The differences between Poland and Bulgaria

This is just my personal comparison between the different realities in Poland and Bulgaria, but especially Łódź and Varna as these are the places I have observed the most:

1. The architecture:
- gates on almost every street inside which the bars, the parkings and the entrance of the buildings are located - this is very useful and positive for the big crowded cities;
- gothic catholic styles with tall decorated buildings and sharp edges;
- all the churches and cathedrals have unique symbols on the top of their towers;

2. The drinking habbits:
- most of the Polish girls drink beer with sweet juice and straw;
- there are Polish beers with fruit flavours;
- the Poles are stronger in drinking than Bulgarians - not an even average drinker gets almost drunk from 400 ml 40 deggrees wodka!

3. Manifestation of the people's marginalisation on public places:
- on the streets of the Polish cities very often drunk people no matter of the gender or age can be seen walking dizzy with a bottle in hand, crawling and trying to establish contacts with the tourists for change or cigarettes;
- Polish drunk people can be found on the streets during the whole day;

4. The green spaces:
- all the artificial lakes in the Polish parks are full of ducks;
- in the Polish cities there are lot of small parks with names and similar structure;

5. The language:
- alot of similar or same words but with completely different meanings which can make very funny or confusing situations;

6. The food:
- the yogurt;
- the products for the traditional dishes;
- the white brined cheese;

7. The climate:
- in the beginning of August when the rain falls the temperatures are around 10 deggrees and the people can wear very warm clothes;
- more cloudy and cold days in Poland than in Bulgaria;

8. The working time of the shops:
- almost all small shops or even bars in Poland are closed on Sunday or late Saturday;
- only the plenty of alcohol stores are open 7 days per week in the Polish cities :)

9. The public transportation:
- it's very good that in the big Polish cities there are schedules of the transport lines (trams, buses, trolleys) and if there is a change the number of the line is marked in red to warn the citizens;
- the roads in Poland, especially the intercity ones are better than in Bulgaria;
- the ticket prices in Poland are higher than in Bulgaria but the quality of the long distance bus trips is lower as there is only one big Polish bus company - PKS, which decreases the competition;

10. The bars:
- self-serving style in almost all the bars in Poland - everyone goes to the barplot to order, pay and bring the drink to the table which safes time regarding the bill but makes the plot crowded with a queu :)
- the small pizza in Poland is 30 cm served with sauces for free :)
- the Karaoke bars are not presented at all in Poland - there are only Karaoke nights in some bars where the microphone is one and the songs are sung in front of the audience;
- the prices of the drinks in the Polish bars are higher than in Bulgaria - especially for beer and cocktails;

11. The religion:
- as Catholics the Poles are far more religious than Bulgarians;
- the main religious holidays are slightly different;
- the cementaries (especially the Jewish ones) are tourist attraction in some of the big cities - there is an entrance fee for visiting them;

These are the main differences between Poland and Bulgaria in my point of view. I must say that the people are very similar as mentality and this helped me alot to adapt quickly in the new environment. And last but not the least - the Polish girls are also very beautiful! :)

Victor Tomov