Anyone tried to learn the language? They are not wrong when they say it’s one of the hardest languages to learn. I’m heading off there next week to Warsaw and then to Krakow, so I thought I’d try to learn a few words just so I don’t look like your typical English tourist. I’ve had to write down the phonetic way to say phrases as I’ve no chance to say them otherwise and I thought Dutch was bad enough. Due to the fact it’s now autumn and the weather has now turned crappy, there’s no way I’m taking my bike, this will be an adventure in my Toyota Aygo, whose longest trips have mostly been to the shops.
You probably already know "dzien dobry" ('zsean dobree') and "dziekuwe" ("jenkooya") in which case you've exhausted my very limited knowledge of the language. The country and the people are fabulous - Krakow is lovely and, of course, Auschwitz is a harrowing but 'must see' experience - so Good morning and thank you will be a real headstart! Good luck with the trip and don't forget - no photographs and write up, didn't happen! Safe travels.
Cheers Adie This is the itinerary so far Drive to Potsdam (600km from home) then the next day another 600km arrive in Warsaw. Staying 4 nights Things I’m planning whilst here:- The Royal way The Polish Uprising museum The old town observatory Drive to Krakow for another 4 night stay Things I’m planning whilst here :- Auschwitz Oskar Schindlers Enamel factory museum Salt mine tour Then back to Potsdam again before driving home. I estimate I’ll do about 2500km round trip. Potsdam itself is a very interesting place if you’ve never been. I’ve got my restaurants lined up, the food looks amazing so looking forward to that and an odd beer or two or should I say Piwo. lve got several useful phrases written down but there’s no way I’ll remember them off by heart There will be plenty of photos and videos posted.
Good luck with your trip @BonnieCat I can't help with Polish being a Geordie most folk reckon we can't even talk english All the best Tez
Sounds like a full and interesting itinerary. If you have time, consider adding a guided 'walking tour' of Krakow - you'll get to see some of the less obvious parts of this (by and large) beautiful city. Auschitz and the Salt Mines tours, whilst at polar opposite ends of the 'cultural' spectrum, are both absolutely superb and worth every moment and penny spent. Enjoy; take lots of pictures and keep lots of memories. Safe travels BonnieCat.
My Krakow hotel is right in the center so I’ll have plenty of opportunity to just stroll around, but yes an official walking tour would be good too. I’m actually thinking that I should’ve allowed more days, but I’m restricted somewhat as I have to make sure my cats are (royally) taken care of. But I think 4 nights in both cities will give me a good feel for the place.
Sounds like a great trip - I've not been to either places, but did a round tour of Poland some years ago. It's a beautiful coutry, with lots of interesting history.
I'm trying to learn Dutch.. not sure polish is more difficult... not sure any langage is more difficult than dutch (so many i and j)
A friend tried teaching me a little, years back ... waste of time, I couldn't cough up enough flem to be understood !
@BonnieCat Have a great trip, Nikki! You do such wonderful traveling adventures...motorcycle or not. Please post a little report for us here if you would!
Day 1 Potsdam. Having done quite a few trips in the motorhome this year whilst again in semi (or probably full) retirement I’ve gotten used to having a kitchen and more importantly a toilet with me at all times whilst on the move. This trip to Poland in the car, from a convenience standpoint, is somewhat of a let down. I now have to search for a loo and being from Yorkshire I don’t like to have to pay 50 euro cents just to relieve myself. Anyway I digress, with all the packing done last night, it was just left to put the case in the car and sort the cats out. They always seem to know when I’m leaving them and start sulking as they can’t go out as they normally do after their breakfast. At 8:50 I left the house and wasn’t exactly relishing the 600km drive in a tiny car. The weather was changeable, rain showers one minute sun the next. All along the roads by fields farmers had turned the Dutch flag upside down. There were literally hundreds of these flags. The Dutch flag is normally A red horizontal stripe, then white, then blue. Now the blue is on the top. Normally this would be a sign of distress for example by a ship, but in this case the farmers are protesting against the governments policy on cutting nitrogen emissions which is badly affecting the farmers livelihood. At 10:45 we crossed the border into Germany. I stopped for lunch at a service area just off the autobahn at around noon. I ordered a curry wurst with chips thinking it would be a sensible size. When it arrived it must’ve been easily a foot long. I also took the opportunity to have a free pee in the toilets. (Yay!!) The motorway to Berlin passes through the old border crossing between west and east Germany at Marienborn/Helmstedt. The old crossing is now a fascinating museum and well worth a look if you are in the area. Back in the early 1980’s I crossed here on my Suzuki GS550, but that’s another story. After lunch we continued the drive and arrived in Potsdam at 4pm. The apartment is very nice, but I’m only here overnight. Due to the huge curry wurst I won’t be venturing out for anything else to eat this evening. Tomorrow we have another 600km to do and this will involve Polish toll motorways.
Apologies for the text formatting, but after writing the blog in Word on my iPad it wouldn’t let me copy and paste into the thread. No idea why so had to use my cell phone to get the text here.
Sounds like a great trip. My wife's grandmother was off-the-boat Polish in the 1920s and her daughter, my mother-in-law, spoke Polish. My wif'e's father's folks were off-the-boat Italian in the 1920s. So, my wife, being of half-Polish and half-Italian descent is bi-cursive. She can curse at me in two languages.