Warszawa
26 December 1999
I took the 5h PKS (bus) Mragowo to Warszawa (242km, 29zl). We had received 4 inches of fresh snow overnight, so the roads were snowpacked. The driver had to be very careful to keep us on the road. The first time this day I saw a snowplow was about 40 km from Warszawa. The trip took 5 ˝ hours. I have been told that it’s really only a 4 ˝ to 5-hour trip, but with the roads being bad, it took longer. It also snowed a little during the ride. As much as I prefer train travel, bus is the easiest way to get to Warszawa from here.
The main reason I was heading to Warszawa first was to sort out some kind of transportation home on 1 January. According to PKS in Mragowo, there would be no busses to my town on that day. I had to figure out if I would need to spend the night of 1 January in Warszawa, or if there was some other way I could get back.
I checked with the PKS Warszawa and found out that, in fact, there really were no busses running to my town on that day. Luckily, the PKS station is connected to the Warszawa Zachodnia PKP (train) station. So, I took the commuter train (3zl) to Warszawa Centralna PKP station to check on possibly taking a train back on 1 January. I put my backpack in a luggage locker (6zl) and went to the information booth. I found out that there is a train that leaves at 2:05 on 1 Jan and would get me home at 10:16. Also, it only cost 30.48zl (299km). I bought the ticket. Now that I had taken care of that, I went out to have fun.
This was only the second time that I had spent time in Warszawa, however, I remembered a lot about it. I bought a one-day transportation ticket for 6zl (however, I did notice that starting 1 January the price would be raised to 7.20zl). It gives unlimited travel on all busses, trams, and the Metro from the time it is stamped until midnight (24h) that day. Considering that a regular ticket costs 2zl (raising to 2.40zl on 1 January), it’s a good deal.
I had heard about great Christmas decorations, something my holiday season was lacking, so I went out to explore. It had also snowed in Warszawa the day before, so that added some more Christmas like atmosphere to the trip. I had heard that the Nowy Swiat (a swanky shopping area) had great decorations, so I took the tram there. It was only 12h, so I still had 3 hours until the lights came on.
However, the decorations were very nice even during the day. They had set up Christmas trees on the sidewalk every 20 feet, and had decorations that were secured by being tied to the street lamps that hung across the road. I liked it. None of the shops were open, however, as it was 26 December, the Second Day of Christmas, a national holiday. That’s okay, working on Polish wages, I couldn’t afford anything in that area anyway. So, I walked down to the end of Nowy Swiat and continued walking along the Krakowskie Przedmiescie, past the Royal Palace and many old churches, to Stare Miasto (Old Town).
Plac Zamkowy (the first pedestrian only area you get to when entering Stare Miasto) looked very nice. There was a HUGE Christmas tree in front of the Royal Palace, and decorations strung up all around the Stare Miasto area. There was another very large Christmas tree and more nice decorations in the Rynek Starego Miasta (Old Town Square).
By now it was 13:40. I still had plenty of time before the lights came on. So, I went to the internet café. My favorite one is called Rick’s Café Internet, located at Krakowskie Przedmiescie 4/6, 00-333 Warszawa, Poland http://www.casablanca.com.pl/ . It’s a bit pricey (12zl/hour), but it’s lightning fast and well worth it.
15h arrived and it was dark and snowing again. Typical of Poland. I ventured back to the Stare Miasto and the Rynek Starego Miasta to take a look at the lights. Very nice. Christmas is my favorite season and I love Chirstmas lights. However, in my town, there aren’t a lot of them. There are a few on some houses and a few at the military base, overall, there are very few in the town. I am use to there being decorations and Christmas lights everywhere, so this brought a part of my Christmas season that was missing back into my life.
Next, I went back to Centralna, as I needed to purchase a ticket to Torun for tomorrow (30.46zl – 237 km (it was a "fast train" so was more expensive)) and to pick up my backpack and take it to the hostel I would stay in. What a great surprise I had on my way there. Along Al Jerozolimskie, one of the main roads of Warszawa, EVERYTHING had great Christmas lights. All of the buildings were lit up with many different kinds of things, everything from Christmas trees to starts, to signs saying 2000. That was great!
There is one just off of Nowy Swait, however, it was closed for the holidays. I ended up staying at one in the Wola District, and it worked out better. There is excellent tram service to many different parts of Warszawa from there, where as in Nowy Swait, there isn’t. There are also small, inexpensive shops in the area (food shop, etc.) where one can pick up supplies for self-catering, instead of going out to eat. I will definitely stay there again when I go back to that city. I was in a shared room (34zl) with a guy from Korean, who was on his way to study art in Moscow, and a guy from northern Holland (near Groningen). They both spoke English, so we had good conversation.
At this point in time, I was quite hungry and didn’t feel like cooking, so off I went to find place to eat. I didn’t want to go to anyplace I had tried before, I just wanted to find a small place that looked decent. My original plan was to go to the Warszawa Tortilla Factory and try Mexican food in Poland, but, either it is no longer there, or it was closed. It was hard to tell (I did find it).So, once again, I went back to Stare Miasto. I had never eaten there, as I deemed it too expensive, but I decided to give it a go and hopefully find a place that was not too expensive. I found a place that looked good. It was a smaller place, I’ll have to get the name of it next time I go back, as I can’t find the receipt with that information on it. I walked in and talked to the waitress in my "broken Polish". Her English was better than my Polish, so we spoke English. All I wanted was a cup of tea (4zl!) and a small pasta dish (8zl). However, when she realized that I was from the west, she instantly assumed I had a lot of money (a stereotype of English speakers is that we’re all rich), told me they were out of pasta, and tried to get me to order from the 20zl per dinner section of the menu. I declined and told her that since they didn’t have the pasta dish, I would just have fries (3zl) and tea. She then said that they didn’t have any fries either. So, I told her that just tea is fine. She then said that they had some pasta left and would have it made for me. I agreed. It’s amazing how pasta magically appeared again. I wasn’t going to let myself be upsold. After all, I am traveling on Polish wages.
After that, since almost everything, except restaurants, was closed, I just walked around and soaked in the atmosphere. I loved being in Warszawa, I loved the Christmas lights, and I loved the music that I heard as I walked around past different restaurants that were still open. Then, I returned to the hostel to write in my journal, read, then go to bed. It was still snowing.
Tomorrow was going to be a great day!
