Poland Day 22 - 23 (Warszawa)

Day 22

We woke up at 6 am and caught our bus to the bus station (finally on time without having to run --- there is a first for everything)! We took the bus along with Asia and her friend who were heading down to Warszawa as well.... The bus ride was 2 1/2 hours long, which Darrin slept most of it and Ola talked with the other two. We arrived at almost 11, at Centrum station, it was pouring outside so we had to run into the mall to find shelter. We waited for two hours here for the rain to stop, but meanwhile planned where we were going to walk and what we were going to see... When the rain finally stopped we headed out to see the Palace of Culture and Education, it was about 2 blocks away. We tried to enter through the north entrance, but were stopped by locked doors... We then headed to the west entrance, where we were stopped by a very "unpleasant" (fill in the " " as you see fit, but we are keeping this PG-13) security guard who told us it was the pool.... then we finally got to the south entrance where we walked in to find out about the building. Basically inside is an art exhibition as well as a elevator lift that takes you to the 30th floor, where you get to see all of Warszawa... It was kind of expensive and since there was alot more to do we headed out again. We then went to a church about 4 blocks away. This church was different, it was very plain yet serene in its own way, it also had a massive organ which was beautiful, which we photographed. We then headed down one the main boulevards to find something to eat. Along the way we find a little market area where Ola and Darrin bought some sun glasses... Afterwards we found this hole in the wall restraunt which turned out to very nice inside and the food was cheap and delicious. They waiteress and waiter gave us some highlighted places to see and we headed out. We walked past two monuments, which were very nice and then arrived at the National Museum of Warszawa... It was closing in 30 minutes since it was 4pm anyways... We called Ola's cousin and he said he would meet as back at centrum in 1 hour or so.... Ola and I were about a 45 minute walk form there, so we headed back through the side street market area's and finally arrived. We then had about 20 minutes to kill, so we went to the pet store in the mall... Darrin spent 15 minutes talking with a parrot, who actually talked back (was actually whistling with the parrot who mimiced the exact sounds Darrin made). We then met up with Ola's cousin Maciek and his girlfriend Ania and headed back to Maciek's mothers (Magda) home. She made a large meal and we all sat around talking.... At 9:30 pmish Marciek, Ania, Ola and Darrin decided to go out for the evening. We started off by going to an ice club. The whole club is -10 degrees and you are given thermo coats to wear. The walls, seats, counters and everything is made of ice... Including your cup which you drink vodka shots from. There is also some statues here, which if anyone wants to know about you can ask Darrin and Ola as it is not for younger audiences..... After this club we went to the Marriot hotel and headed to the top floor (#30) to see the view of Warszawa during the night (the good thing about here is it is free unlike the culture and education palace). but we still ended up spending 100 zlote on drinks..... After that we went to a shisha bar - the only one in Warszawa, but were denied access as it was 21 over there and they card everyone (Poland legal age is 18, but since it is the only shisha place in Warszawa they could take any clients they want).....We then went back to the house and went to sleep.

Day 23

We woke up to a fancy brunch and then got a lift to the National Museum of Warszawa... We walked through the museum which was interesting but we were very peeved off by the rudeness of the staff... We also got to see a exhibition that was very very interesting. It was a Slovakian artist from the late 19th century and the early 20th. He did most of the advertisements and label for wines, perfumes, food and theatre... His name was: Mucha.
After the national museum we headed to Lazienki (sounds like Wah - Jen - Kee) ---> it means baths.... this large park is home to a palace in which house baths and peackocks. The peacocks also roam freely throughout the park! These beautiful birds were in the middle of their mating season and therefore we got to see the males feathers wide open as they try to attract the females, who seemed unimpressed by their ... ummm oh yea "feathers"! After this Maciek met up with us and showed us around the old town Warszawa.

What is old town?
During World War II Warszawa was totally demolished and therefore unlike the rest of Poland they do not have any of their original buildings. Old town was built slightly after the war in a replica model of how Warszawa used to look, as well as using many of the remains from the old buildings. It only took an astonishing three years to rebuild this part of the city, giving memory to what was lost.

About four blocks south of Old town square, they created a place called New town square. What was funny to see was that old town square was filled with people and busy shops (in a very compact area), while New town square was practically empty and had three times the area of Old town. We then strolled around Warszawa seeing different buildings and churches and finally sat down to eat at a local brewery. Darrin had a wheat beer (was pretty good) and ribs (only 20 zlote/ 8 canadian dollars).... Ola and Marciek both had a club sandwich. Once again we saw the charm of Warszawa with our very "unpleasant" waitress.... After the meal we went to the university where Marciek and Ania study law. Then we went to the airport to pick up Magda from her single day trip to a city close by... and headed home to sleep.... We had to be up at 6 am once again to make our train back to Lodz!