Miscellaneous Forum

What do you think about Euromeet 2010 in Krakow, Poland?

Well, after a lot of talks and discussions with my real and virtual friends from Poland, I have already made a decision to try to organize the Euromeet in Cracow, Poland in May or at the begenning of June 2010. But I surely do know that the final choice of the place for Euromeet 2010 depends on your - that is VT community - decision. Please, please do support the idea :-)! YOU ARE WELCOME!

Why in Krakow, Poland? Do you want the whole list? OK, just top 5 reasons:

1. Many VT-ers from middle-eastern and eastern Europe should come as Poland is much more affordable for them than Western Europe which is still much more expensive than Poland.

2. Easy transportation: there are a lot of cheap flights from all over Europe and for those coming by cars there is a motorway from German border to Krakow (well, the last 50 km close to German border will be completed by 2010)

3. A medieval city of Krakow itself - a cultural capital of Poland - offers uncountable tourist attractions for lovers of history, old architecture, crazy nightlife, great Polish food etc. etc.

4. There are numerous destinations to visit close to Krakow (one or half-day tours) like for example:
- Auschwitz (Oswiecim) former Nazi consentration site, a UNESCO world heritage monument, memorial and museum now;
- 700-year-old the Wieliczka Salt Mine (underground tour) placed on UNESCO's World Heritage List;
- the shrine of Kalwaria Zebrzydowska inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List (41 chapels and churches at one place);
- the Tatra Mountains (only 2499 m high but looks like much higher Alps);
- Krakow is located close to both Slovakia and Czechia - it's possible to visit 3 countries in one day.
- add at least two more off the beaten paths: beer museum located in the Polish oldest brewery in my hometown and closeby lovely town of Pszczyna with fabulous castle interiors and re-intruduced wisents (European bisons) to look at in the castle gardens.

5. There is a bunch of very friendly Polish VT-ers who welcomes you and would love to see you in Krakow!

Greetings from Poland! WELCOME TO EUROMEET 2010 IN KRAKOW, POLAND! WOW!

I forgot to add one more PRO: VT-meeting in Poland (accommodation, food, parking, tours, public transportation etc.) will cost you less than the last one in Karlsruhe or in any other western european country.

YOU ARE WELCOME!

I would definately recommend Krakow for a meet. It was one of my favorite weekend trips, and has plenty of great/cheap hotels in the city and a ton of stuff to see, as well as an awesome nightlife.

Great idea !

YES!! Great idea!!! I'll come :-)))
Ingrid :-)))

I saw a show about the Wieliczka Salt Mines -- very interesting.

Maciek you have t contact Gaimpiero and Stepahnie before you can announce a euromeet, if its ok i will be there 2:-)

Hi Carin,

Sure, I know. I have already told Stephanie about the idea of organizing official VT-meeting in Krakow, Poland in 2010 and she (+ Gerry) promised to come. I've also e-mailed to G. As for mow it's a very strong idea (and question for the community) which hopefully comes reality as soon as VT staff and VT community support it.

Thanks all for your support for my idea.

Hugs from Poland.

i think it will be a most interesting meeting, Poland has so much history. as soon as you know a date let me know:-) have a great sunday all:-)

I ve been to Krakow and I loved it! Definately a very good choice for a Euromeet. I look forward to meeting all my vt friends there in 2010!! ;-))

Sounds like a very good idea. Krakow is on my wishlist anyway. Andrea has been there several times on business and told me that it is a wonderful city. I'm looking forward to it.

Poland is a very underrated country in terms of tourism, and a meet in Krakow would be perrrfect.

It's the best reason to come back to Krakow ever. I will be there for sure. I can't wait to sign in. May, june sounds good, though I never regretted my last minute sign-in for the '20 below zero' meeting in Warsaw in wintertime.

Sounds wonderful Matt - its been a city on my wish-list so good timing

I've never been to Poland so far, and I'd love to see Krakow. Sounds amazing.

Wow, Sandy and Ali + others,
You make me motivated to start some very early preparations for the meeting for... 100, 200, 300 people? I can understand that people can't plan their vacations for 2010 but, haha, for over 100 or 200 people meeting some preparations must start very early. That's why I decided to ask you about the idea so early. Thanks and you all are welcome, if only G and VT-staff accept the plan (I am sure they do :-).

Haha, Ali, no worries, we had very hot days in Krakow (+35C) while we were in Karlsruhe.

Matt.

yes good flights for me from Liverpool to Krakow....:-)
I found rooms easy enough for Karlsruhe but flights proved awkward for me even before I had to unfortunately pull out.

