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Published: August 13th 2011
Rynek Starego Miasta
Clay, Hannah, JamesWe eventually did make it back into Poland, and somehow arrived 3 hours early - we almost didn’t want to get off because we thought this couldn’t possibly be our stop yet! It was a bit of a mission finding a bus to get to the hostel – it seems no buses go from the train station to the city centre – odd. The good news is, Clay also managed to get to Warsaw from Riga despite going to bed about 3 hours before his flight!
We decided to have a drink at the hostel bar (with a 2 for 1 offer on, it would be rude not to) and we meet some Australians Kim and Ryan who also live in Europe. We planed to catch up with them for drinks later as we went out for dinner at a restaurant on Nowy Swat, enjoying the warm evening air, and the banter flying between the boys and the waitress.
We found a funky bar off Chemielna and decided we had to try and of the local Vodka. We saw the Bison Grass bottle behind the bar, which has been recommended to us, so got 3 shots of that. It
tasted terrible and found out later that it’s the only Polish vodka that you’re not meant to drink straight! Typical!
We found out later that it’s made by Bison’s peeing on the grass and they put that grass in the vodka – Hence you should have a mixer! Ewww!
We headed back to the hostel and found the others still having a drink there with some new friends: Matt, from England, and Marias, from Norway. Clay and James were quite tired, so went to bed while the others convinced me to head out with our international crew and hit the town of Warsaw!
We couldn’t find the place the had hostel recommended, so we asked some locals who took us to an underground club not too far away, where we ended up dancing until closing! The others wanted to continue going out, which I would have been up for, but I was meant to be sightseeing with James and Clay the next day so thought it was best I went to bed – after all I had now been up for 25 hours!
The next morning with minimal sleep, James & Clay had to sort out their
ticket to get to Ukraine, but it turns out that there was no train! So while James went off in search for a bus, coach, flying carpet... Clay and I started sightseeing around Warsaw.
The imposing Palace of Culture was right beside the main train station, and it turns out you can go up to the top! While we were waiting in line a Polish lady worked out we’d all save a lot of money by getting a group ticket (well at least I think thats what she was saying in Polish while we gave money to her!)
They had an exhibition on the ground floor that the rest of the group went into, but it was all in Polish so Clay and I sneaked off straight up the tower. From the top we got uninterrupted views see right across Warsaw, including the old town and the stadium they are currently building.
We then went for a walk up Krakowskie Predmiescie ‘The Royal Route’ to see various churches, a statue of Nicolas Copernicus, and the Namiestrikowski Palace.
We found a nice place in the sunshine for lunch and bumped into James as he was walking around (after
having success with their coach tickets).
We all headed into the old town – rebuilt after WWII with its multi-coloured buildings, and the Royal Castle: Zamek Krolewski. We wondered the narrows streets to Rynek Starego Miasta – the old town square surrounded by brightly coloured town houses, bustling cafes and a fountain in the middle. I could have stayed there for hours. We had a look in the Cathedral of St. John, and then on to the old city walls which lead through to the ‘new town’ beyond – which is anything but new!
We walked through to the market square (Rynek Nowego Miasta), where one of the pubs had picnic table styled seating that could rock like a large swing! Awesome! We kept walking through the old streets and then down into the gardens to walk to the Polish Military Museum to see the line up of real tanks and war planes etc. Unfortunately they had just closed for the evening, but could still see a number of the planes and stuff peering through the fence.
It was about time I need to head to the airport, so the boys walked me and all my stuff
to the bus stop for the airport. We said good bye as they are about to depart onwards to Ukraine and Chernobyl and I head back to London for the Royal Wedding! Woo!
and so ends a rather interesting, sometimes unsettling, but definitely exciting and memorable trip through some less-trodden paths around Eastern Europe. I have fallen in love with Poland and been re-humbled in the face of some seriously powerful organisations not to be reckoned with....
So whats next on the agenda?
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