WROCŁAW - In Your Pocket

16 BASICS
Language Smarts Religion
Many Poles, particularly younger people, have a fairly healthy
command of the English language. Many will also be adept at
other European languages with German being the most commonly
spoken. Older Poles will fiercely contest that they have ‘forgotten’
the Russian taught to them at school but most will still have a
reasonable understanding.
Mastering the Polish tongue can be a terrifying ordeal and will often
result in personal degradation as shop assistants laugh at your
flustered attempts. That aside, learning a few key phrases will smooth
your time in Poland and may even win you friends and admirers.
On the positive side Polish sounds as it appears. This is a great
help once you know how to pronounce each letter/combination
of letters. Many letters represent the same sounds as they do in
English. Below we have listed those particular to Polish.
Basic pronunciation of Polish vowels
‘ą’ sounds like ‘on’ in the French ‘bon’
‘ę’ sounds like ‘en’ as in the French ‘bien’
‘ó’ is an open ‘o’ sound like ‘oo’ in ‘boot’
Basic pronunciation of consonants
‘c’ like the ‘ts’ in ‘bits’
‘j’ like the ‘y’ in ‘yeah’
‘w’ is pronounced like the English ‘v’
‘ł’ like the ‘w’ in ‘win’
‘ń’ like the ‘ny’ in ‘canyon’
‘cz’ and ‘ć’ like the ‘ch’ in ‘beach’
‘dz’ like the ‘ds’ in ‘beds’
‘rz’ and ‘ż’ like the ‘su’ in ‘treasure’
‘sz’ and ‘ś’ like the ‘sh’ in ‘ship’
‘drz’ like the ‘g’ in ‘George’
r is always rolled and stress is generally always on the last but
one syllable.
Think you’ve got that? Here are some words and phrases to get
you started.
Civilities
cześć (cheshch) hi/bye
dzień dobry (jen do-bri) good morning/
afternoon
dobry wieczór (do-bri vyeh-choor) good evening
dobranoc (dobrah-nots) good night
tak (tahk) yes
nie (nyeh) no
proszę (prosheh) please
na zdrowie (nah zdrovyeh) cheers
dziękuje (jen-koo-yeh) thank you
przepraszam (psheh-prasham) sorry
kocham cię (koham tshe) I love you
Mam na imię (mam nah ee-myeh) My name is
Jestem z Anglii
Necessities
(yehstem zanglee) I am from England
Gdzie są toalety? (gdjeh song toalety) Where are the toilets?
Czy mówi pan/pani (che moovee Do you (male/female)
po angielsku? pan/panee po
angyelskoo?)
speak English?
Nie mówię po (nyeh moovyeh po I don’t speak Polish
polsku
polskoo)
Proszę to napisać (prosheh toh
napeesatch)
Please write it down
Czy można tu palić (che mohzhnah too
paleech?)
Can I smoke here?
Jedno piwo (yedno peevo poh- One beer please
poproszę prosheh)
Numbers
1 jeden yehden
2 dwa dva
3 trzy tshi
10 dziesięć jayshench
General
Airport lotnisko
Train station dworzec pkp
Bus station dworzec pks
Right/left prawo/lewo
One ticket to jeden bilet do
First/second class pierwsza/druga klasa
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 95% of Poles are
Roman Catholics. And though that figure is based on baptisms
and the number of actual practicing Catholics is probably closer
to 75% (and falling), Poland remains one of the most religious
countries in Europe. For over one thousand years Poland has
been a bulwark of Catholicism, fighting against pagan invasions
and looking to religion for a sense of social and national unity.
When Poland was partitioned in the 19th century, many turned
to the Church for solace; during the communist era, underground
resistance meetings were surreptitiously held in churches. The
deceased Polish-born Pope John Paul II remains a genuine source
of pride for all Poles, and is beloved in a way more profound than
cynics in the West can understand. Those used to the more
easy-going habits of the West may find the Polish enthusiasm for
religion a bit unnerving at first, particularly the solemn and opulent
processions that occur from time to time and the droves that
flock to mass. Tourists should remember while visiting Wrocław’s
many churches that these aren’t museums, but active places of
worship to be treated with the requisite respect.
Toilets
Generally speaking toilets in Poland come marked with a
circle for women, and a triangle for men. Some restaurants
and bars still charge a nominal fee for use of their facilities;
this is a practice also used in train stations and most public
conveniences. Keep small change handy. Below we list public
toilets near the city centre.
Public Toilet B-1, ul. Drobnera
Public Toilet A-3, Pl. Solny
Tourist Card
OpenWrocław Tourist Card, www.openwroclaw.pl.
Ambitious tourists intent on getting the most out of their
time and money in Wrocław should consider picking up the
OpenWrocław Tourist Card, which entitles the bearer
to free unlimited travel on public transport, discounts at
hundreds of participating hotels, bars, restaurants, cafes
and more, and a package of free admissions to cultural
institutions and other city attractions. A variety of cards are
available, each tailored to your specific area of interest - be it
culture, entertainment, leisure or all of the above - and all can
be purchased for 24, 48 or 73 hour periods at corresponding
prices. A definite bargain for those with busy itineraries,
the Tourist Card is available at over 120 distribution points
around town. Visit the OpenWrocław website for full details
regarding prices, partners and sales outlets.
