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[Il Palazzo]

Somebody made a fortune on that tap water.

I wonder if that's the local norm or an exception, re the organisation side. I generally don't go to concerts, so I wouldn't know.

[Haspen]

Okay, fine... I can handle the Polish bus system by myself

You say you're shy but that here is pure bravery!

[Kagus]

I'm not particularly experienced either, but I've been to concerts that had poor management (or at least the expected level of management; there are never enough toilets) and concerts that had excellent management (holy cow, there are actually enough toilets).

This was... Terrible on a scale I'd never seen before.


So, small question... Yesterday when I was sitting around talking with the group, the conversation briefly touched upon the Polish language, and although I'd heard "thank you" before, this was the first time I'd been properly introduced to "you're welcome", given as proszę.

What confuses me is that I later started hearing this word quite a bit, but used in the context of "excuse me" when moving through queues or accidently bumping into someone. Google maintains that the correct Polish word for "excuse me" is przepraszam (which seems a tiny bit long-winded for a quick "'scuse me")...

Is this a colloquial usage, or have I just been mishearing an abbreviated form of przepraszam?

Okay, fine... I can handle the Polish bus system by myself

You say you're shy but that here is pure bravery!

Good lord, it sure was... But yeah, no one was gonna help me with it, so fuck it. Quite the experience though!

First getting the name of the bus company wrong (I could've sworn it said Flixbus on the website, but I got a ticket for NEOBUS), then trying to figure out the correct platform (thank you, understanding-of-foreigners information desk lady!), and then absolutely mangling the fuck out of trying to order a quick snack and drink before the bus left, and then waiting around at the platform after the assigned departure time of 11:40 and watching the electronic display happily tick over to the next bus for 11:45.

And being on a different level and a street over from the information desk, meaning it'd be risky as fuck to try and run over and ask without the bus arriving and leaving without me.

And having every PA system announcement be exclusively in Polish (except for the one about no smoking outside, that one came in an English version as well).


But I was not alone in my worries! A few other touristy types were taking that bus, so we would at least all fail miserably together. One did end up asking the information desk, and was apparently told to just listen to the announcements.

And then the bus arrived and I got to experience the hilariously advanced electronic ticket system where you show the driver the SMS you got, and he flips through a not-alphabetically-sorta clipboard to find your name and crosses it off the list. Very secure, very expedient.

[Haspen]

That's because we don't exactly have a true equivalent of 'you're welcome'.

Proszę = 'here you go' BUT also 'please' (which means you gotta know the context). The first is usually spoken by the waiter/host/housekeeper when they serve you food, for example (or generally by services' peoples when they give you something).
Przepraszam = 'sorry' BUT also 'excuse me' (like above). First is apologetic, second is polite way to start asking for something.
Dziękuje = 'thank you'.

If I would have to find an equivalent for 'you're welcome', it would be 'nie ma za co', which absolute rough translation back to English would be 'no need to (thank me (for this/that))'.

[Il Palazzo]

Is this a colloquial usage, or have I just been mishearing an abbreviated form of przepraszam?

The latter. When you're in a hurry and don't care if you're speaking gibberish, you're less inclined to use a three syllable word. So hey, why not eat the first syllable. The remaining '-praszam' sounds similar enough to 'proszę' (especially since the latter tends to be pronounced with /-em/ ending in casual/lazy speech).

[Kagus]

Is this a colloquial usage, or have I just been mishearing an abbreviated form of przepraszam?

The latter. When you're in a hurry and don't care if you're speaking gibberish, you're less inclined to use a three syllable word. So hey, why not eat the first syllable. The remaining '-praszam' sounds similar enough to 'proszę' (especially since the latter tends to be pronounced with /-em/ ending in casual/lazy speech).

Ahh, figured that might be the case... Dzięki!

Also, bah... Bah I say! Not only was the liquor shop I stopped at out of the large hazelnut nalewka bottles (meaning I'm going to be going back to Norway with a whole 100ml of unused quota!), but it apparently also didn't carry box wine? I'm not sure how big a thing that is here...

