Red Corner: East European Soccer Hooligans

by Neil Woodburn on

In its rush to catch up with the rest of the world, Eastern Europe now lays claim to a particularly violent brand of soccer hooligans. There was a time when England had the worst reputation for crazy soccer fans, but the Brits are slowly being overshadowed by their up-and-coming colleagues from the east-especially in former East Germany and Poland.

Why do we care about this on a travel website, you ask?

With the World Cup occurring in Germany this summer, law enforcement officials are gearing up for an undesirable tourist invasion of these very soccer hooligans. It is particularly worrisome this year because hooligans from the former GDR are already in the country, and hooligans from Poland are just across the border. To make matters worse, Polish television stations refused to pay the high cost of telecasting the games so soccer fans from Gdansk to Zakopane will have to journey to Deutschland if they want to watch any of the action.

Police officials estimate there are at least 9,500 active East German hooligans and 20,000 Polish ones in their files. Although the total number of hooligans will only be a small percent of the estimated 1.5 million soccer fans traveling to Germany to attend the events, their presence will definitely be felt.

Red Corner: Warsaw

by Neil Woodburn on

Warsaw is probably my least favorite capital in Eastern Europe. Nonetheless, it still has much to offer and plenty of reason to visit.

John Bordsen of The Charlotte Observer must have been wondering about this himself when he did a Q & A session with Brendan Ian Burke, editor of the English language newspaper, The Warsaw Voice. Only 35 years old, Burke has lived in Warsaw for the last five of them.

The Q & A format is rather simple and straightforward, but as a result, very revealing about what the city of Warsaw has to offer. Along the way we learn that Burke compares Warsaw to Philadelphia, claims it has more to do in the evening hours than Boston (where Burke lived prior) and that sushi is the stylish food of the moment.

I’m certainly not in a big rush to jet off to Warsaw for some Polish sushi, but the article did win me over a little bit. It’s been a few years since I’ve visited and apparently the city has gotten much better.

Word for the Travel Wise (03/31/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

This year Poland will play
host to the 72nd International Camping & Caravanning Rally to be
held in Wroclaw, an area situated in southwestern Poland. The rally begins July 27, 2006 and runs through August 6,
2006. From the many details on their site you can bet on exploring Poland’s beautiful outdoors in addition to spending
an evening indoors dining on traditional Polish foods. They welcome you to visit and learn more about the country
before making way this summer.

Today’s word is a Polish word used in Poland:

witamy
– welcome

Interested parties can further their skills by visiting this Skwierzyna site for an Adobe PDF filled with excellent info and
dictionary of Polish facts. Additional sites include Anglik for very
basic info, Skwierzyna.net for additional links, and Angielski to learn Polish in Poland. Recommended pocket guides can be purchased
at Lonely Planet. Download the word above and more at BBC languages quick fix.

Past
Polish words: doswiadczenie

Word for the Travel Wise (02/01/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

You’ve got one weekend to spare in Krakow and you hear there’s a really cool temporary exhibit of an extremely talented Krakow-born painter who died of consumption at the age of 26. The exhibit on the artist named Ludwik de Laveaux, known most for his impressionist Paris nightscapes runs up until February 28, 2006, but time is running far shorter for you. Here’s your dilemma, you’re lost and you’ve know the venue is right under your nose from your trusty little guide map, but your poor pronunciation of the Polish language is gaining you nothing but blank faces when asking for directions. Even when pointing to the written directions of the venue location at 11 Szczepanska street, luck has it that you’ve been asking the people just haven’t a clue on where it is. Sometimes things like this just happen.

Today’s word is a Polish word used in Poland:

doswiadczenie – experience

What you just been given is the ‘dowiadczenie’ or experience of being lost in one of Poland’s most popular cities and probably and even dizzier go at the language. Personally Polish makes my head swell. It never seems there is a good balance of vowels and consonants and everything seems so lengthy. While our English version of the word isn’t so short and sweet they’ve tacked three more letters onto theirs. Since I’ve never placed any real effort into learning this particular Lechitic branch of Western Slavic tongue I’m surely not knocking it, but I’ve got no intentions of becoming fluent anytime soon.

Interested parties can further their skills by visiting this Skwierzyna site for an Adobe PDF filled with excellent info and dictionary of Polish facts. Additional sites include Anglik for very basic info, Skwierzyna.net for additional links, and Angielski to learn Polish in Poland. Recommended pocket guides can be purchased at Lonely Planet.

Red Corner: Cheap Polish Skiing

by Neil Woodburn on

While it may not be the best skiing in Europe, it is certainly some of the cheapest.

Just in time for the ski season, The Warsaw Voice has published a comprehensive list of Poland’s best ski resorts. Although Poland is usually not the first place that comes to mind when searching for some heavenly slopes, you might want to reconsider after checking out the details. Where else, for example, can you cruise 18 km of ski runs on a 1-day pass that costs just $25? And rent skis or a snowboard for just $15 a day? Food is equally as cheap and accommodations are laughably inexpensive compared to the Alps.

Don’t expect the best skiing in Europe, however. Conditions aren’t as great as the Alps, but they are good enough for resorts like Zakopane to host this weekend’s World Cup of Ski Jumping. With this in mind, Poland may not warrant a trip on its own for the sole purpose of skiing, but if you happen to be in this part of the world in wintertime, it is most definitely worth a detour.

Oh, and if you’re in North America instead and looking for some Polish-style, inexpensive skiing, check out Erik’s “Ski Cheaper” post today.