Warsaw, Poland: The Phoenix City

I wanted to spend the May bank holiday searching for a bit of adventure. It was my birthday weekend after all. And since British Airways had this great offer to Warsaw, so Warsaw it was. To be perfectly honest, Warsaw has never been high on my places-to-visit list, but after 2 days in the city, a city that has risen from rubbles, I am convinced that Warsaw is one of the European cities that travelers somehow, someway managed to forget. There are so many things to do in Warsaw that there was no way that I could cramp all the places I wanted to see in 2 days.

Saturday, April 30,  2016

It was an early morning start. My flight from LHR took off at 07:15 and by 10:35, I was already at Frederic Chopin International Airport. A 15 mins taxi ride took me to the city centre and Westin Hotel. I was grateful to be given an early check-in and so, off I went to Room 922 to rest for a while and to freshen up. The glass lift is an interesting facet to the hotel, although those afraid of heights may prefer to shut their eyes.

It was 1 ish by the time I went down, eager to explore the Old Town, but before that, a pit stop at the hotel’s restaurant to re-fuel. I wanted to sample Polish food so I went for perogies. The chef had to make it vegetarian for me because the one on the menu had bacon. The final product: mushroom filled perogies topped with sauteed onions and served with some sour cream. Rather tasty I must say.

The Old Town is roughly a 20 mins walk from Westin through Saski Park. Of course it took me more than 20 mins to get to the Old Town with my photo stops along the way. Saski Park is lovely and you can stroll and enjoy the greens right in the city centre.

Exiting Saski Park, I came upon the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Located at Piłsudski Square, it is a monument dedicated to the unknown soldiers who had given their lives for Poland. The tomb is constantly lit by an eternal flame and guarded by 2 Representative Battalion of the Polish Army. At every hour daily, the changing of the guards takes place.

After a few photo snaps at the tomb, I proceeded to the Old Town.

The term “old” here is rather misleading as the town was actually rebuilt after the WWII making it actually new. If you dig into the Polish history, you will definitely come across the Warsaw Uprising, aimed to liberate Warsaw from the Nazi. However, the operation fell through and later the Germans flattened the city and by 1945, over 85% of the city was destroyed. After the WWII, the town was meticulously rebuilt based on Bernardo Bellotto’s as well as pre-war architecture students’ drawings, using the rubble, where possible.

I spent the remainder of the day appreciating the “old town” charm.

When I entered Krakowskie Przedmiescie, I had the choice of turning right or left. I chose to turn right first towards the university. At the entrance of the university, you will be greeted by 2 modern statues of the ancient goddesses, Urania and Athena, symbolising peace and wisdom. I wondered to some parts of the campus ground which is full of charming palaces and gardens.

Later, I walked back towards Castle Square, passing the Holly Cross church where a wedding was taking place. Walking towards Castle Square, one cannot miss the Sigismund’s Column which dominates the old town skyline. It was constructed in the middle of the 17th century to commemorate the Polish King Sigismund III Vasa who brought the capital from Karkow to Warsaw. At the pinnacle of the column, there is a bronze sculpture of the king. Similar to most of the city’s buildings, the column was severely destroyed during the WWII and has been reconstructed since.

A visit to the Royal Castle which was reconstructed in the 1980s after it was destroyed in the WWII was next. It dominates the Castle Square and marks the end of the Royal Route. The castle used to serve as the residence of royalties between the 16th to the 19th centuries but now functions as a gallery showcasing portraits of the Polish kings.

Don’t miss going up the Old Town Observation Terrace located next to St Anne’s church. For as little as 5 złotys, you’d get a bird’s view of the Old Town and beyond. Of course there would be stairs, stairs and more stairs to climb but it’s well worth the effort.

After the Observation Tower, I headed to the redbrick Barbican and simply walked along the City Walls.

On the way to the Barbican, I passed some pop-up stalls selling street food, candies and trinkets but just made mental notes on which stalls to check out later on my way back. A very jovial seller drew me to her stall which sells langos: fried bread. I tried a bit, dipped with garlic and sour cream sauce and was surprised at how tasty it was. I ordered one and as if fried dough was not enough to put my poor heart to overdrive, I chose the langos to be filled with cheese, sour cream and more garlic sauce. I am pretty sure I’ve still not managed to shake off the excess calories I consumed that day!

I found a bench nearby and sat down to enjoy my langos while people watching.

After that, I made my way to the Old Town Market Square where you can find a good range of restaurants to dine at. Of course, after the huge langos, food was far from my mind. I just wandered around the square and had a closer look at the buildings. You can also visit the Literature Museum and the Historical Museum of Warsaw located at the square. Unfortunately, time wasn’t permitting for me and by that time, dusk was approaching and the museums were closed. In the centre of the square is Syrena the Mermaid. The mermaid is the symbol of Warsaw and Syrena keeps watch of the city from her post.

I entered souvenir shops to get some fridge magnets: the normal souvenirs I would allow myself to get on my trips as they don’t take up anymore space in my tiny flat.

Wandering around the Old Town, one can easily forget the time. I looked at my watch – it was close to 21:00. Time to go back to the hotel as I had an early train to catch to Krakow in the morning. It wasn’t a particularly warm day – it was cloudy actually but lody (ice-cream) and waffle shops are scattered everywhere and you can see queues to buy lody and waffles. I had no more space in my tummy for waffles but lody, that I can do. For 5 złotys for 2 scoops with waffle cone, that’s cheap. No wonder everyone’s buying lody!

I took the same route back to Westin and even though it was at night and I’m a girl walking alone, I felt safe. Even the walk through the park, where, some places were dark and quiet.

