przez ulicę (pshes oo-lee-tseng) around the town = po mieście (po m-yesh’tch’yeh) far from here = daleko stąd (daleko stant) here = tutaj (tootuy) in the car = w samochodzie (f samo-hodiyeh) on the left / right = na lewo / prawo (na levo / prravo) to the hotel = do hotelu (do hoteloo)
WHEN? / KIEDY?
Where does the museum open? = Kiedy otwarte jest muzeum? (kyedi otfarrteh yest moo-ze-oom) When does the train arrive? = Kiedy przyjeżdża pociąg? (kyedi pshi-yezh-ja potch’yank)
Common answers:
10 minutes ago = 10 minut temu (diyesh’yentch meenoot temoo) after lunch = po obiedzie (po ab-ye-djeh) always = zawsze (zafsheh) soon = niedlugo (n’ye-dwoogo) then = wtedy (f-tedi) sometimes = czasami (chasamee) often = często (chensto) now = teraz (teras) every week = co tydzień (tso ti-djeng) never = nigdy (neegdi) around midnight = około półnacy (okowa poow-notsi) not yet – jeszcze nie (yesh-cheh n’yeh)
WHAT SORT OF …? / JAKI …?
It’s = To jest (to yest)
Beautiful = Piękny (pyen’k-ni) Ugly = Brzydki (bzhid-kee) Better = lepszy (lepshi) Worse = gorszy (gorrshi) Young = młody (mwodi) Old = stary (starri) Thick = gruby (grroobi) Thin = chudy (hoodi) Tall = wysoki (visokee) Short = niewysoki (n’ye-visokee) Right = poprawny (poprravni) Wrong = niepoprawny (n’yepo-prravni) Big = duży (doozhi) Small = mały (mahwi) Cheap = tani (tanee) Expensive = drogi (drrogee) Clean = czysty (chisti) Dirty = brudny (brroodni) Dark = ciemmy (tch’yem-ni) Light = jasny (yasni) Early = wczesny (f-chesni) Late = póżny (poozh’ni) Empty = pusty (poosti) Full = pełny (pewni) Good = dobry (dobrri) Bad = zły (z-wi) Quiet = cichy (tch’ee-hi) Noisy = hałasliwy (hawah-sh’leevi) Quick = szybki (shipkee) Slow = wolny (volni) Open = otwarty (ot-farrti) Shut = zamknięty (zam-k-n’yenti) Next = następny (nastemp-ni) Last = ostatni (ostatnee)
HOW MUCH, HOW MANY?
How much is that? =Ile to kosztuje? (eeleh to kosh-tooyeh) How many are there? = Ile tu jest? (eeleh too yest)
Common answers:
1/2/3 = jeden/dwa/trzy (yeden/dva/t-shi) 4/5 = cztery/pięć (ch-terri/p-yen’tch) None = nic (neets) About 100 zlotys = około stu żłotych (okowo stoo zwo-tih) Too much = za dużo (za doozho) A little = trochę (trroheh) Enough = dość (dosh’tch) Much more = dużo więcej (doozho v-yen-tsey) More than that = trochę więcej (troheh v-yen-tsey) Less than that = trochę mniej (trro-heh m-n’yey) Nothing else = nic więcej (neets v-yen-tsey)
WHY, WHO, WHOSE, HOW, IS IT, ARE THERE, CAN?
Why is that? = Dlaczego tak? (dlachego tak) Why not? = Czemu nie? (chemoo n’yeh) Who is it for? = Dla kogo to? (dla kogo to) Whose is that? = Czyje to? (chi-yeh to) Who’s there? = Kto tam? (kto tam) Which one do you want? = Który pan chce? (ktoorri pan htseh) How would you like to pay? = Jak będzie pan płacił? (yak ben-diyeh pan pwah-tch’eew) How are you getting there? = Jak tu pan dojedzie? (yak too pan doye-diyeh) Is it free of charge? = Czy to jest bezpłatne? (chi to yest bes-pwaht-neh) Here it is = Proszę, tu jest (prrosheh too yest) There it is = Proszę, tam jest (prrosheh tam yest) Can I …..? = Czy mogę ……?(chi mogeh) Can you show me …..? = Czy może mi pan pokazać ( chi mozheh mee pan pokazatch) Can you help me? = Prosze, mi pomóc? (prrosheh mee pomoots)
EXCLAMATIONS
At last! = Wreszcie! (vrresh-tch’yeh) Go on = Proszę dalej (prrosheh daley) Very Good = bardzo dobrze (barrdzo dobzheh) No way! = W żadnym przypadku! (v zhad-nim pshi-patkoo) Fine = dobrze (dobzheh) Not bad = nieżle (n’ye-zh’leh)
Let’s admit it, at some time, you’ve probably missed a flight due to cancellation or you’ve had to wait at the airport for many hours due to delays. In addition to the major disruption this can cause to holiday and work schedules, it is also a stressful experience, particularly if you have children with you or tight deadlines to meet such as connecting flights or events.
Did you know that if you had a delayed or cancelled flight in the past 3 years, you could receive €600 per passenger, regardless of the ticket price? Additionally, you could be entitled to claim for luggage problems such as missing bags, delayed bags or damaged bags and also for out of pocket expenses such as hotels, meals & more.
Air passengers have rights. In the EU they are covered by EU REGULATION EC 261.
Even if your particular issue is not covered by law, it is often worthwhile claiming, you may still be entitled to a refund or vouchers for another flight.
Compensation is available for flight delays, flight cancellation, missed connections, overbooking, denied boarding, delayed baggage, and airline strikes.
The Poland Travel Agency works with AirHelp, the world’s largest air passenger rights advocate. To date, they’ve helped over 16 million passengers understand their rights and secure compensation for delayed, cancelled, or overbooked flights.
They make claiming flight delay compensation straightforward for all passengers who are unsure of their rights, lack the time, or lack the expertise to embark on the claims process themselves. They’re continually investing in data and cutting-edge technology to power their easy-to-use website and make their customers’ claims even smoother.
They speak 16 languages, and their global staff of 750 includes the world’s largest team of lawyers specialised in air passenger rights. Combined with local knowledge from a network of law firms across 30 countries, they are uniquely placed to help air passengers all around the world.
Check now to see if you are entitled to compensation – Visit AirHelp
