I can’t imagine I’ll make many posts about shopping centre toilets, but there seems to be some gallows humour at the urinals….
Category: Katowice
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Katowice – Katowice Airport Business Lounge (Terminal A)
I arrived several hours before my flight (this isn’t unusual) and was unsure what to expect from the airport’s lounge in Katowice. I used my Priority Pass card and I was allowed in straight away as there doesn’t seem to be a minimum length of stay.
It’s a pleasant lounge area as it’s clean and tidy, with views over the runway. The welcome was friendly and the staff didn’t need to see my boarding card as they do in some lounges. When I entered I was the only person in the lounge, and at its peak there were four of us in there.
That’s a much better drinks selection than in many other lounges around the world. A range of beers, sodas, fruit juices, non-alcoholic beers and all well presented. There’s more choices of drinks alone than in BA Galleries lounges or any UK pay per visit lounge that I’ve been to.
A fine array of chocolates and sweets, and the selection on the right were really tasty. This is the best sweets selection that I’ve seen since the popcorn and sweets counter at the American Airlines Lounge at Heathrow T3.
Wine on tap.
There was a selection of teas on the right, in addition to the already mentioned sweets.
Sausage roll, shrimp pasta and salmon open sandwiches. All very lovely.
One of the food fridges, with chicken salads, cakes, cold sandwiches and the like.
The hot food selection, which had dumplings, the aforementioned sausage rolls (they were excellent) and there was also a wide range of spirits available at the top as well.
There’s only one toilet in the lounge and the lock is broken, so that probably needs fixing. If the lounge was busier then this would likely be an irritation, but being so quiet, it didn’t really present any obstacle to my lounge enjoyment. There were plenty of power points around the lounge and there were sufficient display screen to show when flights were departing.
Overall, I’d say this is one of the best lounges that I’ve visited where passengers can pay to access it. It felt quiet and peaceful, so a real improvement on the hustle and bustle of the airport terminal. If I were to visit Katowice again, I’d certainly look forwards to coming here again before my flight.
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Katowice – Subtle Signage
This sign is even bigger than it appears in the photo, it’s no wonder that I spent the day craving chicken nuggets…. Bargain price though, that’s about £1 for ten. Dylan and Leon would be in their element….
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Katowice – Ibis Budget
This was my third stay at the Ibis Budget in Katowice, and although I’ve visited many Accor hotels, this is one of my favourites. Firstly, the prices are cheap, my most recent stay has been around £16 per night, but there’s something about this hotel with the friendly staff, the clean rooms and the relaxed atmosphere that I really like.
My Gold Accor status offers no real benefits with Ibis Budget as they’re not part of the scheme. However, there was an effort made by the staff to put in some local books and maps into my room, which were very much appreciated. I admit that a hand-written note is perhaps not a touch of luxury, but it is a nice thing to do and makes the room feel slightly less anonymous.
Breakfast is only a few pounds and so there’s a limit to what can be expected for that price. There is orange juice, apple juice, cereals and also some hot options, which are primarily hot dogs and beans. They have gherkins, tomatoes, cucumber and also some cold meats, although the quality of these meats isn’t great and they do feel slightly plasticky. There are also coffees, teas and also some fruit for anyone who feels the need to eat an apple in the morning.
The room is basic, but at the price point that Ibis Budget are charging, it represents fantastic value for money. There’s a Novotel over the road for those who want a more luxurious environment, but I’m content at the price point which Ibis Budget are going for. It’s clean and the window opens a little to let some fresh air in, as I quite like a room to be cold and airy (I always think of the Basil Fawlty comment of “well there’s air in it” when asked if a room was airy).
To perhaps find some fault, the staff probably should be checking whether a customer has paid for breakfast (unless they’re just remembering) in case they’re doing themselves out of money and my other complaint is that the rooms have just one power point which really isn’t sufficient. But the staff are warm, friendly and engaging, the hotel is clean and it’s just a short walk to the city centre.
Hotels like this are why I like Accor so much….
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Katowice – Bus to Katowice Airport
It was a choice between getting the Flixbus service from Katowice to the city’s airport, or getting the local bus service. I debated getting the Flixbus service for comedy value, but instead went for the city’s bus company, primarily because Flixbus was over 50% more expensive.
I arrived at the bus station, which is conveniently by the city’s railway station and Flixbus would have been appalled. The signage was clear, the bus was shown to be going from bus stop 10 and it actually departed from bus stop 10.
The bus turned up, as expected, and there was a ticket machine near to the bus stop so that I didn’t need to buy on-board. The driver was friendly and the journey took 40 minutes, costing a total of 14zl.
On the way to the airport, I could see the Flixbus service in front of us. It’s only a couple more months until my next Flixbus expedition, booked solely to see how they handle a longer journey. I may be entirely pleasantly surprised…..
