mtcodex

The following is a brief summary of what Steve and I did when we went to Warsaw earlier this week. If you’re more into the photos then check out my Warsaw album on flickr.

Day One

Last time Steve and I hit Eastern Europe, we made a long coach journey up to Stansted in the evening, didn’t sleep at all, got an early flight to Bratislava where we found the cheapest apartment going, and we still had a good time.

This time, in Warsaw, things are slightly different. So if you’ll allow me to sum up, then sit back and relax to the piano playing here in the bar at the Polonia (No, not polonium) Palace Hotel.

We left for Luton right after Church on Sunday evening, found our Hotel in Luton where we left the car. Headed out to Warsaw early next morning on Queasy Jet, got the Bus to the street our hotel was on and checked in. Day one was pretty tiring. We started out with lunch at a traditional Polish restauracja called Dekanta. Here lunch consisted of a large sum of pork with pickled cabbage and dumplings. Steve even went for dessert – Hot cherries with ice cream.

After all that food and one more beer than we meant to order from the waiter (we thought he said ‘bill’) we walked back to the hotel. After sleeping off lunch we walked on down to the old town to explore and got some overrated food at the Jazz Bistro, which had very cool decor – a cobbled floor with uplit stone pillars. On the wander back we stopped for dessert at one of the many café / patisseries. Once back I had a shower and a shave, then we went down to the bar. Which brings me back to where I started.

Day Two

Join me back at the bar, piano playing, people bustling and cosmopolitan Warsaw generally happening – or something. We got our bout of culture in today. After the worlds most amazing breakfast TM, maybe more on that tomorrow, we headed out to the other side of the river. On the way we stopped at the peoples gallery where we enjoyed a photography exhibition of Warsaw around the 30’s and some of the art on offer.

Then to the market, or lack of market at the stadium. It was dire so we didn’t stop. Then for a wander through the Praga district in the direction of a park that had bears, but before we got there we stopped at an Americanized mall for lunch and tasty ice cream. Finally we made it to the ‘bear park’. No bears. So we didn’t stop there too long but walked over the river and back into the old town where we found a micro-brewery that kept us occupied for a couple of hours.

On the way back to the hotel we toyed with the idea of eating at the Strauss restaurant at the hotel. Once back that became a certainty so we had out best nosh of the trip. The service was first class and the food was fantastic. We actually went all out and got a three course meal. I had beef with honey and mustard dressing and salad for starters, veal ravioli for main, and a cheese selection for dessert. A yummy Rioja, can’t remember which vineyard, helped it all go down.

Steve just about passed in our room from exhaustion after that and I went down to the bar for some agua and to write this entry before bed.

Day Three

Sadly no more listening to the piano at the bar, I’m at the departure gate waiting to go home. Our last day was more sombre than the other two, but first let me get breakfast out the way! If you can’t read the diagram, on offer at the buffet was the following – cheeses, meats, condiments of every kind, juice, champagne, vodka, caviar, an omlette bar, cakes, pastries, fresh fruit salads, hot meats, fish, bread, toast, cereals, yoghurts and a waffle bar. Basically everything.

After getting our fair share of all of that we checked out and didn’t get far in the direction of the old town before we stopped for coffee. Then a bit of a photographic walk before heading to a prison/museum where lots of people that rebelled against the Nazi occupation where held and executed. Then off to the Warsaw Uprising Museum. This was excellent and blended technology, media and artifacts brilliantly. The audio guides really helped stick the story together to both understand what you were looking at and what happened during the uprising.

Finally a fairly long walk in search of food, back to the hotel and to the airport. A pretty unpleasant flight back during which someone smoked in the toilet. Then navigating road works on the way back down the M1, M25 and finally M3 to Southampton where I got home a just after one a.m.