On New Year’s, I caught a flight from Prague, Czech Republic to Warsaw, Poland. I was not ready for what was about to happen. No one ever warned me that Warsaw in winter is comparable to the ice planet of Hoth – it was about 12°F every day, sometimes colder.
On my first full day in the city, we took a free walking tour around Warsaw, which I clearly had not prepared for. All I had was a pair a jeans, a sweater, and a jacket. After an hour and a half of walking around, I actually started to lose feeling in my legs. Safe to say I learned my lesson and wore a pair of leggings, socks, and a sweatshirt for the rest of my trip.
Through all the cold, though, the city of Warsaw has an incredible story. It truly is the city that rose from the ashes, much like a Phoenix. After a failed uprising against the Nazis in 1944, Hitler personally ordered the the city be destroyed. About 90% of the city was destroyed, meaning pretty much everything is a recent construction. In the main square, Plac Zamkowy, only one building remains that is the original and that is the cathedral. The coldness was a bit unbearable, but the story of Warsaw was inspiring.
What to See
Royal Castle
The Royal Castle was blown up in 1944 under Hitler’s command. After the war, the castle was rebuilt to look exactly like it was before the war. The castle definitely does not look like your traditional castle. It stands just in the middle of a normal shopping square and it’s pink. It was designed by a Swedish architect, so as our tour guide said, “It’s a bit like IKEA furniture.” – basic.
On Sundays, the castle is free to enter (although you still have to claim a ticket), so to get a respite from the cold, we decided to explore the castle. I must say, it was really incredible to think that everything was reconstructed – the walls, the furniture, the floors. Not only that, but it is made to look how it was originally.
There is a path you are guided through to see the castle. You walk through board rooms, ball rooms, bedrooms, and the throne room. There is plenty of artwork that lines the walls honoring famous Poles. They have a statue of Copernicus, the first scientist to prove the Earth revolves around the sun, and a little shrine to him. There is plenty to see, but it will only take about an hour of your time. It was definitely an interesting sight to see (although the Polish ladies working the coat check were a bit on the mean side!).
POLIN Museum of Polish Jews
We went to this museum on that Sunday, too, to escape the cold. We had thought all the museums in Warsaw were free on Sundays, but that is not true. This one was free on Thursdays, so we forked over the equivalent of about six euros to see the museum.
When you enter the museum, it tells you to expect to spend about three hours. I thought, “Oh well we don’t have an audio guide, so I doubt it will be that long.” WRONG. We entered in the daylight and left when it was pitch black (not difficult as the sun sets before 4 PM). The museum is divided into eight sections and gives an account of the Jewish lifestyle in Poland for over a thousand years. Through a thousand years of living in Poland, the Jewish people had very few years of glory, often being persecuted throughout their history.
My favorite sections were definitely toward the end when it came to recent history. It gave details about what life was like as a Polish Jew in the early 1900s and then went into the Holocaust and life after the Holocaust. It was interesting to me that many of the people who escaped Poland or left after the Holocaust went either to the United States or to Palestine. Even after the Nazi occupation, they still faced hardships with the Soviets. Before the War, there were many Jews in Poland, but now they are about 3% of the population. Poland has the highest number of deaths among the Jewish population during WWII, with many of the death camps being located in Poland.
We had originally wanted to go to Auchwitz since we were in Poland, but you had to secure tickets (even though they are free) and it is closer to Krakow in the south than it is the Warsaw. I would have liked to go, but I am a bit grateful we didn’t since it was intolerably cold.
Frederic Chopin Museum
Our final museum we went to escape the cold was the Chopin Museum. Although he lived in Paris for the majority of his adult life, he was Polish born. Now, I never did music classes when I was younger, so none of his compositions sounded familiar to me, but the girl I was traveling with said she played several of his works while playing violin in high school.
