Country Guide: Poland

Name: Poland (in Polish: Polska)

Continent: Europe

Capital (and Largest) City: Warsaw (in Polish: Warszawa)

Language: Polish

Currency: Polish Złoty

Drives on the: Right

Time Zone: Central European Time

Adaptor Types: Type C and Type E

Description: Poland is a relatively large country in Eastern Europe, which borders the Baltic Sea in the north and the Carpathian Mountains in the south, as well as several other European countries. It is known for its historic cities, including Kraków, Warsaw and Gdańsk, and it's also a popular hiking and skiing destination.

Why You Should Visit: I had a really fantastic and memorable time in Poland when I volunteered there in 2019, teaching English with the Angloville programme. There are many beautiful places to see throughout the country (I only saw a few, but I would definitely go back in the future). In addition, the people are very friendly, and everything is cheap, so you're sure to have a great time!

Fun Fact: The world's largest castle (the Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork) is located in Poland!

My Blogposts About Poland

Charlotte's Travel Adventures

- Kraków

- Ciężkowice

- Volunteering in Poland With Angloville (Modrzewiowe Wzgórze)

- Travel Tips: My Ten Favourite Cities (Kraków)

- Travel Tips: My Ten Favourite Castles and Palaces (Wawel Castle, Kraków)

- UNESCO World Heritage Sites (Kraków)

- Travel Tips: My Top Five Mountain Destinations (The Tatra Mountains)

- Charlotte's Travel Adventures is 5 Years Old! (Kraków)

Clockwise starting from top left: St Mary's Basilica, Kraków; Wawel Castle, Kraków; Modrzewiowe Wzgórze; Statue of Ignacy Jan Paderewski in Ciężkowice; Kraków Cloth Hall

Check out the rest of my Country Guides here!

Volunteering in Poland With Angloville

On the 11th August, we travelled from Kraków to the Angloville venue, Modrzewiowe Wzgórze. I have to admit I was surprised by the place. All the information I'd received beforehand gave me the impression that it was a fancy 4* hotel. I did not expect to be staying in a cabin in the woods that seemed suspiciously like a haunted house!

On the first evening, I went to use the bathroom next to my room and found massive wasp-coloured bugs crawling out of the plughole! The only solution was to put a mug over the sink, close the door and never set foot in that bathroom again. Shortly after that, a massive spider appeared on the stairs. I'm really not good with insects, so I was seriously questioning whether I could complete the programme.

Luckily, as the week went on, I got used to staying there, despite finding out that someone who'd previously stayed in my room had supposedly been possessed by ghosts!

On the whole, the hotel was quite a weird place. The location was beautiful, but the following picture is kind of spoiled when you realise that the swimming pools were full of dirt and dead mice!

The food was also strange. One night there was a pasta dish that I avoided because I thought it wasn't vegetarian. It turns out it was vegetarian, but apparently the sauce was apple and cinnamon flavoured!

However, there were some things that I liked a lot about the hotel...

The dog (who we called Franek) was just adorable and so friendly. The family of kittens and their mum lived in an abandoned building near the cabin. They were more timid than Franek, but still very cute!

Finally, I will write a bit about the actual volunteering. We (the Native Speakers) did not have to formally teach the participants (Polish kids between 11-17 years old). The programme is based around conversation, rather than reading, writing and learning grammar. At first I found having to talk so much quite difficult, as I'm a relatively introverted person. But as the week went on, I found things got easier and more fun. The participants were a great group of kids, and I will miss speaking with them!

I also really enjoyed getting to know the other Native Speakers and the coordinators of the programme. I (sort of!) learned how to play the card game Mao, and had an amazing time singing and dancing at the talent show and the disco! I made lots of new friends, and I laughed more than I had in ages.

I only took part in one Angloville programme, because I didn't want to commit myself to more, in case I hated it. However, by the end of the week, I actually wished I had signed up to do another couple of weeks. All in all, it was just a brilliant experience!

My time volunteering with Angloville has given me more confidence and a bit more direction in my life. It made me realise that teaching English abroad as a foreign language is something I would like to do more of. So my plan is to become TEFL qualified and hopefully find some work in the near future. 😊

Ciężkowice

Halfway through the Angloville programme, we had a field trip to the town of Ciężkowice. A typically hard Polish name to pronounce! We were meant to go to a city of ancient rocks, but because it was tipping it down with rain, the plan was changed.

First of all, we went to a museum of natural history with an array of stuffed animals, just like in Wollaton Hall. Here we listened to a very robotic "English" voice telling us about the different wildlife that can be found in Poland. It turns out that there's quite a variety of creatures to be found there compared to the UK. This is something I'd already found out from my time at the Angloville venue!

Afterwards, we went to the town centre, where we could finally visit a shop and buy some food, after three days of surviving mostly on Nutella and stale bread! I picked up some snacks that looked uniquely Polish, or that at least couldn't be found in England!

Afterwards, I went for a bit of a walk around the town, which I found very charming.

The most famous sight is the statue of Ignacy Jan Paderewski, a Polish pianist and composer. If you press a button, the piano plays one of his compositions!

I think my favourite place was the church, which was surprisingly big and impressive given the size of the town.

It was really nice to escape from the venue and return to civilisation for a little while! It was also great to see a place that felt very authentic and untouched by mass tourism.

A cool thing I realised is that Ciężkowice is the furthest east I've ever travelled! So that was another reason why I enjoyed the field trip.

Next I will be posting about my time volunteering with Angloville in the venue of Modrzewiowe Wzgórze (try saying that)! It was a very varied but truly amazing experience, and I have a lot to write about it!

Kraków

The last ten days have been quite something! I just got back to England yesterday after volunteering in Poland with Angloville, helping young people learn English. It was such a fun and crazy time which I will remember forever.

I will write a few posts about my time in Poland in order to cover everything. Today I will start by writing about the city of Kraków, where my Angloville experience started and ended. The day before the programme officially began, there was a free tour of the city and a meal in a restaurant for any volunteers who were able to attend. The tour was a great way to meet some of the other volunteers coming to the same venue as me and to see the main sites of the city.

I liked Kraków even more than I thought I would. My favourite part was the main square, Rynek Główny, which is one of the largest market squares in Europe and includes St. Mary's Basilica, the Cloth Hall and the Town Hall Tower. It was really impressive to see in real life.

Every day at 13:00, someone plays a tune on a trumpet from the top window of the basilica. We were there at the right time to hear it!

The tour started at the Kraków Barbican, part of the historical defense network of the city. From there, we went on towards the city centre and then Wawel Hill.

It was cool to see that Kraków has a bridge just like the bridge of sighs in Venice.

An unexpectedly beautiful place was the courtyard of the Collegium Maius, the oldest building of the Jagiellonian University.

The final part of the tour was on Wawel Hill, where there is both a castle and a cathedral. This is one of the most famous parts of Kraków, and it was another really beautiful place.

After the tour, we had a three-course meal in a restaurant. It was the first time I'd had Polish food, and I really liked it. However, I wasn't as impressed with some of the other Polish food I tried during the programme!

I saw a few other nice sights during my first couple of days in Kraków, such as the opera house...

...this palace, which is now a Pizza Hut(!)...

...and this square in front of the railway station.

After the programme ended, I had one more day in Kraków before going back to England, which I spent hanging out with all the friends I made during the week. I definitely wish I could have had an extra day or two there, as it's a great city!

The majority of the programme took place at a hotel in the countryside. However, we did have a field trip to a small town nearby, Ciężkowice. I will write a small post about that next!