The official language of CCC 2015 is English. No translation is provided.
Official language of Poland (not the conference): Polish. The Polish language belongs to the group of West Slavic languages (with the Czech and Slovak languages). Polish uses a Latin alphabet, a result of increasing influence from Western European culture after Poland’s Christianisation in the 10th century. The oldest documents written in Polish survive from the 14th century.
The electricity is 230 V, 50 Hz. Japanese, UK, USA and other visitors: please note that in Poland Continental European German-style CEE7/4 sockets (“Schuko sockets“) are used, which also accepts CEE7/16 “Europlugs“.
Money may be changed at the airport, train stations, in banks, in major hotels (but offering poor rates), and in the centre of Krakow at numerous exchange offices. Usually banks in Krakow charge lower fees for currency exchange than bureaux de change and hotels in the city. Before you hand over your money confirm the exchange rate and commission charges, as once the transaction is proceeding it is hard to negotiate a reversal of the transaction. We highly recommend to use official exchange points only. If someone approaches you on the street and offers you a good exchange rate you might get counterfeit notes.
Legal tenders – Złoty (PLN)
Polish National Bank – official exchange rates
The organisers cannot accept liability for any personal accidents, loss of belongings or damage to private property of participants and accompanying persons that may occur during the Congress. Participants are advised to make their own arrangements to obtain health, travel and property insurance before their departure to CCC2015.
While Krakow has no underground metro system it does have an integrated bus and tram system which runs from 05.00 – 23.00, with night trams and buses continuing less frequently after that. Check timetables and network maps online at mpk.krakow.pl (which has English functionality) and purchase tickets from the handy ticket machines at major stops, on-board most trams and buses, or from the driver immediately on boarding if there is no ticket machine. Note that the ticket machines at stops take only bills and bank cards, but those on board trams and buses take coins only.
Tickets are the same for trams and buses, and are timed, allowing you to change between tram or bus lines within the allotted time.
Most important, you must stamp your ticket immediately on boarding the tram or bus in the small machines on board, even if you bought your ticket on-board. Beware that sneaky plain-clothed inspectors regularly travel on the lines handing out costly fines to those without valid or proper tickets.
The cheapest fare is good for 20 minutes at a cost of 2,80 zł (0,7 EURO). By our estimation is about the time it should take to go 5-8 stops, depending on traffic, and ideal for travel around the Old Town, Kazimierz and Podgórze.
Efficient 24 hour. Calling ahead should get you a better fare, but if you hail one from the street make sure you choose a clearly marked cab with a company name and phone number displayed, as well as a sticker demarcating prices in the window.
Boarding fee: from 7 zł (1,75 EURO) plus 2,3 zł (0,6 EURO) per kilometre
At night and on Sundays, however, fares increase by up to 50%
Shops are open from 10:00-18:00 on weekdays and from 10:00-14:00 on Saturdays. Large shopping centers usually located outside city centers are open from 9:00-21:00 on weekdays and from 9:00-20:00 on weekends.
Polish telephone numbers have since 30th September 2009 (per Directive of the Minister of Infrastructure dated 28.01.2008 (Dziennik Ustaw, 2008, no. 52, pt. 307)) 9 digits.
Pay phones are available throughout Krakow in street booths, post offices, and other public places such as shopping malls. Once found, a public phone will easily connect you with any place on the earth. There is no operator, just dial either zone code plus local number for calls to anywhere in Poland including Krakow or a country code plus the number abroad for international calls.
International prefix for Poland: +48
Krakow’s zone code: 12
In case of an emergency, mobile phone users should dial 112 to be forwarded to the police, fire department or ER.
From a land-line or public phone dial the following:
Poland is in the Central European Time Zone. Central European Standard Time (CET) is 1 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT+1).
Poland has a moderate climate with both maritime and continental elements. In North and West the climate is predominantly maritime with gentle, humid winters and cool, rainy summers, while the south and East past is distinctly continental with cold winters and hotter summers. Generally springtime is mild and sunny – average temperature 19oC.
The Polish currency is Polish Zloty (PLN), divided into 100 groszy. There are following bank notes of 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 zloty and coins of 1, 2, 5 zł‚ and 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 groszy. Foreign currency can be exchanged in exchange offices (‘kantor’), banks and in hotels. Traveler’s checks can be exchanged in banks that are open from 9:00 to 17:00 on weekdays and from 9:00 to 14:00 on Saturdays. In the cities one can easily find numerous automatic cash dispensers. Credit cards like Visa, MasterCard/EuroCard, Maestro, American Express, Diners Club are widely accepted in shops, restaurants and hotels.
