Boleslawiec, Poland – Pottery Shopping Trip

It seems that if you are an American women, then you’ve heard of Polish Pottery and chances are, you’ve either already been or are planning a trip to Poland to buy some. It has quite a reputation and by going to Poland, you can get beautiful pieces at a fraction of the stateside cost – bragging rights and great gifts for all the ladies back home. The guide below is jam packed with info for your next trip. (Men, guard your wallets… this could be dangerous!)

Information below courtesy of the American Spouses of Brunssum Travel Information Guide

Directions:

Take A 46 towards Dusseldorf to the A61 toward Koblenz. Stay on A61 till you get to the A4 and take the A4 towards Koln; stay on A4/E40 through Koln and then take A4 to OIPE/Gummersbach. A4 will turn into A45 going towards Frankfurt AM and Siegen. In Giessen you’ll see E40/A49 (Kassel, Giessen, Lahnau), follow it around-stay on do not exit. Follow Marburg, Kassel 485… Gruenberg Exit 49 will take you directly to gas station to the right. BX/Burger King is to the left (There is also a Subway). This part is about 3 hours from here.

About 2 miles form the US installation is Exit 480 (follow these signs) Efurt/Kase. This is the exit you will take. There is an ESSO about 10 minutes from this point (if you decide not stop at Giessen). Stay on this until you exit onto A2 towards the Erfurt/Dresden etc. This will take you all the way to Dresden. In Dresden, there is also an ESSO just off the autobahn behind the Hornbach and there is a McDonald’s.

Stay on A4 to Gorlitz/Bautzen to the border. The border is easy to get through. Once across the border, follow the signs to 4 Wroclaw and on to Boleslawiec.

If you are going into Poland via A-4 from Dresden, the last ESSO before Poland is in Bautzen. Take the first Bautzen exit (exit 88B) and follow the signs to Bautzen. Turn left when the road T’s. This 24-hour ESSO is about one mile from the turn.

Going into Boleslawiec: go straight through the traffic circle and at the light go left. Continue until you see the Supersam on your left. Go left at the light, then right at the next intersection and then left and you will see the Shang-hi Hotel. The Hotel is about 3 blocks down the road. If staying at Hotel Piast, stay on the Supersam road and follow this road to the Piast.

For money exchange, directly across the street from the Piast is a money exchange place.

Brands of Pottery:

WISA (Visa)- good stuff, produces grape pattern

Artistica- big factory, where buses stop, this brand recommended

Zkloty- in states this is sold at TJMaxx and Cracker Barrel

WR- this is a very flower pottery

Christoff- Sells in stores, very flowery

Shopping stops:

The ornament shop is before the first traffic circle on your left (heading into town) and a turquoise building on your right as well. You have to go up some stairs on the outside. There are good stores after you pass through the traffic circle, a little higher in price though.

Artistica factory: At the first traffic circle in Boleslawiec, take the second exit towards Zielona Gora. Go to the next traffic circle towards Zielona Gora (third exit). The shop is on the left (next to Cer-Far). Park inside the blue fence. This store has a large selection of Unikat hand painted pieces and 1^st-5^th quality traditional and contemporary painted pieces. Prices are very good. (The last time I went to this store, it seemed like they were changing … not as much product for the public … they SEEM to be catering more to dealers than individuals) They do not take $$ or € here. Must pay with credit card or Zloty.

Ceramica/Keramik/Cer-Far (“Painted Fence Shop”) this store is next to Artistica. It is a store that sells Artistica and WR. You can get some things here and prices are good, selection good, and great for baskets. Store has peacock pattern fence and US Flag on white building. Park behind the building. They do not take credit cards at this store. Across from the Artistica is a store that has great selection of baskets as well.

Street: ul. Kosciuszki 17
Phone: 48-607-090-625
Hours: Mon-Fri 0800-1800, Saturday 0700-1500

In town Centrum down road from Piast on the right is a store with good crystal and toys.

