Polska: Part Two
Friday was the first day I got to do a bit of exploring on my own. Sleeping in late again meant that the others weren't keen on heading to that castle in the mountains, so I ventured off into the city. Our new friend Tomasz (Tomek) was hosting a little party for us and his friends later in the evening, so I wanted to have a good look at the city before all the usual evening activities began.
The one thing I was keen on seeing was the Panorama Racławice, a building that houses the largest painting in Poland. The panorama is viewed from a platform and there is a faux landscape built around to add to the trompe l'oeuil effect. It depicts a great battle between Russian and Polish forces and stands at about fifteen metres in height. A little audio device tells the story and points out the details in the painting. It was quite the sight. There are some pieces of the three-dimensional additions, where I could barely tell where the painting began and the landscape took over. I wandered around a bit more after that, stopped in at some shops in the market, and checked out computer prices at a big media centre in a mall. Malls seem to be the same no matter where you go. They're crowded and they smell like perfume. Surprisingly, despite everything else being so cheap, computer prices are no bargain.
Back at the hostel I had a bit of rest before heading out with the group to Tomek's place. Our local hosts helped us out a bit with the public transportation, as we would have had no idea how to do it. The tram system in Wrocław hasn't really advanced much since the old days. You have to buy a ticket at a ticket dispenser at the stop. If the stop you're at has no dispenser you can't ride. However getting a free ride is pretty easy as there is no conductor on the trailing car. And the locals informed me that if you don't speak Polish, they won't slap you with the fine for not paying your fare. They just ignore you. So there were about a dozen of us on this tram, being as disorderly as we could of course.
We walked a couple blocks to Tomek's apartment and he threw the keys down to let us in. Apparently back in the communist days, there was no need for buzzers. When we got upstairs there were about five or six there, all friends and roommates of Tomek, the ever-caring host. He was quite good at looking after people. If someone didn't have a drink he would make sure they were tended to, if someone spilled something he had paper towel on it within seconds. If he was having a conversation with someone, and somebody else turned the music up, he would promptly turn it down and get back into the conversation. He mentioned at one point about learning savoir vivre in school, a set of rules about how to act in a group of people. He must have gotten an A in that one.
The Polish guys loved to talk about what's great about Poland. Some spoke English very well. Others only knew a few words. One of them had played football in the Polish premiership for two years, at least that's what I think they were telling me. It was one of the most interesting social situations I've been in - a great experiment of human communication. At one point, Joel was trying to talk to one of the guys who didn't speak English very well. Both of them had had a fair bit of wódka and piwo and their communication skills were shaky in their own languages, let alone English. It was highly entertaining for those of us around. I think most of the Poles there were students. Wrocław is a very student-oriented city. There are about thirteen post-secondary institutions there.
From there we headed back into the city centre to visit the same club we had been to the first night. It was difficult to find anywhere to sit in any place, as it was Friday night, so after trying a few places we headed back to the hostel. In any case I needed to get some sleep for my early departure to Kraków.
That early departure ended up being noon. The train station was more confusing than I had expected. Not knowing the words for "departures and "arrivals" the board showing train times was confusing, and I ended up standing on a platform with no train, while the train I was supposed to be on was waiting at another platform. I eventually figured it out after asking a vendor where the train was. He, thinking I was German, told me in broken German where it was. By the time I got there, the train had left.
I waited around a couple hours and finally got on the train. The ride was nice. The Polish countryside kind of reminded me of home. Two Polish girls got at the stop outside of Wrocław. They offered me chocolate and water, but never spoke English to me until halfway through the trip, when one of them asked her friend something in Polish, not realising perhaps that her friend had left the cabin to visit the washroom. I replied saying I didn't speak Polish, and she seemed rather embarrassed.
By the time I got to Kraków, it was dark. I managed to find my way to The Stranger Hostel, from the map on the brochure I picked up before leaving the other Stranger in Wrocław. "Come as a stranger, leave as friend" was their motto. It certainly held true. The Stranger in Krakow is the original one. The reception and common areas are in the basement level and the dorms are upstairs. There is definitely a laid-back kind of feeling to the place. The employees' friends are always coming and going. When I arrived, apart from the guy at the desk and Lars, a regular visitor from Denmark, I was the only one there.
I ventured out to take a quick look at Old Kraków by night. I noticed a lot more English being spoken there than in Wrocław, in many different accents. I returned to the hostel and enjoyed a glass of wine. A few more had shown up. The lot of us eventually headed to a going-away party for a friend of the hostel employee, who was leaving the following day to teach in France. The party was only a few blocks away in an apartment shared by Brits and Americans. So needless to say I met some Brits and Americans there, as well as Poles. I nursed my beer and chatted with strangers for a couple hours before heading back to the hostel to sleep in preparation for a sombre Sunday at Auschwitz.
