Why Warsaw? Three reasons: never been, why the hell not, and most importantly it was cheap.
I find with BA you’re guaranteed a level of service. Unfortunately, it seems that passengers will have to pay for their meals come next year. Very uncivilized. I’d prefer a hike in ticket prices.
Heathrow T3.
I watched Sully too recently.
On the ground.
After a quick ride to the Hotel, a quick shower, I was out the door, map in hand. I was staying at the Regent, which is not ideally located. A little bit too far south for easy access into central Warsaw by foot. Cant’s recall where I spotted this electric peacock. Ended up on Nowy Swiat and ate some delicious perogies.
Oh, happened to walk by Ronnie.
Jumped on the Metro to get back to the hotel. Fairly simple system. Two lines, piece of cake for anyone used to The Tube.
When in Rome, or Warsaw in this case. Vodka.
Map recce for day 2.
Anyone who knows me and has visited London knows that I like to walk. Always the best way to see a city. I decided to jump into a cab and head north from the hotel to Most Gdanski bridge. A double-decker bridge over the Vistula. This is a shot looking south on the west bank.
Cars on the top level, trams below.
Tram. This one is modern. There are plenty of Cold War looking trams running around.
Soviet vibes.
Walking south on the east bank through a park next to the river.
Shot looking north from Most Slasko Dabrowski bridge. Very little river traffic. I only saw a single boat.
Royal Castle.
Again. On the interior court.
Old town. One of the few parts of the town not destroyed during WW2.
85% of Warsaw was destroyed during the Second World War.
Old Town.
Old Town.
Old Town.
Mid-day ceremony at the Presidental Palace.
Presidental Palace.
Old Town.
Walking south along Krakowskie Przedmiescie.
Again.
It seems they haven’t done away with the dreaded Bendy-Bus in Warsaw yet. Their non-Bendy-Bus is also really long.
Metro enterance I used last night.
Architecture.
Reminds me a bit of post-war London council estate design.
Palace of Science and Culture. Built in 1955, it has 42 floors and over 3200 rooms. Love it.
Lunch. Meat and steamed veggies. Uber Polish. Yummy.
View from the observation deck on level 30.
Warsaw.
Warsaw.
Cute.
National Museum.
A true classic outside the Polish Army Museum. This tank is a major reason the Allies won WW2.
SCUD, I think.
MIG 29.
The road less travelled.
Walking back to the hotel.
Palace on an Island.
I found a real peacock!
Palace.
Again.
Ditto.
No idea.
Polish take on the steak tartar. Lovely. Last meal in Warsaw. The next morning I was off to the airport, and back to London.
I suppose a large reason I took a two-night run to Warsaw was to joggle the creative juices. I was probably suffering from sensory deprivation having bene locked in London for too long. Of course, London will give you more to do than anywhere else on the planet, but sometimes you need a change of pace. Warsaw was the cheap option. It was a quick flight from the UK, and offered me my first glimpse of snow in several years.
Right now, I’m trying to write two novels simultaneously, this is no easy task. Perhaps the mind just needed a little shift to get things back on track.
One thing that this little jaunt did reinforce is that Europe is an amazing place to be. You can board a plane and immerse yourself in an entirely foreign culture in no time at all.
Anyway. Back to the salt-mines. Wordsmithing, here we come.