Poland

nicholsong said:
Indeed. Poland and its various bits have a very complicated history, involving Lithuania, Austrian-Hungarian Empire and then Nazi Germany, Russians and the Soviet Union.

Where we live in Slaska, which was German speaking, it is easier with older people to converse in German than English, but not Basia's Mother who was born in Belarus(then Polish), transported to Siberia for 5 years because she was not Russian, and then repatriated to the reconstructed(care of Yalta) Poland.

Churchill and Roosevelt are not liked for giving Poland to 'Uncle Joe' Stalin at Yalta. A view I can sympathise with since the British entered the war on 3rd Sept. 1939 to protect Poland. Plus, so many Poles went to England and gave their lives to fight against the Nazis.

Being an island(s) the UK has largely been protected from the to-ing and fro-ing of wars across the North European plain.

Geoff

EDIT We live not far fron Auschwitz(Oschwiem in Polish) I know enough of want went on there and I think it has been sterilised. Basia as a school teacher had to take her studendts there. Neither of us want to go there. Your choices.
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I think at Yalta, Churchill could have been 'overruled' by Roosevelt who was more sympathetic to Stalin's demands, wanting him to help out the USA against the Japs?
The UK badly treated the Poles again, due to pressure from Stalin, by not inviting them to take part in the 1946 London Victory Parade.
 
We really liked Poland... the only thing we did not like was some of the roads..
Darrells speakers actually rattled out !
 
Visited sw Poland on the way home from Romania last year on my motorbike, beautiful scenery and lovely people. I honestly didn't find the roads too bad - even on the motorbike.
 
I whole heartedly recommend Poland, and indeed all the Eastern European countries. We love the architecture, food, people, history and scenery. We found it easy to wild camp and used camping grounds mainly for the laundry facilities. Yes, the smaller roads can be a bit rough, often cobbled or with just a thin layer of tar seal over cobbles, so the pots and pans rattle. Also, the standard of driving in Poland can be quite erratic. If you see a black BMW coming up behind you it’s a good idea to let him pass. They are not known for their patience. IMO.

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we spent a month in poland in 2012. mainly northen, all the way to Białowierza / white forest. good camp site on right going into the village. had an interesting walk in the ‚protected forest ‚ - only accesible with a guide. This was not so much a 5 hr walk (30 deg) - but rather a forced march with hardly a stop - very knowledgable guide . You won’t see much evidence of wildlife other than tracks in the summer (I go on photographic trips there in the winter - incredible wildlife) . In the north of Poland not as many ppl speak english and signs in museums in german/ polish (I am bilingual do was ok for me) . interesting visit was to Malbork - Knights templar . re Warsaw, Podlin museum well worth a trip .
 
BobtheBass said:
My fathers family are from near Katowice and I used to visit Poland annually from an early age until I was 19 when I got told that next time I set foot in the country I had to report for National Service! I haven’t been back since but my sister has and tells me that the family home which was once on the edge of a forest with countryside around is now on a busy dual carriageway near an industrial estate. Polish people with whom I grew up were a real mixture, ranging from wonderful, kind hard working and very funny folk to hard drinking gamblers but they all hated Churchill for giving their country away to the Russians. My dad, who had been conscripted into the German army during the war but surrendered to the Canadians having no wish to fight for the country that had invaded his own was not allowed back to see his mother or sister until 1962 as the Russians considered him a traitor (even though he had no choice in the matter).
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My father in law (now dead) was also Polish and conscripted by the Germans. He also managed to surrender to the Canadians - at Falaise in summer 1944! He described hiding with some colleagues in a bomb crater as the Germans retreated. He was sent to Scotland and joined the Polish Free Army. He trained in the Officer Corp but didn't see active service as the war ended.

Following the thread -trying to persuade my wife we should try Poland this year....
 
paddymcc said:
My father in law (now dead) was also Polish and conscripted by the Germans. He also managed to surrender to the Canadians - at Falaise in summer 1944! He described hiding with some colleagues in a bomb crater as the Germans retreated. He was sent to Scotland and joined the Polish Free Army. He trained in the Officer Corp but didn't see active service as the war ended.

Following the thread -trying to persuade my wife we should try Poland this year....
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You might be my long lost brother in law!! My dad joined the PFA in Scotland as well and spent the rest of the war playing football for the army team at exhibition matches up and down the country. He also played for a couple of Scottish teams and his "war wounds" were all sustained on the football pitch!
 
