2021 Travel the World - Week 39

I started a 50-week series in 2019 that I called Travel the World. Each week of the series I visited a randomly-selected country, sharing bits of information about that country. I then chose one tidbit of information about that week's country as inspiration for a card. As I explored those 50 countries in 2019, I knew I would continue on until I've visited every one of the 195 countries in the world, so I continued the series in 2020 and here I am in 2021, the third year of traveling the world. 

This week's country is...

Poland

Poland is in eastern Europe and is bordered by Russia, Germany, Ukraine, Lithuania, Slovakia, Belarus and the Czech Republic.

It is the 9th largest country in Europe.

Poland is roughly the same size as New Mexico.

The national colors of Poland are red and white. Red and white were the national colors of Poland since 1831. The color red represents love, sacrifice and bravery. The color white represents goodness and purity of intentions.

Poland has lots of mountains.

There are more than 2,250 different types of plant in Poland.

The main trees in Poland are beech, spruce, fir and oak trees.

There are over 1,300 lakes in Poland.

In the forests of Poland you might find the endangered brown bear, wild horses, Eurasian lynxes and chamois goats. 

Animals commonly seen in Poland include deer, gophers, wildcats, wild pigs, elk, brown bears and bison. The largest population of gray wolves in Europe are also found in Poland.

Poland is home to around 800 European Bisons.

The Old Town in Krakow is the country's most popular tourist destination and has lots of medieval houses and cobbled streets. Ten million tourists visit the Old Town every year.

One of Europe's oldest restaurants is located in Poland. The restaurant is located in the basement of the Old Town Hall. Piwnica Świdnicka was founded in 1273 and still operates to this day.

There’s a peninsula in Poland called Hel, and there’s a saying that “only in Poland can you go to Hell and back again in a day”.

Białowieża Forest is Poland's oldest national park. It is one of Europe's only ancient woodlands. Some of its Oak trees are over 500 years old.

Wieliczka Salt Mine is one of the oldest salt mines in the world. The salt mine has underground lakes and a cathedral that people sometimes get married in.

The Wieliczka Salt Mine has chambers, hatchways and corridors made of salt.

Błędowska Desert, located between Kraków and Katowice, is central Europe’s largest accumulation of loose sand away from a sea! It was created by a melting glacier thousands of years ago.

The main industries in Poland are chemicals, food processing, shipbuilding, coal mining, glass, textiles and drinks.

The main foods that are grown in Poland are potatoes, wheat, eggs, pork, dairy, chicken and fruit and vegetables.

Poland holds an international film festival and street art festival every year in Warsaw.

On Independence Day, Poland celebrates with fireworks, roller coasters, food and music in the city of Warsaw.

Pol’and’Rock Festival formerly knows as Woodstock Festival is the largest open-air festival in Europe and largest free open-air festival in the world. The average attendance for last few years was more than 600,000 people!

There have been 17 different Nobel Prize winners from Poland.

Poland's Marie Curie was the first woman ever to win the Nobel Prize, and the only person ever to win the Nobel Prize twice.

Poles can pride themselves on the fact that they introduced the first constitution in Europe, and second worldwide. 

Poland is known for having lots of beautiful castles.

The largest castle in the world is in Malbork, and was built in the 13th century by the Teutonic Knights.

To welcome the spring season, Polish folk like to melt a straw doll called Marzanna, which they decorate with lots of colorful ribbons.They set her on fire and throw her into the local river in a fun (and slightly crazy) celebration.

The Polish are known for being very hospitable, if you go to someone's house in Poland you will be treated like a royal!

Polish food is quite simple. The staples of a Polish diet are meat, potatoes and bread. They also use a lot of sour cream, cheese, milk and butter in their cooking.

For dinner in Poland it is common to have a bowl of soup.

The most popular vegetables in Poland are cabbage, beets, carrots and peas.

It is estimated that 100 million Polish donuts are eaten every year in one day in Poland: the Thursday that comes before Ash Wednesday.

The food that Poland is known for is the pierogi, which is a type of dumpling that is full of cheese and meat, or blueberries and strawberries. Pierogi are eaten all over the world.

At least 90% of Poles have completed secondary education.

Higher education in Poland is free for Polish citizens. International students usually have to pay a very low tuition to study in Poland. The oldest university in Poland - The Jagiellonian University - was founded by King Casimir III in 1364.

Polish folk are lovingly known for being big complainers, if you ask someone Polish how they are you will get an honest answer.

It is common for Polish men to kiss women on the hand to greet them. To them, this is a symbol of friendship, deep respect and sympathy.

My inspiration for this week's card is based on this fact about Poland... People in Poland don't put tomato sauce on their pizza. In a restaurant the waiter will bring you some sauce to pour over the pizza yourself, which is sometimes ketchup.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Stamp Set: High Hopes Luigi and Pizza My Heart stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and colored with Copic Markers

Paper: Neenah 110# Solar White and SU Real Red CS and DP from my scrap file

Dies: MFT Stitched Mod Rectangles, MFT Stitched Rectangles, and Simon Says Sentiment Labels

Embellishments: Heart-shaped Brad from an unknown vendor