Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you think Poland is bad, stay away from the rest of Eastern Europe.

...unless you need cheap TS tickets.

In which case. own it and don't complain. No one forced OP to schlep to Poland to see TS. Many people are just...NOT seeing TS, or paying to see her in the U.S. We managed to get face value tickets to a Miami show, but if we didn't, that was it, we were just not going.

Anonymous wrote:Well, I’m well traveled, and while I agree that one can’t dismiss a whole country based on one week’s experience, OPs complaints about 3500 for a bug infested apartment and dishonest cab drivers is valid. No, you shouldn’t have to be constantly vigilant and suspicious when traveling.

Op isn’t a reliable narrator. At all. They believe every aspect of their trip was a “scam” and seem inept at basic facets of traveling. I don’t believe their apartment had bedbugs, I think they claimed that because they knew “it was dirty and looked like an Eastern European apartment” wasn’t going to cut it for a refund, which they’re still not going to get.

Anonymous wrote:If you think Poland is bad, stay away from the rest of Eastern Europe.

...unless you need cheap TS tickets.

Anonymous wrote:You sound like an inexperienced gullible bumpkin that doesn't travel much.

+1. I lived in Poland for 3 years. Great country, nice people. Very friendly to Americans. You are a chump.

If you think Poland is bad, stay away from the rest of Eastern Europe.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of scam artists in Warsaw. But it is nothing compared to many third world countries in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, or even other countries in the EU like Romania, Bulgaria, and parts of Italy and France. We won't talk about Russia.

As for taxi drivers, I always called a cab using one of the services. Never use one of the unofficial airport taxis. If you get into any taxi and don't see the ID certificate with the driver's picture and name, get out. The scam drivers always have it covered up.

I have worked extensively in these two, and Romania is nothing like Poland. I've found Poland to be much closer to the way OP describes it. Never a problem in Romania. FWIW, I'm American now, but also a dual German citizen (and speak more than just German and English). I do not enjoy working in Poland or with the Poles. YMMV.

Not at all surprising coming from you, German. Yesterday was the 80th Anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising, which saw the mass slaughter of 200,000 of our civilians by the Nazi Germans and the systematic deportation of the survivors and total destruction of Warsaw. And that’s on top of the millions of additional Poles
(including Polish Jews) that you mercilessly slaughtered. So suffice it to say that we don’t trust you either!!

^^PS, let’s also not forget the official governmental Romanian collaboration with the Nazi Germans, so it’s no wonder you feel more at home there!!

Two previous posters certainly taking it to a whole new level for nastiness on a travel forum. I shouldn’t be surprised but I am.

Why should you be? If you’re the German PP, you sort of started it.

Not German PP. Are you 5 years old? You started it - wahhh!

Nope. I’m just married to a Pole. If you spend any time in the country, you’ll find endless trauma and sites of mass death. It gets absolutely exhausting just taking in the vast amount of tragedy. Hearing a German defame Poland is offensive to me.

Nazi Germany did terrible things in many countries in the 1940s and it’s fine to feel empathy. You don’t need to sympathise with OP’s gripes. But who are you to point fingers at people NOW for something that happened 80 years ago in a different part of the world before either they or you were born?

Are you serious? I guess your “apologise” is the key needed to identify your nationality. Can’t imagine why you’d want all those pesky colonials to move on. The cheek.

“Sympathise”.

Well, I’m well traveled, and while I agree that one can’t dismiss a whole country based on one week’s experience, OPs complaints about 3500 for a bug infested apartment and dishonest cab drivers is valid. No, you shouldn’t have to be constantly vigilant and suspicious when traveling.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of scam artists in Warsaw. But it is nothing compared to many third world countries in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, or even other countries in the EU like Romania, Bulgaria, and parts of Italy and France. We won't talk about Russia.

As for taxi drivers, I always called a cab using one of the services. Never use one of the unofficial airport taxis. If you get into any taxi and don't see the ID certificate with the driver's picture and name, get out. The scam drivers always have it covered up.

