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Category: Katowice

Tuesday – Tuesday : Katowice Week (Former Katowice Railway Station)

This is Katowice’s lovely new glass fronted railway station, in the same building as the substantial shopping centre Galerią Katowicką, all very modern and integrated. It’s meant a much better frontage, ticket selling facilities and the like, although the platform section hasn’t much changed. A new station had opened in 1972, but it wasn’t a very impressive building and it was demolished to be replaced with the current one. Fortunately, the 1972 railway station hadn’t been constructed on the site of the earlier nineteenth century building, which meant that the old structures were preserved.

For anyone interested in the old railway station, there’s an article at https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stary_dworzec_kolejowy_w_Katowicach. But, this is what one wing looks like now, feeling rather abandoned, originally constructed in the 1850s although much modified since then.

The area in front of the former railway station is looking much better, with seating and this area has a fountain installed where previously there was just a temporary car park. The building jutting out in the middle is the former entrance to the railway station.

At least this stretch of the building has been kept and I’m sure it’ll be modernised and restored soon.

Inside the derelict building. I mostly took a photo of this just to see how the site develops over the next few years.

July 2, 2022
Tuesday : Leaving Katowice for Warsaw

After a relaxing and productive week in Katowice, it was a late morning intercity train back to Warsaw, costing around £10. As a summary of Katowice, I’d merrily recommend it as a destination and the budget airlines service it well from many cities around Europe. A former manufacturing area, it’s modernising and has plenty now for tourists to do and plenty of craft beer options. Not that craft beer options are the be all and end all of choosing destinations, but it should obviously be a factor….

I’m always a little nervous when two trains are departing at the same time, but mine was the 10:53 to Gdynia. Not the 10:53 to Krakow.

The platforms haven’t been much modernised in terms of facilities, as I made reference to in another post. But, everything was clean and organised and there were sufficient benches available.

Then the excitement starts, the train is showing as being delayed in Austria, as it was coming from Vienna. Obviously, the Polish bit of the journey was all fine, but it turned in around twenty minutes late. It was also evidently going to be a busy train given the number of people waiting for the service.

I can confirm it’s a relief to me when a train turns up when the app I was using it said that it would. I always leave lots of spare time in any travelling schedule, as I like to worry about things and always assume they’ll happen (my friend Liam would knock out all those frivolous gaps if he was arranging my travel, but he isn’t so I needn’t concern myself about that). Although I did think that this delay would be eating into my drinking time.

The train came in back to front, so I was standing at the wrong end of the platform. I muttered silently and traipsed to the other end of the platform and after getting to my carriage I was asked by a young Polish women to help her with getting her luggage on the train. The damn bag must have weighed about 30kgs, but I had to pretend that it was easy for me to manage lugging up the steps onto the train. The older Polish intercity trains aren’t very good for those with disabilities (although I think there are alternatives) and not are they easy to lift bloody heavy luggage up to. It was quite busy, and my reserved table seat had three of us, so this photo is after they left at the stop before me in Warsaw. The train made up the lost time, the guard was helpful and the power worked, all rather lovely.

A photo of the railway civil engineering project that is taking place just outside of Warsaw, I have to keep my content exciting for my friend Liam.

The whole of Warsaw to choose from, but of course, I had to go back to Hoppiness. This is the delectable Gelato : Orange Creamsicle from Funky Fluid, an ice cream sour packed with oranges from Portugal. I suspect this must have counted for three of my five a day, with the burger being as delicious as ever and there’s a tomato and lettuce in it, so that’s the other two of my five a day. I was careful not to impale any part of myself on the stick coming out of the burger.

I might have taken a photo of this before (I forget….) but it’s a pedestrian crossing which comes from all angles. Cars are very good at stopping for pedestrians at this junction, and indeed across Poland, but it’s an odd arrangement. The white hatching in the centre is part of the pedestrian crossing and it cuts across to all three pavements.

I always like looking at the Pomnik Chwała Saperom, or Glory to Sappers Memorial. It’s visible at the far end of this park, Park Sapera, which is currently being renovated and improved. Everything in Warsaw seems to have been either recently improved or redeveloped, part of why I very much like this city. Things seem to work and are constantly getting better in the city, which isn’t the case in other places that I’ve visited.

