Poland tourist information

Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country located in Central Europe. It is bordered by Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, and the Baltic Sea, Lithuania, and Russia (in the form of the Kaliningrad Oblast exclave) to the north. Poland shares a maritime border with Denmark in the Baltic Sea. The country has been a member state of the European Union since May 1, 2004.

Places to go in Poland ...

Bialobrzegi Bialowieza Bialystok Bielsko Biala Boleslawiec Bydgoszcz Cieszyn Czestochowa Gdansk Gdynia Gliwice Glogow Gorzow Wielkopolski Jelenia Gora Kalisz Karpacz Katowice Kielce Kolobrzeg Krakow Leba Legnica Lodz Lublin Lukta Miedzyzdroje Mragowo Olsztyn Opole Ozarow Mazowiecki Paszkowka Plock Poznan Raciborz Ryn Sopot Sosnowiec Szczecin Torun Walbrzych Warsaw Wroclaw Zakopane Zamosc Zblewo Zielona Gora Zlotoryja

The Polish state was formed more than 1,000 years ago under the Piast dynasty, and reached its golden age near the end of the 16th century under the Jagiellonian dynasty, when Poland was one of the largest, wealthiest, and most powerful countries in Europe. In 1791 the Sejm of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth adopted the Constitution of May 3, Europe's first modern codified constitution, and the second in the world after the Constitution of the United States. Soon afterwards, the country ceased to exist after being partitioned by its neighbours Russia, Austria, and Prussia. It regained independence in 1918 in the aftermath of the First World War as the Second Polish Republic. Following the Second World War it became a communist satellite state of the Soviet Union known as the People's Republic of Poland. In 1989 the first partially-free elections in Poland's post-World War II history concluded the Solidarity (Solidarnosc) movement's struggle for freedom and resulted in the defeat of Poland's communist rulers. The current Third Polish Republic was established, followed a few years later by the drafting of a new constitution in 1997. In 1999 Poland acceded to NATO, and in 2004 it joined the European Union.

The Polish landscape consists almost entirely of the lowlands of the North European Plain, at an average height of 173 metres (568 ft), though the Sudetes (including the Karkonosze) and the Carpathian Mountains (including the Tatra mountains, where one also finds Poland's highest point, Rysy, at 2,499 m or 8,199 ft) form the southern border. Several large rivers cross the plains; for instance, the Vistula (Wisla), Oder (Odra), Warta the (Western) Bug. Poland also contains over 9,300 lakes, predominantly in the north of the country. Masuria (Mazury) forms the largest and most-visited lake district in Poland. Poland enjoys a temperate climate, with cold, cloudy, moderately severe winters and mild summers with frequent showers and thunderstorms.

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Cuisine ^*

Polish Cuisine (Polish: kuchnia polska) is a mixture of Slavic and foreign culinary traditions. Born as a mixture of various culinary traditions, both of various regions of Poland and surrounding cultures, it uses a fair variety of ingredients. It is rich in meat, especially pork, cabbage (for example in the dish bigos), and spices, as well as different kinds of noodles and dumplings, the most notable of which are the pierogi.

It is related to other Slavic cuisines in usage of kasza and other cereals, but was also under the heavy influence of Turkic, Germanic, Hungarian, Jewish, French, Italian or colonial cuisines of the past. Generally speaking, Polish cuisine is substantial. Poles allow themselves a generous amount of time to enjoy their meals, with some meals taking a number of days to prepare in their entirety.

A lunch on a special occasion is usually composed of three courses, starting with a soup, such as barszcz (beet) or zurek (sour rye meal mash), followed perhaps in a restaurant by an appetizer of salmon or herring (prepared in either cream, oil, or vinegar). Other popular appetizers are various meats, vegetables or fish in aspic. The main course may be sandwiches with lots of meat, including, ham, pork and so on. or kotlet schabowy (breaded pork cutlet). Meals often conclude with a dessert such as ice cream (lody), makowiec (poppy seed cake), or drozdzowka, a type of yeast cake. Other Polish specialities include chlodnik (a chilled beet or fruit soup for hot days), golonka (pork knuckles cooked with vegetables), kolduny (meat dumplings), zrazy (stuffed slices of beef), salceson and flaczki (tripe).

