Poland?
Trip Start
Aug 31, 2007
1
24
90
Trip End
Apr 19, 2008
Warsaw,
Poland
Friday, September 28, 2007
Well, you see, I was riding the train to Brest and I was rather bored with everything. I'd killed two days in Vilnius waiting for my visa, and I'd killed a day in Minsk because Icouldn't go to the countryside. Brest sounded lovely, but I really didn't need three days there before meeting my mother in the Ukraine, and I felt like I'd been doing nothing, so I decided to go to Poland for a couple days. Poland had been in the original plan for this trip, but after reading about the country, I realized I didn't have time to do it justice and so, had left it for another trip.
The most accessible Polish city from Brest is the capital, Warsaw, so that's where I decided to focus my time. Arriving in Warsaw from the wilds of Belarus is quite a culture shock
Copernicus
. For starters, everything's in the Roman alphabet again. It takes me a good couple hours to stop trying to translate everything I read. Then, a lovely voice comes over the intercom, announcing train arrivals in Polish, German, and English! Suddenly, I understand how teenagers, fresh out of high school can backpack around Western Europe, get drunk every night, and still navigate the countries in their hung-over state. Leaving the train station, I am reminded of Budapest in 1995. Warsaw looks Eastern European, but wait...there's a Subway, a KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, a McDonald's. I'm also surrounded by the world's great hotel brands: Mariott, Sheraton, Le Meridien, Intercontinental. As I head for my hostel, I am surprised several times to hear English coversations on the street. Four hours and world away from Belarus.If I couldn't do Poland in two weeks, I definitely couldn't do Warsaw in 48 hours. This reality was made even starker after I bought my train ticket to the Ukraine and wiped out most of my Polish currency. So in Warsaw, I focus on the free things. The many museums will still be there when I return.
I start with the old town, which was bombed to its foundations during WWII but lovingly and accurately restored, enough to merit a listing by UNESCO. The Polish, in my opinion, have created a sensible old town, with heavy, rich, and dark painted buildings. None of that silly pastel stuff of the Baltics. Old town Warsaw actually manages to look Gothic, if perhaps a little clean for the 14th century. Crawling with tourists and school groups, I hang out in the main square before heading south on the Royal Way. Why this 4km thoroughfare has been given such a regal name, I do not know, but it makes for a lovely stroll past restaurants and parks. During my stroll, I pass a display on the Katyn massacre of 1940. When the Soviets invaded Poland, they took countless military personnel prisoner
Crazy Swordsman
. Later, they massacred 11,000 of them, from enlisted men to generals, burying them in mass graves in the forest. After the war, the Soviets claimed the killings were performed by the Nazis in 1941 and the truth was supressed until quite recently. Now there seems to be a large campaign to raise awareness and honor the victims. I think a Polish movie is even being made. Wherever you travel in Eastern Europe, it seems impossible to escape the scars of World War II.But onto happier things. At the end of the Royal Way is a large park containing the Palace on the Water which, unfortunately, sounds significantly more palatial and impressive than it is, especially was some parts are now ensconced in scaffolding. Nonetheless, I enjoy the park. I never seem to tire of watching ducks swim about in ponds.
At this point, I am forced to retire to my hostel. I had moved to a new hostel my second day in Warsaw and in packing that morning, had forgotten to leave out a pair of socks. Once packed, I dislike unpacking my backpack and the socks were quite inaccessible, meaning I wore barefeet in my hiking boots all day. After traipsing about for six hours, my feet were quite angry with me and demanded I go home and rest them.
My first night in Warsaw, I stayed at the Orange Hostel, which has amazingly friendly staff, free laundry (yay for clean clothes!), and free breakfast. However, they were entirely booked for my second night as, inexplicably, were most other places in town, so I stayed at the Helvetia Hostel, which was perfectly acceptable but not nearly as warm and friendly as the Orange. Besides, I'm a sucker for free food.