There is a store in the Centrum that I was told was called the Art Glass Studio. I finally found the store (and there are signs for Art Glass Studio pointing a different direction … don’t follow these for this store) with a Polish name that I cannot remember. This store is on the downtown square. Turn right at the corner bookstore (if you are in the square, looking at the church, the bookstore is on your left on a corner) and his shop is on the left side of the street. He’ll have Tiffany style lamps in the window. The owners name is Peter and the phone number of the store is 0048-75-732-6579. He speaks excellent English. This store has beautiful stained glass. Peter will custom-make Tiffany style lamps, panels for your home and small pieces. I took the pillow sham from our bed (hand made double wedding ring quilt in purple and ivory) and he made a Tiffany lamp with the double wedding ring pattern on it. I got to pick out the shades of glass that I wanted him to use. I received a beautiful lamp at a great price. The only downside is you have to go back in 2 months to pick it up (he’ll ship but it’s very expensive to ship it) but not everyone would consider that a downside.

There are MANY, MANY stores that sell pottery. They all seem to offer something a little different. I suggest stopping at every one of them (if you have time).

Shopping Tips

When you first see the pottery know you’ll be overwhelmed. Don’t stress. Don’t feel you have to get all your pottery at once. Shop around and keep a notebook of where you were and what you liked and prices, then you can take time to decide later what you want to get. Stores accept US, €, Zlotys and some accept credit cards (most do now). You get the best exchange rate from your VISA or ATM. Exchange rate is on average 4:1

Restaurants:

Big Bites: on corner as you go into Piast. They have pizza, pierogies, and good soup.

Elric: they have potato puffs, pierogies (across the street from the 4 sisters shops)

Shang-hi has a restaurant inside the hotel. You get free breakfast if you are staying there and you can order pierogies and pizza at the front desk if you want dinner there.

Driving tips:

If you’re driving in town and kids try to watch car or wash windows it is ok to tell them no. They might do it anyway and expect money. You can tip them with food or small amount of money but no more than 50 cents, as that is a lot of money to them.

Watch your van at the edge of town or consider using The Club to protect it. Wear a fanny pack. We’ve heard that people will pull you out of your car to take it as well so keep doors locked/windows up etc., but I have not seen anything like that. Just be cautious. Keep your ID safe.

Pottery Quality

Ask about the quality ratings of each “brand” of pottery as quality ratings vary from factory to factory. Gat. 1 is usually first quality (or export quality), Gat. 2 is a second, the quality goes down as the number goes up. A second is normally a flaw in the paint, but it varies with each factory. If you plan on baking or using a piece regularly, buy only Gat. 1 or 2. Inspect pieces very carefully. Do not buy Gat. 4s if you plan on using for oven, microwave or dishwasher. If you see a red sticker, beware, don’t purchase.

Miscellaneous:

Chess sets and boxes: at center across from Artistica. Great gifts and inexpensive

Borowski- glass factory very modern styles and very nice products, store/factory is outside of town.

Website in English for town: http://www.um.boleslawiec.pl/for/index.php?LANG=EN

Places to stay:

Elite 0048 075 734 7401

Piast 0048-795-4051

Shang-hi (can not find information)

Protea – I can’t find the phone number but their email is: office@protea.com.pl. This is a great place to stay. They charged about €15 per night per person. They have a small gift shop in the hotel and their food is VERY cheap! Includes free breakfast.

Tour/Shopping guides

Dorotea Jeal- very nice lady and will be your guide for about €5 per hour. She will take you to stores. She knows the really out of the way stores and can give you a bit of history about the area as you shop. She is definitely worth the money (especially your first time to Poland). She will recommend a pension as well if you’d like 0048 75 732 4328

Nove: Pottery Shopping in Italy

I just got back from a girls-only trip to Nove and Venice, so here’s the info and notes on how you can tweek it to make it your own. Due to the amount of information… I’ll continue onto Venice in a new entry.

Nove: Nove is one of those little known secrets – a lovely town east of Venice with over 100 pottery shops, many of which make beautiful, high-quality pottery for Lenox, Pottery Barn, Tiffany & Co. and others. Here you can get those things at 1/3 or better of the price.

Venice: It’s so overly-touristed that I expected more of a clichesque experience, but it was lovely. The people are friendly, the food is fantastic, and the place itself is enchanting.

Our Itinerary:

Wednesday: Fly into Treviso. Rent a car and drive to Vincenza.

Thursday: Shopping in Nove.

