1936 On the Continent

chef’s masterpiece, are the other culinary principles. The Polish housewife, like a genius, is characterised by an infinite capacity for taking pains, and she accomplishes things that would stagger the imagination of most of her Western sisters.
Goody-Goodies
    Take for instance Christmas cakes. They are made from a leavened paste prepared with many eggs. The paste is drawn out, sprinkled with finely ground poppy seed, then rolled up like a huge Swiss roll. The grinding of the seed and the addition of the other ingredients and spices take several days, working full time. The thick mass thus produced has a strong tendency to weigh down the surrounding paste and prevent it from rising in the oven. Yet such is the force of the concentrated hopes of a whole family that it does rise, assuming the shape of a beautiful golden whale, some twenty pounds in weight.
    In the restaurants the cooking is at least half French, but the national specialities can also be obtained, and they are generally much appreciated by all who make their acquaintance.
    Besides restaurants, there are in Warsaw many cafés which have no accommodation for dancing, sometimes not even music, and are nevertheless very popular as meeting places, providing the natives with free fashion displays and unofficial beauty competitions. The café of the Hotel Europejski is an example of this class.
    Opposite are the artistic cafés, I.P.S., where there is usually an art exhibition, and S.I.M., established in a disused hot-house, a very cosy place. All these cafés are active until the small hours, and as there are no official closingtimes and no stringent licensing laws, a rather pleasant and unrestrained atmosphere prevails in them.
    A good guide is a great help for the enjoyment of all these institutions. A guide may be obtained at the Warsaw Tourist Association mentioned above, and if you are a member of some sort of a society you can always try to get in touch with its Polish counterpart. It would be difficult to give a complete list of the clubs and societies which have their correspondents in foreign countries and particularly in Great Britain.
    The Y.M.C.A. is an obvious example—it has a fine building in Warsaw, with over a hundred rooms for members and guests, several gymnasiums, a modern covered swimming pool, etc.
    The Boy Scout movement is very strongly developed in Poland, with over a hundred thousand active members, most of whom would probably be glad to help their friends from abroad whenever possible.
    The All People’s Association has a branch in Warsaw, and it also could assist members of the British section of the A.P.A.
    The “Liga,” mentioned above, makes it its task to facilitate intercourse between the young people of Poland and of other countries. Women’s organisations, like the Z.P.O.K. Nowogrodzka 23, Warsaw, would be willing to take an interest in members of similar bodies from abroad visiting Poland. The same may be said of various sporting clubs and organisations.
Sports
    There are good opportunities for the practice of some sports in Poland, although cricket is entirely unknown and golf is played on only one course, near Warsaw, and then mostly by members of the British and American colonies. Tennis, on the other hand, is very popular and a hard court can be easily hired. There are many swimming pools, and the one of the Legja Club in Warsaw can be specially recommended for its gymnasium, high diving tower and all the other modern amenities.
    Canoeing on the Vistula river, as well as rowing and yachting are very favourite sports. It might be a goodplan to hire or buy a canoe (they are extremely cheap) and go down one of the Polish rivers, for instance, the Vistula from Cracow to Warsaw, or one of the beautiful rivers and canals of Western Poland, flowing through fine forests and fields.
    The Polish Canoeing Association or the Touring Club of Poland (Kredytowa 5, Warsaw) could advise you on the particulars and on the best route to follow.
    If you should regard this as too strenuous, you can go to the races. Ordinary betting with bookmakers is not encouraged in Poland, but there is a totalisator run by the owners of the course. There are also each year riding and jumping competitions, some of which are open to all gentlemen riders, while others are restricted to army officers. These competitions are usually organised in the Lazienki Park, which contains in its fine ground the summer palace of the last King of Poland,