Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: Katowice

  • Katowice – Bezcukru

    There are two branches of this coffee shop in Katowice, this is the location at ulica Wawelska 1. Service was excellent and it was a really friendly place, clean and comfortable, although it was nearly empty when I visited. The array of cakes in the display were very tempting, all well presented and it looked like they’d just been put out.

    It was too early for cake, but I accidentally ordered the Banoffee pie anyway, and it was excellent. Chocolate on the top, toffee at the base and the latte was at the appropriate temperature and had a depth of taste to it. And they managed some pretty latte art on the top of it as well, something that I’m sure I could never master.

    The prices were reasonable, around £3 for the coffee and cake, which is entirely acceptable given the quality of the cake. Poland really can do coffee shops as well as anyone else….

  • Katowice – Kawiarnia Fotograficzna

    This cafe was opened in mid-2017 by a photographer who wanted to open up the joy of photography for others. I liked that instead of using the cafe to sell their own art, they opened it to others to display their works. They also hold courses and events at the cafe to bring people together, so it’s a really uplifting idea.

    The environment was a little dark, but the photography theme ran through the interior and there the decor was all well balanced. Most importantly, it felt a comfortable place to be, it was relaxed with a mix of clientele. The service was also hospitable and personable, with the ordering process being easy to understand.

    Interesting decorative item…..

    That’s not a very good photo unfortunately and of all places this is unforgivable…. But it’s indicative of the cup they were using, adding a little charm to the occasion. The latte had a depth of taste to it though, and was at what I consider to be the appropriate temperature, which isn’t boiling hot.

    And a red berry cake with chocolate wedged into it, a combination which seems to work well. Nicely presented, tasted fresh and the entire cake and coffee combination came to around £3.

  • Katowice – Pizza z Pieca

    Given the number of pizza restaurants in Poland I still think it’s fast becoming their national dish. Fortunately, it’s usually done to a high standard and at affordable prices. Since it’s my first full day back in Poland in 2019, pizza seemed an appropriate meal.

    The restaurant name means ‘pizza from the oven’ and there’s the large wood fired oven near to the entrance of the restaurant. The service was polite and helpful, with the surroundings clean and comfortable. It was a well presented interior and felt more like a restaurant than a pizza takeaway sort of place. There was an English menu, although much of it seemed to be in Polish, but I’m OK with knowing Polish words when it comes to pizza toppings…

    Beer from the Bernard Brewery in the Czech Republic, apparently notable for being an unpasteurised beer for brewing reasons I don’t understand. It’s not an exceptional beer to be honest, it lacked any distinct after flavour and verged on being quite bland for a dark beer. However, it was refreshing and it didn’t have an unpleasant flavour.

    The pizza was better with an element of leopard spots to the top and it was crispy at the base. It was cooked quickly, in just a few minutes, and was suitably thin with a rich tomato flavour and not too much cheese. All rather lovely, especially since the bill for the beer and pizza came in at around £5.

    The menu was more Italian in its choice of toppings than is normally the case in many Polish pizza restaurants, so it felt a more authentic experience in that regard. It’s a relatively new restaurant, having opened in late 2017, but the pizza tasted freshly made with some decent ingredients, so it was all very agreeable.

     

  • Flights – Athens to Katowice (Wizz Air)

    A morning flight from Athens in Greece to Katowice in Poland, costing slightly more than my usual Wizzair flights and coming in at around £13. I was marginally disappointed that the flights were going from the airport’s satellite terminal, rather than the main terminal, as it precludes any access to the lounges.

    The seating area at the gate, which actually had enough seats for every customer. And the satellite terminal was clean, well maintained and very comfortable, some considerable money must have been spent here. There were also plenty of power points available, which saved me having to rely on my power bank.

    I had been automatically allocated an aisle seat, which is my preferred choice anyway, so that was a bonus. Although the flight was nearly full, the two seats next to me weren’t filled, so I had a row to myself.

    Flying over the Tatras mountains.

    And arriving into Katowice airport. Without making any political comment on the whole Schengen Project, it is an amazing benefit for passengers. My passport was only checked by Wizzair staff at the gate and not by border agents at either country, saving the tedious process of queueing for ages for a passport check.

    I still prefer Wizzair to Ryanair, although they’re similar operations, but the Wizzair service feels just a little more relaxed. The cabin crew, who were all Polish, were helpful and efficient, although I  noticed they were sitting in the galley reading books for a portion of the flight. This is perhaps better than the Ryanair solution of having the cabin crew walking up and down to perform almost endless sweeps of the cabin selling food, drink, duty free, lottery tickets and so on.

    Overall, given the relatively cheap cost of the flight, this was another comfortable flight with Wizzair. Katowice is a little bit of a hub airport for Wizzair, as they serve over forty different locations from here, with a fair number of Italian and Spanish airports.