More and more beer-drinkers around the world are developing a taste for Tyskie, which has contributed to the rapid export growth of the Tyskie brand, which is now considered Poland’s leading export beer brand. This is not only down to the large number of devoted Polish consumers who now live outside Poland remaining loyal to their favourite beer – they have also inspired their friends and colleagues to drink Tyskie. Each year, the list of countries where Tyskie is available gets longer and longer… starting with United States of America and Canada, through Holland, France, Iceland to the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany and China. More important still, Tyskie is constantly more often chosen by native Europeans – even without being recommended by Polish friends.

Taking a look at the numbers, since being introduced to the Irish market, Tyskie’s sales have increased by an astonishing 400%. In Ireland, Tyskie has a 73% share in total Polish beer brands purchased. This shows the scale of Tyskie’s appreciation outside of Poland.

Kompania Piwowarska is the largest brewer in Poland. Hundreds of years of experience in beer brewing, state-of-the-art technology and rigorous adherence to the World Class Manufacturing principles guarantee the highest quality beer. The company’s product portfolio includes Tyskie – Poland’s favourite beer, Żubr – the second largest Polish brand of beer, Lech, Dębowe Mocne, Pilsner Urquell, Redd’s, Dog in the Fog, Peroni Nastro Azzurro and Miller Genuine Draft. Kompania Piwowarska was established in 1999 as a result of a merger of Tyskie Browary Książęce and Lech Browary Wielkopolski.

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)

a

The 88-year-old poet had been afflicted with lung cancer. Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski said on Twitter that her death was an “irreparable loss to Poland’s culture.”

When Szymborska was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1996, the committee cited her “for poetry that with ironic precision allows the historical and biological context to come to light in fragments of human reality.”

Szymborska published her first book of poetry in 1952. Her work has been translated into more than a dozen languages. “I prefer the absurdity of writing poems to the absurdity of not writing poems,” she once said.

In 1996, after the Nobel announcement, the Times’ Warsaw bureau chief, Dean E. Murphy, spoke to Szymborska — “a retiring woman with wispy gray hair who cherishes her solitude” — about her work. “The award came as a surprise to Szymborska, and most everyone else in Poland, not because she is considered unworthy, but because her poetry speaks mostly to universal themes rather than the parochial political subjects that have distinguished Eastern European verse since World War II,” he wrote.

“In her poems we could find brilliant advice which made the world easier to understand” – the presidential couple added.

Last year, President Bronisław Komorowski honoured Wisława Szymborska with Poland’s highest distinction, The Order of the White Eagle, in recognition of her contribution to her country’s culture.

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)

a

Like many historic castles, palaces and stately homes in Poland, Kurozwęki Castle has had several owners over the centuries. Originally built in the 16th century for the Kurozwęcki family, which gave the castle its name, it was then owned by the Lanckoroński family. It was transformed into a Baroque and Neo-classical style residence by Maciej Sołtyk towards the end of the 18th century. Today, Kurozwęki Castle is owned by Marcin Popiel and his family; direct descendants of the Kurozwęki family, making it one of very few historic properties to come full circle return to the heirs of the original owners.

The Popiel family has invested, and indeed continues to invest, in the reconstruction of Kurozwęki Castle, employing local craftsmen who take great pride in applying traditional methods and techniques to the process. While this may mean that progress may be slow, the Popiels are confident that patience will pay off, and that the end results will be worthwhile in the long run. One of the most impressive examples of the restoration work currently being undertaken is an ancient yet well-preserved mural in the Kurozwęki chapel.

Kurozwęki Castle’s two annexes contain comfortable apartments, each with classically styled interiors. There is also a conservatory, a lounge and a banqueting hall. It is a great place for families to spend a short break – especially those with small children. There are sight-seeing trails that have been created with younger guests in mind, and there is even a small zoo, where pony and camel rides are on offer. A further attraction is a labyrinth carved in a field of maize. With a total of 4km of alleys, it is the largest of its kind in Poland, if not in Europe.

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)

a

Jerzy Owsiak

Commuters in Warsaw were treated to a rare sight this week when they were greeted by people collecting for WOŚP’s charity event without any trousers. According to Fakt, travellers getting on and off the city’s metro were approached by hoards of trouser-less youths bearing collection boxes as part of WOŚP’s annual ‘No Pants Subway Ride’ campaign. As an added boost, the collectors were joined by Jacek Januszko, former participant on “You Can Dance”.

Wielka Orkiestra Świątecznej Pomocy (The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity) is one of the biggest, non-governmental, non-profit, charity organizations in Poland. The GOCC Foundation has American Heart Association Certification for providing courses in CPR and ECC, and use of high technology for medical lifesaving.

It was founded in 1993 by Jerzy Owsiak, Lidia Niedźwiedzka-Owsiak, Bohdan Maruszewski, and Piotr Burczyński. The main objective, at that time, was “Protecting Health and Saving Children’s Lives by Providing Medical Equipment to Public Hospitals” (as stated in the deed of foundation). During the first Finale (for the benefit of pediatric cardio-surgery) in the same year, the Foundation collected a total of USD 1,535,440.68. Every year, millions of Poles donate their money to the Foundation and, between 1993 and 2005, they collected more than $60 million for public hospitals in Poland.

