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Poland 2008
24th May - 28th May 2008
Who went:
Me (Adam Evans)
Age: 25-26 (It was my birthday during the trip)
Job: Doctor
Andrew WIlliamson
Age: 26
Job: Lawyer
Kate McCan
Age: 26
Job: Speech and Language Therapist
Kathryn Campy
Age: 26
Job: Primary Teacher
Adam Woods
Age: 28
Job: Lawyer
Stacey Howard
Age: 26
Job: Store Manager
Day 1
We left from Durham-Tees Airport on the 24th to land in Warsaw at a very sociable early afternoon. After much irritance and general bickering at who was correct at finding the most accurate prediction for the weather on the BBC website, I am pleased to confirm that it was indeed cold and damp. This however did not cause dismay, we were pleased to discover that we were staying at a rather nice Westin hotel right in the middle of town.
Although the taxi-ride was a bit of a white knuckle ride it was still a bargain, we even got information on various 'discos' about the place in case we felt the need to boogie.
We wandered the immediate vecinity to discover a local mall where we found
First Meal
KFC was a running theme somewhere to eat. The troop ate a KFC - a recurring theme for the trip, Kate ate chips (no meat allowed) and I ate some shredded greek chicken.
We went outside to catch some snaps of the Culture and Science Centre (the most prominent building in Poland) before strolling into a park to get a feel of the place. First impressions were: A) This place is cold B) This place is cool C) These Polish people are grumpy D) B.O is an issue.
We discovered the Saxon Gardens. Conversations were aimed at films and lead to the classic comment from Kate about the film 'The Pianist' - "I think I've seen that - - Isn't that the film about the man who plays the violin".
We mosied around the park and the Tomb of the Unknown soldier (a monument to an unknown victim of the defence of Lvov 1919) before heading back.
We went to the restaurant across the street from the hotel where the food was great but the service was pap - this also was a recurring theme for the holiday.
Day 2
On Sunday we went to visit the Pawiak Prison.
No longer a prison but a museum. Formerly used by the Gestapo to interrogate and assassinate the place was destroyed in WW2 but a few features still remain. It was a good museum if a bit sombering - lots of photographs and stories of what happened there and some surviving relics made it seem all the more real.
After more strolling - and some heated map reading - we discovered the university area including the unpronouncable palace (see photos) and the Warsaw Uprising monument. A monument in rememberance of the brave Poles who resisted the Nazis in the Warsaw uprising, resulting in Warsaw pretty much being blown off the map.
We then headed to the Old Town - not old technically as this was also rebuilt after the war, but the same styles were maintined. An odd bear exhibition was taking place where hundreds of bear statues were decorated to reprisent a country of the world. Naturally we got a snap of the UK bear (unfortunately Adam W felt the requirement to suckle on the poor bear's mammary in the photo).
The next discovery was Polish cuisine in the form of the Perogi (please feel free to
type into Wikipedia). If anything is to be learned from this blog then please learn this......avoid Perogi at all costs. These Eastern Europe delicacies are sold to the unaware as a 'meat dumpling'. We should have been more suspicious when we asked what type of meat ("Chicken......no mixed......some chicken......no.....just mixed meat"). The fact the waitress had no idea what kind of meat was in the things should have stirred some alarm bells, but alas no. Three of us entertained the dumplngs of doom. Not entirely offensive to the eye, these deep fried sacs of peril are sliced open to reveal a dark grey colour of congealed meat product - makes sausages look like filet steak. Then you become aware of the smell.....the spicey, congealed meat product smell. We all tucked in.....Andrew was the sensible one to call it a day early with the death balls, I came second and Stacey last, all rapidly bursting into histerical laughter at how revolting they are.
With dodgey stomachs we all backed away from the Perogi, meandered around the Old Town beofre heading back for Vodka and Cocktails at the hotel. We ate a really nice Italian called San Lorenzo before craching.
Day 3
The sun came out today, to such a degree that T-shirt and shorts were acceptable. We ate breakfast at the coffee shop in the mall before heading to Lazienski Park, the best park in Warsaw. After strolling around the wooded areas we came to the Palace on the Water and took a boat ride with Johnny Depp (I'm convinced). After lounging in the sun and reading educational things we manged to find out way to the Chopin monument and take some snaps. After the relaxed day in the sun we taxied back to the cultural centre and go the view from the top before retiring to an open air bar and supping on some Twyiec beer.
In the evening we went to the Hard Rock Cafe. We ordered starters and I got a humongous plate of nachos, and after several bets and such were placed I became very sick.
Day 4
We attempted to go to the Warsaw War Museum but unfortunately it was closed. We ate at a bar accross from the hotel. Me and Stacey asked for the polish breakfast that sounded quite nice on the menu (Bacon, Egg, Tomato). Still not
Tapas
Decided to abort on Polish cuisine learning from the Perogi experience, what we recieved was a pile of meat and egg slop and a sliced raw tomato with raw onion....and a waiting time of about an hour....So after much whinging to make us feel better about the bad food we retired back to the old town to look at the old wall remake and hang around the best part of Warsaw. We had milkshakes and ice-creams and managed to avoid the Perogi this time round. We went to the Palace and got free entry by an angry ticket lady (TODAY - FREE! - Slams down ticket and gives mean looks to Andrew), just as well it was free because it wasn't that impressive. We then saw the cathedral - equally unimpressive. We ate out at a tapas bar then retired for more cocktails and vodka.
Day 5
Not much to say other than it was MY BIRTHDAY. We had a big breakfast at the nice restaurant accross the street before heading back to the airport and flying home.
Impressions
Warsaw is an up-and-coming city. It was still communist until fairly recently and the communist impression still remains. There are a lot of
cemented graffiti buildings and a lot of the people have a grumpy miserable demeaner. The city was virually wiped out after WW2 and there a lot of monuments and remains that still reiterate that fact, making it also an educational journey also. The place is cheap to do things, there is enough to see to fill a week and it is significantly different to your average city break.
Adam E gives it 7/10.
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