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I had a bit of a break and enjoyed a week in New York. But even while there you can’t escape all things Polish.

Every five minutes I saw ads for Sobieski, the Polish vodka, which seems to be getting a big marketing push in New York (and I’m guessing elsewhere in America too):

The posters and even video ads were very visible, but unlike their UK equivalent from last year they were in English.

Belvedere, another, more exclusive Polish vodka, also had a lot of exposure there. But before you accuse me of spreading alcoholism, let me switch to other traces of Poland in New York I noticed.

Williamsburg in Brooklyn is a nice, trendy enclave a couple of Subway stops from Manhattan. With funky bars, chilled out cafes, a few book stores and a few galleries. But it’s also a few minutes from Greenpoint, traditionally a Polish district in New York, a place where generations of working class Poles settled in their search for a better life across the Atlantic.

Whether they’ve found it, I don’t know, but they did turn that part of Brooklyn into Little Poland. And even though I never visited Greenpoint itself, Williamsburg was full of Polish faces, Polish language and a couple of Polish places like this one:

But the biggest surprise was this fantastic exhibition of Polish posters at the Museum of Modern Art in midtown Manhattan:

The best examples of the Polish Poster School are on display there and even though it’s not a massive display, you can see some of the best posters created in Poland between 1945 and 1989 by such great artists as Franciszek Starowieyski, Henryk Tomaszewski or Jan Sawka.

If you happen to be in the area, do visit the Museum, it’s worth it.

Seen any other Polish traces? Wanna share them on this blog? Drop me an email:

My second Polish travel tip for the summer is aimed at those of you who love water - and big lakes in particular:

1. What is it?

Mazury is famous for its wild, largely unspoilt nature and numerous lakes. It’s very popular in the summer, many Poles go there for their summer holidays.

2. Where is it?

Mazury is a region in north-eastern Poland; easy to reach from Warsaw or Gdańsk.

3. Why bother?

Whether you love spending time on a boat, do a bit of bird-watching or just relaxing in the middle of nowhere, the Mazury lake district is big enough to cater for all those needs.

4. And you don’t want to miss…

… Śniardwy, the largest lake in Poland, and the neighbouring town of Mikołajki.

5. Want to know more?

Visit this site (in Polish, but with a nice Google map with photos). ALternatively read all about Mazury on Wikipedia.

→ More travel tips

Image © ekieraM via Flickr, used under Creative Commons licence

Today’s anniversary (read more about it here and leave your comments too!) prompted one of the largest Polish portals, Gazeta.pl to launch a couple of unique services.

The first one is called ‘A postcard from Poland’ and is a massive collection of photographs depicting what Poles were doing today at midday, twenty day after the collapse of Communism. Gazeta wants to create a gigantic archive which it wants to share online, but also with museums and archives across Poland.

As a photographer I love this idea. Images can be much more powerful than words and no doubt today will bring a few fantastic, emotional, funny or simply stunning shots. I’m looking forward to browsing the archive - and I guess if you’ve never been in Poland, the ‘postcard’ might be a good place to start exploring the country and its people.

The other project launched by Gazeta.pl is Gazetopedia.pl - which is a cross between and online archive spanning twenty years and a social networking or user-generated site (by the way, the word ‘gazeta’ itself means ‘newspaper’; Gazeta Wyborcza, nowadays often perceived as a left-leaning, liberal paper, was the first independent daily paper in Poland launched roughly a month before the June elections). Users can browse every single front page of Gazeta Wyborcza (the precursor of Gazeta.pl), have a look at a timeline of Polish and world events from the past two decades and modify the pages to give them a unique look and feel.

Browsing though the front pages I came across one article from 20th June 1989, which describes how Poland was left without sugar and flour as factories didn’t manage (allegedly) to produce enough of them to satisfy the demand… Those were the times.

Can’t believe it’s already been twenty years since Communism in Poland collapsed. I was still at school, had just a year or so to go till my matura (final secondary school exams) and couldn’t quite believe it when my literature teacher asked us to start reading  The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. You what?! Solzhenitsyn? Until a few months earlier his books - like thousands of other books, plays etc - were banned in Poland and I suspect all other neighbouring Communist countries too.

But that was 1989, the year when Communism in Central and Eastern Europe collapsed for good (with a few exceptions), largely thanks to Solidarity’s victory in what is referred to as the first free parliamentary elections in modern Polish history. (For those of you who are not familiar with Solidarity, it was the first official union formed  in 1980 and led by Lech Wałęsa; Solidarity was the first non-Communist trade union in a Communist country - the fact it was formed is widely perceived as the beginning of the end of the Communism in Europe).

Tadeusz Mazowiecki (above) becomes the first non-Communist Prime Minister in Poland after the war. And the rest is history.

