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!

Don't cry - will see you in Krakow in May!!!!

Anyone else interested in pre/post meetings in other cities in Poland? Warsaw, Lodz.... ?

So now I'm having major pierogi withdrawal! I had dinner at Pod Aniolami, which is supposed to be "under the angels" http://www.podaniolami.pl/

I actually walked from the Sheraton, stopped on the way in a church and happened to catch the service, then had *the best* mushroom and onion pierogies *ever*. I could have ordered a couple of them and had just that to eat! I did have wonderful pork dish, but the pierogies were sooo good.

Don't think VT will fit there - but I sure enjoyed it. And as totally paranoid as I am, I walked back, went to the grocery store (I was in trouble then, it got late) ... so I walked back to the Sheraton *extremely* fast (that street got a little dark).

sorry, hijacking - the pierogies did it.

Our favourite restaurant was the Alef in the Jewish quarter, but it may be too small for such a large group.

I had to use wikipedia to see what these pierogis are. They have some pictures and it looks mouth-watering. Now I'm looking even more forward to this meeting ;o)))

I never heard about pierogis before
... yes another reason (as if there were not many!) for looking even more forward to this meeting ;o)

Darby2 constantly talks about them

And Ewa (evaanna) and Matt have them on their Poland pages :-)) Yummmm....
Oh, by the way, both have excellent local customs tips on their pages. A wonderful way to learn more about Poland :-))

This is 939. mail! I will never write in misc. forum again! :-))
My favorite restaurant in Krakow was "Ariel" at Kazimierz region. But of course it is not very enough for everybody.
If you still interest with 2011?-Turkey meeting I can say something. We may say Euro-Asia meeting just for Turkey. :-)) (It is nice to live between those cultures, except some extreme things!...)
I sent mails to 800 Turkish members with help of Giampiero and we created yahoo group also. Female version of Claus and Dao didn't answer yet. :-)) Instead, we may do it with Elena as a Turkish-Greek friendshipness organization. :-)) Fortunately some members answered from Istanbul and Ankara. We will see if we can do something in Istanbul and Cappadocia. (Arriving to Cappadocia is more difficult than Istanbul but it is one of the "must" in Turkey, don't you think so? ) If we decide to organize meeting I will ask help from Bernd, Antonio and Matcrazy1-2. I want to learn their experience. And I hope we will do it all together with many friends like Elena, Claus, Ove, Bernd, Antonio etc...
In Georgia, Vardzia caves are like in Cappadocia. And I loved to eat Khachapuri too. I hope one day we can see Georgia meeting but unfortunately it seems early yet...
Dear Hansi, I am sure Lori and you will see many many more meetings and we will meet in Turkey definetely...
Ove, next time I am expecting musical group organization from you instead of macho football! :-))
Hope to see you all somewhere in the world. May be in Istanbul, Cappadocia or Ankara...

Hi Nur,

of course you can ask me (and I'm sure all the other organizers as well) about our experiences. We did the same and we all learn from previous organizers.

Most important in my opinion is that you talk to Stephanie and giampiero before you start planning a Euromeet (or whatever we will call it in this special case ;o)). Everybody can organize VT-meetings, but these big official ones have to be approved by VT-staff.

I learn from your posting that you had help from Big-G already for your e-mail to all those turkish members. Does that mean you already have the approval and it is already fixed that the 2011 meeting will be in Turkey?

I hope/wish/pray/want/would love to be involved in any kind of VT-meeting in Turkey (easier for me for Izmir and Cappadocia or Ankara). A big official VT-meeting in 2011 would be just great. Please, please consider it:)

Nur already knows and I just wanted to take the chance to let everyone know that I've already started to promote Turkey with my postcards. I'd be happy to send a postcard to all those who want. Just email me your address and a card will be on the post for you soon.

Cheers to everyone from Ankara...

official or not, it will be fabulous having a meet in Capadoccia

Pinat is the one Trekki mentioned before and finally this morning I had time to look for her pages and she is a brand new member but already so active and in a great way, my compliments from an old in age LOL - she is 15 years younger than me - and also as an old member here in VT (blush...)!!

hugs

i personally think that we should just do the turkey thing seperately in september/october where it dosen´t collide with the euromeet.
i am sure that a lot of people would turn up anyway if we promoted it properly and i am fairly sure that stephanie would come around for it.
i would certainly come.

