Friday 30 March 2012

POLAND




TATRA MOUNTAIN
Poland is a beautiful country for a great holiday and one you will never forget.

In 1980 Poland broke free from communism and it was the first country to do so. The new government reformed, privatised and joined the European Union.
Poland is a large country in Central Europe and has an area of 312,680 sq km.

The country borders in the east with the Russian Federation, Lithuania, Belarus and the Ukraine. In the south and west it borders on Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Germany. The three major rivers are the Oder, Warta and the largest, most important, the Vistula.

The Vistula's spring is in the black granite Tatra Mountains in the very south. Then it makes its way through the green hills of the Carpathians, the woods and limestone caves of central Poland, the lakes and woodlands of the north and eventually the pine forests and sandy beaches of the coast.
Poland has untouched and huge forests. The Bialowieza Forest Park which is in the west of the country has the last remaining herd of wild European bison. The forest also has wild boar, wolves, foxes, deer, elks and brown bears roaming freely in the mountainous countryside.
BIALOWIEZA FOREST 
ANCIENT FOREST 
NATIONAL PARK

LAST EUROPEAN BISON 
AT A SECRET LOCATION 
THE BIALOWIEAZA FOREST

WARSAW  - TOWN CENTRE
Poland's climate has warm summers and very cold winters

ECONOMY
The main Polish economy has always been manufacturing, mining and agriculture. The main crop is potato, sugar beet and wheat. Poland changed in 1989 from planned economy to free-market and after that encouraged investment from western businesses.
HISTORY
Poland's past history was turbulent to say the least. The country is between powerful nations of the east and west. In the 6th and 7th centuries AD the West Slavs occupied most of the area which is now Poland.
In the 14th century Poland regained its power. King Casimir III, a great and powerful king, was the last of the Piast Dynasty. He supposed to have said that he found a Poland of wood and left it when it was made of masonry.
In the 16th century Poland and Lithuania joined and as a commonwealth was the largest country in Europe.
The many wars and bad leaderships finally broke Poland's back. In 1772, 1793 and eventually in 1795 Poland's land was divided up into Prussia, Russia and Austria. After that Poland did not exist anymore. The Treaty of Versailles, in 1919, gave land back to Poland. A dictator, Jozef Pilsudski, ruled in Poland till 1935. Poland economy was weak again.
The worst time in Polish history was when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939 in Gdansk. Between 1939 and 1945 Poland lost six million people which were 20% of its population.

The Teheran Conference in 1943 Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin gave all land east of the Oder and Neisse rivers to Poland.

In 1944 the Warsaw Uprising left the capital destroyed and 250,000 people died. After that Poland went into a depression. In 1956 workers in Poznan rioted over wages. In 1970 the living conditions were bad and food prices were rising which made the workers in northern Poland go on strike.
BALTIC COAST 

PIENINY MOUNTAINS
1980 saw more strikes and spreading. A political party 'Solidarity' was formed and its leader was Lech Walesa. The Communist state government tried to stop the movement, arrest were made and enforcement of martial law was declared. In 1989 the political party Solidarity became legal.
In 1990 General Wojciech Jaruzelski stepped down from being a president and was replaced by Lech Walesa. This was Poland's turning point.

On 18 September 1993 the last Russian soldier left Poland. It was 54 years from when Stalin ordered his troops to invade Poland. In November 1995 presidential elections were held and Lech Walesa lost to the new president Aleksander Kwansnieski.
Gdansk is on the Motlava River which branches from the Vistula. Gdansk is Poland's largest port and a major shipbuilding centre. The Solidarity movement started there in 1980.
In the 19th century Frederic Chopin, who was Polish, was a genius. In 1817 at the age of seven, he publishes his Polonaise in G.  At the age of 20 he was celebrated as Poland's national composer.
GDANSK - THE LONG MARKET

ZAKOPANE - 
TATRE MOUNTAIN


SLOWINSKI NATIONAL PARK

KRAKOW


Poland a beautiful country for a great holiday and here are just a few details to see and visit.
Zakopane, has the name of Poland's winter Capital. The Tatra Mountains are a popular ski resort. The town is at the foot of Mt. Giewont and has an altitude of about 900m. Poland's highest peak is Rysy with 2500m, in the Tatra Mountains near the border of Slovakia. In the summer there is a horse-drawn carriage going up the mountain to the lake. In the winter they use 
sledges. There are many hiking trails and caves to explore. Hotels have open fires and wooden inside interior which gives a homely and cosy atmosphere.
Krakow with its medieval streets, elegant mansions and beautiful castles. The old town with its towers and fascinating ancient churches had survived the war.
Warsaw was very much destroyed but it is still impressive with skyscrapers next to beautiful palaces. Take a ride in a horse-drawn carriage which visits to some of the most outstanding attraction.
In any Polish city or village it is hard to pass-by a restaurant with their mouth-watering welcome. The food is mostly home-cooked and you will have a feast for a very reasonable price.
Auschwitz a bus-ride of 60 km from Krakow where the atrocities happened to Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals and Jehovah's witnesses. A place of heartbreak and sorrows.
Gdansk on the Baltic Coast. The birthplace of Solidarity. The centre on the Polish Rivera and the beginning of the castle country. Nearby are 1000 lakes and a spectacular scenery.
The Baltic coastline is 528 km long and has on average 22oC.in the summer. Broad sandy beaches, scenic dunes are ideal for bathing, sun tanning and leisure activities. The Baltic Beaches have a collection of amber washed up by the sea.
Bledow Desert in the south of Poland and is about 32 sq km. One of the five natural deserts in Europe and the warmest. Created thousands of years ago by melting glacier with an average of 40m thickness. The sea's activity in Slowinski National Park created sand dunes. Waves and wind carry sand inland and the dunes slowly move at a speed of 3 to 10 m per year. Some dunes are 30m high.
Poland has 30 primeval forests, mainly in Masuria, Pomeranian and Carpathian foot-hills. The forests have a tremendous wildlife like red-deer, roe-deer, wild boars, foxes, raccoon dogs, pine martens, lynx and wolves. Also rare forest birds like the western capercaillie and hazel grouse. Somewhere in the forests are the last remnants of the original UR- horse and very guarded.
With sightseeing of all these old cities, and castles, hiking in mountainous areas and beautiful forests. Swimming and sun-bathing on the Baltic coast, wondering in the sand-dunes, bird and animal watching and travelling from end to the other. There won't be enough time to be bored.
CITY OF ZAMASC  -  UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE



4 comments:

  1. Lovely forests and scenery. Would love to see Poland. Very interesting article.

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  2. Thank you for your comment and I am sorry I only discovered it now. I fully agree with you and I too would love to see this beautiful country.

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  3. Wspaniały opis mojego kraju. Dziękuję. Naprawdę warto tu przyjechać. Pozdrawiam serdecznie!

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    Replies
    1. Sorry for the last reply and thank you for your comment. Would you be so kind and write it in English please

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