And then I made a complete fool of myself when trying to order some refreshments before my train. I checked the menu, made my choice, rehearsed the words in my head, went over to order... And then just hit a brain wall that stopped me from even attempting to pronounce the words.

It was just "soki świeżo wyciskane" and "woda niegazowana", doubtfully the hardest words in the language, but my brain was entirely unwilling to approach świeżo, and everything else fell apart from there... Ended up just ordering in English from the rather unimpressed clerk, and throwing on a meek tourist "dziękuje" at the end.


First train only had standing tickets left, so I have to wait until 13:46 before getting on my way to Warszawa centralna for the connection to the airport. Didn't particularly feel like standing in the hallway for two hours with suitcase and backpack, the extra wait and cost was worth it to me.

[Kagus]

Welp, here I am at Chopin airport again... I wanted to travel a bit early, because I'm damn well not trusting the train system with being reliable or even available (almost got off at the wrong station when the announcement system glitched and declared that we were at the airport, and I wasn't sure if I should trust that because sometimes stations have different names from their names {looking at you, Warszawa Centralna/Warszawa Zachodnia}), but then when I got here I saw that I had goofed on the departure time and was, in fact, almost four hours early. Check-in hasn't even opened up yet.

And would you believe it, the monopolowy I stopped by on my way out of Kraków didn't have any of the large hazelnut nalewka bottles left! I had to substitute two smaller bottles, so now I'm gonna be returning to Norway 100ml under the allowed quota for hard spirits... Shame!

They also didn't have box wine, so I picked up a bunch of random bottles instead.

I had the almost-full walnut nalewka at the hotel, but the Norwegian toll authority doesn't particularly like open bottles, so I gave it to the hotel staff... Hopefully they get some use out of it and don't just throw it out.


So I'm sitting here at the cafe before check-in, where they do in fact serve alcohol... That alcohol is unfortunately Żywiec, and it's for almost 20 zlotys a bottle, but goddammit, desperate times call for desperate measures!


This trip has been quite an experience... I've had a serious crash course in Polish, navigation, and a number of other subjects. I went with a group to a Rammstein concert, but that group was lame so I made my own group (unfortunately without blackjack or hookers). I've checked almost everything off my to-eat list, and added several more. I even managed to find a suitably hipster location to sip craft beers, just like home!

Kraków has been beautiful, the Cracovian women have also been beautiful, the Cracovian men have also been outside, and for all its quirks the public transit system has been entirely surmountable, and possibly almost a little charming even. Almost.

I will definitely have to visit Poland again someday, and perhaps even be a proper tourist and go see some historical locations instead of just bouncing from eatery to park to restaurant to pub!


Until then, do widzenia!

[Iduno]

Also, bah... Bah I say! Not only was the liquor shop I stopped at out of the large hazelnut nalewka bottles

How difficult would it be to make your own at home? I assume it's like schnapps/liqueur/whatever that is vodka+sugar+flavor (which would get you a Frangelico clone). Might be a better question for the brewing and whatever thread, but I'm already here.

[Haspen]

Fruit nalewkas are easy:

Take high-grade spirit ("Spirytus"), put lots of sugar and designated fruit into big bottle, add spirit, close it tightly, wait about 3-4 months, and voila. At least that's my mother's/grandmother's recipe.

No idea how to get nuts involved though, but probably in some similar way.

[Kagus]

That's kind of the thing though; from what I've read about other "black walnut liqueurs", you use the whole walnut fruit, which is slightly more difficult to get hold of as an average Joe. And then there's a skimming process because it likes to form this nice greasy black oil slick layer on top.

[Il Palazzo]

That's kind of the thing though; from what I've read about other "black walnut liqueurs", you use the whole walnut fruit, which is slightly more difficult to get hold of as an average Joe.

You don't have wild walnut trees in Norway? Around here they've been given the status of an invasive species.
Anyway, I think it's kinda too late, or at the very least the last call for collecting them while they're still green (they have to be green).