Football, history, bureaucracy, seafood, bicycles and a lot of affection for Poland - it can only be Pole-ish!

In this episode, Peter and John welcome Mike Giammattei, an American former Army Reservist who came to Poland on deployment, met the woman who would become his wife, and ended up building a life in Gniezno, Poland's historic first capital.

Along the way, Mike shares his experiences of bristling at Polish bureaucracy, working in logistics and his frankly bizarre love of Ipswich Town - not exactly one of English football's most glamorous clubs.

Elsewhere, Peter reports from the Baltic coast with some surprisingly salty facts, John reflects on a seafood extravaganza in Kraków, and the pair discuss cycling culture in Poland and the Netherlands.

This week's Pole of the Week is the extraordinary Irena Sendler, the Polish social worker who helped save around 2,500 Jewish children during the Second World War.

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RJ’s Goals – in memory of Mike’s brother: https://www.instagram.com/rjs.goals?igsh=NXJrb3VwZ2dmY2dw

Kapitan Konrad: https://en.kapitankonrad.pl/

Dutch Reach Project: https://www.dutchreach.org/

Polish National Anthem (Mazurek Dąbrowskiego): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BWvhox662o

Ipswich Town Football Club: www.itfc.co.uk

New Haven Pizza: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Haven-style_pizza

Delta Dawn – Tanya Tucker: https://open.spotify.com/track/7GH8qNOm2gEKryVUyVzkmt?si=5bdd431f9c1c491f

Pole-ish Guest Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/68kYaLG4XYgcjRdSjzzgcW?si=de7065757241400c