Sunday, May 1, 2016

Another early morning start: I took the 07:50 train to Krakow. The train departed from the Central Station which is located about 10 minutes walk from the hotel. After a 2 hr 19 mins train ride on the Express InterCity Premium (EIP), I arrived in Krakow. If you’re interested to know about my Krakow trip, you can read my post Krakow, Poland: Is It All Just Hype?

I bought my ticket online. I came across this website: The Man in Seat Sixty-One which has useful information not just on Poland’s rail services, but rail services in countries around the world.

Monday, May 2, 2016

After spending part of the day at Auschwitz and later wandering around Krakow for a few more hours, I took the 19:05 Express InterCity (EIC) back to Warsaw. Silly me, I got off one stop before Central Station, at Warsaw Wschodnia Station instead. I blame it on my sound canceling headphone for not hearing the announcement properly. Heh. No problem, just get a taxi and all will be well, I told myself. I followed the signages that said “taxi” – printed on A4 papers and stuck to the wall. By that time, it was closer to 22:00. The signages took me through the subway which smelled of urine. It was very quiet and rather dark and at that point, I felt unease. When I exited the subway, there was the main street with a bus stand nearby. But alas, no taxi stand in sight. I stopped a lady who was passing by and asked where I could get a taxi. She mumbled some incoherent words and walked off. Obviously, she did not appreciate me delaying her journey home – even if it was for less than 1 minute. I went back down the steps through the urine smelling subway, back to the main train station building. There, I asked a lady mending the kiosk where I could get a taxi. She had a stern face on and wasn’t really friendly, but at least she did point me to the taxi stand. When I saw, the official taxi stand, I was relieved. A 7 mins taxi ride got me safely back to Westin Hotel.

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

My flight back to London wasn’t until 18:15. Since I’ve had early morning starts the past few days, I wanted to take it easy on the last day. It was a holiday after all. In my mind, I thought that I’d have brunch at Marriott panorama restaurant and then I’d walk to Łazienki Park and spend a few hours there. Well, at least I thought the panorama restaurant is a restaurant too, not just a bar. Servers me right for not doing a good research beforehand. The name itself should have given it away – Marriot Panorama Sky Bar. Duh.

After checking out of the hotel and arranging for my suitcase to be left with the concierge, I walked to Marriott Hotel, which was about 10 mins walk away. It’s located next to the Central Station. I entered the lift and pressed 40 and when the door opened, I walked out of the lift to a totally silent floor. All the doors were closed. The Panorama Sky Bar is opened from 18:00 to 02:00! Great!

So, with no great view and no brunch, I exited the hotel and crossed the road to Starbucks. I was thirsty by then and a mocha frappuccino sounded good.

It was a hot day and by then, I was feeling lazy to walk to the park. I went back to Marriott to get a taxi to Łazienki Park. But the taxi wouldn’t take me there because I didn’t make the reservations through the hotel reception. Ok, I’ll cross the road to the train station I thought. When I said to the taxi guy at the train station that I wanted to go to Łazienki Park, he said it was closed. I asked him, “Can’t I just walk around the park?” He replied, “Well, if you just want to walk, yes you can. It’s not far from here. Just 10 minutes walk towards that direction.” he said pointing his finger to where Łazienki Park was supposed to be. Ok, 10 mins I can do. But of course, with my poor bearing and my tendency to wander off when I see something that catches my eye, it probably took me more than an hour before I got to the park.

And as if I had not had enough bad lucks for the day, it started to rain just as I was about to enter the garden gates. It had been drizzling off and on but this one’s a downpour, and with no place for shelter. Fortunately, despite the hot day, I brought with me my jacket which is waterproof and has a hood but that day of all days, I decided to wear my trainers instead of my timberland boots. I looked at my watch. It was close to 14:00 and decided that I should just turn back towards the Old Town. This time I took the Royal Route. With my trainers on, water quickly seeped into my shoes. I was cold, wet and feeling miserable. I was worried of my camera too and just hoped that the bag will do what it is supposed to do and keep my equipments dry. For a few minutes, I sought shelter at a subway. When the rain subsided, I continued my way to the Old Town and entered into the first restaurant that would take me in. That was Specjały Regionalne where I had fried trout and veg for lunch.

Bt the time I finished lunch, the rain had completely stopped. I thought I’d have a bit of time to take some last minute photos of the Old Town and buy more lody.

By 16:30, I was back at Westin, to collect my luggage and headed to the airport.

Oh, an annoying bit was, at the passport control, the officer asked me for my address in Warsaw. I said Westin Hotel. He later asked “The street?”. Huh? I said “I don’t know”. The officer stared at me and said “Street, street” as if that would conjure the street name in my mind. How many Westins are there in Warsaw? How poor can their system be for Westin’s address not to pop up when the name is keyed in in their system? I had to take out my phone and search for the hotel confirmation to show him. Even then, he didn’t get it. After staring at my phone screen – with Westin Warsaw’s address smack bang on it – for a few minutes, he said “I dont’t know.” At that point, I definitely lost it “You asked for the hotel’s address. That’s the address!” He looked at the phone again and later said, “Oh, ok”, keyed in something in the system, stamped and returned my passport. “You can go” was all he said. So much for the friendly Polish first impression that I got. I guess, there’s always a few black sheep.

So that pretty much sums up my 2 days in Warsaw. What I would have liked to see given more time: the museums – and there are many in Warsaw, but especially the Warsaw Uprising Museum, properly walk around Łazienki Park and listen to the Chopin concert (every Sundays during summer), a visit to the Wilanow palace, wandering around the Jewish quarters and don’t forget the Panorama Sky Bar with it’s awesome view. Does that mean I’ll have to go there again? Who knows. I might just have to!

British Airways fly twice daily to Warsaw, a 2 hr 20 mins non-stop flight from London Heathrow.