You're reading: Euro 2012 blog: Small Polish city charms, cheers without football

RZESZOW, Poland – The Euro 2012 championship did not much affect the life of a small Polish city near the Ukrainian border. This is not only because Rzeszow, a provincial city of 220,000 residents, did not host any of the recent football matches. It’s because the city is well-kept, innovative and lively all the time, and didn’t need a tournament boost.

Last weekend,
when millions of fans were anticipating the July 1 final game in Kyiv, citizens
of Rzeszow were enjoying numerous concerts, exhibitions and performances as a
part of European Stadium of Culture, a Polish-Ukrainian festival and the biggest
art event out of many that take place in the city.

At noon on Saturday,
up to 20 young people in blue-and-yellow sport clothes are exercising in the
middle of city’s main square, Rynek or Market. Malgorzata Pianowska, 31, a
blond woman with pierced lips, wrote on cobblestones with chalk: “rusz noge,” Polish
for “move your leg.” In this way she welcomes other people to join the city’s sport
performance by Polish and Ukrainian dancers.

“We don’t
need a theater to dance,” she says. “We want to dance in the streets as we are
inspired by the city space and everything around us.” People join the
performance reluctantly because it is 34 degrees Celsius.

Lukasz Klosinski,
a 25-year-old man in a checkered shirt, is watching the performance from a
shadow wooden pavilion built over the old stone well. Medieval merchants used
to stop here to water their houses since an important trade road used to run
near this well. Klosinski, a student of a construction faculty at Rzeszow’s Polytechnics,
says he knows more about modern roads, in particular about the highway between the
northern and southern parts of the country where he has a part-time job as a
construction worker.

“We had to
finish this road before Euro 2012 but did not make it in time,” he says.

One hour
later, local guide Bogdan Krzton, 26, is waiting for tourists to start his tour
in 370-meter-long tunnel which runs under Rynek Square. The merchants used to
store their goods underground and sell them on the market on the square since
the city was founded in 14th century.

“The lowest
point in the tunnel is 10 meters. The temperature here is 10 degrees,” Krzton
says to a group of seven people who joined his tour. The guide says some 40,000
people visit the underground tunnel, one of city’s main attractions, every year
and that the number of tourists did not increase significantly because of Euro
2012.

A group of local
elderly people and one romantic couple were trying to escape the heat and noise
by chatting on the benches at the old city cemetery. The shade of trees and the
elegance of ancient sculptures on the tombs made for a cool and peaceful place.

An old Rzeszow’s cemetary is full of beautiful sculptures.

At dinner
time one of the downtown street food restaurants was preoccupied with
youngsters. Such places serving “kebab,” a cheap and tasty food made with a special
kind of bread and stuffed with meat, vegetables and spicy sauces. Such places
are often run by immigrants from Asia and especially loved by the city’s 50,000
students.

“The key to
our success is to be honest with our clients. For that we cook everything in front
of our client’s eyes,” shared Ratanpreet Chattha, a 23-year-old kebab maker
from the northern Indian city of Pundri. He says he came to Rzeszow to study
hotel management and dreams to open Indian food restaurant soon. Chattha gives
a lollipop to a little boy who came in with his mom and keeps smiling despite
visitors leave without ordering anything.

An evening
mass starts at local Basilica of the Assumption. The temple is crowded with
people of all ages. Those, who did not find free space on the benches, stands
on their knees in the hallway. People are praying devotedly to Our Lady of Rzeszow,
a patron of the city.

Cirizens of Rzeszow have their common weekend stroll in the historical part of the city.

At the same
time a group of young people is shooting a video clip in the park nearby. A
dozen girls in youth fashion outfits dances on the pedestal of the monument to
Wladyslaw Sikorski while the lead singer, Adrian Stodolak, opens his mouth with
music.

“The song
is called Morning Sun. It is in electro house style,” says 22-year-old singer
wearing bright blue lenses in his eyes and same color bowtie around his neck.

People are gathering at the city stadium to enjoy a concert by Polish and Ukrainian musicians.

Thousands
of people are heading to the city stadium, which is still bearing its historic Soviet
title of Stal, or steel, to listen to a concert by Polish and Ukrainian stars.
Musician, including Ukrainian bands S.K.A.Y and Skryabin, perform world hits
which were popular since the first European football tournaments took
place in 1960.

“The city
has changed a lot recent years but not thanks to Euro 2012 only,” says Tadeusz
Palucki, 70, a pensioner from Rzeszow. New stands at the stadium were built,
many shopping centers opened, infrastructure improved. “It’s a clean and cozy
city one can only look for,” he says proudly.

Rzeszow’s stadium house joint Polish-Ukrainian festival, European Stadium of Culture 2012.

City mayor
Tadeusz Ferenc, 72, enjoys the concert and final fireworks without bodyguards
together with a crowd. He said $150 million of infrastructure and social
investments were pumped into the city since Poland joined the European Union in
2004.

At midnight
life goes on with a silent disco where young people dance listening to music which
plays in their headphones. On this occasion Summer Palace of Lubomirski, an architectural
monument of the 17th century, is lightened with pink and violet
backlight and decorated with two neon soccer balls. Three colorful balloons
shine in the sky instead of a moon.

Kyiv Post staff writer Oksana Faryna can be
reached at [email protected]