Showing posts with label gifts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gifts. Show all posts

Dec 14, 2012

A letter to Santa Claus

If you are spending the time before Christmas in Poland, think about taking home not only memories but also presents for your beloved ones :) There are plenty of traditional Polish products which should have its place on a present list to Santa Claus!

1) Laces from Koniaków
Beautiful and amazingly precise handicraft from Koniaków, a village in the South of Poland, in Beskid Śląski (Silesian County). Laces from Koniaków are absolutely unique and well-known around the world, especially tablecloths, traycloths, curtains and... underwear.
Original licensed laces from Koniaków you'll find here (also a lingerie) and here.

Traycloth, size M costs around 50 pln.

2) Folk art paper cutting from Łowicz
Łowicz is a small town in Łódzkie County, nearly 90 km from Warsaw. It's a very important spot on Polish cultural map, because the town has always had its own culture as well as local dialect, dance and clothes. Folklore from Łowicz had a big influence on whole Polish tradition. One of the Łowicz's specialities are paper cuts, which were very fashionable home decorations of XIX and XX century, especially before Christmas and Easter. A paper cut from Łowicz has to be symmetrical, cut with the scissors used originally to cut sheep and colorful. You can buy them on folkstar.
Paper cuts aren't very expensive. The price depends on the size. Small cuts cost 20 pln but price can rise up to 150 pln if the cutting is very big with a lot of details. It looks amazing on the wall.

3) Honey
The Drahimski Honey (from the Polish Seaside) which has very light, yellow colour or Spadziowy Honey (from the Polish Mountains) which is more brownish are traditional Polish honeys made according to the traditional recipe. If you want to be sure that a jar you are buying contains original honey, visit one of the eco e-shops or honey e-shop :)

4) Winter clothes
They are made of wool of the sheeps from Tatra Mountains. Good woolen products you can buy in Zakopane, Nowy Targ or in the internet (merino-polska.pl). The choice is very wide: slippers, quilts, blankets, jerkins, sweaters and many many more.
Shopping in Zakopane

5) Gingerbread fromToruń
From over 700 years, gingerbreeads have been baked in Toruń and made the town famous. According to the legend, it were the bees who told the princess to add honey to the gingerbread she was baking. The cake was supposed to be given to a king as a present. He liked the gingerbread so much that he has made it famous all around Europe. Small gingerbreads are often called "Katarzynki" from the name of the princess who has made them for the first time. Gingerbread from Toruń is believed to be the most delicious and also it is ideal sweet for lovers ;) You can buy them in Toruń or in almost every supermarket in Poland.

Prices of the gingerbreads are very different. It's also great decoration to hang on a christmas tree.

Oct 14, 2009

Christmas shopping - final countdown

Christmas shopping in Warsaw

There are several European cities you might think of while deciding where to do Christmas shopping and you probably would not put Warsaw among them. Still, we will try to convince you that Poland’s capital can be a good place to find an oryginal gift for a good price too!

For the best bargains come to Warsaw in the second part of November. This is when shopping malls get decorated for Christmas but it is not “a peak of shopping season” yet.
If you are fancy of Christmas illumination, trees and all this fever, visit Warsaw in the beginning of December. Traditional outdoor markets take place in the second or the third weekend of December in Zamkowy Square, or Mariensztat Square and in the centre of culture in the 21 st Łowicka St.
Shopping malls are open 7 days a week, usually between 10.00 and 21.00
Most of shops listed here should be open from Monday till Friday between 11.00 and 18.00 for sure. Check their websites for Saturday hours (Saturday = Sobota in Polish)
Here are some tips where to go for Christmas hunting:


Shopping malls in the centre of Warsaw:

·Złote Tarasy (ul. Złota 59)
shopping mall with amazing roof of glass, right next to the Central Railway Station
www.zlotetarasy.pl

·Arkadia (ul. Jana Pawła II 82)
the biggest shopping mall in Warsaw
www.arkadia.com.pl

