American Tourist Calls Kraków His Favourite Central European City

The news in Polish

1. odwiedzić
   przybyć do kogoś lub jakiegoś miejsca, żeby je zobaczyć ↩︎
2. podobać się
   sprawiać przyjemność, wywoływać pozytywne uczucia ↩︎
3. znaleźć
   natrafić na coś, odkryć coś w jakimś miejscu ↩︎
4. festiwal  (m.)
   impreza kulturalna lub tematyczna, podczas której odbywają się różne pokazy lub degustacje ↩︎
5. jagoda  (f.)
   małe, okrągłe, ciemnoniebieskie owoce rosnące w lesie ↩︎
6. wrócić
   przyjść lub pojechać z powrotem do miejsca, w którym się wcześniej było ↩︎

Translation

Text comprehension

Question 1: Which two Polish cities did Luke Semones visit?

Question 2: What unusual pierogi fillings did Luke try at the festival in Kraków?

Vocabulary

Polish	English
odwiedzić	to visit
podobać się	to like
znaleźć	to find
festiwal  (m.)	festival
jagoda  (f.)	blueberry
wrócić	to return

Read the full story

An American traveller named Luke Semones has shared his enthusiastic impressions of Poland after visiting Warsaw and Kraków, with his social media posts attracting widespread attention.

Arriving in Warsaw, Semones described his first impression in a video published on TikTok: “Warsaw is absolutely beautiful. It is spectacular.” He was particularly struck by the city’s historic district, saying the Old Town “simply takes your breath away.” Exploring the streets around the Royal Castle and the Barbican, he remarked: “I feel like I’m in a film. I am truly astonished by what I see.”

Semones noted that Warsaw’s Old Town appeared to be the largest he had ever visited. “I’ve never managed to walk so far and still remain within the old town,” he said. The Rynek Starego Miasta — the Old Town Market Square — and its surrounding townhouses also impressed him greatly. “With every corner I turn, it gets more and more interesting. This is incredible,” he told his followers.

From Warsaw, Semones travelled to Kraków, which he declared his “new favourite city in Central Europe.” One of his most memorable experiences there came about entirely by chance. Following his personal rule of never taking the same route twice, he wandered down an unfamiliar street and stumbled upon a folk art market and the Pierogi Festival taking place at the time. “I had no reason to go in that direction. I simply wanted to see more of the city,” he later explained.

At the festival, he sampled pierogis in a range of unusual flavours, including blueberry and tiramisu, and also spotted varieties with duck and apricot, plum with white chocolate, and oscypek with cranberry and pork. He also tried a pączek — a Polish doughnut filled with jam and covered in icing — which he praised enthusiastically.

After several days in Poland, Semones also reflected on cultural differences. He observed that Poles seemed more reserved and direct than people he had encountered in Scandinavia or the southern United States, where he grew up. He was particularly surprised that when he asked people “How are you?”, they answered him sincerely rather than treating it as a mere pleasantry. “It made me start wondering why I actually ask people that question,” he wrote. He concluded that Poland was “rapidly climbing” his list of favourite countries, adding simply: “It is just beautiful.”