31. Warsaw, Poland Part 3
Day 3
The next morning, we had a leisurely breakfast in the apartment while we planned our Saturday activities. We had one of the nicest yoghurts ever, bought in the local Żabka supermarket.
Having been on our feet for six hours the day before, with the guided tour and the Pretenders gig, we felt like we needed a much more relaxed day today.
We used our 72-hour Jackdojade tickets to travel into Centrum by bus (by the way the tickets were amazing value at just over €8 each).
The clear blue skies were a beautiful backdrop to Warsaw's biggest tourist attraction, the Stalinist-style Palace of Culture and Science that still dominates the city centre skyline.
We hit the shops in the city centre for a few hours and Tricia found an outfit for an upcoming wedding, while I bought a new pair of walking boots. Eventually we decided we were hungry enough for lunch.
We decided to try out one of the sandwich shop suggestions the tour guide had listed on her very informative map. This was a Polish take on French bread pizza with lots of mushrooms and Polish cheese, topped with rocket - delicious and filling. As usual the portions in Poland were huge and we brought the leftovers back to the apartment.
We got the metro back instead of the bus just to try it out, and it was clean, efficient and modern.
Food and Drink
In the early evening, we headed out for a walk and dinner. Once again, the tour guide's map provided the inspiration for our restaurant choice.
We walked just 10 minutes to Goṣciniec restaurant. We ordered a shared starter of eight fried pierogi, where we were able to choose our own mixed selection. For main course, Tricia had a breaded pork escalope, served with potatoes and cucumber with dill, while I had chicken and spiced vegetable pancakes. It was safe to say we had fallen in love with traditional Polish cooking!
Afterwards we went for a stroll along Nowy Świat, filled with restaurants and bars, where there was a buzzing Saturday evening atmosphere. It was hard to believe that the buildings were all modern reconstructions.
Day 4
On Sunday morning we had breakfast in the apartment, packed our bags, cleaned the place up as per the usual HomeExchange agreement. We would both be heading in our separate directions in the late afternoon, but before that we headed to Warsaw's biggest tourist attraction, The Palace of Culture and Science.
It was opened in 1955 as a gift to Poland from the Soviet Union, after a build which only lasted three years, which is remarkable given the quality of the finish inside, with extensive marble surfaces.
It contains theatres, cinemas, concert halls, exhibition halls and most popular of all, a 360⁰ wraparound viewing terrace on the 30th floor with superb views across Warsaw.
The four photos below show the views from each of the four sides, with Polish architect Daniel Libeskind's award-winning curved apartment block, 192m tall, visible in the first photo.
The contrast between the post-war concrete buildings and the new modern skyscrapers in glass is very clear in the next photo.
A really good value and very tasty lunch followed in a self-service restaurant on the 6th floor. The restaurant wasn't really advertised and we just came across it. There didn't seem to be any other tourists dining in it. Another very filling, tasty and superb value Polish meal.
And that was it .... Tricia was heading home on a late night Ryanair flight, while I was getting a FlixBus to Kaunas. We were both departing from Warsaw West Bus Station, within 30 mins of one another in late afternoon. We set off back to the apartment to grab our bags.
Overall Impression
We loved our weekend in Warsaw. It was so good to have Tricia there, and to do things as a couple, having spent my first 10 days travelling on my own.
What amazed us about Warsaw are the huge attempts being made to recreate the city centre in a classic traditional style, with full streets looking like they have always been that way.
The new business and financial district with its skyscrapers shows what an economic powerhouse Warsaw is becoming. We saw practically no homelessness, begging or litter, but that has essentially been the case in every Polish city I have visited.
The number of designer outlets and luxurious brands all across the city show that there are certainly plenty of people with money about the place.
Warsaw shows all the signs of a city that is slowly shaking off its Communist past and is embracing its life in the EU.
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