European Extravaganza Days 1-3: Warsaw, Poland

Wwwwwwase3!

Haha. I’m currently on the train from Warsaw to Krakow, and I accidentally dropped Alex’s computer, caught it with my legs, and typed that. Success.

Anyways, yesterday marked day 2 of my European Extravaganza. We left London on Friday morning SUPER early (flight departed 6:36 am), which required us leaving our flats at 3:30 am. Boo. We made it to Warsaw around ten, caught a cab to our hotel, tried to check-in early but were denied, and then had lunch. We went to a place called ‘Polski Pub’ that served us a set-menu lunch. It was absolutely delicious. It was mango (or orange? Or Tang?) juice, some kind of tasty vegetable soup, bright yellow rice, salad, and fish cooked really weirdly  (but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t delicious). It reminded me a lot of a home-cooked dinner, which was nice. It was also super cheap, costing only 14pln (3.3 pln= $1, so basically divide any pln price by 3 for the dollar value – woo!). 

After lunch we got some coffee at this really adorable café next to our hotel that was called greencoffee. There were comfy couches everywhere and people hanging out. The only thing that sucked was that the guy that served us basically hated us. Not sure if this was because we only spoke English or because we were American or just because he was in a bad mood, but he was incredibly unfriendly. Boo.

After getting coffee, we checked into our hotel, took a much-needed 5-hour long nap (finals week + departing at 3am can leave you pretttyyy tired), and then went out to dinner. We ate at a restaurant next to our hotel that served Polish food, but had an English menu (and English-speaking wait staff). I had some kind of chicken in a tomato-based sauce, wrapped in a potato pancake, and topped with a mushroom sauce and mushrooms. It also came with cabbage and sauerkraut (as does everything thus far in Poland). It was really good, but really rich in flavor, so I couldn’t finish it all. I also tried a Polish beer (spelled something like Tzgzchi….) and it was really good and came in a funny-shaped little mug. Weeeee!

On Saturday we woke up early for breakfast in the hotel, then we got ready and set out to explore Warsaw. Our cab driver on the way to the hotel told us that we had to see the Old Town, so that is where we headed first. It was about a 30-minute walk from our hotel, but we were able to enjoy some sights on the way, including St. Anne’s church, which has a beautiful view of the city from it’s viewing platform. The really cool thing about Warsaw is that it was mostly destroyed in World War II when it was occupied by Nazi Germany. They rebuilt it afterwards (mostly between the 50s and the 80s), but they did so according to the architecture that had existed in the pre-war years. Therefore, it looks like an old city, but renovated. It was really cute and beautiful.

One thing that surprised us was that we managed to stumble upon a festival while we walked to the Old Town. We couldn’t quite figure out what it was, as all of the signs were in Polish, but we do know that it had something to do with celebrating Poland and their connection with the European Union. Everyone was wearing blue and gold (EU colors) and there were lots of tents, live music, and other random things (people riding giant bikes, stilt walkers, etc.). We sat outside to enjoy this for awhile and just watch everything happen. Then we ate lunch at a restaurant called the Sphinx which was Egyptian-themed and had good food. Wo0t.

We eventually managed to reach the Old Town, which was really cute and exactly how you would picture a little Polish town. It had cobblestone sidewalks, narrow streets, outdoor cafes, and town squares. From there, we headed towards Pawiak, an old Gestapo jail. When Warsaw was occupied by the Nazis, there was a huge Jewish ghetto (somewhere in the vicinity of 200 acres, though I can’t remember the exact figure). Many of these Jews died of starvation in the ghettos, and those that weren’t were sent off to a concentration camp to be murdered. Those who fought against the Nazis were sent to Pawiak prison to be killed. The prison itself was destroyed in WWII by bombs, but part of its outer walls still remain along with one section that has been turned into a museum. We arrived after the museum had closed, but we were still able to view the memorials and the exterior of the complex. Near the Pawiak prison was also a marker that showed where the original walls of the ghetto existed from 1940-1943.

Once we finished at the Prison, we were exhausted from a long day of exploring, and we headed back to our hotel to relax for a little bit before dinner. When we got there, I decided to call down to Reception to request another pillow, which resulted in my getting into a language-barrier filled conversation with the cleaning lady who only knew Polish. Lots of shouting and gesturing ensued, before she finally figured out that I wanted an entire pillow, and not just a pillowcase. Oy vey. It’s amazing what a difference language makes. (Another example: whenever I ordered water the server would ask me “do you want glass?” to which I would respond “no, that’s okay.” When they returned with a bottled of water and a glass, I was always confused, but didn’t really care, because I had kindof wanted a glass anyways. As it turns out (and I finally figured out after the fifth or so restaurant), they were asking me if I wanted gas, as in, if I wanted still or sparkling water.  Whoops.)

After relaxing, figuring out our itinerary for Sunday (when our trains leave, when we had to leave the hotel, how to get to the station, etc.) we went out for dinner at a Pierrogeria near our hotel. Alex had the mixed meat pierogies and I had cheddar, broccoli, and mozzarella with tomato sauce to dip in. I must say, I love pierogies, but the pierogies here make me love them even more. Yum.

And now, I am sitting on a train on the way to Krakow, the second stop on our journey. We will be there for two nights, and hopefully will be able to get to see some of the city, as well as the remains of Auschwitz concentration camp.