Clueless on Poland

Among the excitement and discussions with our family and friends one question has continually come up time and time again.  It seems that people just really aren't all that familiar with Poland and want to know more about it and what it is like.  So, to help start answering that question here is a list of 20 facts about Poland.

1.      Poland is the the 9th largest country in Europe.

2.      The most popular name for a dog in Poland is Burek which translates to: “brownish-grey color”.

3.      In Poland the name day is considered more important than the birthday.

4.      Amongst all the members of the European Union, the residents of Poland marry the youngest.

5.      Poland boasts 17 Nobel prize winners, including four Peace Prizes and five in Literature.

6.       90% of Poles have completed at least secondary education.

7.       Marie Curie (born Maria Sklodowska ; 1867-1934), the first and only Nobel laureate in two different sciences and first female professor at the Sorbonne University.

8.       Polish born astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus was the first person to propose that the earth was not the center of the universe.

9.       Officially, Poland is now 1038 years old. Its formal beginning is the year 966 when the ruling prince, Mieszko I, decided to adopt Christianity as the official religion of his people, thus establishing political bonds with the rest of civilised Europe.

10.     Saint John’s Kupala is a popular holiday in which people jump over fires, a tradition that predates Christianity.

11.     In Wroclaw there is an annual city-wide medieval festival, including jousts, horse archery, medieval dances and other activities.

12.     Marzenna is a tradition where people weave straw dolls and decorate them with ribbons. These represent the end of winter, and the beginning of spring. When the snow starts to melt, they proclaim the beginning of spring and chuck the Marzennas into the river or stream, symbolically ‘killing’ the winter.

13.    During Wianki people go to the riverbanks and float wreaths with candles on them on the water. If it floats to a woman on the other side, she’ll find love. If it circles three times, she’ll be unlucky with her love life.

14.   According to Polish folklore only marriages concluding in months that contain the letter “r” can be successful.

15.   Przystanek Woodstock is the biggest open-air festival in Europe–an annual free rock music festival in Poland, inspired by and named for the Woodstock Festival.

16.   Pizza in Poland does not contain tomato sauce. The waiters bring sauce to the table in a pitcher, and you pour it on top. Sometimes the sauce is just ketchup.

17.   There is a Pope channel on TV. Anytime one needs to see the pope, one can tune him in.

18.   In Poland, bananas are peeled from the blossom end, not from the stem end.

19.   Some Polish beer is ten per-cent alcohol.

20.  Polish toilet paper is made of crepe.