We wake up and fortunately our damp clothes from yesterday afternoon are on the way to becoming less damp. As we leave the room to head downstairs for breakfast we find wedged between the handle and the door a copy of The Guardian.
When we’d checked into the room we’d been asked if we wanted a morning paper, and which paper we wanted. We had said the Gruaniad, but as our first morning was a Sunday (and so no paper published) we’d sort of forgotten about this benefit of booking a Business room. The paper is an unwieldy thing, though, having been printed – presumably after receiving an electronic copy – onto A3 and stapled in the top left corner. However, the best thing about the printing onto A3 is the enlarged G2 section which now appears to have much larger 14 point fonts – although disappointingly this doesn’t make the crossword any easier.
The forecast for today is not good again and so we strap our (now dry) jackets to the bottom of the camera rucksack. We’re trying not to feel too disappointed about the weather, but as we check the forecast for the coming days in Krakov, Bratislava and finally Budapest we find that rain features quite heavily in the predictions. Annoyingly the best days for sun/dry seem to be our travelling days and it looks like Sziget is going to be thundery once more (we had thunder storms in 2007). Still, we’re not going to let the weather get in the way of our plans and we head out.
Our plan today is to get our walking done and explore the Old Town while the weather is good, and shelter later as we need to when the showers are forecast to hit. We get outside and the weather is glorious so we take a stroll through the park towards the Old Town. As we walk down the central avenue in the park we can tell that something is going on. There are light metal barriers in the area around the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the plaza area in front of it is clear apart from rows of chairs to one side. Walking along we see the TV crews out again and that wreaths are being delivered and laid against the barriers at the back of the cornered-off area. Today is the 1st August – the 67th Anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising, and a ceremony similar to Remembrance Sunday is currently being prepared.
We spend some time looking at the wreaths that have arrived, and watch various scout troops march towards the area in their uniform. A few veterans have started to arrive, proudly wearing their medals and armbands and accompanied by their families. There is a quick change of guard as a group of three soldiers march up from the Palace to replace those standing at the Tomb. It’s hard to tell what time the event will begin. We remember that the Uprising officially began at 5pm, but as it’s just passed 11am now we doubt the ceremony will be that late. We assume it will be a noon ceremony and from the staging being set up to one side on the square we suspect a concert will take place later.
We decide to walk on, rather than wait to watch the ceremony, but as today is the anniversary of the start of the Uprising signs of the commemorations are everywhere. We stop at a few points in the city where we find signs that identify places where Polish men and women died during the Uprising. There are bronzed plaques on the wall, and these are accompanied by small stickers with a translation noting how many people died at each location, and on which day during the war. At many of these sites red candles or flowers have been placed. It’s a truly amazing feeling to be walking through somewhere where the history is marked out all around you.
We walk around the Old Town and it is very pretty, especially in the lovely bright sun that has come out today. It was rebuilt in such precise detail that it was one of the first places noted by UNESCO on its World Heritage List. Walking around you cannot tell, unless you know, that these buildings are only 40 years old and aren’t in fact ‘old’ in the way that an Old Town would normally be. The only way to tell between the old and the new is not in the apparent age of the building, but by whether it looks dilapidated or not. Those in disrepair seem to be the original buildings, rather than those that look old in style.
One of the things that we were warned about before visiting Warsaw was to expect a city that was very dull and grey with monotonous architecture. We’re pleased to find that we haven’t found this. The Old Town and New Town areas where we spent the majority of our time are as architecturally beautiful as anything you would find elsewhere, in fact perhaps even more so because of the recent reconstruction. It is true, however, that the rest of the city is a bit of an architectural nightmare. After the Nazi retreat and destruction of the city, so much was destroyed that they had to rebuild almost the entire place – and fast. Large numbers of Communist-era prefab apartment blocks survive, and it’s only really in the new ‘financial district’ that these have begun to be replaced with more modern structures. They’re still effectively apartment blocks, but they’re airy glass structures rather than concrete. The city, also, appears to have lost any sense of urban structure. Although the Old Town and Nowy Swiat act as a tourist centre, the rest of the city lacks a true CBD. Even in the financial district, large bank and business buildings stand next to apartment blocks. It’s an strange experience to look out of your hotel window into somebody’s flat.
