Warsaw

Friday I left sunny and warm Greece and headed for foggy and chilly Poland (seriously, it was like a 20 degree temperature change). I'll be working in Gdansk for the next three weeks, but I wanted to see as much as Poland as I could, so I stopped in Warsaw for the weekend. Originally, I was hoping to take a train from Warsaw to Auschwitz to visit an old concentration camp turned museum. However, I had a hard time communicating what I wanted at the train station, so I x'ed that idea and decided to see what the city of Warsaw had to offer.

Across from my hotel was the Palace of Culture and Science, constructed according to Stalin's instructions back in the day. It is the tallest building in Poland and is home to the Museum of Technology and Art. I tried to go visit, but apparently this building is home to many things, including a theatre and restaurant and much more and I couldn't find the right entrance for the museum, so I skipped that.

Saturday, I decided to walk to Old Town. Old Town is a section of Warsaw that was heavily bombed/destroyed in World War II. After the world, the people worked to recreate the old area, rebuilding the city based on prewar pictures and paintings. I stepped outside my hotel on Saturday wearing only a sweater. I had looked up the weather before leaving and it said 50 degrees, which I reasoned isn't that cold. I walked around for maybe 10 minutes before returning to the hotel to grab my coat and then go across the street to the mall to buy a pair of gloves. Guess my skin's not so tough after all.


Before leaving the hotel, I had asked the concierge for directions to get to Old Town. His directions? Walk straight until you get to the palm tree, then turn left. Turns out, there really is a palm tree in Poland. I stopped at an Italian restaurant on the road to Old Town for a quick lunch. I ate 8 pieces of pizza by myself and I regret nothing. I found Old Town no problem and spent the better part of the day wandering in and out of churches and up and down streets, trying to see everything, but not forget the direction I came from.




I saw the tomb for the unknown soldier. The tomb is guarded by soldiers and I totally lucked out. I just happened to stumble upon this right as the changing of the guards was taking place. In fact, I kind of followed the soldiers to the tomb. This tomb is at the entrance to a park, which would have been exceptionally pretty if it hadn't been winter and the trees hadn't been bare. I tried to take some creative/pretty shots anyway.


In Old Town Square, there is a statue of Zygmunt. It's the second oldest monument in Poland and a popular meeting spot for the locals. Near the statue, there was a guy playing a grand piano. I'm kind of confused as to how he got the piano there, but I thoroughly enjoyed his playing, so I'm not complaining. Also near the square is the Royal Castle. You can take tours of it, but I got there too late, so I decided to go the next day. Turns out admission is free on Sunday, so I guess it worked out pretty good for me!



After walking around for four hours, I headed back to the hotel, stopping to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe of Warsaw. Nothing like getting your Americanized food fix.


Sunday, I headed back to Old Town to tour the Royal Castle. They let you take pictures, which actually kind of surprised me. However, you had to turn your flash off. My battery started running low and I made the mistake of turning my camera off. Of course, when I turned it back on, the flash went off and I strongly scolded in Polish. I apologized profusely in English, but I don't think it did any good??





After the Royal Castle I found another section of Old Town that I hadn't discovered the day before. There were a lot of people out selling their wares. A lot of them were selling pictures and they were really pretty. If I'd had a way to get them home safely, I might have bought some, but alas, I only have so much trust in the airlines.




I stopped at a cafe for some hot chocolate and to write on postcards. I have no self control so I ordered a hot chocolate with caramel syrup and cheesecake. (Originally I was going to order toast, but he was out of toast, sooo? I tried.) Apparently I'm not as young and unhealthy as I used to be, because I couldn't handle all the sweets. I left there and headed to find some vegetables and salt. I found a Subway. Sadly, they did not have a 5-Zloty Footlong. Zloty is the Polish currency and is currently 0.36 of a dollar. That would have been one cheap sandwich, but these people knew how to account for the exchange rate.

After "detoxing," I headed to the airport to catch my flight to Gdansk. I haven't seen much of the city yet, but it seems like a nice place. Thursday, I head to Rome for the weekend. Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Much love!