Warsaw, Poland

One of the places that I was most excited to visit was Poland.  We visited Warsaw when Honeybun was almost 3 year and Sugarplum was 9 months old.  I loved how the experiences we had were so varied and how it wasn’t a huge touristy place.  Most of the places we visited were not overly crowded and most things were very affordable.  And while many people did not speak English, it was not frustrating or overwhelming, people were still very polite and eager to help.

One problem we did have though was with the signage.  Warsaw was the first place we visited that did not speak a Romantic or Germanic language other than Oslo which has most signs in English.  We found that we could manage with most languages since English is akin to both Romantic and Germanic languages but Polish is not at all related plus it has a different alphabet with different pronunciations!  But we managed and had a great time nonetheless!

Warsaw has many great little bistros with unique, fusion cuisine.  After arriving midday and checking into our hotel (the Novotel again, very large, family friendly rooms!) we stopped by one of these restaurants before heading to the Chopin museum.  Hubby isn’t too into classical music, but I think even he enjoyed the museum as it is very interactive and he was familiar with many of Chopin’s most famous songs.

That night we headed to one of the large shopping centers and had dinner at the Hard Rock Café (I know, I know…) We were amazed at the prices of clothing and such in Warsaw.  It was much cheaper than what we found in Dublin, even at the same stores like H&M, and ended up doing a lot of shopping while there!

The next day we walked to Lazienki Palace, translated as “The Baths Palace” and also known as “The Palace on the Water”.  It was farther than we thought and it rained (kind of a lot!) but the wetness of the day made for a great story, and I think a great visit to a palace surrounded (and on top of) water.  The museum folk were not too happy about us bringing our wet buggy in so we had to leave it on the porch and carry Sugarplum but the palace was gorgeous, and basically deserted.  The palace is situated in a large city park that we also took a little time to explore.

After our wet visit to the palace, we stopped for a snack in a local coffee shop.  As we were enjoying our muffins, the window next to us was inundated with photographers and we noticed a young woman ordering at the counter talking on the phone and trying to hide her face.  Apparently we were in the company of a Polish starlet and in the path of her paparazzi’s cameras.  So naturally, hubby took a picture of them as they photographed her!

That afternoon we visited what remained of the ghetto wall from World War II.  It was tricky to find and took us into some really sketchy areas, but I’m glad we took the time to track it down.  We got a chance to wander outside the mainstream area of Warsaw and see some of the parts where most visitors don’t go and to see some history along the way.

After tracking down the wall, we went to the Warsaw Uprising Museum which chronicles the Polish attempt at liberate themselves from the German Nazis which resulted in destruction of much of the city.  The Museum is partially interactive and while we liked it, it was very busy and some of the exhibits were hard to navigate.  The girls also started getting frustrated with how long it took us to get through reading everything.  There were some special things for kids like newspapers they could collect throughout the exhibit but it was aimed at older kids and didn’t do much for Honeybun.

That evening we wandered to the Old Town area.  The Old Town Market Place is still largely walled and very much like it was hundreds of years ago.  On the way there we passed by the Royal Castle and more touristy part of the Old Town.  I loved the architecture and history everywhere as we wandered down the streets.  This is also where we found many stores with traditional handicrafts, jewelry and other handmade items.  We ate a traditional dinner at a restaurant in the Market Place then wandered around the walls and Barbican which was part of the original Warsaw fortification.

The next day we took the bus to Wilanow Palace.  Like most European cities, Warsaw has a great network of streetcars and buses as well as many underground pedestrian walkways and tunnels to help avoid the traffic at street level though we found many of these hard to navigate with our double buggy as the elevators were older, slow and not very reliable!

Wilanow Palace is located outside the main city but was easy enough to get to.  The palace dates back to the 1600s and remained intact through Poland’s tumultuous history including World War II.  The extravagant and vast palace reminded me of the many other palaces we visited around Europe including Versailles outside Paris, Schonnbrun in Vienna and Catherine’s Palace or Peterhof in St. Petersburg.  Wilanow was beautiful though it was much busier than Lazienki Palace and again we were not allowed to take in the buggy so had to carry Sugarplum.  We also got scolded at one point for Honeybun’s behavior (I don’t remember if she was being too loud, touching things or possibly running but I know she was not out of control!)

That last night we finally visited the Palace of Science and Culture which is the tallest building in Poland and we had kept our eye on it throughout our visit (mostly because it was near our hotel and so always led us home!)  Hubby had been fascinated with the building which was built by the Soviets during the 1950s due to his interest in all things Russia.  The building now houses conference and exhibition halls as well as offices and there is a viewing terrace where you can visit to overlook the city though it is pretty windy up there and was quite chilly when we visited.  In addition to the tower, we also visited the small evolution exhibit which was there at the time.

I would love to go back to Poland some day and see more of the country.  There is so much history with so many time periods and events represented to interest and entertain most anyone.