We wander through the Old Town and into the New Town square. This area, which last night had been so busy after the fountain display, is deserted. Walking down to the fountain park we are quite taken aback by the proximity of a major 3-lane ring road. Last night one entire direction had been closed to traffic here for the run, and now we get a real sense of the amount of traffic. We walk around the fountains, and look back up the hill at the Castle. It’s an imposing and effective defensive position – high on the cliff, and bordered by the river. Under the castle are gardens where a man has built scaffolding just so he can trim the top of the hedges.
We walk around the edge of the gardens, and find a gate declaring ‘Tourists Welcome!’ We walk inside to find ourselves in the arcades beneath the castle. A huge vaulted ceiling arches overhead, and the floor is paved with wooden tiles. Originally used as a barracks, and later as stables, the arcades have undergone extensive archaeological surveys to restore them. The wooden tiles were originally installed on the orders of the king – his rooms were just upstairs, and he could hear the soldiers and horses clomping about on the original stone flags. We walk up a dimly lit passage before meeting a metal gate and turning to go back down, but next door is a sign pointing to an exhibition. A series of information boards show the history of the castle, and a small photography exhibition gives an overview of the excavations and renovation.
Leaving the exhibition, we follow signs to the exit and find ourselves inside the castle itself. A cafe is to one side of us, and set of carpeted stairs go up the other. We look at the cafe menu but opt against stopping here for lunch – once again the meals are too large for a ‘lunch’. Don’t the Poles eat sandwiches?
We briefly entered the castle courtyard earlier in the morning, but decided against actually ‘visiting’ the castle – neither of us are that fussed about paying to look at a load of gold furniture and flowery wallpaper. We see enough of that in Cairo. Now, though, we opt to take a look upstairs. After all, we’ve found ourselves in the castle and it would be silly to ignore it. But, before we make it past the third step, and security guard gives us a knowing smile and politely suggests we might get some tickets if we want to look around. We smile back, and suggest we’ll just head out instead. After all, it’s a glorious day and we don’t really want to spend it inside.
We wander back down Nowy Swiet looking for somewhere to eat. Most of the cafes only serve full meals, but after a dozen-or-so rejections we find a cafe that serves sandwiches. Here we have our first run-in with a wasp. Wasps don’t appear to exist in Egypt, and so it’s a bit of a shame to be reminded of them little things. Our plan of creating a wasp-lure with a small amount of fizzy drink in a tall glass fails, and we eat our lunch while wafting it away.
Further down the road we begin to take notice of the street numbers. We’re determined to find the ‘Secret Garden’ we’ve read about and, just as the guidebook says, behind the unassuming gate to number 22 we find a courtyard containing a couple of dozen dive bars. Most are shut – it’s only 3pm – but others, including a trendy sushi bar, are already serving. It’s a great little hideaway and, if our hotel was closer, we’d certainly come back in the evening for a drink. We’ll just leave it to the students and the artists, many of whom we’re sure are a complete nuisance to the people whose apartments overlook the courtyard.
It’s mid-afternoon and our legs are really starting to feel it now; since we’ve started this trip we’ve only used transport to get between countries – we’ve walked everywhere else! We think we’re particularly feeling it here because the city (or the areas of the city that we are interested in) are really quite spread out. The Old Town is such a small area that there’s only one hotel there and so although our hotel is quite close to some things, it is a distance to get around everything we want to see. We’ve got a range of maps at our disposal for this trip and not one of them seems to have a scale. Using our Google map that we printed for directions to the hotel we work out that each grid on our Warsaw street map is about 1km (and we then compare this to our Berlin map where we think each grid square is about 300m!). We reckon we have easily been walking 10km a day here in Warsaw, and so it’s high time we give our legs a break.
