It's My Pierogi-tive

One day after class, I realised I was craving pizza. Yes, this is incredibly American of me. Sorry. Most of the pizza here in Krakow is thin-crust, my favourite kind, so that is incredibly convenient for me. I headed off to Trattoria Mamma Mia, simply because it was close and convenient (a theme of my life). It’s definitely not the cheapest game in town, but it was really tasty. Really, really tasty.

I must admit, when I was heading there, I didn’t have high expectations (largely because of the tacky-ish name), but I was proven wrong. The restaurant actually has potential as a date place, and it also possesses a lovely summer garden. The service was also surprisingly above average for Poland (from my American standpoint). There is quite a range of prices on the menu: pastas are 14-24 zloty, meat and seafood are 20-40 zloty, and personal-sized pizzas are 15-25 zloty. I went with the Pizza Vegetariana (20.90 zloty), which was a cheese pizza with a variety of grilled veggies on top – yum! I devoured it at what was probably an alarming rate.

The menu presented what actually seems to be some more innovative dishes, and I definitely intend to go back to sample more, particularly some of the pastas.

Trattoria Mamma Mia
ul. Karmelicka 14
12pm-11pm
most entrees 14-35 zloty

I stumbled across Bar Vega while on a hunt for soy milk (incidentally, there is a health food shop across the street that stocks the best selection of soy milk and other items that could be classified as “health food” that I’ve seen here. And I’ve been looking). As it was the closest vegetarian restaurant to the current focal points of my life, it seemed a suitable place to begin my sampling of Krakow’s vegetarian cuisine.

Vega is located at ul. Krupnicza 22, about 5 minutes’ walk from the Planty, and very close to the Rynek Glowny. I think it may be one of the original vegetarian restaurants in Krakow (the first location on sw. Gertrudy opened in 1995, and this one in 1999), and so, I had relatively high expectations. Although the environment reminded me a bit of Angelica Kitchen, it was, of course, nothing like Angelica Kitchen – ok, that’s not entirely true. It did have a very warm, homey-feeling environment. But food-wise, I was expecting something a little bit more Asian-influenced, and this was definitely more Polish-influenced vegetarian cuisine.

Most menu items are 9-15 zloty – cheap, but not as cheap as some other nearby [non-vegetarian] restaurants. There are many typical Polish foods, like zapiekanki (open-faced baguette sandwiches), golabki (stuffed cabbages), pierogi, and nalesniki (crepes), as well as a variety of soups and a salad bar (you can mix-and-match up to 6 salads to make an entree). As the weather has been exceptionally damp and cool lately, I decided to try what was described as a “lasagne” (14 zloty), as well as the “dodatki” salads (a side of 2 salads) for 6 zloty. The lasagne seemed to be a popular item that day, but like my other Eastern European lasagne experience, it was a bit of a disappointment. Instead of pasta, there were potatoes – not bad, but not exactly what I was looking for. The portion size was generous, though, and it made a hearty and filling meal. It looks entirely unappetizing in this picture, largely because I forgot to snap it until after I’d eaten 70% of the lasagne.

In my opinion, the salads were the real winners. I can’t tell you what was in them because I ordered by pointing at what looked good, but they were both excellent. One seemed to be salatka Grecka (Greek salad, very popular here), while the other had what might have been soy beans, some parsley, green onions, pepper, celery, and…other stuff. But that one was my favourite meal item overall.

I will definitely be heading back to Bar Vega at some point in the future, and I intend to order the golabki.

Note: After several more trips to Bar Vega, I have lowered my opinion. The food there is always just a bit weird. It always looks good when it’s going onto your plate, but it never tastes as good as it looks, and something is always a bit off. This includes the salads. For a better option (which is closer to the Rynek Glowny), I’d recommend Chimera. (18/07/2011)

Bar Vega
ul. Krupnica 22
9am-9pm
Entrees: 9-15 zloty

One of my friends recently inquired about the vegetarian options in Krakow. Being an obliging foodie, I decided to add a whole restaurants section to this, with “vegetarian” as a sub-category.

