the POLSKI blog

Sometimes I watch TV and think – what is the point of this? Take tonight’s Channel 4 Cutting Edge (yeah, cutting edge my ass) documentary, Bobski the Builder. Two extensions, two builders. One is British – slow, annoyingly reassuring, methodical, traditional, takes 6 moths to finish the job – the other is Polish – cocky, [...]

I came across a post by a fellow Pole, Sylwia on her personal blog, in which she extols the virtues and the beauty of “The Golden Polish Autumn”. Yes, such a phrase exists and is usually applied to the period between early and mid-October, when you are lucky to have a few sunny days and [...]

CNN International has just had a week on Poland – called Eye on Poland. It created alot of buzz in Poland itself but also a lot of controversy, as some cities and regions have been criticised by Polish media for not stumping up the money to appear on an international news channel and grab the [...]

Kraków? Cracow? Krakow? How on earth do you spell it? (Kraków) But more importantly, how do you pronounce it? Don’t fret – that’s why you have the Polski Blog Today just a bunch of cities, starting with the more popular ones. Kraków [Audio clip: view full post to listen] has become a popular tourist destination [...]

I remember when I was a kid and my mom made smalec (basically pork drippings – LARD, in other words) I used to run a mile. I hated this stuff – nothing but pig’s fat with pepper, some onion and – if you’re lucky – some herbs. Nowadays, when you go to a restaurant in [...]

Another day, another sign. OK, this one is a couple of months old, the picture is not great (mobile, after work, grumpy), but that was probably the first advert for a Polish wódka (not ‘vodka’) I saw in London. Sobieski, named after a Polish king, was – surprisingly – advertised in Polish. ‘Król jest tylko [...]

One of the reasons why I decided some time ago to start this blog was the fact that some of my closest friends were so bloody ignorant (sorry if you are reading this) about Poland, it wasn’t even funny any more. While planning summer holiday, I suggested at some stage going for a week to [...]

Until a few years ago the term ‘Bollywood’ didnt mean much to an average Pole. Poland doesn’t have a large Indian community, at least not as numerous as its British counterpart. Hence Bollywood cinema wasn’t really big in Poland. Yet, to my surprise, Bollywood is now used as marketing tool by some media in Poland. [...]