Business trip to Katowice? You are a lucky one! This one of the biggest city in Poland is a great remain of industrial an soc-realism architecture. Every year, plenty of young tourists are spending their weekends here, because this city is never sleep. restaurants, pubs, clubs and bars are open till down, so don’t worry if you get hungry in the middle of the night. And if you like to party, or just grab a beer or two for relaxation, it is very good place for you to be.
Heritages
If you like to have a long, evening walk after stressful day, you should take a tour around town. Katowice has plenty of historical buildings, and also some modern ones. In old town area you will find couple Gothic and Renaissance Catholic Churches, with beautiful stained glasses inside. Streets are filled with New-Baroque and Art Nouveau mansions, renovated very well. If you are enthusiast of newest architecture, you should like Drapacz Chmur, first skyscraper in Poland, build in Soc-realism style. There are also hall street build in the beginning of twentieth century, in Modernism style. It is called Nikiszowiec, and it use to be apartment complex from miners and their families. Now regular people are living here, but it still looks charming.
Culture
One of the biggest events venue, Spodek, are situated in center of Katowice. Every year, plenty of singers and their bands, from whole around the world, are having concerts in here. Who knows, if you get lucky, maybe someone you like will have his gig in time of your visit? If you like music, there are too big festivals taking place in here. First, Metalmania, is an event for fans of heavy metal music. Another one, Off Festival, is a gig for alternative rock music lovers, beside concerts it offers many cultural and artistic events. If you like, you can also visit Wyspiański’s Theatre, named after famous playwright and painter. Unfortunately, plays are only in polish language. If you want to get more information about area you are staying in, you could visit Silesian Museum. There are exhibits relate to first people ever living at this land, objects of regional art, and paintings of famous polish artists.
Relax
Visit one out of many local restaurants to taste Silesian cuisine. The most famous meal from this area is beef rolade, stuffed with pickles, onion and ham, served with red cabbage fried with bacon, and with Silesian dumplings, with characteristic hole in the middle. After your dinner you can grab a quick beer in Browariat, pub serves craft beers from every part of the Earth.
Now you are ready to explore Katowice during your business trip, for sure. Maybe is not as fancy as Krakow or Wroclaw, but it also really nice place to visit.