Polish Language Blog

Imagine a place where the rooms choose you instead of the other way around. Well, Blow Up Hall 5050 in Poznań,Poland is the brainchild of electronic artist Rafael Lozano Hemmer and staying there means you become part of his art show. It begins when you book a room on its website. You pick colours, pictures and numbers, and the personality that your choices reveal determines your room – including zebra stripes and all-white schemes. Throughout the hotel, there are interactive touch screens and, thanks to the hidden cameras, your image contributes to a real-time video collage in the reception area.

Luxurious and innovative, 5-star hotel Blow Up Hall is a new hotel conception as a hotel with no reception, room numbers and keys. Guest will receive iPhone, that opens the door to proper room and is used as a virtual concierge. The iphone is a work of art itself and can be also used outside to help you plan your stay in Poznań. Blow Up Hall is located in the center of Poznań in a renovated historic building, the old brewery. The hotel combines luxury and modern technology, where visitors not only have an incredible artistic experiences but also will actively participate in creating art.

This hotel has 22 luxurious rooms with unique, contemporary decor. Bright color modern design, inovative decorations will make you find not only relaxation but also artistic experience.

In the Blow Up Hall Restaurant guests will admire modern artistic solutions and decorative lighting. Artistic and modern way of serving dishes makes it not only tastes delicious but are also delightful to your eye. Creative chef recommends appetizers, hot dishes and desserts are prepared according to the innovative recipes of Polish cuisine.
The hotel’s bar (picture on the left) is located in the old kiln Old Brewery. Guests will find here a wide selection of drinks, cocktails and soft drinks. The enthusiasts of cigars will find something for themselves. Cozy interior, modern lighting and styling will make you enjoy atmosphere of artistic luxury.

Did anyone of you stayed at this hotel? I’m really curious what guests think about it…

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)

You do not need a special glassware to drink from…However following the rules there is a lot of different types of glassware, depending what we are drinking.

The most popular big glass – szklanka – can be used for water (woda), soda (napoje gazowane), beer (piwo).

Smaller glass (mała szklanka) is usually great for juices (soki) or different mixed drinks (różne mięszane drinki).

Mug (kubek) is for coffee (kawa), tea (herbata), sometimes used also for sous (zupa).

Filiżanka can be used for different types of coffee or tea.

Although you can drink beer from the regular glass, kufel do piwa is popular at the restaurants (restauracje), bars (bary) and homes (domy).

Szeroka i krótka szklaneczka do drinków (wide and short mixed drink glass) in Poland is often used for soda or juices as well.

Kieliszek is a shot glass. Used mostly for vodka (wódka), could be also used for shots of any other alcohol. Speaking of kieliszek I remember when my husband visited Poland for the first time and was asked if he knows how do we call shot glass. He responded: “Oczywiście, malutki szklanka!” It actually made a lot of sense for him just starting learning Polish…I thought it was very funny though.

Kieliszek do czerwonego wina ( red wine glass) is usually big and wide (duży i szeroki).

Kieliszek do białego wina (white wine glass) on the other hand (“z drugiej strony”) is more narrow and smaller (węższy i mniejszy).

Kieliszek do szampana (champagne glass) is also used for any type of sparkling wine (musujące wino).

Kieliszek do margarity (margarita glass) is used for margarita only.

Kieliszek do martini (martini glass) can be used for different types of cold mixed drinks.

Of course there are many more types of glasses for specific drinks like czara, puchar (snifter, goblet), but I just wanted to give you some vocabulary for the basic ones.

Na zdrowie!

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)

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I already told you about salt mine in Wieliczka (http://blogs.transparent.com/polish?s=wieliczka), but I have not told you that there is a legend about it…

In the 13th century a young Polish prince, called Bolesław, of the Piast Dynasty, decided to get married and for his wife chose a beautiful Hungarian princess of the Arpad Dynasty, the daughter of king Bela IV, Kinga (or Kunegunda, as she is sometimes called).

When Bolesław’s proposal was accepted, the loving father asked Kinga what she would like to get from him as a wedding gift, what she would like to take to her husband and the new country. Kinga replied that she wanted no gold and jewels, since they only brought unhappiness and tears. She wanted something that could serve the people she was going to live with. Her request surprised the king greatly – she asked for salt.

The king was determined to keep his promise. He offered Kinga the biggest and most prosperous salt deposits in Hungary – the Marmaros salt mine. However, nobody knew what Kinga could do with the treasure.

On her way to Poland the princess visited the mine. She kneeled to pray next to the entrance and – to everyone’s surprise – suddenly threw her engagement ring inside. She gathered a group of the best Hungarian salt miners and told them to follow her.

When the party arrived in Poland and was approaching Kraków, Kinga stopped and asked the miners to look for salt. They started digging and suddenly hit something very hard. It was a lump of salt. When they broke it, everyone saw what was hidden inside – Kinga’s engagement ring!

That is how the Hungarian princess brought salt to our country.

Right now in Wieliczka there is the most famous salt mine museum.

To commemorate the princess, 101 metres under the ground, down in the mine there is the world’s biggest underground chapel, dedicated to Saint Kinga.

This legend is really popular nowadays, especially in children’s books.

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)