More features:
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Discover Poland
One of the greatest pluses Poland has as it fights for its place in the competitive global tourist market is the variety of holidays it can offer the leisure traveller....
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Smoking
After holding out to be one of the few remaining EU countries with no prohibitions on smoking, a new law put into effect on November 15th, 2010 finally limited smoking in public places....
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National Football
‘Abroad, football has moved on. Here it has stood still’. Those were the words of Leo Beenhakker when he took over the Poland job two years back, and they’re as relevant now as they were then....
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Zbigniew Cybulski
Referred too as the Polish James Dean Zbigniew ‘Zbyszek’ Cybulski personified the confusion and longings of Poland’s post-war youth....
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Leon Schiller
Born in Kraków in 1887 he graduated from the cities Jagiellonian Univeristy with degrees in philosophy and Polish Literature under his belt, before pursuing further academic titles at the Sorbonne in Paris....
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Fryderyk Chopin
Born to French/Polish parents in the village of Żelazowa Wola, Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849) stands out as Poland’s finest composer, and remains the source of global reverence who has given his name to hotels, an airport and even an asteroid....
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Daniel Libeskind
Warsaw’s changing horizon is set for more dramatic developments with the news that the Orco Property Group in conjunction with acclaimed architect Daniel Liebeskind are to construct a 192 metre residential tower in the heart of Warsaw....
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Andrzej Wajda
Born in 1926 in the Polish town of Suwałki, Andrzej Wajda is regarded by many as the father of Polish cinema....
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Max Berg
Born in the coastal town of Szczecin (then known as Stettin) in 1870 Max Berg went on to become one of the most eminent architects of his time, and nowhere will he be remembered more so than in Wrocław....
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Polish Name Days (Imieniny)
In Poland, name days (imieniny) are widely celebrated and have traditionally been given a greater importance than birthday celebrations, particularly as one gets on in years....
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Max Factor
Max Faktor (or Faktorowicz), born in Łódź in 1877, has come to be regarded as the father of modern day cosmetics....
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Stanisław Wyspiański
In the 1890s, a new wave of artistic energy inspired by the Western European Art Noveau style rolled through the Polish lands....
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Euro 2012: The Draw
With the 16 Euro 2012 finalists now knowing where it is they will be playing in Poland and Ukraine, there has never been a better time to check out In Your Pocket's guides to the host cities....
Marek Kamiński

Born in Gdańsk on March 24, 1964, Marek Kamiński ranks as Poland’s greatest living explorer, and in 1995 became the first person in the world to reach both Poles unaided in the same year. It was a childhood accident that originally inspired him to travel the world; having nearly lost his arm the blank days spent recuperating in hospital saw him make a personal pledge to live a life of adventure. And so he did. His expeditions have seen him become the first Pole to make the 600km trek through Greenland, circle the Baltic (approximately 2,000km) in a rubber dinghy in a time of five days and scale Mount Vinson – the highest peak in Antarctica. His most high profile moment, however, came in 2004 when he set off to conquer both Poles once more, this time with 15 year old Jaś Mela from Malbork. Mela managed the feat in spite of losing an arm and a leg after being electrocuted a couple of years before. Battling temperatures of –30 degrees Celsius, and winds of 200km per hour, the pair just managed to hit their target, arriving at the South Pole on December 31. In the process Mela became the youngest and first disabled person to conquer both Poles in one year, and the expedition raised funds to provide artificial limbs for around 65 Polish children and adults. Awarded the Order of Polonia Restituta for his travels, Kamiński is also the co-author of three books and the founder of the Marek Kamiński Foundation (www.kaminski.pl) - an organization set up to promote exploring the Poles and planet in general, as well as increasing environmental awareness in young people. The foundation also runs an educational project (www.nabiegun.pl) aimed at helping those less fortunate.
fot. Peplowski111