Friday: Post office in Vincenza at 10am. Lunch and three hours shopping in Nove. Post office in Vincenza at 1530. Drive to Treviso to return car. Take the bus to Venice.

Saturday: Tour Venice.

Sunday: Venice and fly home.

Getting there:

We flew Ryan Air from Dusseldorf/Weeze (also known as Niederrhein/NRN) to Treviso, Italy which is just north of Venice. It is possible to park your car in long term parking at the Weeze airport (which is located on an old military base), but if you don’t, a pre-arranged taxi service can work quite well. We used a taxi service out of Heisburg that hauled all six of us with our luggage to the airport and back for a pre-arranged fee of 190E – which is really not bad and saved us the stress of driving back late after a long trip. Do make sure that the driver knows where the airport is. Do not assume that someone from the local area will know beyond the greater Heinsburg area. Even with a taxi service, I will now take along my mapquest directions and a good map. We did not have a map. Instead, we had one lost German man driving a van with three GPS mounted on the windows and 6 women throwing suggestions his directions every few minutes. Good for a laugh only if you’re not in danger of missing your flight.

Renting a car:

The Treviso airport is small, but nice, and very easy to navigate. Downstairs is the line of stalls for rental cars. We had one reserved with Locauto. All the cars are parked in the parking lot directly across from the airport with the company sign in front of the parking spot, so they are fairly easy to find. If arriving late, I’d suggest bringing a small flashlight. The nice peugeot that we rented had plenty room for the 6 of us with luggage. When you return the car, there is often not a person sitting there. Just drop the keys in the drop box. They do not do inspections like you do in the US.

Locauto Rent
Partita IVA 04367-650-969
Aeroporto Di Treviso
Tel: 0422-433834
Email: info@locautorent.com
Web: http://www.locautorent.com/

Lodging in Vincenza near Nove:
Nove is about a 30 minutes drive from Vincenza – a nice town with a US Army base – Caserma Ederle where you can stay very inexpensively. The downside, of course, to the military lodging is that you can’t book very far in advance. (Next time we’ll book offbase as a back-up plan, then if we can get lodging on base, we’ll cancel the other). We stayed in triple rooms at the Hotel Victoria. Victoria did have nice rooms, a good breakfast buffet, free wireless internet, and is only 4 minutes from the base and right next door to a restaurant and a large shopping center, so if the base lodging is unavailable, it’s a great alternative and not unreasonably priced if you’re splitting the room rates.

Caserma Ederle Website: http://www.usag.vicenza.army.mil/sites/local/
Lodging on base: http://www.vicenzamwr.com/lodging.html
Hotel Victoria (off base in Vincenza): http://www.hotelvictoriavicenza.com/ing/index.html

Nove:

Getting to Nove from Vincenza isn’t hard. Just follow the signs to Bassano and you’ll end up in Nove. Of course, if you can bring a GPS, it will help you GREATLY. There isn’t one central place where all the shops are. Instead, the shops are sprinkled throughout the town, but the main ones (the biggest, most popular shops with Americans) are all on the same street. Most of the shops are closed for lunch, so if you are a serious shopper, arrive early (0830-0900) when the shops open, then go to lunch, and shop the rest of the afternoon. If you show up at 1130, you won’t have much time to look before the break, so plan well. If you head into the square with the big tower in it, you’ll see a large map set back in the square that is a map of Nove with all of the ceramic shops on it and their locations.

Money: Almost all of the shops take credit cards, but you’ll need cash for food and the smaller shops will be cash only. Some of the larger shops like V.B.C. also take American checks. If you are paying with cash or check, you will have a little more bartering room. And yes, do barter. They will most often knock down the price at least a little bit to those who ask.

Not shopping: There is a Ceramic museum in the center of town open Tues-Sat from 0900-1300 and on Sun from 1500-1900. And, if you can drive just a bit, the town of Bassano just up the road has a beautiful old square and a cheesemaker who’s been making cheese just about forever.

Nove Ceramic Shops:
*Though many of these shops have hours from Monday – Saturday, do remember that not only do they have mid-day breaks, but they also observe holidays and local festivals as well. The best way to ensure that they will be open when you plan your trip is to email a couple of the larger shops (VBC and Ancora) and ask them specifically if they will be open during the time that you plan to go. Ladies have made this trip many times just to discover that the shops are closed. Don’t let that happen to you.