The museum is very interactive. You are given a hotel key-type card as your ticket that you use throughout the museum to unlock the screens that give you more information about his (short) life. For me, I enjoy pressing buttons on screens and listening to things, so I had fun going around the museum. In the basement of the museum, you can listen to many of his different types of compositions.
Like the Castle, the Chopin Museum is free on Sundays, which I was glad about as several of the interactive screens were broken. It is not very big, but it is still worthwhile, especially is you are a classical music fan.
Fun Fact: There are thirteen benches located around Warsaw that play Chopin pieces!
Krakowskie Przedmiescie
What a mouthful! This is a long avenue that runs right into the main Castle Square of the city. We braved the cold and took a stroll down this street. It is a very open and beautiful street. Because it was just after Christmas, there were still Christmas lights and decorations to add to this beauty. It is a reconstruction of the original, but I could not tell it was a reconstruction.
There are many shops along the way that you can stop in and look at things. Amber is a hot commodity in Poland, so there are many shops you can go to buy amber (sorry, Mama ;)). I bet during the summer it is a very nice and lively place to go walk around during the day.
Food
Like most of the other former Soviet countries, the Polish diet revolved around meat. Of course there is the world famous Kielbasa. (I never ate it, but my friend did … it looked a little different than the ones my mom makes for dinner.) I’m pretty sure we ate meat for every meal we had there. And I HAD to eat pirogies one time. I had the traditional ones called “Russian pirogies” that are covered in lard.
During Soviet times, however, meat was a luxury that most people couldn’t afford to have. Milk houses became a popular way to eat during the Soviet era, where the food was super cheap to eat. They are still in existence today and are very basic. We went into a famous milk house where the Dalai Lama had eaten, but we panicked because there was no English and we couldn’t figure our what anything was. If you are braver than we are, though, it is an incredibly cheap and authentic way to eat the Polish way.
Transportation
We stayed in the historical center, so we didn’t need to use a lot of transportation except to go to the POLIN Museum. The historical area is very walkable, even in below freezing temperatures. If you do need to get around, there are many buses to take you around. I actually got a bus straight from the airport to the historical center (albeit, it was a forty-minute journey).
One word of warning, I saw a warning at the airport to be careful of taxis because some of them are not licensed and they will scam you.
Currency
Poland is another country that does not use the Euro, even though they are a part of the European Union. The exchange rate is about 3 Polish Zloty for 1 Euro, so it was definitely not as bad as the money in Prague.
Things in Prague were definitely very cheap. I had a nice meat dinner that would have cost over $10 back home that was less than $10 in Warsaw. Definitely take advantage of the nice, low cost of everything!
The People
Although I loved the beautiful story of Warsaw and their phoenix-like rebirth, the worst part of Poland were the people. I’m sure there are some very wonderful Polish people out there … hey, I love Robert Lewandowski, but I definitely got Soviet vibes from a lot of the people. Our tour guide on our walking tour was wonderfully nice, genuinely excited to show us the city, but then other people would yell at us in Polish and acted like we were stupid because we did not understand. Maybe it was just the cold weather …
In Conclusion
Like I said, Warsaw has a truly incredible story after being completely destroyed by the Nazis and then under Soviet rule for over forty years. I do feel bad because I didn’t get to explore as much because I was worried of getting frostbite/hypothermia (exaggeration, mildly). I would like to return to Poland one day, but maybe check out Krakow – Warsaw’s rivals – and of course Auschwitz.
My number one tip though would definitely be to not go in January!
Happy Travels!
Have you ever had any experiences in Warsaw or in Poland?
2 Comments
Thanks for this great post about Warsaw – I’ve wanted to go after enjoying my time in both Krakow and Gdansk. I was definitely looking at a warmer month though! I have heard about how cold it gets that end of Europe! Ha!
Have you been to Krakow? I’d love to know which one you prefer?
I have not been to Krakow, but I know some people who said they prefer Krakow over Warsaw. I think because their buildings are all the originals, so people think it’s prettier.