I have worked extensively in these two, and Romania is nothing like Poland. I've found Poland to be much closer to the way OP describes it. Never a problem in Romania. FWIW, I'm American now, but also a dual German citizen (and speak more than just German and English). I do not enjoy working in Poland or with the Poles. YMMV.

Not at all surprising coming from you, German. Yesterday was the 80th Anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising, which saw the mass slaughter of 200,000 of our civilians by the Nazi Germans and the systematic deportation of the survivors and total destruction of Warsaw. And that’s on top of the millions of additional Poles
(including Polish Jews) that you mercilessly slaughtered. So suffice it to say that we don’t trust you either!!

^^PS, let’s also not forget the official governmental Romanian collaboration with the Nazi Germans, so it’s no wonder you feel more at home there!!

Two previous posters certainly taking it to a whole new level for nastiness on a travel forum. I shouldn’t be surprised but I am.

Why should you be? If you’re the German PP, you sort of started it.

Not German PP. Are you 5 years old? You started it - wahhh!

Nope. I’m just married to a Pole. If you spend any time in the country, you’ll find endless trauma and sites of mass death. It gets absolutely exhausting just taking in the vast amount of tragedy. Hearing a German defame Poland is offensive to me.

Nazi Germany did terrible things in many countries in the 1940s and it’s fine to feel empathy. You don’t need to sympathise with OP’s gripes. But who are you to point fingers at people NOW for something that happened 80 years ago in a different part of the world before either they or you were born?

Are you serious? I guess your “apologise” is the key needed to identify your nationality. Can’t imagine why you’d want all those pesky colonials to move on. The cheek.

Anonymous wrote:Can’t believe all the victim blaming on here
I didn’t know they were that bad, but yes, Poland is not a developed European country, they have a huge post Soviet legacy and that’s why they hate it so much.

Poland is absolutely developed. They were never part of the Soviet Union. If they hate Russia, it’s because WWII actually moved east to west and began in Russia, moving into Poland, where many of the earliest mass murder of Jews took place before camps were even set up. Also pretty much the entire West dislikes Russia.

Anonymous wrote:Can’t believe all the victim blaming on here
I didn’t know they were that bad, but yes, Poland is not a developed European country, they have a huge post Soviet legacy and that’s why they hate it so much.

Are you kidding me? Poland is a 100% developed country! Get out more please!

*ate

Op, my Polish parents got bed bugs at one of DC’s top hotels, they are terrible food at a variety of restaurants they decided to just stumble into and imagine what would have happened if they needed medical care while visiting?

Culture shock is a thing. You don’t sound well traveled at all.

Anonymous wrote:Can’t believe all the victim blaming on here
I didn’t know they were that bad, but yes, Poland is not a developed European country, they have a huge post Soviet legacy and that’s why they hate it so much.

If you think op is a credible source you’re as foolish as they are.

Poland is ranked 36th globally on the UN human development index and 43 in terms of GDP per capita ( well above a large swath of European countries including many that people tend to rave about as tourist destinations such as Croatia and Portugal).

Because OP happened to have a couple of bad experiences in one city during one visit they are ridiculously extrapolating that the entire country is full of scammers that “prey on tourists as their national sport” and that it’s a horrible country that no one should choose to visit.

Anonymous wrote:I don't know why everyone is so harsh to OP. I travel a decent amount, a few countries a year, and use booking.com all the time, so I wouldn't consider than an amatuer mistake. (I admit I usually use it for hotels but once for an apt but that apt was very nice).

And the cab thing happens all over, but again, you usually CAN just trust a driver to take you where you need to go on an agreed-upon or metered price.

I had never used Booking.com before but for our summer trip Italy we booked 2 apartments and 2 guest houses and all the accommodations were exactly as they appeared in the site and reviews were very accurate. Maybe it varies per country, but I’d definitely use it again for future travel.

Can’t believe all the victim blaming on here
I didn’t know they were that bad, but yes, Poland is not a developed European country, they have a huge post Soviet legacy and that’s why they hate it so much.