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Warsaw Unpacked
Jul. 20th, 2014 03:00 pmAs part of my policy of visitng a country I've never visited each year, I visited coutry I've never visited. This time it was Poland's turn. Went for Warsaw because I can fly there (and get some juicy tier points for all the good they do me - bronze isn't worth much).
Arrived, planning to get a train into town. Last train had gone. So had the last bus. Walked back to the taxi rank, and found that I need to be extremely pushy to get a taxi. Still, was only 7 quid or so to get to the hotel. Looked out of the 26th floor window. Fantastic view! But it turns out only at night. Druing the day it's all a bit grey and soviet, with the dominating Palace of Culture and Science taking up the middle ground. Honestly, that thing is huge! Huge enough to contain a theatre, a museum, a cinema and the turist information office. So I went there first. Picked up a map and a "Top 10" guidebook, although neither was par4ticiularly useful for saying where things were or how to get there.
Had a look in the science and technology musem. Some nice cars and things. Went to the 30th floor to see the view. Then bought a metro ticket and went to the old town.
The Old Town is actually a post WW2 rebuild of a town that was flattened in the war and after the Polish uprising. Actually bits of it date back only to the 1980's but are very much based on the original spec. It's a nice area although ever so touristy. Lots of restaurants, as long as you like Pizza and Pasta. Finding something more traditionally polish is harder to find. So I strolled around a bit, saw the old walls, and visited the multimedia fountain, except it's just a fountain by day. Decided to return in the evening.
Had a look at the palace. Blissfully air conditioned! It's a royal palace. Polish kings seemed decidedly unimpressive. The royal bed was so small I first assumed it was a large sofa. The portraits of one of the kings looked more like Rowan Atkinson.
Looked for the Copernicus Observatory. Took a while to get there because I had to navigate a complex set of steps and passages to get from the bridge to the road underneath. Still, I managed. Then found that I couldn't buy a ticket because they were full. Oh well. Planetarium was open but I missed the start of one show so I had to wait around for the next. Nice little show about colonising Mars and the risks of being an astronaut. Tron Leacy soundtrack accompanied part 1.
Went back to the hotel for a while to chill out, then returned to town to hunt down some Dumplings as recommended by a friend. Warsaw Old Town was extrememly crowded and the first couple of places had no space. But I founbd a nice traditional looking place, and had fried dumplings and a Żywiec. Then it was getting dark so I thought I'd see the fountain again.
Turns out it was a much bigger deal than I sexpected. A huge crown had already formed. I picked a place on a hill where I got to sit down and as it turned out my timing was excellent. The show started in 10 minutes. Started off with music and projecting pics onto the fountain. Then there was music and latser effects and funky pulsating ligh effects in blue purple geen and red, and a projection ofa 3D head. More music, mostly from Gladiator soundtrack, video of people dancing. Just show. No story. Very pretty.
I was entertained!
So, well worth a visit. Perhaps another half day would have been nice. Poland has a lot of charm and fine dumplings.
Arrived, planning to get a train into town. Last train had gone. So had the last bus. Walked back to the taxi rank, and found that I need to be extremely pushy to get a taxi. Still, was only 7 quid or so to get to the hotel. Looked out of the 26th floor window. Fantastic view! But it turns out only at night. Druing the day it's all a bit grey and soviet, with the dominating Palace of Culture and Science taking up the middle ground. Honestly, that thing is huge! Huge enough to contain a theatre, a museum, a cinema and the turist information office. So I went there first. Picked up a map and a "Top 10" guidebook, although neither was par4ticiularly useful for saying where things were or how to get there.
Had a look in the science and technology musem. Some nice cars and things. Went to the 30th floor to see the view. Then bought a metro ticket and went to the old town.
The Old Town is actually a post WW2 rebuild of a town that was flattened in the war and after the Polish uprising. Actually bits of it date back only to the 1980's but are very much based on the original spec. It's a nice area although ever so touristy. Lots of restaurants, as long as you like Pizza and Pasta. Finding something more traditionally polish is harder to find. So I strolled around a bit, saw the old walls, and visited the multimedia fountain, except it's just a fountain by day. Decided to return in the evening.
Had a look at the palace. Blissfully air conditioned! It's a royal palace. Polish kings seemed decidedly unimpressive. The royal bed was so small I first assumed it was a large sofa. The portraits of one of the kings looked more like Rowan Atkinson.
Looked for the Copernicus Observatory. Took a while to get there because I had to navigate a complex set of steps and passages to get from the bridge to the road underneath. Still, I managed. Then found that I couldn't buy a ticket because they were full. Oh well. Planetarium was open but I missed the start of one show so I had to wait around for the next. Nice little show about colonising Mars and the risks of being an astronaut. Tron Leacy soundtrack accompanied part 1.
Went back to the hotel for a while to chill out, then returned to town to hunt down some Dumplings as recommended by a friend. Warsaw Old Town was extrememly crowded and the first couple of places had no space. But I founbd a nice traditional looking place, and had fried dumplings and a Żywiec. Then it was getting dark so I thought I'd see the fountain again.
Turns out it was a much bigger deal than I sexpected. A huge crown had already formed. I picked a place on a hill where I got to sit down and as it turned out my timing was excellent. The show started in 10 minutes. Started off with music and projecting pics onto the fountain. Then there was music and latser effects and funky pulsating ligh effects in blue purple geen and red, and a projection ofa 3D head. More music, mostly from Gladiator soundtrack, video of people dancing. Just show. No story. Very pretty.
I was entertained!
So, well worth a visit. Perhaps another half day would have been nice. Poland has a lot of charm and fine dumplings.