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Katowice – Silesian Zoological Garden
These photos are from my previous visit to Katowice, which was in November 2017. I spent several hours at the zoo and I remember that it wasn’t particularly busy, and the number of photos that I took was in the hundreds, so I clearly got a little enthusiastic…
The zoo is large and was clearly signed, with the enclosures all looking in reasonable condition. I don’t remember any agitated looking animals, so everything appeared to be well-looked after.
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Katowice – Masala House
It’s my final full day in Poland of this trip and I’m not due to come back to the country for a good few months. Unfortunately…. So, today’s lunch was at an Indian restaurant as I haven’t had an Indian meal in Poland for quite some time now.
Masala House is part of a small local chain and is well reviewed, and they also had some very reasonably priced lunch options. The staff were friendly, although service was a bit slow at times, and there was an English menu available. The lunch menu had also been translated into English, which it usually isn’t in many restaurants.
I went for the chicken green curry and when it arrived it was certainly very green. Given that this was the lunch deal, the portion size seemed much more generous that I had expected. The sauce of the curry had a depth of taste to it, and there was plenty of spinach in it, which was rather evident not just by the taste, but also by the colour. The sauce had a taste of onions and ginger, with fresh cream decorating the top of the curry. The chicken itself was tender and served in large boneless cubes, and it had absorbed the taste (and colour) of the curry even though it was probably added late on during the process.
I also ordered a bottle of Pepsi and this was suitably chilled, and was served with a slice of lemon. Very lovely.
And one Gulab Jamun, my standard dessert of choice in Indian restaurants, although that’s primarily as there’s usually not much other choice. I admit that ordering one piece, which was the standard on the menu, probably was hardly overdoing it, but I was more interested in how it was served. It was served warm, which I personally think is correct, and the sauce was sugary and I liked the addition of sesame seeds to give the dessert extra texture. As these desserts go, this is one of the better examples that I’ve had.
The entire meal cost just under £6, which I thought was very reasonable for the curry, rice, dessert and drink. The prices for the usual curries are more expensive in the evening, but the atmosphere was relaxing and comfortable, and I imagine that it’s quite a popular location at weekends.
As an aside, as I’m good at those, the restaurant has managed to pick up very few negative reviews. But there are a few across review sites, although perhaps from the same party, about failure to accept Groupon vouchers. I personally would rather restaurants didn’t use Groupon, they always seem to end up with customers having problems with it, and it seems such a tacky way to do business. Anyway, just my view…
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Katowice – Poland’s New Sunday Trading Laws
This seems a retrograde step to me, it’s the Polish Government’s plan to bring Sunday trading to an end in 2020, other than for a limited number of businesses. There’s a compromise arrangement in 2019 where Sunday trading is allowed on the last Sunday of each month, meaning that shopping centres and the like have to produce these reminders of when they’re allowed to open.
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Flixbus – Krakow to Katowice
I keep saying that I won’t use Flixbus again, but I’ve decided that I think I might. They’re so bad that their incompetence is proving to be quite amusing and I rather like the challenge of guessing where their bus might leave from. The element of jeopardy makes for a much more exciting wait for the bus.
Actually, to be fair, the initial instructions in the bus station say to go to stops G14 or G15. This isn’t really difficult at Krakow, as the Flixbus stops are all together. However, obviously they’re not actually going from the stop they say they will, it was instead going from G16. This isn’t a problem, it’s the next stop along and is clearly signed.
Anyway, who needs that level of certainty? Of course the driver decides he’ll leave from another random platform where there are precisely no other passengers waiting. Fortunately he drives by the correct stop so that everyone can see they’re waiting in the wrong place, I consider that quite thoughtful to be honest. In Katowice the bus driver didn’t do that, he just parked in the wrong place and was quite subtle about it.
One thing I quite like about Flixbus is that most of their buses seem to be empty, which is primarily probably because most of their passengers are still likely standing at the platform or are actively trying to find the bloody bus. I think I’ll use Flixbus again, it’ll give me more to blog about.
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Katowice to Krakow – Flixbus
My experiences of Flixbus last year weren’t great to say the least, but I decided to give them one more chance. This is using the logic that an intra-Poland trip might be run along the lines of Polskibus (now subsumed by Flixbus), which used to be fantastic.
The booking process with Flixbus is actually very good, it’s easy to book and my fare was under £3, so that’s entirely reasonable for the journey from Katowice and Krakow. There’s also excellent tracking, so some significant money has been spent on the infra-structure.
There are more positives, the driver on the bus was polite and welcoming, the bus was clean and comfortable, and it’s clear that money has been invested in this too.
However, I find the service entirely unusable. Above is a photo of the bus stop that my ticket says it departs from, bus stop 9. It didn’t, it went from another part of the bus station. The tracking system saved this situation for me as I could see on the app where the bus was, but it didn’t save the trip for others. The bus sailed off leaving some passengers behind (I only realised this when it was too late to stop the driver) at the location it should have done.
It’s fair to say, solely judging on my experiences, they’ve definitely ruined Polskibus. Such a shame.
