There and Back Again: A Tale of Two (Actually Three) Cities. Part 2.

Quick Stats: WARSAW

(Russian: Варшава. Polish: Warzsawa)

Capital of Poland.

Population: About 2 million.

Famous sights: Palace, Old Town, Warsaw Uprising Museum, Jewish Ghettos

Opinion of sights: Awesome.

Opinion of city: Awesome.

Warsaw really surprised me with how cool it was. The city was completely leveled (twice) during WW2, but they have rebuilt it (many thanks to the EU for the funding) and now it looks fantastic. The Old Town was rebuilt to look like 17^th-18^th century Warsaw did, with cobblestone streets, colorful cramped buildings and castle fortifications. The New Town was done in a more modern architectural style, but still has a very Polish reminiscent flavor to it, mostly because of the churches and monuments that abound throughout the city.

Like Russia, Poland very much remembers its past. Unlike Russia, it does not dwell on it. Monuments to Jewish persecution/execution almost litter Warsaw, but you don’t get the sense that the Poles feel like the wound is fresh. They honor their dead and the blood spilled to keep Poland free, but they are looking to the future in a way Russians don’t. But this is an entirely different blog topic…

I loved Warsaw because it had a delightful Eastern European flair, but it was Western enough that people were actually friendly, cars actually stopped when you were crossing the road, and you could get by with English. Yes, there was a lot more English in Piter than I expected (and in Moscow, as well), but if you sit down in a small restaurant in Piter and you don’t know Russian, ordering might be a challenge. In Warsaw, there were menus in English everywhere. The waiters mostly spoke some English, too, which was nice. (Polish, although a Slavic language, is very different from Russian. It doesn’t use Cyrillic, first of all – rather, the Latin alphabet. Many words are the same in both Russian and Polish, but unless you happen to catch them in conversation or decipher them on the menu, you’ll miss the cross-over.) And speaking of restaurants, the food I had in Poland was all very good. The first day we were there, we decided to eat at a place called “la Cantina,” which played ‘40s American music, was decorated like an Italian place and served me a pizza with bamboo and sesame seed toppings. In other words, it was a very Polish dining experience. Lol No, I did eat some more traditional Polish food, like pirogi, and was duly satisfied with my choices.

My favorite attraction in Warsaw was the Uprising Museum. In 1944, the Poles decided to fight the German occupation and take back their city. The uprising wasn’t really successful, but it was more of the principle of the matter, toward the end. In any case, the museum was possibly (no,definitely) the coolest place of learning and history I have ever been to. First of all, it was a three-storey building made to resemble a ghetto. The interior was lit more like a club than a museum – dark, with artistic, sporadic lighting. There was a steady thumping sound, which was simulated bombing runs. The exhibits were very well done, being both aesthetically pleasing and informational without being overbearing. Instead of having a bunch of dioramas or photographs, there were 3-D displays everywhere, including a full-sized replica of a B-17 bomber. Also, everything in the museum was in both Polish and English. Win.

Favorite picture of trip: Exhibit in Warsaw Uprising Museum. The lighting made it look like the old man was overseeing the execution.