The Great Big...CON!

So the turkey/carp has been eaten, the cakes all devoured and the vodka all drank. So what do we do now? Enjoy the New Year's sales of course. Except...here in Poland it really is VERY difficult to find a true bargain. Most shops advertise sales but deliver nothing at all. Take the Polish fashion chain 'Reserved' for example. We went in there today. As you can see clearly from the photo...these jumpers are marked 50% off (no 'from 50%' nonsense). Except there were no sale labels on the said jumpers. So we took one to the cashier...who confirmed verbally that indeed it was half price. I asked him to tell me the actual sale price...so he scanned it. Low and behold...it was still the original price of 119PLN!! No apology nothing. We told him that it was very misleading and that the sign should be removed. He agreed but simply said it was an order from the top. Well...we'll soon see to that. As a letter is currently heading it's way to the 'top'!! Reserved Head Office that is! ;-)

CULTURAL OBSERVATIONS: For Sale

Here is a cultural difference between England and Poland. You will notice from this estate agent's board...that all the images depict the interiors of the homes and not the exteriors. This is because in Poland, the inside is the most homely part of the house and let's face it a lot of the communist style flats are very uninteresting from the outside.

Since Poland joined the EU, real estate prices have shot up. One cause for this, is the fact that many English people have now invested in property over in Poland and indeed in other parts of central/eastern Europe. They don't even live here and just rent the accommodation out at a high percentage. They shouldn't be allowed to do this! Many Poles currently working in England to try and save money to buy property back in their homeland, will now find that they cannot afford it.

It's a vicious circle!