Water
Though officially stamped as safe to drink, hypochondriacs
and others with a weak constitution may want to avoid drinking
Polish tap water; indeed, despite it never giving us any
problems, the locals still regularly scold us for drinking from
the tap. The antique plumbing in many buildings can also
affect the water quality, so to play it safe we recommend
you just drink bottled water, which is widely available and
inexpensive. Unless you’re in a restaurant, that is. Tourists
from countries where the right to drink water is a guaranteed
freedom may be surprised to find that water is not complimentary
in Polish restaurants; in fact it’s downright expensive
and comes in a tiny glass that will barely wet your thirst. By
comparison, beer is a much better value as you get more than
twice as much for only a couple złoty more; such is Poland’s
‘drinking problem.’ If you’re still set on drinking water with
your meal, be prepared to declare a preference between
gazowana (carbonated water) and niegazowana (still water).
Wrocław In Your Pocket wroclaw.inyourpocket.com
Art Galleries
Arttrakt B-3, ul. Ofiar Oświęcimskich 1/1, tel. (+48)
502 58 19 05, www.arttrakt.pl.QOpen 12:00 - 19:00,
Sat 12:00 - 16:00. Closed Mon, Sun. Admission free.
City Gallery (Galeria Miejska) A-3, ul. Kiełbaśnicza
28, tel. (+48) 71 344 67 20, www.galeriamiejska.
pl.QOpen 11:00 - 18:00, Sat 12:00 - 15:00. Closed Sun.
Admission free.
Galeria Awangarda B-3, ul. Wita Stwosza 32,
tel. (+48) 71 790 25 82, www.bwa.wroc.pl.QOpen
11:00 - 18:00. Closed Mon. Admission 8/4zł. Wed
admisson free.
Tkacka Na Jatkach Gallery A-2, ul. Jatki 19/23,
tel. (+48) 71 344 38 78, www.galeria.md4.pl.QOpen
12:00 - 18:00. Closed Sat, Sun. Admission free.
WRO Art Centre B-4, ul. Widok 7, tel. (+48) 71 343 32
40, www.wrocenter.pl. Q Open 11:00 - 19:00, Mon 13:00
- 19:00, Sun 12:00 - 16:00. Closed Sat. Admission free.
Cinemas
Cinema City Korona ul. Krzywoustego 126c (Psie
Pole), tel. (+48) 71 323 60 00, www.cinema-city.pl. Q
Box office open from 30 minutes before the first showtime to
15 minutes after last showtime. Tickets 14-29zł.
Helios Magnolia Park E-4, ul. Legnicka 58, tel.
(+48) 71 355 53 55, www.helios.pl.QBox office
open from 09:00 to 15 minutes after last show. Tickets
15-26zł.
Helios Nowe Horyzonty A-3, ul. Kazimierza Wielkiego
19a-21, tel. (+48) 71 786 65 66, www.heliosnh.pl.
Lower Silesian Film Centre (Dolnośląskie Centrum
Filmowe) A-5, ul. Piłsudskiego 64a, tel. (+48)
71 793 79 00, www.dcf.wroclaw.pl.QBox office open
depending on repertoire. Tickets 8-23zł.
Cultural Centres
Biuro Festiwalowe Impart 2016 D-3, ul. Mazowiecka
17, tel. (+48) 71 341 94 32, www.impart.art.pl.
Q Box office open 12:00 - 18:00, Sat, Sun open 2 hours
before events.
Wrocław Center for Jewish Culture and Education
(Centrum Kultury i Edukacji Żydowskiej Fundacji
Bente Kahan) E-4, The White Stork Synagogue, ul.
Włodkowica 5, tel. (+48) 71 782 81 23, www.fbk.org.
pl. QOpen 09:00 - 17:00, Fri 09:00 - 15:00. Closed Sat,
Sun. Open 10:00 - 16:00. Closed Sat. From December open
10:00 - 16:00, Fri 10:00 - 15:00. Closed Sat Admission free
for the exhibition.
Opera Stages
Academy of Music (Akademia Muzyczna) E-4,
Pl. Jana Pawła II 2, tel. (+48) 71 355 55 43, www.
amuz.wroc.pl.QOpen 07:00 - 22:00. Admission free for
all concerts.
Wrocław Opera (Opera Wrocławska) A-4, ul.
Świdnicka 35, tel. (+48) 71 344 57 79, www.opera.
wroclaw.pl.Q Box office open 12:00 - 19:00, Sun 12:00 -
17:00. Tickets 10-300zł.
Philharmonic
Wrocław Philharmonic (Filharmonia Wrocławska)
E-5, ul. Piłsudskiego 19, tel. (+48) 71 342 20 01, www.
filharmonia.wroclaw.pl.Q Box office open 11:00 - 15:00,
15:30 - 18:00, Sun one hour before performance. Tickets
10-80zł.
wroclaw.inyourpocket.com
CULTURE & EVENTS
September - December 2012
17