It took the pending marriage of a very good friend for me to finally find myself in Poland. It has been high on my list of city breaks for some time, and rightly so, for
Warsaw, and indeed
Krakow, are two very different cities that offer great culture, history and architecture.
I grant you the above make for an alternative stag weekend, although I'd be lying if I were to say there was no alcohol involved. Increasingly more and more stag weekends take place abroad, and with the rise of low cost airlines and the relative low cost of living in many places in Eastern Europe, it makes for a great weekend where you can combine the offerings of a city break with those of drunken debauchery.
There were nine in our party with the majority of us flying from London Luton to Warsaw's
Chopin airport. We let 4
apartments, a 10-15 minute walk from the Old Town. The accommodation was faultless; our location on Noway Swait ideal; and the staff very helpful.
After settling in we convened outside out apartments and wandered over to Tam tam, on Foksal street for the first of many beers and some exceptional food. We later went on to the Piano Bar where they had a band providing live music (without the use of a Piano) before ending the night in the Underground Klub. Here we partyed the night away before realising we had a walking tour booked for 10am in the Old town.
Saturday afternoon I organised an afternoon
Go-Karting via
warsawstagnights.com. That afternoon we met Magda and Caronlia from warsawstagnights.com who had arranged transport to/from the imola track, 30mins outside Warsaw. After an hour or so on the track we headed back to the city to take up where we left off the night before. En route, Magda and Carolina were very helpful in making suggestions on places to eat and drink. On their recommendation we had an excellent dinner at
U Kurcharzy before moving on to one of Warsaw's more livlier
Jazz club's. Magda and co then joined us for drinks and so we spent the evening consuming Vodka and chatting away.
Sunday was just another day for myself. Being a lightweight, I hung around the apartment most of the day. I had arranged to meet a long standing friend for dinner in the evening, and so we spent the evening wining and dining. As a local of Warsaw you'd think my dear friend, Kasia, would be in the know about good places to eat out. We first tackled a Mexican restaurant by the name of Mexicana, just off Foksal street. With the menu being in Polish and Spanish, I opted for something that I thought I knew I was ordering: cerado - or beef. Needless to say what turned up resembled nothing like I had imagined. Apparently my face was a picture, and that alone was worth the cost of two mouthfuls I managed of that meal haha. At least we know for next time haha. After a brisk walk around the city we found our way back to Ul. Chimelna and Bar
Muza. Here we spent the rest of the evening enjoying a much improved menu and excellent dinner with G&Ts all round.
Monday we had arranged to meet Magda again. She had kindly offered to take us to a
milk bar; a hangover from the communist days where state canteens provided the basics in nutrition, cheaply. When I first heard of Milk bars, the first thing that sprung to mind was the scene from Stanley Kubricks,
A Clockwork Orange, where the gang enter indulge in some narcotic-laced milk. There are no similarities! The name apparently came about as most of the offerings where dairy based. We ordered a selection of Pirogi, along with zurek and compot. Someone also sampled the goulash. Our order came to the princely sum of 50zl for 5 ppl! That compares to 1220zl for 9 people at U Kurcharzy (although that did include a couple of bottles of wine too). It was a sobering experience and a privilage to be have been able to eat in such a place. Many tourists who visit Warsaw visit without knowing such places exist, which is a shame. Thanks to Magda (again!) for showing us the real Warsaw.
After the Milk Bar experience Matt and I were staying on to travel to Krakow for a couple of nights. Magda being a true star helped us buy our tickets to Krakow - a very reasonable 92zl each, 1 way. We travelled second class and were lucky to have a carriage to ourselves. It has to be said travelling second class in Poland is a better experience than travelling second class in the UK. The journey was around 2 hr 55 min, and in that time we had tea, coffee and snacks served in our carriage. They also provided complimentry newspapers, and whilst my Polish was improving after 3.5 days in Warsaw, I decided not to tackle them.
We had booked our
apartment in Krakow via the same people we used in Warsaw. It's the first time I've travelled and used serviced apartments, but after my experience in Warsaw and Krakow I can say I'll be looking to do it more in the future.
After checking in, we headed in to town to find the Barbican. Matt had arranged a
segway tour at night. I had intended to go along too, but changed my mind being less enthused than Matt. It is not something that is on my 101 things to do before I die. Instead, I found myself in an Irish bar drinking Irish beer. I know what you're thinking: Segway tour or a pint in an Irish bar? Segway all the way. In my defense, I had planned to spend the hour in a swanky polish bar, but it closed at 10pm. I should have done the Segway tour...
Tuesday we had an early start. Deciding against doing an orgainsed tour to Auschwitz, we consulted the latest edition of the
lonely planet guide to Krakow. After 45mins of walking in search of the temporary bus station as mentioned in the guide book, we came full circle just in time to catch the 9:30 bus from the central bus station near the central train station. At least we got to see a little of the unseen krakow and experienced the well connected tram system (although we were at a loss as to how you buy a ticket). 40zl bought a return ticket to Oswiecim (better known as Auschwitz) for the two of us. That is a considerable saving on the price of an organised tour for 2 people - 180zl! Whilst the organised tour would include a guided tour of the complex and preferential access to the observation tower at Berkenau, I personally prefer to avoid tours as they do not offer a very personal experience.
Entry to Auschwitz is free, but we paid a nominal sum to watch a 15min video of soviet footage taken when those encarcerated were liberated. later we took a shuttle bus to the larger camp of Berkenau. You cannot help but be in awe of the scale of what took place at both Auschwitz, Berkenau and the many other such camps Europe. It is a poingant moment to bare witness to a place where so much tragedy took place. A stark reminder of the evil a section of humanity can be capable of.
On returning to Krakow, the rest of the day was spent checking out the shopping mall. For those who still believe Poland is a poor country, they need only visit Warsaw or Krakow to see how wrong they are. No doubt you will not find the same amenities in the smaller towns throughout Poland, but their size and choice of brands rival any 'western' equivalent.