Today Poland celebrates the twentieth anniversary of the 1989 parliamentary elections. It’s been a couple of very eventful decades: numerous governments have formed and collapsed, Poles slowly (and not without problems) got used to the newly-regained freedom and the fact they were also able to travel freely, Poland’s economy had to learn how to cope with the notion of the free market, there have been some dramatic changes in the cultural, moral and spiritual fabric of the society.

But now, twenty years later, Poland - a member of NATO and the European Union (both as abstract and unimaginably unattainable in 1989 as a walk on the Moon) - remembers the events and can largely be proud of its achievements of the past two decades. Yes, there will be those who will always complain, question and see the bad sides. But without what happened in June 1989 I doubt I’d be able to write this blog.

Were you in Poland in 1989? Do you remember the events? I’d love to know what your memories are - post a few words in the comment box below.

Image © ewewlo via Flickr, used under Creative Commons licence

Well, if you thought Ant and Dec exaggerated a bit when they opened the final ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ show with the words ‘the whole world is watching’ - you were wrong.

It’s not just Britain, it’s not just the English-speaking world. Poland - where the show has its local version called (rather less patriotically than its British equivalent) “I have talent” - also devoted a lot of time to Su-Bo and how she ‘conquered the hearts and minds of the world’ (not exactly my words or feelings, but never mind).

Less than an hour after Diversity were announced the winners in London, some Polish online papers and portals announced the results as if the show was a worldwide search for the next pope. (Although to be fair, one of my Twitter friends who’s doing doing a night shift in the BBC News newsroom tonight has just told me there’s nothing else on the wires but Susan Boyle).

The show has been analysed with almost the same fervour as many Polish shows, which means that Su-Bo, Diversity or Aidan Davis are almost domestic names in Poland now.

British shows have always been big in Poland - from ‘Fawlty Towers’ through ‘Dempsey and Makepeace’ (oh, yes), ‘ ‘Allo, ‘Allo!’, some fantastic BBC productions of Shakespeare’s plays (with top-quality voice-overs in Polish - a rare thing on Polish TV) to (ahem!) ‘Benny Hill’.

So the fact that ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ gets so much attention is no surprise. The only difference is speed.

Years ago we’d have to wait months if not years for the shows to be shown on Polish TV.

In 2009 it takes minutes for those clips to be available worldwide on YouTube.

I’ve been asked by a few people to post something on basic questions regarding directions and asking for help in Polish. And as the summer holiday season is upon us, here are some basic phrases you may need while travelling in Poland.

Let’s start by buying a ticket. Any ticket.

Bilet

Ticket. The plural is:

Bilety.

If you want a normal one, you need

Bilet normalny.

However if you need a discounted fare, you will ask for

Bilet ulgowy.

Usually if you are at a station you’ll get your ticket from

Kasa (biletowa)

A ticket desk. And if they speak English there, then you’re in luck. Otherwise, try asking for a ticket by saying:

Poproszę bilet do Krakowa

“Can I have a ticket to Krakow, please?”

Poproszę bilet

will do the trick if the ticket desk sells only one kind of tickets, for example tram or bus tickets. Now, you might already have your ticket, but you cannot find the station. Ask for directions:

Przepraszam, gdzie jest stacja (kolejowa)?

which translates as “Excuse me, where is the (train) station?” As everywhere, it pays to be polite to the locals, hence the word ‘przepraszam’ at the beginning. You can also try a similar pharse:

Przepraszam, jak dojść do stacji?

“Excuse me, how do I get to the station?” Which is probably more useful as it’s not train station specific and can be used for all sorts of stations. Obviously.

Right, that will do for now. I’m exhausted just writing this stuff, you must be exhausting trying to put all the consonants together. Most travel phrases next time!

→ More ‘polish your Polish’ language tips

As everybody who lives in Britain knows, people in power love increasing taxes on alcohol and cigarettes in a futile attempt to curb drinking and smoking.

Strangely enough, it would seem it worked in Poland. Of all countries.

This dry press release quoting “the Polish spirits industry organization” claims that

Poland registered a 75-percent drop in vodka drinking alone in the first three months of this year because of excise tax hikes.

Wowzers. Seventy-five per cent?! That seems totally unreal to me, to be honest. But apparently

Poles purchased 21.1 million liters of alcoholic drinks, including vodka, in the first quarter of 2009, which is some 30 percent less than in the same period in 2008.

Now 21 million liters - to put the number in context - is roughly 0.5 liter of any alcoholic drinks per person, including children, babies and people who temporarily live in the UK. And that’s per quarter, which gives you well under 200ml of alcohol per person per month. Now that’s really not much, you have to admit.

Poles have also bought 10 per cent less beer in the same period, the report claims. The reason?

