Friday, May 20, 2011
Poland A and Poland B?
Polish friends have referred to Poland A and Poland B on several occasions when talking about the quality of roads and the railway. I had never heard these terms before and can't find any good info on the web about them. Lublin residents explain, with some sense of injustice, that far more money goes to the West of the country than to the East, thus Western roads are in better condition and transportation in general is better. Our recent trip to Krakow and Zakopane confirmed that the roads are much better in that region. We traveled on a 4 lane divided highway at least halfway to Zakopane, and saw several new bridges and other projects under construction. I've been told that the road to Warsaw from Lublin is only 2 lanes. Not sure if there are long term plans to focus on the East at some point or not. The West is certainly benefiting from being well connected to other western EU neighbors.
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Most of this 4 lane divided highway to Zakopane was build recently (in last 4 years), however we are very glad to have it. Sometimes it's very hard to take to Zakopane, specially during holidays. When talking of Poland A and Poland B - this is strongly connected with polish history - in whole XIX century Poland was divided between Austria, Russia and Königreich Preußen (former Germany). West and southern part of country was managed by more developed countries (Austria and Germany) and in many cases we can still feel and see differences started during this hard time.
ReplyDeleteAnd one more thing political polarization may be so heavy that Your speakres may give You two different pictures of the same Poland B. Some people will give You picture in verry black colors, while may give You optimistic view. I'm optimist :)
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