Apart from The Grand Finale, the Foundation also organizes one of the biggest rock concerts in Poland, Woodstock Festival Poland, and it started the Peace Patrol, a group of young volunteers trained in first aid by the GOCC, the Polish Red Cross and the Szadowo town police. In 2010, the Charity was paid to be ‘sponsor’ of Ruch Chorzów, one of Poland’s top football teams.

The aim of their work is to save the lives of sick people and especially sick children as well as to improve their medical condition. Also, The Foundation’s active involvement in health care enables us to support health promotion and propagate medical prevention.

They are furthering our aims by organizing the Grand Finale fundraising events, buying medical equipment for hospitals all over Poland and by carrying out five nation-wide medical programs and an educational one.

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)

a

As many as 31 people were implicated in a bogus wedding racket that married Nigerian men to Polish women for EUR 5,000. Investigators said they suspected 20 fraudulent marriages had taken place between 2005 and 2007 in Warsaw, Pruszków and Chorzów. One woman is reported to have agreed to marry twice in the scam.

Four Nigerians and five Polish citizens, including three women, were the network’s main organizers. Eager to marry, the men handed over about EUR 5,000.The money was divided between the organisers and the women. The women received half their fee up front and the second half after the men had received their residency papers.

The Nigerians in the gang had, apparently, spread information in Nigeria that they could arrange marriages in Poland that would eventually allow the men to stay in the EU. They also claimed that they had managed to get residency permits from marrying Poles.
One of the Nigerians under investigation also faces accusations of counterfeiting official Nigerian documents used in the bogus marriages.
The Poles involved targeted women who were ready to marry for money, with most of the women seeing the scam as a good way to escape difficult financial circumstances.
The case had come to light after border guards discovered that in two of the marriages the couples did not live together, and, in fact, knew very little about each other.
Prosecutors said that 22 of those involved, including one of the Nigerian ringleaders, have pleaded guilty and submitted themselves for punishment.
News of the scam will increase pressure on authorities to ensure that marriages are not abused by people eager to profit from those desperate to enter Poland by any means possible. Poland’s EU membership and strong economy means that it is becoming an increasingly popular destination for anybody wanting to escape their home countries in the developing world.

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)

a

a

There’s a site that offers virtual trips across Poland and there’s plenty to look at.

Wirtualny Kraj allows you to browse various locations across Poland and go for a (virtual) walk across many cities – both major and those less known.

You can visit museums, various tourist attractions, churches, universities and even go inside Sejm, the Polish parliament.

The site is a great way of exploring new destinations and potentially planning your next trip. So, if you find some time over the festive period, why not give it a try? The site has an English version as well.

Site has tons of pictures, movies, galleries. You can visit schools, shopping malls, town halls, restaurants.

You can take a walk through the town and see beautiful buildings, streets, gardens.

It is actually pretty cool and you can really get to know the region you are planning to visit in the future.

Take a look and let us know what are your thoughts.

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)

a

Traditionally a country of emigration, Poland has become an increasingly attractive magnet for immigrants, especially from neighboring former Soviet republics such as Ukraine and Belarus, as it notches up high rates of economic growth.

Under the amnesty, economic migrants and unsuccessful asylum seekers will be able from January 1 to receive a resident card for two years that will allow them to work legally in Poland. Legalizing the immigrants will benefit the Polish economy by turning them into taxpayers.

The amnesty will apply to undocumented immigrants who arrived in Poland before December 20, 2007, and to asylum seekers who were denied refugee status before January 1, 2010, provided that they have continuously resided in Poland. The idea is to reach the largest number of foreigners in order to regularize this situation in the widest possible manner.

Most economic migrants entered Poland legally but overstayed their visas, officials say.

More than two thirds of the illegal immigrants in Poland are believed to live in Warsaw and the surrounding Mazowsze region. Some 7,000 of these people probably fulfill the criteria of the amnesty.

a

Officials in the city, the home of Poland’s own anti-communist icon Lech Wałęsa, inaugurated Vaclav Havel Avenue today, the same day the Czech playwright (dramaturg) and president (prezydent) was being laid to rest in his homeland (ojczyzna).

Officials say they believe it’s the first street worldwide to be named for Havel, who died Sunday at the age of 75.

a

Wirtualny Kraj allows you to browse various locations across Poland and go for a (virtual) walk across many cities – both major and those less known.

You can visit museums, various tourist attractions, churches, universities and even go inside Sejm, the Polish parliament (see below).

There are also some weird choices – like shopping malls – but judging by the number of visitors to those, they seem to be as popular in the virtual world as they are in the real world.

The site is a great way of exploring new destinations and potentially planning your next trip. So, if you find some time over the festive period, why not give it a try? The site has an English version too, although it didn’t always work for me.

Here’s my top 10 destinations on the site:

1. Sejm – the Polish Parliament

2. Kraków

3. Hel 

4. Malbork Castle

5. Silesian Observatory

6. Książ Castle

7. Tatra Mountains (Kasprowy Wierch Mountain)

8. Kalwaria Zebrzydowska (a UNESCO site)

9. AGH, Kraków

10. Sanok folk/etno museum

 Tweet