Officials of the industry organization said the considerable drop in the sale of vodka was prompted by the rise of excise taxes by 9 percent as of January, coupled with the smaller purchasing power of Poles due to the global economic crisis.

The report doesn’t state whether Poles have started drinking more wine, but anecdotal evidence would suggest that Poles have in fact switched to drinking other alcohols. In the past decade or so it has become a norm for Polish women to drink beer too, which they hardly did before, at least not in public.

Anyway, it seems Poland has now turned its back on alcohol. I think I need a stiff drink.

Through this blog, of course. Although I do realise my previous few posts on that subject probably only just scratched the surface.

But I’ve just come across a rather impressive selection of Polish places - or venues serving Polish food in some form - on a user review site Qype.

The good thing about it is it comes with user reviews and I have to say I’m so far impressed by the fact that most places got between 4 and 5 stars. OK, quite a few of them have so far been reviewed by just one person, which is hardly sufficient for a balanced review, but it’s fair to say that whenever you have an average score of 4 stars from 6 reviewers, chances are the place will not disappoint.

I’m a bit embarrassed to admit I had no idea how many Polish places there really are in London. Some of them, like L’autre in Mayfair, are a bizarre hybrid of Polish and Mexican cuisine, some are serving Eastern European food in general, but the remaining ones are focused purely on pierogi, placki and bigos. Yum!

Qype also does a good job listing quite a few Polish shops in London, so whenever you have this sudden urge to get some kabanos, you know where to look for it online.

Image © Bartolo - via Flickr, used under Creative Commons licence

Ahead of June’s European elections, BBC’s Jonny Dymond visits several European states to ask votes about the EU and find out what their expectations are.

Today’s report comes from Poland, where Dymond speaks to people who’ve directly benefited from the EU expansion - either by expanding their existing businesses or by travelling abroad, acquiring news skills and transferring them back to their home country.

One of them, Dobrawa, who worked in London for the years before returning to Warsaw to set up her own hair salon, asked about what she thinks about the call for “British jobs for British workers” replies:

“British people, I’ve got nothing against them, but I do think that they don’t respect jobs. They are too fussy. They would love to be put on a high position and get good money for less hours and everything. In my country, everything that we have is made by hard work.”

Perhaps a bit harsh and simplistic, but even some British TV documentaries I’ve seen in recent months prove there’s a grain of truth in this claim.

Have a look at the whole report from Poland - and other In search of Europe reports - here.

Or as SFGate chose to put it, “Sauerkraut for everybody!”

Yes, the two cities, which couldn’t be more distant geographically and culturally, are now twinned.

And if you’re in Kraków around the 3rd July, you can witness the official signing ceremony there.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom released a statement, in which he said:

“I am pleased that the beautiful, innovative and destination cities of Krakow and San Francisco are now sister cities. The sister city relationship is a wonderful expression of the strong relations between our two magnificent cities.”

Aaawwww, well put. According to SFGate,

The partnership is intended to foster cultural, business and civic ties between the cities.

So how do they compare?

San Francisco: is the fourth most populous city in California and the 13th most populous city in the United States, with a 2008 estimated population of 808,976. San Francisco is characterized by a high standard of living.

The great wealth and opportunity generated by the Internet revolution continues to draw many highly educated and high-income workers and residents to San Francisco. Following the arrival of writers and artists of the 1950s—who established the modern coffeehouse culture—and the social upheavals of the 1960s, San Francisco became an epicenter of liberal activism, with Democrats and Greens dominating city politics.

Indeed, San Franciscans have not provided a Republican presidential candidate more than 20 percent of the vote since the 1988 election. (source: Wikipedia)

Kraków: is one of the largest and oldest cities in Poland, with a population of 756,336 in 2007. Situated on the Vistula river (Polish: Wisła) in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. It was the capital of Poland from 1038 to 1596.

With the emergence of the Second Polish Republic, Kraków restored its role as a major academic and cultural centre. After the war, under the Stalinist regime, the intellectual and academic community of Kraków was put under total political control. The communist government of the People’s Republic of Poland ordered construction of the country’s largest steel mill in the newly-created suburb of Nowa Huta.

Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish scientific, cultural and artistic life. As the former national capital with a history encompassing more than a thousand years, the city remains the spiritual heart of Poland. It is a major attraction for local and international tourists, attracting seven million visitors annually. (source: Wikipedia)

Very different, but in a strange way also very similar. I only hope that this twinning will raise Kraków’s profile internationally even more as it deserves more attention. And so does the rest of Poland, in fact.

I hope my favourite Kraków blog, krakoff.info writes something about it soon.

And I wonder whether San Francisco’s Polish restaurant Old Kraków will celebrate the news somehow….

SF image © Stuck in Customs, Kraków image © smif, used under Creative Commons licence via Flickr