It's our silver anniversary! Episode 25 of Pole-ish takes us on the first stop of our grand tour of Poland - Katowice.

Our guest is Sicilian-born Marco Cillepi, who arrived in Katowice 15 years ago expecting little more than a job and a change of scenery. Instead, he built a career, a family and the Katowice Internationals Foundation .

What began as a casual Saturday kickabout involving players from a handful of countries eventually became the Katowice Internationals World Cup, now featuring 28 national teams. Marco tells us how the tournament has grown into much more than football - creating friendships, jobs, marriages and connections between people from all over the world.

We also discover how Katowice has changed since Marco arrived, why he thinks it offers a better quality of life than Poland's biggest tourist destinations, and why the openness of Polish people is one of the things he loves most about the country.

Elsewhere, we celebrate our anniversary with some Polish silver facts, meet the legendary Art Deco artist Tamara Łempicka, debate the delights - and crimes against humanity - of Polish food, and discover that Poland really does have a vending machine for almost everything. Including injured birds and, naturally, pierogi.

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Katowice Internationals Foundation: https://www.katowiceinternationals.org

Tamara Łempicka: www.tamaradelempicka.org

Big City Life – Mattafix: https://open.spotify.com/track/0Stkh0VvjWMqQOWNkHVhJq?si=975a154ade384269

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