If you’ve ever seen or read Everything is Illuminated, you may be convinced that there are no vegetarian options in Slavic cuisine. While meat is definitely dominant on most menus, it is certainly not mandatory. Nalesniki (crepes) with cheese or spinach are a typical vegetarian option, as are pierogi ruskie (“Russian” pierogi with potatoes and cheese) and pierogi z kapusta i grzybami (pierogi with cabbage and mushrooms). In the case of the pierogi, you may want to confirm that there is no bacon tossed on top, as this is a traditional way for them to be served (you can ask for them “bez boczku”, without bacon). “Dodatki”, or sides, are typical safe to eat as well, and most places serve “surowki” (salads) as well. Luckily, the word for vegetarian is “wegetarianski”, which is similar to the English, so if you just say “vegetarian”, most people will understand.

Like in the U.S., purely vegan dishes and restaurants are less common. I think the word in Polish is “weganskie”, but I’m not sure if people (especially older ones) will understand the difference between “wegetarianskie” and “weganskie”.

As I eat my way around Krakow, I will mention which restaurants are vegetarian or vegetarian-friendly.

I think the Tatra Mountains in the south of Poland are some of the most beautiful in the world. Unfortunately, my most recent visit, as a part of a “study trip” was marred by relatively cold temperatures for September and rain. Lots and lots and lots of rain.

The trip itinerary was pretty standard for the region. We started off by visiting the small village of Dębno, which is famous for its 15th-century wooden church. Unfortunately, photography is not allowed in the church and we were a small enough group that I figured any misbehaviour would be noticed, but I did manage to sneak this photo of the interior painting the last time I was there.

We then proceeded to Niedzica Castle, as well as another castle overlooking Czorstyn Lake. Both of them are nice to see, but were not well-maintained and do not contain any of the original furnishings. I would put them in the “if you have time…” category and probably spend more time in Zakopane doing outdoors things.

Our last adventure of the day was a rafting trip on the Dunajec River, which forms the border between Poland and Slovakia and eventually meanders its way into Ukraine. And this was the point at which it started pouring rain. I’d definitely recommend doing this, but make sure that the weather is favourable! Poland has had quite a bit of rain this year, and the river was cloudly, high on the banks and quite full of waves.

Ordinarily, I would’ve been a crazy shutterbug during this trip, but I was generally just so cold and wet that my fingers did not want to work the camera (and I was afraid that my camera and/or cameraphone would be wrecked by the water). We spent the night in the Flamingo Hostel in Zakopane, marking my first hostel experience. I was pleasantly surprised by the cleanliness, and we had enough people to fill a room, so I wasn’t forced to face my fear of sharing a room with 10 smelly backpacking males. The majority of the group went on a hike today, but since my knee is still in recovery, I hopped a bus back to Krakow. Before I left, I took this picture to demonstrate how foggy it was:

You can barely see the mountains (unlike on a clear day). I’ve now been to Zakopane in summer and early autumn, and I’m really looking forward to returning for some skiing!

For the rest of my photos of the trip, see my Flickr album.

We all want to use our cell phones abroad, especially we of the younger generations. But setting this up can be more difficult (and costly) than we think. Here is a way to keep in touch with people around the world from anywhere in the world. I’ll also provide specific Poland-Krakow references.

Prerequisites

1. If you’re from the U.S., make sure your phone uses GSM (this generally means AT&T or T-Mobile, NOT Verizon or Sprint. The only Verizon phones that will work abroad are the “global” ones, and I do not know whether or not these can be unlocked [update: these can be unlocked. See the update section at the very bottom for details]).

2. Make sure your phone is unlocked.

If you’re not from the U.S., there’s a chance it already is.

If your phone is locked, or if you’re from the U.S., you’ll probably need to talk to your provider about this. Most providers are willing to unlock phones for at most a small fee. For example, AT&T will unlock all phones except for the iPhone.

If you are an iPhone user, especially in the U.S., things are a bit more complicated. You can either attempt to jailbreak and unlock your existing phone (for more information on that, the Dev-Team Blog is a great resource.), or purchase an already unlocked one from a source like eBay. If you don’t regularly update your phone, it’s possible than you can still jailbreak it simply by going to jailbreakme.com on Safari on the phone. This is the method I used, and it worked without a hitch. Just make sure not to update your phone once it’s jailbroken, otherwise the jailbreak will be overridden. If you would like to buy an unlocked iPhone from a non-eBay (and generally cheaper) source, go to Canada – there, iPhones are sold factory unlocked in Apple stores. This allow you to avoid any of the problems that might arise from jailbreaking. The prices are also stable and start at $549 (Canadian dollars) for an unlocked 8GB 3GS. This might seem expensive, but remember, you are paying the full retail value because there is no contract, and you are free to choose any provider you want.

