Polish Blog A daily dose of Polish life

I remember my first day living in Poland, having been left to my own devices for the night I decided to go out and mingle with the locals in a nearby pub. I’d drunk in pubs in Poland many times before but this was a new city where I didn’t know anyone and I wanted to make a few friends.

I spotted two guys around my age watching an NBA game on the big screen TV asked them the score, We then spent 30 minutes talking about NBA and Polish women and I offered to buy them a drink, they both asked for Zubrowka and as I fancied one as well I decided to get a bottle which was 40zl (about $15 at the time).

Sometimes known as Bison Vodka, Zubrowka is one of the nicest tasting vodkas around. It’s actually banned in the United States as the grass (a strand of grass is included in every bottle) contains some coumarin which is a prohibited food additive.

A soft, creamy taste is accompanied by a complete lack of chest-burning you often get with some of the better known vodkas. It works equally well with generic mixers but don’t ruin it by adding something fizzy like coke. The mixer of choice must be apple juice, it would be harder to find a better drink than a double shot of Zubrowka, ice and apple juice. The only downside is how easy they are to drink.

I found this out with my new friends having drunk 3 bottles between us by the end of the night and finding myself staggering home at 6am. A nice welcome to Poland.

If you are out and about in Wroclaw you may come across some small dwarfs such as these below. These are a tribute to the Orange Alternative (Pomaranczowa Alternatywa) an underground anarchic movement started in Wroclaw during communist times in 1981.

It is said that the name of the Orange Alternative comes from being in the middle of the colours that represent the two major political powers in Poland – the Red for the Communist and the Yellow for the Church.

The Orange Alternative enjoyed mild success and popular support by outwitting and mocking the authorities.  Very aqctive between 1986 and 1989, protests began gathering pace across Eastern Europe, unlike other movemennts pursuing nationalistic or economic freedom the Orange Alternative made no demands at all, they took the more radical approach of protesting on the streets, challenging the state monopoly on truth, whilst taking the piss at the same time.

I think the below tribute is just great!

This photo shows the election of Poland’s first beauty queen in communist Poland. Taking place in Sopot, it attracted such a crowd that the competition had to be moved onto the roof of a building so everyone could see.

Another large house in Poland for sale with a little work required, this time about 20km from Poznan, priced at just $550,000 you get 11 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms and 5 reception rooms.

The house is set in 1.6 hec of land with a large pond, forest is just 3km away.

Like many places in Eastern Europe you can find large houses/castles in small towns or in the middle of nowhere in Poland which have fallen into disrepair.

This home (advertised as a Palace) is located between Wroclaw and the Sowie Mountain Park, 20 minutes from the ski area and also 20 minutes from a spa. It’s 1560 m sq and set over 5 floors, it includes 2 apartments and is priced at 2,400,000 PLN.

Happy New Year in Polish is: Szczesliwego Nowego Roku  (sh-chow-shlee-vago novego)

I tend to add random bits and pieces about Poland on this blog, please let me know the kind of content you wish to read more about and I’ll do my best to add some interesting stuff.

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