Reports coming soon!

The 25 contestants for Miss Poland 2009 are currently touring Thailand, visiting places such as Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket. I wonder what the overweight Westerners who go there to pick up petite Asian women made of this, seeing as they prefer the Thai look and paying to get laid. 

The Polish girls did a tour of the major tourist attractions and will also be learning Thai cooking, having spa treatments and doing water sports. It is hoped that the press exposure will encourage more Poles to visit Thailand. 

This visit was arranged with the Tourism Authority of Thailand who wish to increase visitors from Poland, in 2008 27,800 Poles visited staying an average 12 days. The majority headed to the (seedy) resort of Pattaya.

Enough of me waffling on… how about some pictures

I’ve been heard about a new Polish restaurant in London but as I’m currently away I’m not able to try it out. When I return in a few weeks I’ll give it a try and let you know what its like but in the meantime I’ll give you the details if you want to check yourself. 

The restaurants name is Polska Chatka (’Chatka’ translates to ‘Hut’ – think a little wooden house etc) and its based in North Finchley (London N12 – MAP HERE).

I’ve had a browse of the menu and they serve all the traditional Polish favourites such as Pierogi, Kotlet, Golonka and of course Bigos. I’m getting quite hungry browsing the menu so I’ll stop now but its varied with very reasonable prices. 

The Nalesniki i jablkiem i cynamonem (pancake with apple and cinnamon) is tempting me! 2 for £4.00!

Polska Chatka does not have an alcohol licence but you can bring your own, a £1 per head corkage charge applies. 

I’ll put a review up when I’m back from Ukraine but in the meantime here are the contact details, give it a go and let me know what you think! 

Polska Chatka

857 High Road, North Finchley, N12 8PT

Tel: 020 8445 3319

www.polskachatka.com

Been hanging out across the border a bit in the Ukraine, spent 5 days in the lovely city of Kyiv.

Getting In

Those from the UK/USA don’t need a visa to enter the Ukraine although you will need to fill out a an Entry/Exit form which gets stamped by border guards. DO NOT forget to take a pen with you if you travel to the Ukraine as they will not provide you with a pen (even if you ask nicely). 

Complete both parts of the form (Entry and Exit) and hand it over with your passport. The border guard will tear off the entry slip and give you back the exit. Ensure you keep this with you at all times. 

Places to Stay

Hotels are VERY expensive in Kyiv. I checked out prices for the Hyatt and they started at around $500 a night for a basic room. I usually prefer to rent apartments and do my own thing so I found a company, swapped some emails and booked an apartment 2 minutes from Independence Square. 

The cost was $120 a night which was very reasonable. It came with air conditioning, large flat screen TV, wireless internet etc. 

I rented the apartment through Kiev Apartments Lux. They provide a great service and if you are looking for somewhere to stay in Kyiv then I doubt you could find a better company to deal with. They will also inlcude an airport pick up and drop off for $70.00. You might be able to find cheaper but they know exactly where to take you and speak good English. There are many touts at the airport and I wouldn’t want to deal with any of them to be honest. 

Some pics of the apartment:

Stuff to Do

Plenty going on, best bet is to get a guidebook as all the useful info is in there. Plenty of nice pubs around. For expat places and food try O’Briens. Good food, Guinness and English speaking staff. 

Other Thoughts

You really need a Ukrainian or Russian speaker to be able to manage, you’d be able to get by without but it would be a little difficult. The girls are beautiful, more so than any other country I’ve been to. If you want to chase the ladies then hit up some of the nightspots like River Palace.

Stock up on cigarettes and alcohol, I don’t smoke but I was buying cartons of Marlboro for $10 which I’ve sold on to my friends for a nice profit, it pretty much paid for the entire trip! Customs don’t care how many you take out and as long as they are for “personal use” you won’t get any hassle when you get back home so fill up your case! 

I’ll be back again shortly to the Ukraine. If anyone wants any more details or some more info on renting a place, let me know in the comments and I’ll get back to you.

I made a post on the Sea Towers in Gdynia last year whilst they were under construction. The 146m towers are now finished and apartments are available for sale and also to rent, some as holiday lets. 

The Sea Towers complex contain a restaurant, bar, shops, spa and 2 swimming pools, I’ve seen holiday lets from 350zl a night for 2 bed apartments and monthly residential lets from 3000zl.

Some more posts coming soon but for now here are a few photos of Polish girls:

I’ve seen my share of uninspired graffiti in Poland but you occasionally get some talented graffiti artists putting their skills to use as seen below:

A Polish woman has filed a lawsuit against an Egyptian hotel after claiming her teenage daughter got pregnant from using the pool. 

Magdalena Kwiatkowska claims her 13-year-old daughter conceived from a stray sperm floating in the hotel’s mixed-sex pool after she took a dip. The hotel was not named. 

The teen returned to Poland from holiday expecting a baby. Kwiatkowska said her daughter did not meet any boys while she was in Egypt. 

Tourist authorities in Warsaw confirmed the complaint. The mother is seeking compensation from the hotel.

A few pictures from around Poland:

If you find yourself in Poznan one of the things you should arrange is a vist to the Lech Brewery, it’s one of Poland biggest breweries and produces beers like Dog in the Fog, Zubr and of course Lech. Hop in a cab and it’s about a 25zl ride away. It’s best to give them a call the day before to book the guide, you can reach them on 61 8787 460.

You get shown around the brewing process from start to finish, seeing the copper vats, bottling, canning as well as some interactive media games you can play. After the tour has finished you usually get a pint of two free of charge in the bar and a chance to buy some Lech branded goods in the souvenir shop. 

The tour is free of charge and lasts around 2 hours, you might find yourself with a group or as happened to me it was just myself and a friend given a private tour. Try the Lech Pilsner, tastes a lot better than the normal Lech and grab a few bottles to share at home: