Warsaw Welcomes You

The Euro 2012 is slowly coming to an end. Tomorrow Poland will officially say good bye to the Euro with the semi final match between Germany and Italy at the National Stadium in Warsaw. It was a great Euro experience for me and for Poland too. Poland National Team might not have met everyone's expectations but at least the country as a whole has gained a lot.

Here is final couple of shots from Warsaw as I saw it.

Krakow Welcomes You

Euro 2012 Welcome flags hanging in the Old Market in Krakow.

Italy Camp in Wieliczka Poland

Wieliczka is famously known for it's Salt Mine which is one of the biggest in the world. Inside the mine there is wealth of sculptures and artworks all made of salt. But that's not all, just down the block is the location of Italy's football camp in Poland.

Unfortunately the team wasn't there. They are in Kiev Ukraine playing their match against England. But I was able to see their hotel and the team bus was parked in front.

Czech Rep vs Portugal Warsaw Stadium

Yesterday I had the privilege of attending my second match of the Euro 2012.  The Czech Republic was defeated by Portugal one nil in an exciting match at the National Stadium in Warsaw.  The stadium it self was amazing.  When you start getting closer and closer you start to feel just how big it is. Inside it looked twice as big as the stadium in Lviv was.

At the game there was over whelming majority of Czech fans as opposed to Portugal. The short ride north from our southern neighbors might had something to do with that. They were also responsible for most of the noise inside. Portugal was only heard a bit after Rolnaldo's gol. There were also couple of "Polska Polska" chants heard too.

Przemysl Become a Fan

City of Przemysl "Become a Fan" flags hang all over the city.

Jolanta Vacation Day 3

Zapiekanka and Beer

Zywiec and Zapiekanka, the official fuel of Euro 2012.

Medyka Stadium

Thanks to money from the European Union construction projects like this one are possible all over Poland. The small stadium in Medyka is under reconstruction. There will be a basketball court and more.

This stadium is where father Czester use to play for Bizon Medyka, which is a third league team.

Jolanta Vlog

El Stadio de Osia Gora

This prestigious stadiums is located in my home town of Osia Gora and more specifically... na Piekarzowym. My cousin Piotrek and I played the local Osia Gora boys in friendly match. They were defeated 5 to 3.

Portugal vs Denmark Lviv Ukraine

The city of Lviv in Ukraine reminds me of Poland when I left in the 90's. The buildings appear old and unkept. Most of the roads are in terrible condition. I took a small bus from Medyka to Lviv with no airconditioning and with all the windows shut (they don't open). Every time the bus stopped to pickup or drop of passengers it was a relief because the open doors let some air in. In Lviv the trains (tranwaj) are also in a pre-communist condition.

The Euro 2012 spirit is also much more visible in Poland than in Ukraine. In Poland every other car has some kind of Polish flag or something like that on it. I saw just a couple of Ukrainian flags on cars in Lviv.  I took a bus to the Lviv Arena which drops you off pretty far away from the stadium. Fans have to walk another 20-30 minutes to reach the stadium.

During the game, Danish fans were making most of the noise.  They had a very roudy crowd in a corner section of the stadium.

Fan Zone in Warsaw Poland

In the middle of Warsaw there is a designated area where fans can go and watch the soccer matches. I was there during the Spain vs Italy game. There is three huge monitors to watch the game on. There is fan bleachers that can hold probably about one to two thousand fans. And there is huge speakers so you can hear the game from half the city. The food is great also. They are serving up three different verities of Pierogi (with cheese, with cabbage, with spinach) I never ate the spinach ones. Beer is Carlsberg only, that's because they are the official sponsor.

Warsaw Stadium from the Train

I arrived in Poland and I have to say the atmosphere i Warsaw is great.  There is Polish fans all over the city.  Everyone that arrives in Poland is greeted by girls handing out Free apples to everyone on the airport. There is a brand new top of the line train line that takes you from the airport to the stadium.  This is the Warsaw National Stadium as I saw it from the train.

Polish Arab Fundamentalist

Polish fundamentalist arab.

Offical Uefa Euro 2012 Polska Song

Koko Koko Euro Spoko is the official Uefa Euro 2012 song. I say Shakira got nothing on these Polish divas. Check out the song below.

Bite Down Blitzkrieg

2012 Brackets Championship is almost ready to go with 13 players making thier prediction known. The only one remaining is our reigning champion Pawel Kilian. When asked what's taking so long he said "I've made the mistake of letting in some Jehovah's Witnesses and now they wont leave". Well, let's hope they leave by Wednesday.

Meanwhile in other developments...

The Bite Down has been blitzkrieged by Zajednoslovensko. Responding to a nasty accusation of picking Israel as champions, Zajednoslovensko has threatened to use the German Luftwaffe on Poland and anyone else for that matter in order to achieve complete victory.

I have a feeling this in not over yet. Say tuned for more.

Lewandowski Gol vs Andorra

It seems like Polish national team is starting to look pretty good before the tournament. Poland defeated Andorra 4-0 over the weekend and Slovakia 1-0 five days before.

During the Andorra game Lewandowski scored a pretty nice goal which you can see here.