La Ceramica V.B.C. is one of the most popular shops in Nove and the one that we went to first (and took 6 ladies a total of 3 hours to get through). The upstairs shop is beautiful, inspiring, and absolutely full from floor to ceiling of beautiful pottery in such a broad array of styles that you are sure to find something that you love. Lenox, Tiffany and Co, and Vietro adorn their shelves. You’ll also find dinnerware in almost every color, fruit and vegetable spoon rests, and beautiful mosaics. They pack everything extremely well in bubblewrap and stryophome peanuts to ship and charge only 5 Euros a box. We even brought purchases from other shops to VBC, then they met us at the front gate of Vincenza the following morning in their van (so you don’t need to worry about hauling boxes in the rental car), and led us to the post office where we unloaded our things and shipped them quickly. VBC does take American checks, cash, and credit cards.

Address: Via Molini 45, Nove
Tel: 0424-590312
Email: office@laceramicavbc.com
Web: http://www.laceramicavbc.com/
Hours: M-F 0830-1300 and 1330-1900

Marco Pizzato does not really advertise to random shoppers, but rather sells to large companies. Still, if you can get in, you’ll find something special. His pieces are warm and beautiful and his prices cannot be beat. Go there for large platters and other fun serving pieces. Check carefully for small cracks as some of the pieces tend to sit there for a while and do not be surprised if he won’t sell one – he doesn’t sell the last ones. Just a block down the road from VBC, do go and check it out. It’s a very nice shop and some of my favorite finds were found there.
Address: Via Molini 67
Phone: 0424-590082
Email: info@ceramichepizzato.com
Web: http://www.ceramichepizzato.com/

Ancora is another shop that sells Lenox and Pottery Barn ceramic pieces along with a fabulous assortment of the traditional chicken pitchers and beautiful letter and number address tiles. They also have a resident artist, Floriano Gheno, who handpaints one-of-a-kind bowls and platters that are as much art as utilitarian.

Address: Via Martina 26-28
Tel: 0424.590023
Email: ceramicheancora@libero.it

Bottega Del Ceramista is near VBC on the Via Molini (#88) and also has very nice things. The shop is run by two brothers who make and hand paint everything, so it is smaller, but very nice and has some beautiful canister sets and olive jugs. The most unique items there are old roof tiles that have been hand painted in the old style.

Web: www.ceramics.it/pegoraro
Email: antonio_pegoraro@libero.it

More Ceramic shops: Had I known about this site, I may have been a little more prepared and more focused. Wow. This is great. Pour over it and you will come back, quite literally, with everything, AND the kitchen sink!

http://www.ceramics.it/tavola_en.html

Nove Pewter and Copper Shop – DON’T MISS THIS!!!

Carla and Roberto Rossi run this shop full of Roberto’s artistry. Hand made copper and bronze items fill the store that at first, is very overwhelming. Fortunately, this shop does not take a midday break like the others, so it’s a perfect stop during the break and you’ll need that time to look. Roberto’s hand-signed pieces are pricey, but you’re getting high quality copper and pewter that shouldn’t break in the next move. The pewter wine canister and cooler sets are perfect gifts. You’ll see things both rustic and utilitarian and high-styled art deco. If you’re lucky, you’ll meet Roberto himself – the artist. But, Carla is delightful and friendly and also stocks a wonderful selection of sterling charms, masks, and Venetian glass.

Roberto Rossi – Casa Del Peltro

Via S. Romana 13

0424-592535

Open every day 0800-1930

Email: rossiroberto@cheapnet.it

Dining in and around Nove:

Cafe Roma: A reliable lunch spot in the center of Nove, Cafe Roma offers delicious food at reasonable prices. The salmon lasagna was excellent. The gnocci and salads looked delicious as well. A nice lunch with beverage and the service charge (coperto) ran about 10 Euros a person. Closed on Sundays and Mondays. Open T-Sat 1200-1500 and 1800-2400. You won’t miss it right on the corner of the main intersection, but for you GPS types, go to Via Molini #1, Nove 36055.

