Poland

For English speaking travellers, you will find that a lot of the time you won't be understood. You will have more luck with the younger generation of Poles, but expect some difficulties communicating.

This isn't much of a tourist destination for sights. The old town is nice to look around. There is a large man made lake called Malta, designed mainly for kayaking. The university also has a nice garden with many varities of plants all carefully labelled.

Warsaw felt like a big city. People rushing around with many of them trying to look distinctively fashionable.

I found didn't find much of interest here. Lazienska Park is nice for a stroll. The castles were a bit dull after recently being in Berlin.

Krakow emerged pretty much unscatched from World War bombing and hence has an abundance of old architecture to lure many travellers. This also means that there are a lot more English speaking people here, as tourism is quite strong.

Leaving Krakow you have limited options. A stop in Zakopane in the mountains is apparently well worth your time. A train to Prague will take about 8 hours, so a sleeper train is a popular option. However, it is cheaper if you get a train near the Polish border, walk over and then catch a train in Czech.