With this in mind we wander north again along Nowy Swiet, half looking for a cafe for a coffee or ice cream (you’ve got to have ice cream on holiday!) but when we arrive at BrowArmia we realise that actually we’re not that hungry, but do deserve a rest so head back to the hotel. We know we should make the most of the great weather, but we have given it our best shot this morning. We also know we’ll go out again later, and so we can justify having a rest.
We only end up taking weight off our feet and legs, though, because when we’re back at the hotel we decide that we want to take advantage of the swimming pool and so head downstairs. It’s glorious to be floating around and in water again. We both swim a few lengths, then take a visit to the sauna and jacuzzi before swimming a few more lengths. The water is cool but not cold, and it’s so refreshing to be in it.
We take advantage of the free WiFi in the hotel on two counts this afternoon. The first is to download the most recent Torchwood, and the second is to Skype ‘sayno’ who listeners of our radio show might recognise, as she’s after some advice before she joins us in Egypt in September. We never know when we’re going to have good internet access (or internet at all!) and so it’s good to take advantage of a good connection. For blogging we have got some new software which means we can write and format the blog off-line and then later upload it when we have internet connection.
We head out around 6.30pm and walk through the park again. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is now overflowing with wreaths and people are stopping to see them and take photos. The chairs for the ceremony earlier have been cleared away and they are sound-checking on the stage they built this morning. A poster tells us that something will be on from 8–11pm so we make a note to walk back this way later.
We head to the second stage we saw being constructed earlier today, on the edge of the Old Town in front of the Castle. The concert is in full swing when we arrive. At first we just assume that it’s another concert to mark the Uprising, but we then figure out that actually it’s a benefit concert for the Fire Service. We figure this out because firstly there is a fire safety stall and a couple of fire engines around (one of which has all the gear out for kids to see!) and the second clue is that on the banner about the stage is the same word as there is on the back of the firemen’s uniforms. On stage there are six singers belting out Polski Polska to the great enjoyment of the crowd. The song ends and it turns out to be their last one and so it is followed by a not-so-brief presentation and thank-you to all the singers and officials in the audience. Once everyone has had their name read out, applauded and given a flower (a single red or white rose) a final round of Polski Poska is sung. At the end of the concert two marching bands that have been sat in the audience jump up and start to play and march around the square.
We enjoy the music, but now it’s time to start thinking about food (and drink!). As we walk back towards the restaurant area, we begin to see lots of nuns and monks. A particularly memorable scene is of standing behind two monks watching a group of street-performers breakdancing. In the photo below you can just about make out the legs of a guy doing a headspin.
BrowArmia had good beer, but we figure it is cheating to go back to the same place and so we try another recommendation from the In Your Pocket guide. It’s the Kultura Kino, a cafe/restaurant below the arts cinema, and we choose a table outside to enjoy the nice weather. It’s a good spot for people-watching, and we see a good number of people in WP museum t-shirts commemorating the uprising, and also a few people dressed up in WW2-era uniforms. Some have pin badges on, or red and white ribbons, and there’s a generally positive and happy atmosphere on the street.
The waiter is friendly and attentive, and he’s good at recommending dishes although it does make us feel a little under pressure to order his recommendations. The food doesn’t quite live up to the glowing review in the guidebook, which is a bit disappointing, but it is somewhat redeemed by two chocolate-based desserts we pick.
Our final walk back to the hotel goes via the stage near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier where there is a choir on stage singing patriotic songs (in Polish). We’re handed a songbook as we arrive, and by looking over other people’s shoulders are able to work out the page we are on.
We do our best to sing along, but we’re not really up to scratch. After buying a souvenir flag (the red and white flag of Poland with the WP logo in the centre) we walk back towards the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
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