Warsaw
Don’t miss this!
Old Town
The Lookout
Handmade Candy
Pancakes
River Views
Church Strolls
Warsaw
♦ This city is named after the legend of a mermaid so immediately I was in love, some logos around the city incorporate this so keep an eye out. It was also very cheap so my bank account and travel soul were ecstatic. They use Zloty which means gold in Polish and some things are a fraction of the price than the euro, like snacks which I bought too much of on this trip. I couldn’t resist. A funny tip for navigating Poland, in the Polish language yes sounds like no and no sounds like yes. So stick to head nods and smiles. Poland is the smack center of Europe, or so they say, so you have no reason not to make it there. Plus, Poland has a little something for everyone. If you want nature ⅓ of Poland is forest, the country has 9300 lakes and 23 national parks but it often gets muddy in the some places because of bi polar weather. However, it also has plenty for the city lover too. The king moved the capital a ton of years back to seek higher ground, now there are two big cities. The only place I made it to was Warsaw but that impressed me enough to want to go back very very soon.
Where to go
♦ First thing you have to do in Warsaw is walk to the old town but first you go through the city. Getting around is easy, there are only two lines in the shape of an X and plenty of buses to get you there. The biggest stop is the center, it opens up to some really nice graffiti and an awesome view of the tower of arts and science building that you can see from almost everywhere. Towards the old town there is a magnificent church there with a crazy story about Chopin, a famous piano prodigy and composer. He died and while his body is buried in Paris, he asked that just his heart be buried in the Holy Cross Church in Warsaw town center. Over the heart is a bust of the artist and a quote that says “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” from Saint Matthew. It is obvious this town is so proud of him and the work that he produced. Outside of the church they have benches with buttons that play his music, they have statues of him and even a top shelf liquor named Chopin. It’s like a little town with mystery.
♦ On our way through the city in we passed schools with grand gates and gold accents almost guarding them. My friend then told me how in Poland they celebrate name day instead of birthdays. As you keep walking you’ll pass statues of lions guarding government buildings with smirks that look like they know the greatest secret and won’t tell a soul. There is a beautiful tower at the entrance of the old town, my friend and I mocked how all beautiful architecture has some poster or sign on it and this is no exception. Just past the tower to the right is a lookout where you get an amazing view of the town, which makes this busy city seem peaceful.
♦ The old town is beautiful it has so much character and a lot of colors just saturating the city, a nice surprise. I love when frozen cities have the most color almost to combat the gloom from the cold. In addition to the colors these buildings had amazing details carved into the walls and roofs with beautiful lines, these characteristics which free you from the modern stigma that surrounds everything else. We found an astronomical clock on the outside of an old house that touched on the history of Poland. The first exact maps of the moon were created by a polish man in the 1650’s. It’s the little things. Smack dab in the middle of the old town was an ice rink and decorations all around. If you walk around for a while you’ll find giant windows to look in and watch people make handmade lollipops molding and twisting the cooling sugar.. As if the city didn’t bring you back in time enough, that was a huge treat.
♦ Getting out of the old town there is a memorial, the only thing guarded 24/7 in this town, it is for the fallen soldiers and there is always two soldiers and a fire pit guarding the front, we didn’t walk inside but if I could go back I would, it seemed so peaceful. We also passed an oddly shaped building my friend told me it was against the law to take photos of it. So of course I snapped one.
♦ Warsaw is a huge city so it is divided in 13 sections and then they even divide themselves into even more sections within those sections and each subsection prides themselves in their organizations, it is neat. There is a river that divides part of Warsaw from the main city centre, I like it over the river, it’s quiet. There are two churches that can be seen from the other side, they are fantastic and just in walking distance from a grand mall and a park. They contrast so much in architecture but both radiate so much character. One very colorful and more with more traditional Spanish influence. The more traditional was so nice inside, the ground was different types of beautiful pieces of marble, in designs across the floor. Stained glass windows to the ceiling and prayer corners all around, even some very old confessionals. I could only go inside of one of the two churches because the one photographed blow was closed to visitors but outside were these giant metal bells with cracks all along them. Walking to see them both was worth it and perked up the rather gloomy day.
♦ Poland also has a really fun night life, but bring your heels and best outfit. The women here are hot and ready to get all dolled up for the night, I myself am pretty tall but these ladies towered over me in their stilettos. The bar we went to was pretty nice it had two floors with two different moods, we had an amazing bartender who placed in the top bartender competition and had a personal menu of fantastic drinks. After a few, it seemed like a show and was so entertaining.. plus he was sweet as can be. I wouldn’t be nervous about going out in Poland although it seems like Polish people drink their fair share they also always stand up for the victim. My friend told me this and I saw it first hand. Everyone I met in Poland was super sweet and open, my moms best friend is also polish!
♦ Some other random facts about Poland. In the main city all of the over passes have castle like pillars holding up the bridges. No one can drive in Poland, I took a bla bla car to Warsaw from Berlin and the guy was driving directly over the middle line for the entire time. He claimed it was normal in foggy weather but this didn’t keep me from clenching my seat that much tighter. After an amazing week I was headed to the airport out side of the city that budget airlines fly into, on our way a car side swiped us. Turns out the guy who side swiped us was a famous Polish actor named Miroslaw Zbrojewicz, I swear I did not just make that up. His name is Grucha in his most famous role. He was very sweet and gave us all the information to get on our way quickly. Of course we called my friends parents on the way home to spill the news and quickly passed the info along to my moms best friend too! On out way out of the city we passed a huge stadium lit up in different colors all around, very neat. It had a giant ad for gatorade on the side, which made me die inside a little. That is a major down fall of Europe, no gatorade! Just powerade. It is very tough if you are addicted to the light blue flavor like myself. Polish food did make up for it in the long run.
What to eat
♦ I was lucky to stay with a friend and her grandma cooked us the most amazing things. Like polish pancakes for breakfast with apples right in the center they were fried and they were so delicious with powdered sugar on top you could tell it was made with love. She even packed me some along with chocolate covered blueberries for the plane. Don’t you love grandmas. We also ate at a place called Mr. Pancake had a huge triple stack with sprinkles, bananas and apple sauce on top but it was called the American Pie. Pancakes are far from Poland’s specialty. There was so much good food. I ate my weight in the best pickles with peppers and onions, I have ever had. One night her mom cooked us pig necks and that was the hands down best meal. The meat was so soft and fall off the bone. We also ate these potato balls you cook over oil. Then another night, we had chicken cutlets that were breaded with a beet puree on top and cold slaw from the small store close by where you can also buy tiny glass pipes for 10 cents. We sipped caramel tea with melt in your mouth cookies for the night cap and drank black currant liquor when we went out. It is so sweet and so good, add some sprite and it’s perfect. They also make a juice that is very good with almost the same flavor. We bought so many snacks at the store like ketchup Cheetos and chocolate bars with cream nougat inside. I missed out on a polish specialty called a pierogi, they are delicious dumplings. Good thing is I know I will be back someday soon and I will try them!
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