Sorry, I never mentioned the music. I have never come across anything resembling a folk club in Poland. Until recently bars were somewhere that serious drunks went, not 'nice' people. Latterly a cafe culture has evolved where people sit around the main square in towns in the summer but I have not come across any spontaneous or organised music making in 16 years of visits.

If you want to see a living tradition I would recommend going to the Tatra mountains (Zakopane is the main tourist area) and tapping into what is going on there. There are some fantastic fiddlers around and once you get used to the yodelly style of singing it is great. There are bands such as Brathanki and Golec Orchestra that are taking the tradition into different areas as well.

The culture in the Tatras is very different than mainstream Polish folk but you will find that a lot of pop/rock festivals start off with a Friday night of folk music - could you imaging doing that here?!!


Anyway, just go to Poland. I would never have gone to the country if I hadn't married a Polish girl and my life would have been immeasurably poorer for it. I envy you your first visit - you will fall in love.