Nightlife in Katowice

Last night we went out properly for the first time with the 3 other Erasmus students studying at ASP Katowice. We met the two girls, Miriam and Adriana at Rynek (market square) and were later joined by Miro. We found out that Miro is actually staying in the same dorm as us and he is only a few doors down! We were surprised we hadn't bumped into him yet.

We started by looking around the little market that has a christmassy feel to it even though Christmas was nearly 2 months ago. There was a decorative lit-up stall selling mulled wine and hot chocolate, a live band in a stand and an ice-rink. We each bought a hot chocolate and it was amazing. Served in a small plastic cup, it was real chocolate and deliciously warm. It had been snowing during the day so the temperature was around -1 degrees, we decided to go and look for somewhere to eat so we could get warm. We chose a sandwich bar that offered traditional Polish sandwiches called 'Zapiekana' (open-faced sandwich). These were huge in size, even for a small but very tasty. I chose one that had chicken, cheese and some veg topped with a garlic sauce. Myself and Christina were very grateful that our new friends could translate the Polish menu for us, they are from Slovakia but their language is quite similar to Polish so they are able to understand some of the words. Just before ordering, we were given an English menu that helped to confirm what each of the toppings were.

Zapiekana (open-faced sandwich)

After dinner, we walked around the city looking for a bar so that we could try a Polish drink called 'Soplica'. This traditional Polish drink is one of the older brands of pure and flavoured vodka. The girls said we must try it because it is so sweet. Many of the bars were very busy with little spare seating as it was Friday night but it was only about 8pm so perhaps they start drinking earlier here. We eventually found a nearly empty nightclub called Club Capitol. They sold Soplica and the girls bought each of us a shot. They told us to drink it slowly, this was good advice because it was very strong.

Soplica shots

We felt like it was a bit early to be in a club so we went after our drink to try to find another bar. It did take us a while and at one point we went into a Theatre because Adriana was interested in a jazz club she had read about. We nearly interrupted a performance, it sounded very professional. We eventually found a traditional pub and went in for beer. We noticed pants pegged onto a line hung up on one wall in the corner, this was quite amusing. When we had been looking for somewhere, we went into a Cuban bar and there was bras hanging up in a doorway. I would like to find out more about this odd tradition! A small beer cost 12 zloty (£2.56) which I suppose is similar to buying a beer in a Wetherspoon's in the UK but this was a traditional pub so it was probably cheaper. We walked back to the dorm with Miro, it started snowing on the way back. When we got there, the normal gate we use to walk around to the entrance was locked and padlocked! We panicked a little but thankfully there was another way in and we managed to get back into the dorm. 

A neon sign in the Theatre

Traditional Polish pub interior

The nightlife is pretty vibrant here, much more so than Farnham which I expected because Katowice is a city and Farnham is a small town. I'm looking forward to exploring the area more widely as there is still so much to see and explore.