Pizzeria De Asporto: Take Away. Wow. This pizza brought about smiles and moaning from our group. You wouldn’t think pizza would be quite this exciting… but it was amazing. For less than 3 Euros a person, we stuffed ourselves on the absolutely most delicious pizza ever. The place doesn’t look like much. There is very little seating inside and it looks like a fast food joint, but the kitchen is immaculate, the couple that owns it, friendly, and the food – out of this world.

Pizzeria Da Asporto
Via Astronauti 12; Nove
0424-829168

Alle Fornaci: You won’t miss this restaurant on the way to or from Nove due to it’s large brick stacks looming overhead. The stacks were originally built as ovens for brick manufacturing in the 1840′s. Now they are part of a restaurant that makes absolutely delicious pizzas inside those brick ovens. I would eat there again in a second. The food was great, the prices reasonable, and though our waitress spoke little to no English, she was very friendly and helpful. Address: Via Marosticana, 339 Deuville. Tel: 0444-361238. Closed on Mondays.

Shipping Your Treasures:

Obviously you won’t be hauling service for 12 back with you on Ryan Air or any other airline… so, VBC will pack all of your purchases for you and deliver them to the front gate of Vincenza. You will have to park right inside the gate, wait for the white van, then sign them onto the base. Before your trip, call and make an appointment at the post office there. Pre-fill out your white customs slips and address labels to make the process quick and easy. The post office opens officially at 11, but they do make appointments as early as 0900. The staff is so friendly, they deserve cookies. Next time I’ll bring some. The number to call is: (39) 0444-71-7430.

Venice:

If you are going to Venice from Nove, then return your rental car at the Treviso airport. There is a gas station where you can fill up the tank just past the airport on your right about 1 km down the main road. It is full service, so you don’t even need to leave your car. You will most likely just be dropping your keys off in the drop box, then walk over to the bus tickets counter and purchase a round trip ticket to Venice (Venezia). One-way costs 5 Euros. Round trip is 9 Euros. The bus is right outside the airport. It will stop at the Mestre railway station and then the Venezia bus station from where it’s a quick walk over the bridge and onto the island. The total bus ride from Treviso to Venice is about 45 minutes. (Venice info in another post)

More Information:

Nove Stars and Stripes Article: http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=103&article=40448&archive=true

Italy travel site: http://www.enit.it/

Other sights in the region: http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/veneto/bassano.htm

Polish Pottery Outlet near Ultrecht, NL

NOTE: This opportunity is available for non-EU members only. Clip BV is a distributor of Polish Pottery to shops in the region and has extended these shopping days to the American, Canadian, and Japanese ladies in the region as a nice opportunity for us and a way for them to test the market and see how different patterns and items will be received.

Some of you have heard about the Polish Pottery outlet up “near” Amsterdam/Ultrecht. Until today’s opening of the pottery shop in Laandgraf, it was the closest place to get your Polish Pottery fix outside of Poland.

They now have a website – fun to peruse and look at all the patterns available. Do call them if you have questions. If you have been there before, do recheck the address. They have moved and are in their new location. The address listed below is the wholesale warehouse. A lot of bazaar vendors get their pottery there to resell. In the past, they were only open for groups on Fridays, now you can go in any number – even individuals – on Fridays. Calling before going is always a good idea. And, if you’re going with a large group, do call ahead. They like to be prepared for larger groups.

Clip BV
Polish Pottery Warehouse

Ohmstraat 18a

3861 NB Nijkerk

Tel: 0031-033-253-3590

Web: http://www.clipbv.nl/bunzlau/en/index.html
Open to the public: Almost every Friday morning from 0930 – 1400. Closed on school holidays and public holidays. Groups and individuals are welcome to shop.

The Drive: Two hours almost exactly.

The Location: The Ohmstraat is not on any navigation system, so use Watergoorweg. Once you’re there, then you can look for a side street called Ohmstraat.

The Place: Crowded with tightly packed aisles of Polish Pottery both in and out of boxes. It is almost all factory firsts – therefore, the best quality. Prices are decent without the VAT. With VAT, they’re still better than the states, but hurt a little more.

VAT: They wouldn’t take a VAT form when I went, but others have said that they do, so bring one. It can’t hurt.