Party Time in Warsaw!

Party time in Warsaw!

Having previously described the city and something of the course as the first semester comes almost to an end I thought it necessary to comment on the nightlife of Warsaw, as it is a big part of going on exchange! In Warsaw, and I guess all over Europe, the ERASMUS Student Network (ESN) plays a big part in organising events, parties and nights out every week. It’s a great way of meeting people from other nations, not just Polish, as all the international students have the opportunity to take part in these events. Warsaw has a fantastic nightlife with a large club and bar scene spread all over the city although most are near to the centre. The driving force of the music here is dance music, which isn’t really my thing, but the occasional good tune does creep in, along with quite a few more RnB style clubs emerging. Jazz is also a big part of Polish music and there are many jazz bars and concerts around the city and the live jazz in small bars as defiantly something to go and visit.

Of course you can’t talk about partying in Poland without the mention of alcohol, which is amazingly cheap compared to UK prices, in the supermarket the price for a can of beer costs around 50p or around 80p for a 750ml bottle! The big brands of beer here are mostly Polish such as Tyskie, Okocim, Lech and Zywiec but the well known brands of Carlsberg, Hieneken and Becks are widely available. In clubs these are priced at no more the £2 a glass (500ml). The main drink of Poland is of course vodka, with the afore mentioned in the first blog Zubrowka made with bison grass for flavour, as well as hundreds of brands of different vodka. The prices of vodka (per 500ml) range from £2 to 20 in supermarkets with the better ones around the £4 to £5. In most local bars it is around £1 a shot - normally less – and I guess evn this is expensive when compared to other parts of the country away from the capital/

Aside from the clubs, student life in Warsaw is like student life everywhere - there is always a party on somewhere. In the University’s dormitory there is always a party somewhere no-matter the time, night or day, which is brilliant especially if you don’t live there because at night it is very loud and sleeping or studying become very difficult. The Polish students favour the concept of “pre-partys”, where they drink together with friends in the dormitory or go to a small quite cheap bar before going to a club as this also saves on more expensive drinks in the club. It is normal to often arrive in the club at around 1am and stay until around 4am. This is quite strange to me as in Salford on a night out we will go to the clubs around 11 and leave when they close at 2am or 3am! Generally Warsaw has a great social life and the ERASMUS organisation has been brilliant here in terms of helping everyone get to know each other.

Last night I held a wicked party in my flat, I decided to cook a full traditional English Christmas dinner with turkey and all the trimmings followed by Christmas Pudding complete with flames. This was shared with my friends, as one of these from Denmark had cooked us Christmas dinner Danish style a few weeks ago. All the food turned out great, with much relief. It was really interesting learning all these different ways of celebrating the same event, for instance here in Poland they open their presents on Christmas Eve and the Danish have pork for Christmas dinner instead of turkey. Hopefully I will have some good photos to put online soon.

I fly back home for Christmas on Wednesday but I’m back shortly after New Year for the final few weeks of the semester and the exams. So I will end this blog by saying Wesołych Świąt i Szczesliwego Nowego Roku and will post my next one upon returning to Warsaw. In the meantime Happy Christmas to you all and good luck to all those taking exam- let’s hope 2008 will be bring us all success.