Podejdz no do Plota » warsaw

First No Pants Subway Ride in Warsaw

Kasia — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 18:15:29 +0000

Yesterday I wrote about people collecting for WOŚP’s charity event without any trousers in Warsaw’s subway. Well, they were not the only ones without the pants.

For the first time ever Warsaw participated in Annual No Pants Subway Ride on January 8th 2012. Participants rode between Wilanowska and Ratusz-Arsenal subway stations. This global event was started by Improv Everywhere in New York in 2002.

The No Pants Subway Ride is annual event staged by Improv Everywhere every January in New York City. The mission started as a small prank with seven guys and has grown into an international celebration of silliness, with dozens of cities around the world participating each year. The idea behind No Pants is simple: Random passengers board a subway car at separate stops in the middle of winter without pants. The participants do not behave as if they know each other, and they all wear winter coats, hats, scarves, and gloves. The only unusual thing is their lack of pants.

Once on board, they act as they normally would. They pretend to not know any of the other pantless riders. If questioned, they are supposed to tell folks that they “forgot to wear pants” and yes they are “a little cold.” They are supposed to insist that it is a coincidence that others also forgot their pants. They are supposed to be nice and friendly and normal.

If any of you participated in this ride, either in Poland or in a different country, please share with us what was your experience and reaction of other people on the subway.

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)

Andrzej Lepper found dead

Kasia — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 00:10:50 +0000

There has been a lot of sad news lately from Poland… Polish populist politician Andrzej Lepper has died at the age of 57 in Warsaw, with police suspecting he killed himself. The leader of the Self-Defence Party was found dead in a party office, police said. His career in politics was latterly overshadowed by a [...]

Celebrate Frederic Chopin’s birthday

the POLSKI blog — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:24:52 +0000

This one is for music lovers planning a trip to Warsaw.

To mark the bicentennial of Frederic Chopin’s birth (yes, he was Polish), the Polish capital has published a Chopin audio city guide.

Available in eight languages, the guide will take tourists to some key locations related to the great pianist.

You can download the audio guide from Warsaw City Hall’s website (in English and other languages) or you can get in while walking through the capital as there will be several ‘music banks’ with special codes, which you can scan using your mobile – and get the audio files this way.

If you are a Chopin fan, you’ll be pleased to know that next year over 2,000 evens are planned across the globe to mark the 200th anniversary of his birth – and over half of them will take place various cities across Poland.

Just remember that – as Chopin was born to a French father and Polish mother – his name will often be spelt in two different ways in Poland. Frederic Chopin is the internationally recognised spelling of course, but Poles will refer to him as Fryderyk Szopen. The pronunciation is similar, just swap the French accent for a Polish one

So, if you haven’t been yet, it looks like 2010 might be a good year to visit Poland at last!

Fresh Polish music – Gaba Kulka

the POLSKI blog — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 09:07:06 +0000

So Madonna’s first Polish gig this week in Warsaw seems to be the biggest musical event of the summer (in the pop category at least – Britney’s cancelled, and last week’s U2 gig in Chorzow probably fell into a totally different category altogether). Although when I say ‘the biggest I actually mean the most controversial as some Polish Catholics are up in arms claiming that the date of the gig was chosen on purpose to coincide with a Polish church holiday and that’s not a day to wave your underpants about.

But to me the biggest musical discovery of the summer so far is a young Polish singer named Gaba Kulka.

I don’t know much about her, I was given her CD for my birthday (thanks, Joasia!) and – as it’s quite interesting – I’m sharing my discovery straight away, before I’ve had a chance to read up on her.

As my friend said, ‘it’s very arty’. Hmm. Yes, it’s a bit arty. Think a cross between Kate Bush and Tori Amos. At least that’s the first impression after just a couple of sessions with the CD. It’s one of those records, which evelove with time, there’s always something new to discover.

I have no idea how popular Gaba is in Poland at the moment, but as always, if my friend Joasia recommends it, it must be good.

Here’s a sample:

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