Here is a photo of the mushroom and onion pierogies ... not a great photo but these are sure heaven:
http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/p/m/44dadb/

Turkey: I would plan to be there regardless of the location of the meet!

I was there in October 2008 and it was wonderful, it only rained the day I left and had great weather all short four days.

would love to attend a Turkey Meet but not so close to the Krakow Meet. 2011 would be better. No reason at this time for it not to be an official VT Meet.

Tuna_ank,

I am great FUN of Turkey meeting in 2011 (and in 2010, too although I will not be able to come) - as I already said: TURKEY IS THE BEST. I surely promise to help you at least by sharing my experiences. I think - again - about driving a car to Turkey (incl. magical Cappadocia again) and to Georgia (if possible) or/and Syria. Because of really very hot summers in most of Turkey I'd like to go in October or even November, if possible.

We didn't apply or fix anything officially yet. We must see if we have enough "brave" members who can work for it. I just wanted to say that we are thinking about it, don't disappoint. If we start to work on it, we may do it in 2011 or in another time. September, october can be the best times for Turkey but I don't know if you can join to 2 big meetings in one year... If any country wants to organize big meeting at the same year we may think about timing together.
You may pass to Georgia, Syria, Greece, Bulgaria and Iran by car.
Now you may focus on Krakow and pierogies. :-))

Haha, I will revisit Turkey for sure, no matter the VT-meetings. As for now, I have a lot of fun working on Krakow's meeting and hopefully it will not change. I just go to Krakow :-).

Hugs from Poland and see you in Krakow.

I am having a look not for 2010 prices not known ofcourse
my trip if i do al can be
Amsterdam flight to Vienna meeting around 21 may - 24 may
train vienna to krakow meeting around 24 may- 1 june
train krakow budapest found this site intresting 1 june 2 june
maybe spent a few days? in budapest?
train to budapest sibiu meeting is at 3 and 4 june i think?
flight sibiu amsterdam
thought would be cheaper then a flight and possibility to see another town.
now i hope i can take 3 weeks off or maybe 4 so i can relax after the meetings lol
if you share the compartment (dont know how they look) with other people from vt will save money too.
is this train correct still for low season?
krakow glowney 22.15 to budapest keleti 8.32
from budapest to sibiu with train again.
I have no clue never been to 1 of the countries.
but just an idea will surfing the net :)

Yes I agree, September-October is lovely weather in Turkey. I also agree that we shouldn't really have two big meetings in one year. I would hate to have to choose between them!

I do hope that we can have a big meet in Turkey in 2011. I will be there for sure.

I will save time for Turkey when the organizers can post it, but agree Sept-Oct would be much better.

Cappadocia in late September or October, it will be cold in the evenings, I know, I was there last year.
During the day it is very warm.

Cappadocia would probably be the best venue because as most of the big meetings last 1-4 days, there is enough in this area to keep you occupied for that amount of time.

What about the weather in Poland during Euromeet? Will it be warm like Portugal or a little cooler?

In Poland during the meeting it should be cooler than in Portugal. Well, weather at the end of May is unpredictable but usually it's about 20C at daytime, although it may be 10C at night and 30C at midday as well. I also hope it will not rain during the meeting.

I was in Krakow before the Karlsruhe meet - which was around the same time as the Portugal meet - and it was quite pleasant, yes a tad cooler bur very nice. I don't remember any rain, so if there was any it did not amount to much. I do remember how nice it was to be there, even by myself - so I'm looking forward to being there in all the good company.

>>...although it may be 10C at night and 30C at midday as well.>>

Layers!

I am in Krakow now and have great time :-). It's only 20C (10.30 am) and it's raining/cloudy. I go to join Jewish Culture Festival and check a few (5) next restaurants for VT-meeting dinners.

Hugs,
Matt.

Bon Appétit!