The Alternative Guide to… Poland
Poland at a Glance
Capital city: Warsaw
Population: 38.5 million
Local currency: Polish zloty (£1 = 5.8 zloty)
Famous face: Marie Curie. Born Maria Sklodowska in Warsaw in 1867, Curie became the first female recipient of a Nobel Prize, in recognition of her pioneering work on radioactivity
5 things you never knew about Poland
Every September, sausage dogs from around the world flock to Krakow for the city’s annual Dachshund Parade (main picture, above), in which the diminutive canines and their human slaves parade through the Old Town in costumed finery.
Polish name days, representing the feast days of Catholic saints, are celebrated with much the same gusto as birthdays. So, if you happen to share your name with a saint, you get to have twice as many parties each year as, say, your friend Colin, who does not.
Ditch your misconceptions about Poland being a flat, frozen tundra: Słowiński National Park on the northern coast is as diverse a landscape as you could hope to find, boasting acres of lush forest, several lakes, the biggest sand dunes in Europe and 20 miles of beach-dotted coastline.
The tallest building in Poland is Warsaw’s Palace of Culture and Science, a “gift” bequeathed to the nation in the 1950s by one Joseph Stalin. Locals remain divided on the skyscraper’s merits with nicknames including "the elephant in lacy underwear" and "Stalin’s birthday cake". Take the lift to the 30th-floor terrace for what many Poles consider Warsaw’s finest views (because you can’t see the Palace itself, of course).
South of Krakow’s buzzing Jewish district, the Liban Quarry stands as an abandoned memorial to the victims of Nazi occupation during World War II. Now an overgrown nature reserve, this former labour camp doubled as a film set during the making of “Schindler’s List” in 1993.
National dish
The recipe for bigos (hunter’s stew) varies from region to region, but staple ingredients include sauerkraut, tomatoes, honey, mushrooms, a typically pungent mix of herbs and spices, and as many different meats as the chef can lay his or her hands on. It’s not for vegetarians.
If you see one thing in Poland, make sure it’s…
... Krakow’s Old Town. Miraculously undamaged during the war, this UNESCO World Heritage Site is medieval Poland in microcosm, with many of the country’s main attractions within strolling distance. Sip bison-grass vodka on the sprawling main square where, every hour on the hour, a plaintive bugle call floats down from the 262ft tower of St Mary’s Basilica. The hejnał mariacki (as it is known), comes to an abrupt stop mid-note, in tribute to a Krakow bugler shot through the neck with an arrow during the Mongol invasion in 1241.