The yearly pilgrimage

I love Poland. I really do. Everything is nice and my grandparents provide me good free food.

Poland. A place to visit

Now, it seems that the whole of England love going to Poland as well.
I've never see so many stag nights groups like on my way to Warsaw. Cheap flights, nice girls, cheap alchool and still cheap accomodation. And let's not forget about the weather, very nice in the summer.
Fortunately, they all went to Warsaw, or Krakow. Good for me. I still like to walk in Poznan, the city where half of my family tree is coming from, without seeing a single tourist (well, actually I've seen more than ever, but if I compare it with other cities that's quite good).
Poznan is a fantastic place. Ok, no sea. You can go to Gdynia to find another incredible pleace, with beatuiful beaches, girls in bikini, and a cold sea not even so salted like the Mediterranean. Ok, there are more Germans than in Warsaw, but hey, that means less Russian and less criminality. And there is the bigger Polish Trade Fair, when you can always find some nice stuff, especially if it's the fashion week. And if you get an invitation. Or if you know someone.
I can relax in Poland, no doubt about that.
While in Italy I'm always running around (so much to do in so little time), in Poland my days are just lazy and I can stop and think about important life's matters: when the lunch will be ready, what my grandma cooked today, what time shall I go out for a walk in the parks or in the old city or when shall I meet my friends. Hoping to ending the evening drinking vodka and talking about the good old times (summers) when we use to go out and play football every day.

Travelling to Poland now it's cheaper than ever. Thank to some hungarian airlines (wizzair), for just 50 quid you can get a flight to one of the biggest cities in the country. Not bad. I would spend more in London in a weekend.
I flew to Warsaw with the company of three stag party groups, and for 2 hours I was forced to listen to every kind of group songs that the blokes invented and I saw things on the plane that no one should never allow to see. Probably the beers helped a lot.
Let's talk about Warsaw, or Warszawa. An incredibly overrated city. Dirty, expensive (if you compare it to the rest of the country) and with the kind of entertainments created to fulfill the hopes of tourists while spending money without thinking about it, or while drinking. I spent a good amount of time back in the mid nineties, and I know what I'm talkig about. But at least you can find someone who can speak proper english. And there is the Culture Palace, an incredible Russian building from the Communism Era. Tall, spaceship looking, a monstruosity from a time that some people would rather forget. But it's still there.

Train and after 5 hours Poznan here we go. Too late to phone my grandparents, I just walked from the station to the apartments, a massive 15 minutes walk. I woke up them and after the "hello, how're you doing?" "oh! You grown up!" "it's time to find a proper job and a proper house and a proper girlfriend and to marry and to make me grand-grand ma" I went straight to bed, to wake up only the day after, 12 hours later.

There is a big, huge plus to stay at your grandparents: the accomodation is free, the food is good AND free AND the portions are always bigger than my hunger. The only big minus is that they won't never give me the keys of the apartments (few years ago I think, not very sure, I came back a bit drunk) and I have to get back before midnight. Well, for good food I can do that...

Exploring my memories

I spent my first day walking around, in my annual personal pilmigrage to all the places from my childhood's summer memories. Since my childhood memory goes back to the comunism era or the year just after, every time I'm visiting the old places they are simply missing, or replaced by something else.

There is no more "olimpia cinema". 10 minutes by walk from home. I used to spent at least an afternoon a week watching american movies with polish subtitles, on the big screen. Or, when the big screen was unavailable, on a vhs. I remember watching Polic Academy in a small room with other 50 guys looking up to the small television with the video connected. I remember laughing just because everyone else was laughing, cause I couldn't see or hear a thing.

The Baltik Cinema has been destroyed. It wasn't just part of my memories, but was part of my mum's and grandma's. It has always been there, probably since God created the week and decided that Saturday was a good day to watch a movie, so He created Hollywood and uncomfortable sits in front a giant silver screen.