Interesting about the National Service - I was born in the Uk and automatically qualified for a British Passport - and my parents were naturalised British. I wonder if your father (BobtheBass) retained his Polish passport - as I have never had the problem reported above. My husband is English - and he loves the Polish food etc....the last time I was there after a photo workshop, I stayed over in Warsaw for few days - and went to a local bistro for supper.....and only realised I had got my litres & pints mixed up when what looked like a glass bucket of lager landed on my table...needless to say it went down very well with a plate of pierogi..... It's well worth visiting, most of the main cities cater very well for English visitors. Campsites can be hit & miss - some up to Club standards, others - communist era with metal doors and rubber showers fitting onto taps.... One site we stopped at - had a pit-bull convention on....with the place overrun with pit-bulls.....so we filled up with water and went on. Directions may have improved now, but sometimes they don't say which way you are approaching from - so can get very confusing. My father & mother met in Palestine (father having been previously in a Russiaon POW camp & mother deported to Siberia). If anyone knows of "Wojtek" the bear - that was my father's platoon. Poland well worth visiting - and now the toll road from Berlin to Warsaw is open, a lot quicker route. Poland is a beautiful country - but, unlike the UK, as there are usually deep ditches at the side of the roads, so paces to randomly pull off and admire the view are few and far between.
 
It was explained to me by the British Consulate that because I was born to a Polish father before 1960 when the rules apparently changed I had dual nationality, so therefore was liable for National Service. I didn't question it, I just never visited again!
 
Hmm...just been looking this up - but compulsory national service was abolished in 2009 I think...was too young (at 12) when I first visited in 1966 - and then my next visit was when I was 50 , so too old....
 
Hania said:
Hmm...just been looking this up - but compulsory national service was abolished in 2009 I think...was too young (at 12) when I first visited in 1966 - and then my next visit was when I was 50 , so too old....
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I'm the same age as you (1954 vintage) and used to go every year from the age of 8 for all of the school summer holiday, missing out ages 17 and 18 due to having a girl friend at last! When I was 19 though I persuaded Sue to come with me and the family and that's when I got the official letter telling me I should report to a local army depot when I arrived to arrange my national service. It was too late to cancel the holiday so we went anyway and I ignored the letter and haven't been back since. My cousin told me a few years ago that I would have been liable until the age of 50 but they would have broken the service up into two week periods. Plenty of time to get shot!
 
We were in Poland last year and drove on to St Petersburg with the Camping & Caravanning Escorted trip to The Baltics. Loved Poland and will definitely be back. Roads in the south can be dodgy though! Some dash cams on our blog!

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Went last year for the first time (flew) and loved it. Going back in the spring with motorhome and hope it will be as nice!
Visited the salt mines, Auschwitz, Schindler's factory, remains of the ghetto wall (very sombering experience), Gestapo headquarters and prison: going to go back to some of these places. Maybe will go to Zakopane, just for a bit of "lighter" tourism....
Does anybody know if roads from the German border (Dresden way towards Wroclaw and then to Krakow) to Krakow are OK? Then maybe driving to Prague: anybody has experience of roads that way?
Thank you.
 
Drove through Poland on the way to kiev back in May travelling to the champions league final , took the route past krakow on the way there ,
The autobahns were empty, on the return we came back via Warsa,though to Germany .the people were very friendly and the country side was lovely
 
Anesta said:
Went last year for the first time (flew) and loved it. Going back in the spring with motorhome and hope it will be as nice!
Visited the salt mines, Auschwitz, Schindler's factory, remains of the ghetto wall (very sombering experience), Gestapo headquarters and prison: going to go back to some of these places. Maybe will go to Zakopane, just for a bit of "lighter" tourism....
Does anybody know if roads from the German border (Dresden way towards Wroclaw and then to Krakow) to Krakow are OK? Then maybe driving to Prague: anybody has experience of roads that way?
Thank you.
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We do that route twice every year and the A 4 motorway is excellent. There is a toll section from Wroclaw to Katowice which costs about £3.50 and then two sections from Katowice to Krakow which cost just over £2 each. That is for under 3.5t(or looks like;) - never been questioned)

No experience towards Prague.

Geoff
 
Been to Poland several times by plane but booked the ferry for the 16th May heading to Travermunde to Liepola, Latvia then doing a tour Estonia, Lithiania and back through Poland. Plenty sites on the ACSI website the biggest problem I have had is getting a cheap quote for vehicle recovery cause my van is 17 years old but the RAC came good with a reasonable annual policy

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Been twice, first was in the motorhome tp the town of Torun (we were wild camping on the grass around an airfield - near their big new speedway stadium), which was excellent. Went via Berlin and the roads from there into Poland were excellent, quality didn't go down once in the country. Turned north after Poznan towards our destination. Didn't really notice that much of a deterioration of the roads.
After our time there we tried to head south towards Prague, but the roads weren't very direct, so we headed back into Germany and went south from there. Used a Caravan & Motorhome club recommended site (been back twice since) on the outskirts of Prague and got the bus/tram into the city - lovely.