Next post: Auschwitz, back to Kraków, and alas, back to Nottingham.
Czesc.
The one thing I was keen on seeing was the Panorama Racławice, a building that houses the largest painting in Poland. The panorama is viewed from a platform and there is a faux landscape built around to add to the trompe l'oeuil effect. It depicts a great battle between Russian and Polish forces and stands at about fifteen metres in height. A little audio device tells the story and points out the details in the painting. It was quite the sight. There are some pieces of the three-dimensional additions, where I could barely tell where the painting began and the landscape took over. I wandered around a bit more after that, stopped in at some shops in the market, and checked out computer prices at a big media centre in a mall. Malls seem to be the same no matter where you go. They're crowded and they smell like perfume. Surprisingly, despite everything else being so cheap, computer prices are no bargain.
Back at the hostel I had a bit of rest before heading out with the group to Tomek's place. Our local hosts helped us out a bit with the public transportation, as we would have had no idea how to do it. The tram system in Wrocław hasn't really advanced much since the old days. You have to buy a ticket at a ticket dispenser at the stop. If the stop you're at has no dispenser you can't ride. However getting a free ride is pretty easy as there is no conductor on the trailing car. And the locals informed me that if you don't speak Polish, they won't slap you with the fine for not paying your fare. They just ignore you. So there were about a dozen of us on this tram, being as disorderly as we could of course.
We walked a couple blocks to Tomek's apartment and he threw the keys down to let us in. Apparently back in the communist days, there was no need for buzzers. When we got upstairs there were about five or six there, all friends and roommates of Tomek, the ever-caring host. He was quite good at looking after people. If someone didn't have a drink he would make sure they were tended to, if someone spilled something he had paper towel on it within seconds. If he was having a conversation with someone, and somebody else turned the music up, he would promptly turn it down and get back into the conversation. He mentioned at one point about learning savoir vivre in school, a set of rules about how to act in a group of people. He must have gotten an A in that one.
The Polish guys loved to talk about what's great about Poland. Some spoke English very well. Others only knew a few words. One of them had played football in the Polish premiership for two years, at least that's what I think they were telling me. It was one of the most interesting social situations I've been in - a great experiment of human communication. At one point, Joel was trying to talk to one of the guys who didn't speak English very well. Both of them had had a fair bit of wódka and piwo and their communication skills were shaky in their own languages, let alone English. It was highly entertaining for those of us around. I think most of the Poles there were students. Wrocław is a very student-oriented city. There are about thirteen post-secondary institutions there.
From there we headed back into the city centre to visit the same club we had been to the first night. It was difficult to find anywhere to sit in any place, as it was Friday night, so after trying a few places we headed back to the hostel. In any case I needed to get some sleep for my early departure to Kraków.
That early departure ended up being noon. The train station was more confusing than I had expected. Not knowing the words for "departures and "arrivals" the board showing train times was confusing, and I ended up standing on a platform with no train, while the train I was supposed to be on was waiting at another platform. I eventually figured it out after asking a vendor where the train was. He, thinking I was German, told me in broken German where it was. By the time I got there, the train had left.
I waited around a couple hours and finally got on the train. The ride was nice. The Polish countryside kind of reminded me of home. Two Polish girls got at the stop outside of Wrocław. They offered me chocolate and water, but never spoke English to me until halfway through the trip, when one of them asked her friend something in Polish, not realising perhaps that her friend had left the cabin to visit the washroom. I replied saying I didn't speak Polish, and she seemed rather embarrassed.
By the time I got to Kraków, it was dark. I managed to find my way to The Stranger Hostel, from the map on the brochure I picked up before leaving the other Stranger in Wrocław. "Come as a stranger, leave as friend" was their motto. It certainly held true. The Stranger in Krakow is the original one. The reception and common areas are in the basement level and the dorms are upstairs. There is definitely a laid-back kind of feeling to the place. The employees' friends are always coming and going. When I arrived, apart from the guy at the desk and Lars, a regular visitor from Denmark, I was the only one there.
I ventured out to take a quick look at Old Kraków by night. I noticed a lot more English being spoken there than in Wrocław, in many different accents. I returned to the hostel and enjoyed a glass of wine. A few more had shown up. The lot of us eventually headed to a going-away party for a friend of the hostel employee, who was leaving the following day to teach in France. The party was only a few blocks away in an apartment shared by Brits and Americans. So needless to say I met some Brits and Americans there, as well as Poles. I nursed my beer and chatted with strangers for a couple hours before heading back to the hostel to sleep in preparation for a sombre Sunday at Auschwitz.
Next post: Auschwitz, back to Kraków, and alas, back to Nottingham.
Czesc.
posted by Mark Bauche at 1:19 PM
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