The Process

1. If you are a smartphone user (Blackberry, iPhone, Android), download Skype and WhatsApp before you leave. Both of these applications use your data connection (the thing separate from your calling/texting plan that lets you have email and internet in large quantities).

Skype: Skype allows you to make calls to other Skype lines for free and landlines for low rates, and if you purchase a SkypeIn number, the landlines can call you, too. SkypeIn costs $18 for 3 months, and you can choose a number located in one of 25 countries, thus allowing your contacts there to call that number as a local call. For example, although I am now in Krakow, my SkypeIn number is a New York number. When people from the U.S. want to get in touch with me, they call that number, not my Polish number. The Skype app on my iPhone (and computer, if I’m on) rings, I pick up, and the call is made over my data connection or wifi, rather than using my minutes. The only drawback to Skype is that it requires a decent data/wifi connection. Edge networks are too slow to get decent call quality, as are some slower wifi connections.

WhatsApp: WhatsApp allows you to send text/SMS-type messages to any other WhatsApp user around the world for free. This works over your data connection (like Skype for text messages), and it’s a great thing to have even when you’re not abroad if you’re texting a lot with people who are. So far, there are versions for Blackberry, iPhone and the Nokia S60, with an Android version coming very soon.

2. Once you arrive at your destination, find a cell phone kiosk and purchase a prepaid SIM card. This will now give your phone a number local to the country which you are in, and you can make calls and use the internet without paying roaming charges. If you are planning to use your phone for tethering (i.e. use the internet on your phone for internet on your computer), I recommend investigating what your data rate is and making sure that you allot enough money on the card.

3. If you run out of money on your SIM card, you can usually put more on it by buying a scratch card at a kiosk or recharging it at an ATM.

Poland-specific Information

The big mobile companies in Poland are Orange, Era, Plus, Play, and Heyah (Orange, Era and Plus are the biggest). Orange and Plus are the official iPhone carriers, so I went to Orange for my SIM card. I got a 20 zloty starter card, and then I put 100 zloty more on it. If you are a smartphone user, I’d advise going to one of the larger Orange locations in Krakow, either on Pilsudskiego or next to Poczta Glowny (near the intersection of Dietla and Starowislna). Both of them are much better informed about getting cheap rates. On a prepaid SIM, the cheapest smartphone data rate can be obtained by texting “FREE” to 3033. You then pay $0.03 per MB (in contrast, AT&T’s data roaming for the iPhone is $1.00-1.25/MB if you buy a plan, and $5 or $10/MB without a plan).

Update

If you are a Verizon customer with a “global” phone (current model list here), then you can contact Verizon to have them unlock the phone. After that, you can follow the rest of the instructions on here. To do this, call Verizon Global Services at 1-888-844-0395, and they will walk you through the unlocking process.

Somehow, my 3 bags + guitar and I managed to get to Krakow without anything getting lost. Unfortunately, for some reason, I thought that the dorm supplied linens. This turned out to be false. So, I dragged my jet-lagged self out to Ikea on public transportation. This may not have been particularly adventurous of me, but I was tired, and Ikea is a convenient option, since I know what they have. Plus, I needed dishes and silverware, too! (Ok, I admit it, reading Steig Larsson has revived my love of Scandinavian design – I can’t get enough of those clean lines!)

Anyway, here is my Ikea-decorated dorm room:

It’s pretty basic, but I’m going to be moving to an apartment (which I have yet to find) in about a month, so I didn’t want to fully unpack.

Today was first full day here – I opened my Polish bank account and set up my cell phone properly (I’ll write a full post on that later). I also walked around the Rynek Głowny, the main square of Krakow, and got oscypki, which are these really tasty smoked cheeses:

I also sneaked in a visit to the Bazylika sw. Franciszka, which is my favourite church in the whole world, I think. My photos never do the interior artwork justice, especially from an iPhone, but here’s one anyway:

On the agenda for today: go to the Muzeum Ethnograficzne (Ethnographic Museum) – I’m hoping to find some inspiration to redesign this blog there, lunch at the all-pierogi restaurant (I will find out the name when I go, because I forget it, although I somehow remember where it was located…), take some real pictures, experiment with my two new photo apps on my iPhone, and find some soymilk.

