Roots!

Donetsk - Donbass Arena

I just came back from Donetsk – 2 hours ago. It’s funny how you forget some differences. In Ukraine as well as in Russia you don’t fasten your seatbelts. When my cousin picked me up from the airport in Donetsk, I automatically fastened my belts. He was staring at me with a grimace at his face and asked “what are you doing? Don’t forget – you’re home!” And when my friend picked me up today from Katowcie-Pyrzowece, of course I forgot to fasten that belt. And in Donetsk every car (99%) has tinted windows. In Poland I think it’s forbidden. Every time I’m home I feel so happy, but now Poland is my second home. So when I left the plane in Katowice I had the same nice feeling as when I left it in Donetsk and saw my cousin waiting for me. 

Beer in Poland vs. beer in Ukraine

After last party, I started to think about basic differences between beer in Poland and Ukraine. First of all there are no differences in beer, more differences are about “drinking beer culture”. About basic beer types (or brands): in Poland I love Lech and Tyskie Gronie, in Ukraine I always buy my favorite Obolon (Оболонь) and Bile (Біле). So about drinking culture – in Ukraine we drink beer and combine it with eating shrimps, or dried squid. I think that the most wonderful thing to combine with a beer is dried fish called таранка – the only name I found  in English as in German and Polish is “Stockfish”. Best thing to do on the seaside is to drink your favorite beer and eat таранка. In Poland I’ve noticed that we use as a snack (my friends) potato chips, peanuts, small pretzels. Common snack for both cultures are chips. The only difference that can occur is taste. In Ukraine I sometimes choose crab chips. In Poland I love onion chips, or new spicy taste – wasabi chips. One thing I know – both countries have many great beer brands and Ukrainian as well as Polish people love beer!!!

Beautiful places of Russia part 2

What I want to describe in part 2 is Inta. Small city in Komi Republic. I’ll start from train. When there are longer stops you can jump out and buy pirozkhi (пирожки) – my favorite with cowberries and apples. There will definitely be some local sellers. It’s their only income – to wait until train stops and some people buy their products. So every time we buy homemade fir oil – great for every disease. Don’t buy mulberry (морошка) – it looks cute, like yellow raspberry, but taste is very weak. Of course that’s the point – to taste as much as possible in new places, especially fruits, vegetables. Anyway, after 3 days in train (with short change in Moscow) I am in Inta. City is small, people are nice. Kids use skis to “go for a walk”. When it’s (at least) -25 you can see Aurora Borealis – something beautiful. Snow is everywhere, but for example in summer it can be extremely warm and place is full of mosquitoes. Nature is stunning! That’s one of those things that makes me want to go back there again and again. And the only thing that I’ll never understand is Komi language. It’s complicated. My grand mom was the only person who spoke it. Komi language is an Uralic language (from Ural-Altaic languages family), different from Russian, Polish, English, German etc. Alphabet is the same (with some new letters), and that’s the only similarity. Most of people when hear word “Russia” thinks of Kremlin, Putin, vodka and Siberian bears. The truth is that it’s a great country, different from others and every part of Russia is specific – wild and wonderful. So after Moscow and St. Petersburg – all other places wait for you.

local sellers

citiy center and kids going for a ski walking

Coat of Arms of Inta

typical cottage

snow pavement - it was as long as me (160 cm) - March

Beautiful places of Russia (part 1)

For me Russia is not wild, and when my friends ask me about some stuff that is weird for them for me is normal. One difference is how people act in trains. Yes, in Russia (Ukraine as well) you drink. It's normal. When the train wheels start to work, in first 10 minutes everyone starts to eat. Polish people ask me why? First of all – for example journey from (lets take Katowice) to Inta (my grand-mom’s place) takes 3 days. So you eat, cause it's just a regular day of your live. Second reason is that our trains are horrible. I mean it – horrible! And when you buy a ticket for a random place in your wagon-lit, you don't have your couchette, you see almost half of passengers. When you sleep, somebody will certainly catch on your lag, or you'll hear some drunk guys singing. And main meal for the trip is: hard-boiled eggs, chicken, tomatoes, jacket potatoes and salt. It's the base! So you eat a lot to kill the stress connected with this journey. 

About those beautiful places: nature is stunning, cities are great. For those, who have never been to Russia I'd say, start discover Russia from Moscow and St. Petesrburg. I've never been to St. Petersburg – shame on me, but Moscow is wonderful. Even when it's your third or fourth time - it's still wonderful. Below is a picture from Kremlin. You can spend unforgettable days in there. Just be very careful in currency exchange offices – they will cozen you for sure! And don’t drink coffee close to city center – you can pay too much and get a horrible coffee. And remember, Russia is Russia and Moscow is completely different than every other place in Russia. But it is certainly worth to go there!

Kremlin from the inside

Kremlin (Mausoleum)

St. Basil's Cathedral

Some little changes

I love Silesia - because it's changing to better. In Katowice I see lots of new buildings growing everywhere. Yes, for now it does look creepy. And maybe it's not very convenient for pedestrians who see streets digged out. But once the job is done, it will look nice! It means that city is growing, changing. For instance big opening for new Train Station last week! I'm curious, how it looks. And, what's great, our University has a new library, which looks awesome. I'm not the one who loves sitting all day in library all surrounded by books, but that library really atracts students. I'm sure that Katowice will look pretty cool soon. Sometimes changes are good, sometimes not. But those changes make me feel secure for the place I live. I miss my hometown, I miss Ukraine, but it's great that I am where I am.

For those who want to spend a nice weekend in Vienna and don't have plans for Sunday evening. My favourite restaurant "all you can eat"!!! EBI - Asian food. And remember to check a cheap bus from Katowice to Vienna, so you can save some cash! :D