When the idea of visiting Poland first came up, I didn’t know what to expect. Without too much historical background, I stepped foot on Polish soil and experienced a lot of interesting things.
First off, the Polish people have gone through a lot. With Russian occupation throughout the 19th and partially through the 20th century, there’s a lot of influence from their Soviet neighbors.
Around 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland from the West and marked the beginning of World War II. 2 weeks later, Soviets invaded from the East. Not to mention the multiple wars they’ve had with communist Russia before and after the war.
These are a people that have been pushed around and fought hard for sovereignty and independence from their neighboring bullies.
During World War II, bombings devastated their capital – Warsaw – and the Polish people suffered the most drastic losses out of any country. Here’s what it looks like today.
Sights of Poland
Other Places of Interest
Schindler Factory
You know the movie Schindler’s List? His old factory has converted into a museum. Unfortunately, the museum is more about the war and the Nazis than it is about Schindler. Odd, given how many people he saved and the numerous interesting things about his factory and his person.
If you don’t know, Oskar Schindler was a member of the Nazi party who employed 1200 Jews in his enamel and ammunitions factory. When the Germans started losing the war, they started sending the Jews off to concentration camps.
Schindler convinced the commander to let him move his workers to what was Czechoslovakia, saving them from certain death. He paid off a bunch of SS officials with bribes and ended up spending his entire fortune for his workers.
When visiting this museum, don’t expect to get much of anything on Schindler. If you want to see a bunch of Nazi stamps, Nazi tiles, and effects of Nazis on Poland, then come here. If you’re looking to get a deeper appreciation of Oskar Schindler, watch the movie.
Fun Fact: Schindler’s resting place is in Jerusalem on Mt. Zion – the only member of the Nazi party with that honor.
Wieliczka Salt Mine
Located in Southern Poland is one of the world’s oldest salt mines that opened around 1200 and stayed in production until 2007.
The mine goes over 1000 feet deep and is 178 miles long. The tour covers only about 1% of the mine and lasted over 2 hours of continuous walking. Here’s a picture of the stairs that gave me the sensation I was stuck in one of Dante’s circles of Hell.
Salt makes up every structure, carving, and statue in the mine, including the chandelier! It can look deceiving since the discoloration of grey you see happens with just 5% of impurities in the salt. The tour guide kept telling us we could lick the walls, which one lady actually did. Surprise: It was salty.
Spite Houses
By the time we reached Warsaw, we’d exhausted the museums and other attractions so we did some research of our own and went in search of some spite houses.
A spite house is a building constructed to irritate neighbors or someone who has a stake in land. Here’s one called the Keret House – designed by an architect to commemorate his family, who died in Nazi-occupied Poland.
This next house was built in the 17th century. 400 years ago in Poland, people had to pay taxes on their property according to the width of the street-facing building and the number of windows it had.
So these people avoided the tax man in a clever way by constructing this skinny building. It was partially destroyed in 1944 and reconstructed in 1959 to its original design.
The Food
Poland had a lot of food that deviated from the rest of Central/Eastern Europe’s food. They love dill and I’m obsessed with dill, so we got along well.
“Pretzel” stands are on every corner in Poland and cost about 33 cents each. Many people grab one for a quick bite or an easy breakfast. They taste just like bagels.
Pierogis are Polish dumplings traditionally stuffed with cheese and potatoes, cabbage, mushrooms, spinach, meat, or something sweet.
For the most part, they are not all that flavorful but a simple food to prepare in small spaces and fill hungry bellies.
A woman in a very small kitchen made the pierogies pictured above to order in a very small kitchen. She literally wrapped them right after you ordered and placed them in boiling water on top of her modest 4 burner stove. Delicious.
Overall, food in Poland was pretty delicous. We actually tried Pho in Vienna and the Czech Republic just to see their standards, which were awful and not at all authentic. Hands down, Poland had the best Pho out of all 3 countries.
They also had good pizza and lots of vegan places so their food standards and options are pretty high.
When we were walking around Krakow though, we went MILES without coming across a single restaurant. They seem to be concentrated only in the tourist areas, making it less affordable than you’d expect and indicating something about local dining habits.
Things to Note About Poland
With so much Russian influence in this country, it’s important to note something about them. In Russia, there is a saying that roughly translates to, “Smiling for no reason is a sign of stupidity.”
There is no place I’ve been where that’s more evident than Poland. During our 8 day stay, we counted 7 people who smiled back at us and one of them was a dog.
Cultural smiling practice is actually heavily debated between Americans and Europeans, especially Eastern Europeans who prefer to give a scowl. They often view us as fake and insincere for smiling when we don’t know someone, aren’t genuinely happy or are actually a mean person.
On the flip side, the Polish sound like they’re arguing when they’re just talking. Customer service people are abrupt and not very accommodating. They don’t hesitate to let out exasperated sighs or give short, clipped answers.
In an effort to counteract this cultural difference, our tour guide at the salt mine was over-the-top happy and friendly to make Westerners feel more comfortable.
Krakow – Pronounced Kra-Kouv
In Krakow there is a noticeable difference in personal space, especially walking in the streets. People will walk right up on your heels even in the middle of the night and no one is around. Their walking pace is also extremely fast – over 4 MPH.
Warsaw – Pronounced Var-Sha-Va
Warsaw’s walking pace is much more relaxed and there’s less pollution here. Even though they have more sense of personal space, people will not hesitate to shoulder check you if they walk toward you face-on and you don’t step out of the way.
Throughout Poland, we experienced something peculiar whenever there was a line. People would clearly be queuing in a line, but inevitably, someone always walked right up toward the front and just stepped in. Every. Time.
All in all, Poland was an interesting place with equally beautiful architecture and unique cuisine compared to other European counterparts. Although their culture may come off as cold, when understood through the lens of what they’ve been put through, it makes sense.
But I think I’ll stick to the Western practice of smiling even if it makes me look like a laughing idiot.
What do you guys think about cultural differences with smiling? Should Americans stop smiling when they’re visiting a place that doesn’t readily accept it? Are we really friendlier or insincere?
Whichever the case, get ready for some scowls if you ever visit and don’t take it personally.
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