I hear 2009 could be Portugal ....yippee flights to Lisbon also from Liverpool :-)

Sandy,

To get to Krakow you can fly to KRK (Krakow Intl. Airport) or to Katowice (KAT) located some 1 hour west of Krakow (many airlines including the cheap ones add cheap or free bus transfer from KAT to Krakow's airport and downtown).

Hello Everybody and Matt,

I would be more than pleased to sign up for a Euromeet in Eastern Europe.

I have now attended 3 (Italy, Spain, Germany) of the 4 Euro Meetings and I always enjoyed them a lot, but I realised that they were mostly attended by members from Western Europe. Only in Italy were a few members from, let's call it South-Eastern Europe or Central Europe, like Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Macedonia and of course Poland.

As far as I remember, in Spain we only had Inguuna from Latvia representing the whole of Eastern Europe. Now in Karlsruhe we had Ritaz (again from Latvia) and of course the all beloved Matt from Poland.

As most of you know, I have travelled Eastern Europe extensivley in the last years and I have met quite a few lovely local members there, especially in Poland.

So I can only highly recommend a Euromeeting over there. I know that from some countries a Visa is still necessary to get to Poland, but okay that's another story we can't change anyway.

Matt already said that Krakow is of course one of the touristy highlights in Poland and it is still much cheaper than Western Europe, although I think by 2010 prices will probably haven risen a lot.

Also Matt has now many experinces with big meetings and is widely known in the community, so he is just the perfect person to organise such a meeting. So I can only support his idea of having a meeting in Krakow.

I just hope I can be the first to sign up for that meeting *winkygrin*

So Matt, let's go for Euromeet 2010 in Poland!

HORSCHECK :-)

great answer Holger, fully endorse all you say there

Would love a Krakow meet...it's such a brilliant place, and easy to get to from the UK. Loads of accommodation and loads of history. Excellent food and even more excellent vodka.

If it's the weekend of 29/30 May or 5/6 June it'll be UK school hols, so I'll be able to come! :-))

I'd love to come to a Euromeet in Krakow as I have never been there.

As for the visa issues lets say for the Ukrainians and Russians, if they know very far in advance they may have a chance to get organised in time.

Holger, thanks a million. I feel flattered.

VISAS ARE NOT A PROBLEM: Poland is a full member of so called Schengen treaty (by the way I visited the famous town or rather village of Schengen in Luxembourg during my Karlsruhe stay); there is no check-up on borders between Poland and Germany, Czechia, Slovakia and Lithuania. Citizens of the USA and Canada don't need any visas to get to Poland. In countrast to western european countries citizens of Ukraine living in area close to Polish border to get to Poland need visas (it's EU obligation) but they are free of charge and easier to get as I know. And I am sure that in case of any problems Polish VT-ers will help any visitors from Belarus, Ukraine or Russia to get required visas. Additionally each year citizens of less and less countries need visas to Poland (for example from 1st April 2008 Canadians don't need them and I don't need a visa to get to Canada).

You are welcome :-)
Matt.

That is a very good point. Knowing dates well in advance makes it much easier for everyone, but certainly for anyone who needs to sort out a visa.

Krakow, I've always wanted to visit, I have family there, so it would be the perfect for us.

Dzien dobry Matt,

Regarding Visas I was exactly refering to Belarus, Ukraine and Russia. As far as I know there are quite a few members in Russia and Ukraine who are well known in the community and who might like to join. So it is even better to hear when for some of them it is even a bit easier get to Poland than to some other countries.


HORSCHECK

Great idea :)
never been to Poland before and Krakow itself seems to be a good starting point for 1st polish visit.

Guten Tag Holger,

My idea is to help a few VT-ers from Belarus, Ukraine and Russia to get to the meeting (if needed) and to help (well, not me alone - I am not so rich... yet :-) some low budget visitors from the East to get to Krakow. Well, I remember very well myself travelling around so called the West with 50 US$ (that time average 3-month salary in Poland) in my pocket in 1980' and I remeber well people who helped me to continue my early travels abroad. Time to pay it off.

Matt.

I think some members I know from Ukraine and Russia would have the money and it's more the visa bit that can be tricky. They need to book expensive hotels in order to get a tourist visa and cannot do homestays eg with hospitalityclub members. So your offer to help with that is very thoughtful of you!

Too hungover to read all your replies but BOOKMARK! ;)

A crazy VT meeting in Poland will be unforgetable. I will sure be there. I wish you all the best with the organisation. If you need some assistance, send me a mail and I come over.