A monument in the park which I haven’t noticed before (I mean I haven’t noticed the monument, not the entire park), although there are literally thousands of memorials, tablets and plaques to the bravery of Poles in the Second World War, so I imagine I’ll still be noticing new ones for many years to come. This one is dedicated to the “Kryska” Home Army Grouping, although that included men from other European countries, who died during the Warsaw Uprising.

The Glory to Sappers Memorial I’ve written about before.

But this is the first time I’ve noticed there’s a list of names to the side of the memorial. Another list of the brave men who died in World War Two, so much of a generation wiped out by the hatred of a few national leaders who caused the conflict. These lists will be in Ukrainian cities in a few years, marking the bravery of those who lost their lives fighting for their nation and the right to be free.

And back again to the Ibis Budget in Warsaw for my final night in the city, probably for some months. I’ve written about this hotel before, so won’t bore my limited readership with further irrelevant prose…

I love the view over the Vistula and there’s the national stadium visible on the other side of the river. Very peaceful.

July 2, 2022
Tuesday : Warsaw to Katowice by Train

Most of this post is simply recounting the story of one train journey, but that’s because I like recording these trips so that I remember them, so apologies to those that think that there’s a lot about trains in these posts. The morning started with the reassuring sounds of trams operating on a marginally different theme though.

The Holiday Inn Express breakfast which is quite heavily orientated to hot items, unlike Accor Hotels who are mostly about cold food options. I didn’t investigate the hot food, but the choice was quite limited, although this breakfast is included in the room rate and that normally restricts things a bit.

That’s more me.

I noted a few things were out of date which seemed odd in a fast moving environment. I doubt many people check these things, but I’m strange like that. Of those who notice, I bet even fewer take the time to photograph the dates and put them on a blog though….. Anyway, moving on.

The hotel is visible on the right of the photo, so near to the tram stop that goes into the centre of Warsaw and takes around 20 minutes.

Yes, yet another photo of a tram interior. This blog is a gift to anyone who likes looking at photos of Warsaw tram interiors.

Oops. I had a couple of hours to kill and I like the Polish KFCs as they are cheap and there’s unlimited soft drinks, so my laptop and I were productive for this time.

This is the ceiling of the shopping centre and that’s some very heavy rain forming.

The main concourse of Warszawa Centralna railway station. There’s free wi-fi from PKP in larger Polish railway stations which is always handy.

Down to platform 3.

And that’s my train, the 14:05 international service which goes to Vienna in Austria, via Katowice. These PKP inter-city trains are more expensive, I bought my ticket the day before and it cost £9 which I don’t think is too bad to cross half-way across Poland.

It was looking a busy service and it had come from Gdynia, another of my favourite cities, located just outside of Gdansk.

I accept this photograph isn’t worth entering into any competitions, unless it’s blurry photos of a train. But that’s what it looks like anyway. The train was too busy for me to take photos on, as I didn’t want people to wonder what I was doing. How travel bloggers video everything without being self-conscious I don’t know.

As mentioned, the service was quite busy, although I had no-one sitting next to me, but the two seats opposite were taken. Polish trains are very keen on seat reservations and the woman opposite me was quite annoyed at another older woman had moved her, it seems incorrectly. I know she was annoyed as she told me (in English, I think she assumed the older woman didn’t speak English), but I wasn’t going to confront a babushka about the situation.

The service was a little hot and we also had windowgate. There are only a couple of windows on the train and the window was located above our table. A young German man came over and said in English he wanted to close it, which seemed a compromise on language that suited me. I didn’t much want to close the window, but I decided to let the lady opposite choose, and she didn’t want a fight, so said yes and the German man shut it. Fifteen minutes later, a grumpy Polish man stomped down and said in Polish he was hot and so could I open the window? I mean, that put me in an awkward place, but I just opened it and was pleased with the outcome, but nervous that the German would stomp back down the carriage. Fortunately, he didn’t, and all was well.

And back in Katowice for the fourth time…..

June 28, 2022
Katowice – Galeria Katowicka Toilets

I can’t imagine I’ll make many posts about shopping centre toilets, but there seems to be some gallows humour at the urinals….

April 2, 2019
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.

March 29, 2019
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….

March 28, 2019
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….

March 28, 2019
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…..

March 28, 2019
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.

March 27, 2019
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…

March 27, 2019