Gong, Miniaturka, Apollo were long gone last year or two years ago. They have all been transformed in something else. A bar, a pub, a dance hall.
To see a movie, I had to walk to the multikino, a new (2 or 3 years old) multi cinema not too distant from the Stare Miasto (the Old City). I drank coke and ate popcorn while watching the movie (The Village) in the comfort of the simil sofa.

The Old City has always been part of my walks. Within 30 minutes from home I could enjoy a warm summer weather waiting for the mechanical kosziolky (the goats) to fight at 12.00 at the top of the municipal building, the Ratusz (built by the way by an italian, like half of polish artistic buildings) and drinking a cold drink.

On my wak back, watching people, I realized that:

• guys younger than 30 look like hiphop skinheads (everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, has shaven heads and hiphop trousers)
• after 30s, men tend to look like Walesa. Big moustaches and a distint polish look, with a nice belly.
• if they are not in 1) and 2) probably they are my friends or I know them, cause none of the people I have the pleasure to spend my time with are neither skinheads nor Walesa lookalike.
• But they like the Pope. Nice guy, by the way.
• I didn't see any fat young girl
• after 50s some women tend to get fat.
• if you're a girl and you're younger than 25, you're probably already married, with at least 2 kids, and still good looking
• if you're a guy and you're younger than 25, you're probably already married, with at least 2 kids and not that good looking
• dogs foul all the time and nobody cares about the smell
• kebab is replacing the zapiekanka (the polish version of fish&chips kind of food) as national street dish
• ski jump has replaced football in the last years as national sport

Polish vodka wedding

Sunday was a more relaxing day. After visiting my friend, I was invited to play football against one of the old teams we used to play in the summer. Few of my old teammates were available (PKS Grottgera, after years of good football, now plays only on special anniversaries...) and the standard was quite low, cause I guess I was the only fit enough to run behind a ball. And probably the last still playing football, 10 years later (sadly the same happened in Italy: I'm the last one standing). Final score: 5-4. I didn't score any goals, but three assist and my usual good defencing skills (to read: everyone was complaining cause I was a bit too rough on their legs. Ehi, not my fault: I always touch the ball first, whatever is left second) were enough to win, coming back from 1-3.

The whole week followed a normal routine: wake up in the morning, a good "ol' time" breakfast, work, walks, lunch. Walks, cinema, friends. Only in Poland, in Poznan, once a year, my life runs at a slower, peaceful, rhythm.

On saturday, few days later, time to go north, to the sea side, to the hidden gem called Gdynia: better than Gdansk, with fantastic free beaches (but this time,staying just 24 hours, I couldn't enjoy them) and fantastic weather, for a wedding. A friend of mine (Ola, I've been with her in Italy a long time ago) was tying the know with her boyfriend, once for all. After a early morning (4.30) wake up and 6 hours of train, I was already there, mentally ready for an historical drink session. I still remember the last wedding I've taken part in Poland, and my hungover lasted 2 days. You know, in Poland it's not just beer, it's vodka as well, in industrial quantities. And so it was. After a nice ceremony in a small church somewhere on the hills, and 3 hours of sleeping somewhere to recover from the trip, I was ready to show my dance moves and my drinking skills. They are a match made in heaven.

I don't know much memories of the night, and the morning. I've got some flash back about drinking vodka, cranberyy juice and tabasco and eating whatever was coming to my mouth. Another flashback and I'm doing a good impersonification of Usher or Justin Timberlake or Frank Sinatra. Don't remember much. Another flashback and I'm sick. Fast forward and I'm on the train on my way home. I open my eyes and it's mondy already. I missed sunday. Doesn't really matter.

Unfortunately, as soon as I recovered from the wedding drinking dancing session, was already time to go. Time to go back. Bye bye Poznan, bye bye grandma. Bye bye grandpa. Dowidzenia Dominik Michal Magda Ula (and yes, Marcin. Haven't forgot about you and your bbq and your alcohol!) Kasia and relative kids and more.
See you next year, when my liver will be ready again. And with a working digital camera. I have to resume my old digital kodak, with a broken flash...

Posted by Olaf Olgiati the 15 September 2004