Would you visit Poland?

General picture of Jewish Quarter

Let's think for a second: Western Europe is full of beautiful art, cities, romantic languages, restaurants, cafe's, and espresso.  But what about Eastern Europe?  Come to think of it, we don't often think about Eastern Europe as much, nor are we taught much about it in grade school (at least that I can remember).  We're taught some things about the history of WWII and how they were involved, but not to the extent that we learn about the Pacific, American history, and the general history of the wars there.  Well, that all changed within 4 days.

Cameron and I made the quick decision to visit the incredibly unique country of Poland.  We stayed in Krakow, to be exact.  Krakow is close to the center of Poland, not far from Warsaw (if that helps a bit).  What was interesting when we first arrived was the Polish Zloty.  The Zloty (zł) was of major difference.  One USD ($) = roughly 3.30 of their Zloty, so Cameron and I had to adjust to having a bit more money than expected.  Let's put it to you this way, we each put in 50€ for the weekend (combined €100), and wound up with over 400 zł for the whole weekend.  That was MORE than enough.

Awesome Cosplay guy (no significance)

Let's start with some basics, Poland itself is a country (to me at least) that I haven't actually thought of visiting ever before.  We were able to talk to some local Poles (Polish people) and get some insight of their country and how they view other parts, briefly.  They were very nice people, but very straight forward and did not hesitate at all to show you that they did (or did not) like you.  The people in Poland definitely kept to themselves, and don't make much of an effort to really associate themselves with you unless they knew you personally, otherwise, they wanted nothing much to do with you.

Poland is a very quiet city, but very active once you get to some of the main roads.  CAUTION*  If you are not an experienced Polish driver, do not (I repeat) DO NOT attempt to drive in these streets.  Cameron and I made multiple efforts to learn their driving ways, but it just seems so....out of order.  However, they made it seem like it was nothing using minimal streets signs and lights.  

Polish Flag

From what we have learned in Poland, Poles are very patriotic to being, well, Polish, however, they're not very proud of their country and their past.  If you were unaware, the Germans during WWII occupied most of Poland and used the country for their own well-being and purposes (including concentration camps which will be in another blog).  They are proud for who they are, but not for where they live.  **Keep in mind that this is what we read from research and some witnessing, this may not be the actual case.**

It's not very often that they get to travel to other parts of the world except for maybe more Eastern countries such as Ukraine, Russia, Czech, etc. because they can't afford staying in these places.  However, of the Poles that do get to move out of the country, they form their own section and pretty much mark their territory.  Chicago, for example, has a large Polish population they said.  But most of the older generations haven't been out of the country much, and it wasn't until just recently that the younger generations are able to get out of the country to study and work abroad because it's not becoming more popular.

A real meat soup in a real bread bowl

 Now wait a minute, how could I have a blog post without talking about the food!?  Have you ever had authentic Polish perogis?  How about some real, hearty, heavy potato pancakes with pork and stuffed cabbage?  If you haven't you should probably go hop on that and try to find a Polish restaurant by your house.  The Poles eat very well, and nice meaty meals and make sure you are full to the fullest!  The Poles are very big on their vegetables as well, however, the vegetables are incorporated with their meals, rather than eating them whole like we're used to.  They like *ahem* LOVE beets.  You heard me, beets.  As Jim Halpert from The Office would say, "Bears eat beets...bears beets Battlestar Galactica..."  Beets are good for the heart and helps you stay nice and strong!  However, Cameron insisted that we stayed away from it because neither one of us like this rich, red root.

Mokka

In addition the Polish foods, they're very patriotic towards their drinks!  And my oh my, what a different experience that was!  Mulled hot wine is a very popular (usually a holiday drink) here in Poland.  For those who are unaware of what that is, it's essentially hot wine (usually red) with spices and fruit like cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  It was very delicious, and would make a great drink for any holiday party!  Also, Poles LOVE their chocolate and sweet beverages.  I was able to drink a true, authentic Mokka.  Now, keep in mind that a real mokka is just hot chocolate.  However, this is THE hot chocolate to get.  When you order a mokka, you're given a spoon.  A SPOON.  Do you know why?  Because their hot chocolate is so thick, that you really cannot drink it, rather than spoon it out of the glass.  Yes, you can drink it, but it's made of heavy cream and thick (rich) chocolate that it takes a while to drink.  Instant hot chocolate powder and syrup are jokes here.  Poles melt their chocolate with cream because hot chocolate is no joke here.

Keep a look out for my next blog later this week about the Jewish Center of Krakow, Poland!  Then later, Auschwitz.  Thanks for reading!