Also took a flying break to Krakow last Easter, which was lovely. Great people and away from the touristy areas very cheap.
 
went years ago 95 or 96 used to live in berlin when wall came down so went back in motor home was realy cheap then roads were apaling they were rebuilding all the autobhans year i went was when rhine flooded went tp praghe after and underground was closed because of flooding loads of problems with roads closed but people everywhere were great senery is amazing spent august there have been back to prage a few times but never managed to drive al the way throgh germany to go to poland again
 
We drove south from the Baltic States through Eastern Poland into Slovakia in September 2017. Of the places we stopped, we really enjoyed visiting Zamosc, Lublin, Krakow inc. Auschwitz and the salt mines,Wroclaw and Zakopane.
Relevant blog posts here:
https://wordpress.com/post/morgansabroadblog.wordpress.com/2516
https://wordpress.com/post/morgansabroadblog.wordpress.com/2873

Agree with other posters regarding quality of roads, but the only significant problem we encountered was of the human kind: the motorway from Krakow to Wroclaw is known to be habituated by con artists, often in UK registered cars and with women and children in tow, encouraging you to pull over so they can tell you a sob story about needing cash for fuel so they could get back to the UK. Don't stop and don't fall for it!!!
 
Petethefeet said:
We drove south from the Baltic States through Eastern Poland into Slovakia in September 2017. Of the places we stopped, we really enjoyed visiting Zamosc, Lublin, Krakow inc. Auschwitz and the salt mines,Wroclaw and Zakopane.
Relevant blog posts here:
https://wordpress.com/post/morgansabroadblog.wordpress.com/2516
https://wordpress.com/post/morgansabroadblog.wordpress.com/2873

Agree with other posters regarding quality of roads, but the only significant problem we encountered was of the human kind: the motorway from Krakow to Wroclaw is known to be habituated by con artists, often in UK registered cars and with women and children in tow, encouraging you to pull over so they can tell you a sob story about needing cash for fuel so they could get back to the UK. Don't stop and don't fall for it!!!
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We live a couple of kilometres from that A4 motorway, so have used sections of it quite frequently over the last 8 years and have never seen, or even heard of, activity that you describe. Anyway it is parolled and two vehicles stopped on the hard shoulder would soon attract attention of police or the transport patrols.

Did you learn this from the same people who told you about gassing in France?

Geoff

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Hania said:
we spent a month in poland in 2012. mainly northen, all the way to Białowierza / white forest. good camp site on right going into the village. had an interesting walk in the ‚protected forest ‚ - only accesible with a guide. This was not so much a 5 hr walk (30 deg) - but rather a forced march with hardly a stop - very knowledgable guide . You won’t see much evidence of wildlife other than tracks in the summer (I go on photographic trips there in the winter - incredible wildlife) . In the north of Poland not as many ppl speak english and signs in museums in german/ polish (I am bilingual do was ok for me) . interesting visit was to Malbork - Knights templar . re Warsaw, Podlin museum well worth a trip .
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We visited Bialowierza last September.
A night on the car park and two nights on the old ladys campsite.
Saw some very bored looking people towards the end of aguided walk.

We did have a bizarre bike ride from there on a one day visa from there

https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/posts/3009436/

We didn't see any Bison in the primaevil forest but have just finished this fantastic bottle of Bison Grass vodka a local speciality (banned in the USA)

20190114_223429.jpg
 
Petethefeet said:
Take your point aboiut gassing in France, but unfortunately this is not an urban myth: I experienced it first hand. And I wasn't the first: https://polishforums.com/life/turkish-conmen-krakow-wroclaw-stretch-53850/
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You said you experienced it first hand, but did not quote your own experience, only a link to somebody else's post.

Please give more details of your experience and your police report number - Basia's Son, a Polish policeman, will be able to track it.

Wihout that information this conversation is invalid.

Geoff
 
kennyb said:
Been to Poland several times by plane but booked the ferry for the 16th May heading to Travermunde to Liepola, Latvia then doing a tour Estonia, Lithiania and back through Poland. Plenty sites on the ACSI website the biggest problem I have had is getting a cheap quote for vehicle recovery cause my van is 17 years old but the RAC came good with a reasonable annual policy
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Do you mind if I ask how much the ferry was? I am planning doing that route later in the year.
 
Plans now afoot to head off to Poland and on to Vilnius in Aug/Sep. Seem to be plenty of Camperstops and ACSI sites enroute, but I’m still a bit confused about the ViaToll system for toll roads.

I’ve had a look at the website and downloaded the app. Should I be trying to register the van, which is over 3.5 tons before heading off or visit one of the service centres when on the way, register and collect the viatoll box? There seems to be lots of them and one just after the border from Frankfurt.

Thanks

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