One street shopping:
·Warszawska Nike (ul. Mokotowska 24)
The first Nike concept store in Poland, vintage & collector’s Nikes (Nike, as a Goddess of Victory is one of symbols of Warsaw :)
www.warszawskanike.pl

·Fumo (ul. Mokotowska 26)
Clothing with such brands as: Desigual, Cop.Copine, Skunkfunk
www.fumo.pl

·GaliLu (ul. Mokotowska 26, entrance from Koszykowa)
Neo-perfumery, natural cosmetics and Spa
www.galilu.pl

·Mimbla (Mokotowska 51/53)
Beautifully designes, wooden toys, Polish brands
www.mimbla.pl

· Niebieskie Migdały (ul. Mokotowska 61)
Furniture for children’s rooms
www.niebieskiemigdaly.com

· DDR Studio (Koszykowa 33/ Mokotowska, entrance from a backyard)
Furniture and more, vintage design (from the 50s.up to the 80s)
www.ddrstudio.com

· Słodki, słony (ul. Mokotowska 45)
Confectionary, buy makowiec, traditional Christmas poppy-seed cake
www.slodkislony.pl


Polish clothing:


De Lux:
· Joanna Klimas
Atelier and cafe run by one of top Polish designers (ul. Nowolipki 2). If you are not sure you can spend so much money, you can still afford a cup of coffee and have a look at the designer at work.
www.joannaklimas.com

· Maciej Zień
The boutique of this one of the most talented Polish designers can be found in Promenada shopping mall (Ostrobramska 75 C), expensive
http://zien.pl

Exclusive:

· Solar
(at most shopping malls)
www.solar-company.com.pl

Popular:
(at most shopping malls)
· Reserved
reserved.com

· Mohito
mohito.pl

Young designers:
· Polscy Projektanci (ul. Chmielna 30)
· Green Establishment (ul. Nowogrodzka 21)
www.gestablishment.com


Markets:


· Hala Mirowska (Pl. Mirowski 1)
Fruit, vegetables, flowers, some vintage can be found too

· Koło (Obozowa/Ciołka Streets)
flea market, weekends’ mornings only

Food:
· Wedel (ul. Szpitalna 8)
chocolates and sweets, for Christmas Poles usually buy ptasie mleczko and torcik wedlowski
http://www.wedelpijalnie.pl

· Krakowski Kredens (Nowy Świat 22)
Preserves from a grandma’s cupboard: jams, juices, liqeurs, sausages, Christmas baskets - all beautifully packed!
www.krakowskikredens.pl

· Pasieka (ul. Freta 7/9)
Restaurant and miodosytnia, a place where you can degustate and buy excellent Polish mead
www.pasieka.win.pl

· Blikle (ul. Nowy Świat 35)
140-year-old confectionary run by Blikle family
www.blikle.pl


The best Polish vodkas brands:

Żubrówka, Wyborowa, Belvedere


Others:


· Traffic (ul. Bracka 25)
Elegant book-and-musicstore, lots of Polish jazz and Chopin

· Bubu (ul. Solec 50)
Handmade jewellery, interesting designs and materials
www.bubusolec.pl

· Nowińska Gallery (at Bristol Hotel, ul. Krakowskie Przedmieście 42/44
Unique amber jewellery, classic and avant-garde designs
www.nowinska.pl

· Bolesławiec (ul. Prosta 2/14)
One of the largest manufacturers of hand-crafted and hand-decorated tableware pottery, using the unique worldwide stamping technique
www.ceramicboleslawiec.com.pl

· Krosno glassworks
(at most shopping malls)
The largest and most well-known producer of household glass in Poland, one of the world market leaders in this trade.
www.krosno.com.pl/en

· Artykuły propagandowe (ul. Górczewska 24)
Polish flag, ballot box and more propaganda stuff...
www.okopowaflagi.pl


Pokaż Christmas Shopping by Hostel Helvetia na większej mapie