Language

Unless you're a scholar of Slavic languages (or you already speak some Polish), you'll find Polish nearly incomprehensible. There are relatively few English cognates, and the vexing combinations of consonants -- "szcz" comes to mind -- and accent marks (z's with dots and l's with lines through them??) will have you shaking your head after a couple of minutes of trying to puzzle it out. Fortunately, there are a fair amount of English speakers around, and nearly all hotels, tourist offices, and restaurants will be able to manage some English. German will also help, especially in areas of the south and west, close to the German border.