With the end of communism in Poland in 1989, restaurants started to be opened once again and basic foodstuffs were once again easily obtainable. This led to a gradual return of traditional Polish cuisine, both in everyday life and in restaurants. In addition, restaurants and supermarkets promote the usage of ingredients typical to other cuisines of the world. Among the most notable of ingredients that started to be commonly used in Poland were cucurbit, zucchini and all kinds of fish. During communist times, these were available mostly in the seaside regions.

Recent years have seen the advent of a slow food movement, and a number of TV programmes devoted to traditional Polish cuisine have gained much popularity.

At the same time, fast food is growing more and more popular in Poland. Apart from McDonald's and KFC, Pizza Hut is very popular, as well as many Polish pizza chains. Pizza in Poland is characterized by the Polish habit of using ketchup on top of the pizza, rather than sauce. There are many small-scale, quick-service restaurants which usually serve items such as zapiekanka (baguette with cheese, sometimes meat and/or button mushroom and ketchup), kebap, hamburgers, hot dogs and kielbasa.

Soups

barszcz - beetroot soup, ubiquitous among Slavic nations.
chlodnik - cold soup made of soured milk, young beet leaves, beets, cucumbers and chopped fresh dill.
czernina - duck blood soup.
flaki or flaczki - beef or pork tripe stew with marjoram.
rosol - clear chicken soup.
zupa grzybowa - mushroom soup made of various species of mushroom.
zupa ogorkowa - soup of sour, salted cucumbers, often with pork ("dill pickle soup").
zupa szczawiowa (sorrel soup).
zur - soured rye flour soup with white sausage and/or hard-boiled egg.
zurek - same as above but with the addition of potatoes. Depending on the part of Poland it came from it may contain mushrooms as well. This dish is also called staro wiejski ("old village"). Zurek is frequently served with sour cream or by itself.
grochowka - pea soup.
kapusniak - sour cabbage soup.
zupa pomidorowa - pomidorowa - tomato soup.
krupnik - chicken boullion base vegetable soup with kasha.

Main course

pierogi - dumplings, usually filled with sauerkraut and/or mushrooms, meat, potato and/or savory cheese, sweet curd cheese with a touch of vanilla, or blueberries or other fruits, such as cherries or strawberries, and sometimes even apples -- optionally topped with sour cream, and sugar for the sweet versions.
bigos - a stew of sauerkraut and meat, similar to the French choucroute, but generally less acidic and including unfermented cabbage.
kotlet schabowy - a breaded pork chop, similar to the Austrian Wiener Schnitzel but usually thicker.
kasza gryczana ze skwarkami - buckwheat cereal with chopped, fried lard and onions.
kaczka z jablkami - roast duck with apples.
sztuka miesa - a meat dish similar to the Bavarian Tellerfleisch or Austrian Tafelspitz.
golonka - stewed pork knuckle or hock.
gulasz - Goulash.
golabki - Golumpki, cabbage leaves stuffed with spiced minced meat and rice or with mushrooms and rice served with sour cream or tomato sauce.
placki kartoflane/ziemniaczane - potato pancakes usually served with sour cream.
pyzy - potato dumplings served by themselves or stuffed with minced meat or cottage cheese.
nalesniki - creps which are either folded in to triangles or rolled in to a tube typical servings include sweet white cheese with sugar and sour cream, various fruits topped with bita smietana (whipped cream) or with bite bialka (whipped egg whites).
mizeria - sliced cucumbers and sour cream.
kaszanka - Polish Blood Sausage, made of blood with kasza.

