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12 Reasons Why You Should Visit Poland Immediately!
We are so happy we chose to visit Poland. A lot of people thought our choice was a bit weird. Especially because Jillian has never been to Europe. "Why not London, Paris, Italy?" people asked.
We're so happy we decided to visit this awesome country! Here are are favorite things about Poland:
1) The people are so nice! From bringing us homemade dinner to asking us to join their Christmas celebrations to helpful airport ladies - everyone has been very kind and helpful to us.
2) It's beautiful. Walking in the mountains you might as well be in Switzerland. The old town of Kraków is like a Disney princess set. The rolling hills with quaint houses are so beautiful.
3) It's clean. There is no trash, anywhere .
4) The food is awesome. Pierogis are so good. Borscht is so good. Fried potato pancakes are so good. Their pastries and sweets are so yummy, and not too sugary. Their hot chocolate is to die for. If Jillian could have mushroom soup intravenously injected, she probably would. Everything is so hearty and delicious. One meal will keep you full all day.
5) People are very fashionable and attractive. Everybody wears cute boots and hip coats with fur collars. The people are very good looking.
6) Aesthetics. This one is a bit weird to explain, but they are really good at making things look nice. Businesses have beautifully designed logos. Billboards all look really professionally done (no cheesy, low budget car dealership ads). The restaurants all have cool artwork and handmade decorations that add to the ambiance.
7) Vodka is just better here. We've never been able to drink that much vodka without a mixer and with no hangover in the morning. They also have a lot of delicious flavored vodkas.
8) Interesting History. From tribes and kings of the 10th century to the horrors of WWII, Poland is very rich in diverse history. This country has had so many bad things happen to them, and has been invaded dozens of times over the last millennia. Given that, it's amazing at how bright and tech savvy the people are. They seem to be on the rise.
9) Dragons! For real, they've slayed dragons. There is a dragon cave right below the castle in Kraków.
10) Everyone speaks some level of English. Most at a high level.
11) It's not touristy. Although in Kraków (and to a lesser extent in Zakopane) many of the menus had English translations, there weren't all that many tourists. Outside of the tours we did to Auschwitz and the Salt Mine we rarely encountered other Americans. Everywhere we ate, drank and visited was filled almost exclusively by Poles. This made it feel like we were getting more insight into the culture than we would in other places with a higher proportion of visitors.
12) It's extremely affordable. A 3-course dinner with wine was around $65. An hour long massage was about $30. A pair of boots could be as low as $20.
There are also some interesting/weird things we noticed about Poland:
1) so many pigeons. And people feed them! (Jillian wrote this, Josh says this is quite normal, either way it's disgusting)
2) It's very casual. Bus drivers, tour guides at Auschwitz, waitresses - all wear jeans. We rarely (once, maybe) saw anyone wearing a suit or heels. Maybe once downtown.
3) Women don't seem to age very well. They are either smokin hot babes or old ladies. America definitely has the MILF market cornered.
4) They love John Paul II. There are statues and photos of him everywhere.
5) There are also a lot of nuns.
6) No one drinks their coffee on the go, they all sit and relax at the coffee shop. The only to go coffee cups we saw were from McDonalds.
7) Actually, very few people were drinking coffee, everyone had tea. Which might explain why their coffee was so watered down.
8) Polish people love Christmas. Like really love it. They scream out 'Christmas Time!!' while taking their selfies. Also they play so many American Christmas songs we've never heard before. Clearly they listen to the whole Mariah and John Legend Christmas albums and not just the singles like we Americans do.
9) The only American city Polish people know is Chicago. Blank stares for Louisiana/New Orleans.
It was a great trip.
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