I went to Bydoszcz for the first time last weekend and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. I travelled up by train from Krakow after watching the Under 21 Final at Wroclaw the previous Saturday. The atmosphere inside the stadium at Bydgoszcz was absolutely brilliant despite the fact that I sat on the back straight just where the smoke bombs went off (and that was not a very pleasant experience!).
I sat next to a group of Polish fans from Leszno who were very friendly. One of them spoke perfect English and they really surprised me by clubbing together and buying me a Polish scarf as gift. I wore it with pride that evening and will treasure it forever as a reminder of my first trip to their wonderful country.
I also met quite a few British fans over there so greetings especially to Mike and Charlie from Coventry, Martin and Jack from Stoke, Graham and Gary from Rye House, Matt also from Rye House (sorry I didn't spot you inside the Stadium but it was hard enough finding an empty seat let alone finding you!) and all the gang from Arena Essex.
I wish I had read the warnings about Air Polonia before I travelled because I think that I had the same pilot as Papa Bazarou on my outward flight - the landing at Warsaw was unusual to say the least. On my return I found out that the Etudia departure lounge is a complete joke! Scott Nicholls and Mark Loram obviously knew the ropes because they checked in just in front of me but then disappeared until just before boarding - presumably they went for something nice to eat and drink in the main terminal whilst I sat drinking lousy coffee from the vending machine in the overcrowded departure lounge. Next time I won't make the same mistake.
Overall I had a great holiday in Poland and would thoroughly recommend the place to anyone who has not been there before. The food and drink is very cheap indeed and there are some stunning sights in places like Krakow, Wroclaw and Torun. My day trip to the infamous concentration camp at Auschwitz was a haunting experience and something that I will never forget. OK the racing at both Wroclaw and Bydgoszcz was rather processional but it certainly was an experience not to be missed. I will certainly go back to Poland again next year.