Dessert

kutia - a small square pasta with wheat, poppy seeds, nuts, raisins and honey. Typically served during Christmas.
makowiec - poppyseed-swirl cake, sometimes with raisins and/or nuts.
chalka - sweet white wheat bread of Jewish origin.
paczek - closed donut filled with rose marmalade or other fruit conserves.
krowki - Polish fudge, soft milk toffee candies.
kisiel - clear, jelly-like fruit liquid.
budyn - pudding--usually comes in many different flavors, such as sweet cream, chocolate, and even cherry.
pierniki - soft gingerbread shapes iced or filled with marmalade of different fruit flavours and covered with chocolate.
Sernik - Sernik (cheesecake) is one of the most popular desserts in Poland. It is a cake made primarily of twarog, a type of fresh cheese.
faworki / chrusty - light fried pastry covered with powdered sugar.
panska skorka - kind of hard Taffy sold at cemeteries during Zaduszki.

Transportation ^*

Rail:
Poland's railways constitute one of the larger railway systems in the European Union, with 23,420 kilometres (14,552 miles) of network (1998). Access to track has been opened up to competition as required by the EU. However, delays by successive Governments in reforming the state railway company, PKP, combined with the imposition of severe budgetary constraints, have caused a major cash crisis. Refurbishment of the network, bringing key routes into line with the standards on western European railway networks, is proceeding very slowly, and serious arrears of maintenance have resulted in the imposition of speed restrictions on many other lines. Line closures and the withdrawal of feeder services similar to those that took place in the UK under the 'Beeching Axe' have accelerated since 2000.

Road:
By Western European standards, Poland has a relatively poor infrastructure of expressways/highways. The Government has undertaken a programme to improve the standard of a number of significant national highways by 2013. The total length of expressways/highways is 364,657 kilometres (226,587 mi). There are a total of 9,283,000 registered passenger automobiles, as well as 1,762,000 registered trucks and buses (2000).

Airport:
Poland has nine major airports (in decreasing order of traffic: Warsaw, Kraków, Katowice, Gdansk, Poznan, Wroclaw, Szczecin, Lódz, Bydgoszcz and Rzeszów), a total of 123 airports and airfields, as well as three heliports. The number of passengers at Polish airports has consistently increased since 1991.

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Marine:
The total length of navigable rivers and canals is 3,812 kilometres (2,369 mi). The merchant marine consists of 114 ships, with an additional 100 ships registered outside the country. The principal ports and harbours are: Port of Gdansk, Port of Gdynia, Port of Szczecin, Port of Swinoujscie, Port of Ustka, Port of Kolobrzeg, Gliwice, Warsaw, Wroclaw.

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History

Poland is an ancient nation that was conceived around the middle of the 10th century. Its golden age occurred in the 16th century. During the following century, the strengthening of the gentry and internal disorders weakened the nation. In a series of agreements between 1772 and 1795, Russia, Prussia, and Austria partitioned Poland amongst themselves.

Poland regained its independence in 1918 only to be overrun by Germany and the Soviet Union in World War II. It became a Soviet satellite state following the war, but its government was comparatively tolerant and progressive. Labor turmoil in 1980 led to the formation of the independent trade union "Solidarity" that over time became a political force and by 1990 had swept parliamentary elections and the presidency.

A "shock therapy" program during the early 1990s enabled the country to transform its economy into one of the most robust in Central Europe, but Poland currently suffers low GDP growth and high unemployment. Solidarity suffered a major defeat in the 2001 parliamentary elections when it failed to elect a single deputy to the lower house of Parliament, and the new leaders of the Solidarity Trade Union subsequently pledged to reduce the Trade Union's political role. Poland joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004.

Terrain Mostly flat plain; mountains along southern border.

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Languages Polish

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Weather Temperate with cold, cloudy, moderately severe winters with frequent precipitation; mild summers with frequent showers and thundershowers.

Ethnic Groups Polish 96.7%, German 0.4%, Belarusian 0.1%, Ukrainian 0.1%, other 2.7% (2002)

Religion Roman Catholic 95% (about 75% practicing), Eastern Orthodox, Protestant, and other 5%

Currency Zloty (PLN)

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