Something for dog lovers

It's nothing unusual that dogs are very popular pets in Poland. But there are only five breeds that originate from Poland. One of them is Polish Tatra Sheepdog, known also as 'Owczarek Podhalanski' and the 'Polish Mountain Sheepdog'. In other countries, like USA, the Polish Tatra Sheepdog is considered as a rare breed. It comes from Podhale, in the Tatra Mountain area of Poland and its live goal is to protect livestock :) It's an ideal dog for this task, cause Tatra Sheepdogs are great protection dogs and also good companion. They are 'family' dogs. They are not attackers, they rather move threats away, but, however, they may become aggresive when something bad is happening to "their" family. They have very loud bark and they look awesome! Have a look:

This dog lives in Tatra Mountains in Chochołowska Valley, near Zakopane

You haven't been standing here!

"You haven't been standing here, sir!!!" were the most popular words in Poland during the communism time. In Polish they sound "Pan tu nie stał!!!" and they were used to express the frustration connected with somebody else taking a place in a looong queue to the shop. Sounds strange? It was a pretty normal situation in every place in Poland 40-50 years ago. Under the communist rule, shops were constantly running out of products. Shop supplies weren't sufficient for peoples' needs and people were living in constant lack of something, for example toilet paper, soap, ham, chocolate etc. Even basic products like those were almost impossible to get. That's why gigantic queues were formed in front of the shops. When the goods were delivered, everybody wanted to get some. But unfortunately it was always not enough to please everybody... That's why words "Pan tu nie stał!" became so legendary, everyone was fighting for a place in the queue.

There is a shop called "Pan tu nie stał" (shop online or in Łódź on Kilińskiego street) selling clothes and home accessories bringing back "sweet memories" from that period in Polish history. The graphics used on the t-shirts are old fashioned and most of them is originally from the PRL time (that's how we call the communist period in Poland). Have a look:

"Cześć" is a word for "Hi" in Polish.

T-shirt with a graphic of a traditional Polish dinner served in milk bars

A mug from a Polish milk bar. It was popular also in Polish homes.

A queue to the butcher's in 70's in Poland

  

What on earth is 'Oscypek'???

'Oscypek', pronounced something like 'Oh-stzee-peck', is traditional Polish smoked cheese, made of salted sheep milk. It is produced especially in Tatra Mountains in the very south of Poland. In 2007 'Oscypek' became a protected trade name under the EU's Protected Designation of Origin geographical indication. There are some strict regulations which you have to follow if you want to produce delicious 'oscypek', for example:

• cow milk can be mixed with sheep milk, but there musn't be more cow milk than 40% of all the milk used
• cheese can be produced only from May to September and sold until the end of October
• 'oscypek' should weigh between 60 and 80 dag and be 17 - 23 cm long...

 ... otherwise, it isn't 'oscypek' :) Some sellers don't obey those rules and sell their products under the name 'scypek'. If you'd like to buy an original 'oscypek' you have to have your eyes wide open :)
To buy the best 'oscypek' you have to visit southern areas of Poland (which are stunningly beautiful!), for example: Zakopane (amazing town under the highest mountains in Poland), Kraków (very popular city, which used to be a capital of Poland many, many years ago), Nowy Targ (a place where every week a big market takes place) or Bukowina Tatrzańska.

Traditional 'oscypek'
source of the photo

Many kinds of smoked cheese are sold on Krupówki, famous market street in Zakopane
source of the photo

Poland celebrates the International Day of Chocolate!

Sunny summer is coming to an end so it is good to make your life sweeter. That's why the International Day of Chocolate was invented. On this particular day, on De Gaulle Rondabout (this one with a famous palm) cups of delicious milk chocolate are served to the pedestrians.

To celebrate the Day of Chocolate you should visit one of the E.Wedel shops. E.Wedel is the oldest Polish confectionery. Founded by Karol Ernest Wedel in 1851 it produces variety of high-quality chocolate. It's the most popular chocolate in Poland. But not only chocolate is the Wedel's speciality. You must try also "Ptasie Mleczko" - chocolate covered marshmallow; "Mieszanka Wedlowska" - assorted chocolate covered candy; "Torcik Wedlowski" - a large, circular, chocolate covered wafer with hand-made decorations and "Pawełek" - chocolate bar with a flavored filling that contains a small amount of alcohol.

On De Gaulle roundabout in Warsaw there is a palm made of chocolate!

The chocolate is served to the pedestrians by E.Wedel

Enjoy :)

You can make a trip to see the chocolate factory in Warsaw in Kamionek district. It is located on Prague on Zamoyskiego Street no. 7. Here you can check E.Wedel shops around Poland: http://www.wedelpijalnie.pl/pl/lokale

Spiderman in Warsaw!

It may sound crazy, but while hanging out in Warsaw you can see a Spiderman. Even if he's not saving the city from the bad guys, he's still pretty amazing. He appears on the streets from time to time joking around and making people laugh. The police seems to treat him as a one of the city characters and punishes him only when it is completely necessary. Have a look at this short video:

Lately, he has been seen on Bankowy Square, sticked to the tram no.20 :D

Photo taken from: www.kontakt24.pl