I like shoes and clothes (rather a lot, in fact). Ordinarily, this isn’t a problem when moving, especially since my last moves have all been manageable with a car and a U-haul. However, moving across an ocean is an entirely different matter.

In the wake of what I’m sure was some terrorist-related-issue, it appears that airlines flying from the U.S. to Europe have changed their baggage guidelines as of January/February 2010. Formerly, you were allowed two checked bags, plus a carry-on before they started charging you. That number has now decreased to one. ONE measly bag.

My initial investigation into the baggage matter proceeded like so:

• Mother claims there is a two-bag allowance on international flights. I decide to confirm.
• Check LOT website (I’m flying LOT, by the way). Find website supremely unclear. Website includes phrases that do not inspire confidence (“fee level depands on point of sale” [sic]).
• Call LOT directly. Representative says that first bag up to 23 kg (~50 lbs) is free, additional bags (same weight limit) are $64 USD. Ok, that seems reasonable. Relay information to mother.
• Mother does not believe and calls LOT, coming away with this information: first bag (up to 23 kg, as always) is free, 2nd bag is $64 USD, all bags after that are €115 (that’s Euro, folks) + another $25 USD for a service charge. What?! Suddenly not so reasonable.

Now I needed another solution. Thankfully, I’d already been researching shipping options with a company called Polamer. Polamer allows you to ship by air ($11.20 up to 4 lbs., then $2.15/lb after that) or by sea ($10.35 up to 15 lbs, then $0.69/lb after that). So, if you’re shipping a 50 lb bag, it’s $126.10 by air or $57.67 by sea (including an $8.00 service fee).That’s significantly more reasonable than carrying on a third bag. Drawbacks? Shipping by air takes about 2 weeks, and shipping by sea takes 6-8 weeks. The Polamer drop-off locations in the U.S. are slightly limited to places with large Polish populations (Illinois and the NYC area), so if you’re not located in either of those places, you first have to ship your item to them.

As of now, I will be checking two bags, carrying on my travel backpack (and guitar, which I will gate-check if necessary). I plan to bring enough clothing to get me through the end of summer, autumn, and beginning of winter. My heaviest winter clothes and most of my extra shoes, along with toiletry items, will be shipped.

Of course, despite the fact that I am leaving in 3 (!) days, all of this is hypothetical at the moment…

Wait, that sounds like a completely tacky advertisement that would appear on a pop-up (do people still use those?). In most cases it would be – except that I have actually discovered a fabulous new language-learning tool: Livemocha. If you read no further than this sentence, here is a summary of what will follow: check out Livemocha, because it is the greatest thing to hit language learning since I started playing around with that software.

Once upon a time, there was a program called Rosetta Stone, which aimed to simulate an immersion learning environment. Now, Rosetta Stone was pretty fun to play with and had some useful learning tools, but I didn’t find it particularly effective in teaching languages with totally different alphabets, plus it is very expensive, has a rather old-fashioned interface and lacks a human element.

Enter Livemocha, the 21st-century improvement on Rosetta Stone. The learning interface and lesson progression of Livemocha are actually relatively similar to Rosetta Stone, so if you’re already familiar with that, you should have no trouble getting used to Livemocha. Livemocha’s real advantages over Rosetta Stone are twofold:

1. It’s free! (It is possible, but not necessary, to enroll in paid tutoring and paid lessons.)

2. There is a phenomenal human element! You see, Livemocha encourages you to submit voice clips and written passages, and other users can critique them. Say that you are a native speaker of English, and you’re trying to learn Mandarin. You will submit clips of yourself speaking in Mandarin or perhaps your Mandarin journal entries, and native Mandarin speakers will correct your spelling or grammar or accent, or simply tell you how to sound like a native speaker. They can even leave audio clips so you can hear what the words should sound like when pronounced correctly! You, in turn, can correct passages submitted by English learners, and this is how you get Livemocha for free. You get “teacher points” every time you comment on a submission (more with an audio comment!), and when you have more than 300 teacher points, you can access all of the Livemocha lessons for no charge. (Getting more than 300 teacher points is about an evening’s worth of work.)

