Travels to Poland - the preamble

I do some copyediting for a chromatography journal produced, in English, by the Institute of Chemistry of the University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland. (I took over the work from the English wife of a Polish Spitfire pilot!) To thank me for this work I have regularly been invited to a scientific symposium they organize in Szczyrk, in the Carpathian mountains. The plan is that I make my own way to Katowice, stay a night or two in a very pleasant suite in a hotel owned by the university, and then travel to Szczyrk on a coach organized to take Institute of Chemistry staff to the symposium. On the first two occasions I was entertained like royalty - driven everywhere, taken on several sightseeing trips, not allowed to buy a drink, etc., etc. The last couple of times I've been almost completely ignored - dumped in hotels, told to make my own way around, left entirely to my own devices. In Szczyrk this is not too much of a burden - the place is a tourist/skiing resort, some English is spoken, there are fine walks among beautiful, unspoiled mountain scenery, and the food, like everywhere in Poland, is superb. Katowice, on the other hand, is a typical industrial town in a mining area - the English equivalents are described as 'grim'. There I have found it almost impossible to discover a restaurant in which English is spoken or which has English on its menu. On my last trip but one I ended up buying food in a supermarket and eating in my hotel room for a couple of days.
These reports highlight my range of experiences. Apologies to members of The Drivel List (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Bellringing/) who have already read most of Travels to Poland I - if they don't wish to read it all again they should jump to Part 4, where there is some new material.