Christmastime in Poland

It’s a mere 18 days until Christmas and, of course, the First Day of Coynezaa.  Both festivities are marked by an overconsumption of food, and Coynezaa enjoys the advantage of having no religious overtones save encomiums for Professor Ceiling Cat (Emeritus).

Here in Katowice, in southern Poland, the Christmas Market is already in full swing in the town square, and I happened upon it walking back from the Silesian Science Festival (today I registered, tomorrow and Monday I speak). It was exactly what I’d expect a Polish Christmas market to be: full of fun, food, and just a bit of religion in the form of singing angels (not shown). Here are a few holiday snaps I took while crossing the town square.

Yep, here’s where we are:

Katowice has an ancient history, but lacks the charm of other Polish cities for two reasons: it was an industrial hub for mining coal and steel, and, under German occupation, many of its landmarks were wrecked, including the Great Synagogue, shown below next to the City Baths. It was completed in 1900 and razed by the Germans in 1939.  And of course most of the Jews were killed or sent away to be murdered.

An old building that remains in the city square:

Here is a monument that I take to be in honor of the local miners. Note the flowers and miner’s lamp at the base:

And everywhere people were having fun and laughing, expecially the kids. This one got a big soap bubble:

But the adults were also having a great time. There are various plastic status behind which you can stick your face to get a photograph. Like these people:

A penguin:

And a train chugging the kids through the market:

But of course people were there to get stuff, too: mostly food. Like these roasted chestnuts:

And look at this inventive and mouth-watering display of lollipops:

And, of curse, gingerbread, a Polish speciality for the holidays:

Very fancy gingerbread. These say “Happy Christmas” in Polish:

Various candies (caramels?), some of them flavored with booze (“piwo” is beer):

And what is a Polish market without sausages?

There were stalls selling non-comestibles, too. This one carried a variety of soaps, including these cat soaps in lavender and lily-of-the-valley (“kot” is “cat” in Polish):

Walking back to my hotel on the shopping street, I saw a big line in front of one shop. It was selling a variety of soft pretzels, and I would have joined the line had it been shorter:

There was a variety, including non-twisted pretzels filled with Nutella. The cinnamon pretzels were nearly sold out:

But below is a store selling the quintessence of Polish baked treats: pączki.  Wikipedia describes them:

A pączek is a deep-fried piece of dough shaped into a flattened ball and filled with confiture or other sweet filling. Pączki are usually covered with powdered sugar, icing, glaze, or bits of dried orange zest. A small amount of grain alcohol (traditionally rectified spirit) is added to the dough before cooking; as it evaporates, it prevents the absorption of oil deep into the dough.  Pączki are commonly thought of as fluffy but somewhat collapsed, with a bright stripe around them; these features are seen as evidence that the dough was fried in fresh oil.

Although they look like German berliners (bismarcks in North America) or jelly doughnuts, pączki are made from especially rich dough containing eggs, fats, sugar, yeast, and sometimes milk.

(Note that when JFK proclaimed himself “Ich bin ein Berliner” in Germany in June, 1963, his attempt to forge solidarity with the divided people of that city actually meant, in German, “I am a jelly donut.”  He should have said “Ich bin Berliner.”)

Believe me; these pastries are superb! The only thing preventing me from trying one or three was that I was full from the ample spread of goodies in the Science Festival’s VIP room, to which I have access as a speaker. But have a look at these puppies! There are four zloty to the dollar, so each large filled pastry is about two bucks.

Happy Christmas from Poland!