This is my first trip to Poland; indeed, except for a science meeting in St. Petersburg two years ago, it’s my first trip to Eastern Europe. I’m here for some R&R and also to give two talks, one in Warsaw and the other in Cracow.
I was greeted at the Warsaw airport by a biology student, Justyna, who studies primates at the local zoo. Having heard of my fondness for felids, she prepared a lovely greeting (the balloons have cat faces drawn on them):
My first meal in Poland with my hosts Andrzej and Malgorzata. The menu: beef with garlic sauce, salad, cherry pie with fruit from their own orchard (you can see some of their 3000 cherry trees through the window) and a good Polish beer.
Hili likes to perch on the coffee and tea jars after her meals:
Hili runs the household and, as a typical cat, sleeps where she wants. This often makes it difficult for Malgorzata when she works on the website.
A walk by the river Wisla (Vistula): Andrzej, Malgorzata, and their d-g Emma (named after Charles Darwin’s wife; they used to have a male companion for Emma named Darwin).
I was in Poland in 1995. What impressed me at the time was the truly awful Soviet-era architecture.
Agreed, 1992 for me. But the people, sausage, and beer made up for all!
(I have to admit that the beer was sometimes spotty — sometimes great, sometimes just OK; but I figured that was the post-Soviet hangover.)
’96 for me.
I remember being introduced to a blue shot called “Kamikaze”. After that it gets a bit blurry.
I’ve been to Poland only recently, well, actually 3 years ago in Gdańsk/Danzig.
It’s a really beautiful city.
I know Jerry is in Warsaw and Krakow but if he has enough time I’d really recommend a visit to Gdańsk.
There are enough cherries in that pie for at least 3 voivodeships.
Please post a million photos of Poland. My family left Poland in the early 1950’s so I’ve never seen it since I was born in the U.S.
You MUST go. I loved Poland.
OK, that cat is *exceptionally* photogenic!
Agree, such a doll!
Nice photos Jerry, thanks! The food looks just wonderful! Hili has a nice strategic surveillance outpost there!
Mmmmm all cherries in the pie! I’m in sugar bliss just looking at it.
I miss the Old Country!
I was in Poland this week. I was hitchhiking from Budapest to Tallinn.
I hope you enjoy your stay. Greetings from a distace of 300 km (Poznań, in western Poland)
What an uplifting post, on all counts!
A wonderful greeting after a long flight? Uplifting!
Friends plying you with good food, and beer, including fresh cherry pie with cherries from the orchard out back? Uplifting!
A beautiful cat sleeping in your lap, keeping you company as you try to update your website? Uplifting!
A brisk after meal walk through beautiful riverside lands with family and friends? Uplifting!
I was thinking the same. A lovely heartwarming post.
Don’t forget the dog’s bum photobombing!
Yes, it all looks so beautiful and welcoming! And the cherries…Mmmmm….
Old joke from Poland, from my long visit in 1966. The queue’s (lines) in the grocery store were so long. You had to queue to order, then queue elsewhere to pay, and take your receipt back and queue to collect your order. The old Polish man behind me lost his temper, and said, “I’m fed-up with this system; I’m off to shoot the president!”
Half an hour later he was back.
“Did you shoot the president?”, I asked.
“No, there was a queue!”
I saw the remains of Hitler’s bombing. Great people. Everyone’s an intellectual.
Hili looks very much like my cat, Tempest (who died at 15 years old a few years ago, I still miss her).
What wonderful hospitable hosts right from the moment you touched down!
I very much enjoy travelling vicariously through these peregrination posts and this one touched on so many good things – lovely hosts, nice food and an awesome kitteh.
I wonder if cats have hand / arm preferences. As I type, Baihu’s also using my own left forearm for a pillow, though he’s on the desk an not in my lap.
Still, it’s clear that Poland is a most civilized country, what with the cats in charge and the fresh cherry pies and what-not.
Cheers,
b&
Assume you’ll have a chance to sample the sausages there & look fwd to that review, esp on account of the story about the guy from Chicago who lands in Warsaw and asks the cabbie to take him to the place with the best Polish sausages.
I imagine looking for the best Polish sausage must be like looking for the best French wine. There’re so many different categories to consider!
But I’d be particularly interested in a good dry garlic Kielbasa…Best of Europe Meats and Deli on the northeast corner of 32nd Street and Greenway in Phoenix makes a very good one, but my favorite would have to be that made at Seakor Polish Deli on the southeast corner of 24th Avenue and Geary in San Francisco.
Cheers,
b&
OK, now you are REALLY making me hungry!
It is so great that Jerry found time to visit Poland. I think that this country would also use much if Richard Dawkins payed a visit there one day. Poland is nowadays submerged in kitschy Catholic religiosity, brainwashing children in public schools for public money with Catholic dogmas, funding Church with large amounts of money from government, and beating Guinness records for giant statues to prophets and popes. Any support/publicity from outside is greatly appreciated.
I went to an amphipod meeting in Poland a few years ago at the University of Lodz, just outside Warsaw. What great people. I was there a week and was treated with remarkable kindness. English is not as widely spoken there are in Western Europe, so my host assigned me a grad student to show me around and do the talking (that grad student is now a professor). I asked my host Dr. Jzdewzkewsi if I could learn Polish and he said I was too old. I’m sure he was serious. Anyway, enjoy, its a great place. BTW, I did visit the University of Warsaw and was impressed with their work on the evolution and distribution of Eurasian freshwater Amphipoda.
I did visit the University of Warsaw and was impressed with their work on the evolution and distribution of Eurasian freshwater Amphipoda.
Glad to hear it. My son is a biology student at the University of Warsaw. Not sure if he’s planning to attend Jerry Coyne’s talk next week, but I’ll remind him of the event. I’d love to go there myself if university duties did not keep me in Poznań on Thursday.
I would so love to return for another visit and see my Polish friends and colleagues. I wish your son the best in his studies at U of Warsaw. Incidentally, I did get to visit Poznan while I was there; I enjoyed the beautiful countryside while driving there from Lodz.
polish cooking is really excellent, & their variety is astonishing. My favourites so far are “Kabanos”, but I dit try only a few dozen varieties…
Seen from France, they’d just need more choice in cheese. Other than that, 2 thumbs up.
Well, no nation can compare with France for cheese! (I have a World Guide to Cheese and 40% of the entire book is dedicated to France!)
That said, I’m happy to say that there are many artisinal cheese makers in the US now making world-class cheeses. Yum, yum!
Can’t wait to get back to la belle France …