maggielundholm: December 2007

At 12.20 we left the bus station in Gothenburg to go to Säve Airport. “We” includes: Anna, Emilio, Lisa, Dani M, Dani L, Paco and I. Anna was born in Poland but came to Sweden when she was three. She was therefore our private guide.

We landed at Frederic Chopin’s airport at 16 pm and we took a bus to the centre. We had made a reservation at Helvetia Hostel. We all shared a room with eight beds. I’m surprised how smooth the “living together” went. After making our beds we went out to have dinner. We passed a “Pierogie”-place but it was full. We went back on Saturday to have lunch. The girl at the hostel had recommended the "pierogies" at this place but we were not impressed, not even Anna who loves "pierogies". We ended up at a pub/restaurant where we had a good dinner. First we had mixed "pierogies" and then a soup called Zurek served in a big bread. It was delicious. When we got the check we realized they had added “a service charge” of 50 zlotys. We got quite annoyed and asked the waitress for an explanation. She told us that there is a service charge of 50 zlotys when the check exceeds 500 zlotys. We thought they were trying to fool us but paid the extra 50 zlotys and went on with a sour look on our faces. The day after we heard from another source that this is what they do in Poland.

We continued and ended up at "Klubo Kawiarnia", they say it’s a place for only members but you can get in by paying 20 zlotys. We girls got in for free but the boys had to pay. It was a really cool place with a communistic touch. I thought it was going to be a perfect night but when the place was getting more and more crowded and the DJ played awful music I changed my mind, the place was no longer that cool. Around 2 am we moved on to get some food (again). Anna asked a couple of Polish guys in the street where we could find some food and they recommended a Polish place around the corner. When we got there it was like stepping in to a fast food place of the 50’s, in Poland. There was an old waiter and two mid-aged tired waitresses behind a counter. They served old-fashioned traditional food like: ham, herring, tartar, egg etc. The place was crowded of people, but the funny thing was that they were not eating, but drinking Vodka. We ordered ham and got a plate with some ham, tomato slices, lingonberry jam and horseradish cream and of course, Vodka. It was like the food you get at your grandmas house. We got to the hostel about 3 am.

On Saturday morning we got up around 9:30, we had ordered breakfast and they only served it until 10. That was good because otherwise I could have stayed in bed for another couple of hours. After some food and a shower I was fit again and we went out to explore the city. We were not so lucky with the weather, it was foggy, humid, cold and grey. Just as you can imagine Poland. We saw the Palace of Culture and visited a market place in the center. Paco wanted to buy a scarf, I tried to haggle 5 zlotys but I didn’t manage. We paid full price, 30 zlotys. For lunch we had pierogies at the Pierogie-place I told you about before. When we got out after lunch it was already getting dark. Lisa, Dani, Paco and I took a tram up north to visit a museum but when we got there it was closed. We walked around for a bit and passed the Palace of the Pope, John Paul II. We took the bus back to the hostel. I passed a supermarket to buy some Zubrowka (vodka with Bison grass) and Krupnik (herb liqueur) to bring back to Sweden. We rested for an hour and then the hostel served Polish beer in the common room. We left the hostel very late but we had good recommendations about where we could dine. We went to the coolest restaurant in Warsaw (Piwna Kompania), a place where they served tons of food. In the entrance they had an old “Pilsner Urquell” truck from the 50’s parked. Their specialty is “Golonka”, a 1,3 kilo of grilled knuckles. Their other specialty is that that they serve MUCH of everything. The beers were served in 1,1 liter glasses. People did not drink wine with the food, but Vodka. We also ordered vodka because that was the only way to digest that amount of food. The restaurant had a band that circled around and played wonderful, happy Polish music. People stood up and danced, it was impossible to sit still. I absolutely recommend this place. It was not expensive at all; we paid 73 zlotys (less than 20 euros) each. After dinner we went on to a student place but it was all dead so we went on to a patio (not far from the hostel) where we found a very cool place. Good music, cheap drinks, wonderful atmosphere. At 5.15 I went back to the hostel but Anna, Emilio, Dani L and Paco went on in the Polish night.

Sunday morning: I had only slept 3,5 hours when I decided to go up. I wanted to see some more of the city but most of all the Uprising Museum of Warsaw. Dani M and Lisa woke up and joined me. We had breakfast at a coffee place nearby and then we took the bus to the museum. We got there around 12.30 and we left at 16.00. We rented headphones and walked around in this amazing museum and listened to the history of Warsaw during the Second World War. It was very interesting but after three hours of active listening we were fed up with information. We took a bus back to the old town and found the rest of the group at a restaurant. They were very tired, especially my Pakko-Raffa. We had more zurek and pierogie and a cup of tea to warm up. It was freezing cold.

After a few minutes of resting at the hostel we went out to look for a bar where Anna and Emilio had went to listen to a concert. On our way we passed the most interesting book café. I just love book cafés. We ordered coffee, tea and cake and browsing some books. Around 11 pm we went back to the hostel to pack our things.

Monday morning at 5 am, rise and shine. The taxi came to pick us up at 5.30 am and took us back to the airport. Our flight left at 7.45 am. After an hour and half in the air we landed at Säve airport, very tired. Everybody had to go back to work except Pakko and I. I had a day off and I spent a great deal of the day sleeping and doing the laundry.

It has been a perfect weekend trip. I can really recommend Warsaw but I think it is better to go in Spring, Summer or early Fall. A big part of the city is from the communistic era and is very very grey. The old town however is sparkling of colors. The history of the town is very sad. About 85% of the city was demolished by the Nazis during the Second World War. There are no tracks of this time époque, the Polish have rebuilt the whole old town as it looked like before the war. Amazing!!!

GO THERE!!!