So, not only is Livemocha a great way to learn a language, but it also allows you to network with other language learners around the world! What are you waiting for? Get out there and try it!

As I’ve noted previously, my spoken and written Polish is, at best, extremely limited (I might drop “extremely” when describing my reading skills). I did, however, study Russian for 3 years at university, and the two are linguistically similar, although Polish is a West Slavic language, while Russian is an East Slavic Language.

What exactly does that mean? Well, at some point in history, Polish, Russian, and the rest of the Slavic languages share a common ancestor, Proto-Slavic (a proto-language is a linguistic term used to describe an ancestral language frequently not known and constructed by comparing descendant to find commonalities). But Proto-Slavic was broken up into dialects – the ancestors of the modern languages – by the 7th century. So, basically, Polish and Russian have been going their separate ways for about 1300 years.

This does not, however, mean that the two are dissimilar. In fact, closer study reveals quite the opposite – there are many similarities, and many differences in words can be accounted for by looking at different mutations that have occurred over the years. In fact, about 60% of the words are the same or similar.

For example, the Russian word for “fish” is рыба (ryba). What’s the Polish word for fish? Ryba! Same word! But what about the word for “fire”? In Russian, it is огонь (ogon’), but in Polish, it’s ogień. Similar – but different. There is something called the Swadesh list that documents these differences using basic words found in every language, and it’s clear to see that there are patterns to the differences.

Having studied linguistics a bit, I’m somewhat familiar with these patterns, but will this help me on the street? Doubtful. I’m not going to be standing there pondering palatalizations while a merchant waits for me to name my price. My eventual plan is to actually learn Polish (and address my fear – that despite my not-so-hot-these-days Russian, I will somehow end up speaking Polish with a Russian + American accent! Horrifying!). But in the meantime, if I know how to say it in Russian, I think I’ll do that, but garble what I say a bit in the hopes that whomever I’m speaking to will repeat what I’ve said correctly, and I’ll just be able to exclaim, “Tak!!!”

I love beets in all forms – soups, salads, sandwiches, or even just straight up, raw. “Barszcz” is the Polish spelling of the popular Eastern European soup more commonly spelled “borscht” in English. There are as many different types of borscht as there are regions where it is prepared, but it all Eastern European cultures have a beet-based borsht (other varieties include the Polish “white borscht”, which has a fermented rye base, and the Russian “green borscht”, a sorrel soup). For example, Polish “barszcz” is typically a beet broth with garlic and vegetables, which are strained before serving, producing a red broth. On Christmas, it is served with mushroom dumplings called “uszki”. A common Russian “borshch” preparation is much heartier – a beef broth with beets and tomatoes, chunks of potato, meat and other vegetables, like cabbage and carrots.

But for the summer, there is cold borscht, called “chołdnik” in Polish or, similarly, “kholodnik” in Russian. It is a fabulous magenta colour and is wonderfully refreshing on a hot day. Here is my recipe for it:

Cold Borscht
12 medium beets, peeled and diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
half a lemon’s worth of lemon juice
cucumbers
radishes
kefir (kefir is a cultured milk product, similar in taste to a liquid plain yoghurt. Most grocery stores carry it.)
eggs
dill
salt and pepper to taste

1. Place the chopped beets, garlic and lemon juice in a large pot (I used an 8 qt one) and fill with water. Bring pot to a boil and simmer for about an hour, until the beets are soft but still slightly crunchy. Add salt and pepper to taste.

2. Remove the pot from the heat and let it cool. If you want your soup to be really cold (how I like it), then refrigerate it.

3. About 3o minutes before serving, hard boil the eggs (1/2 an egg per bowl). Just before serving, dice some radish and cucumber and throw them in. I usually use about 2 inches of cucumber and 2 radishes per bowl. Pour about 1/4-1/3 c of kefir in each bowl and stir to blend. Slice or chop the hard-boiled eggs and add some to each bowl. Finally, chop some dill and sprinkle on top, then serve.

Note: I usually make a big pot of broth and then add the radish, cucumber, kefir and hard-boiled egg to each bowl individually. However, if you’re planning to serve the whole pot at once, you can just mix it in there.