The very best of the best of Warsaw #1!!!!!

#1!!!!!
The Old Town (Stary Miasto)
To be honest this was always going to be the popular choice, the old town is a reconstructed area of how it looked before the wanton distruction by the Nazi's in WWII. It went from this pre war:To this 1945 end of WWII:To this now:So as you can see it has been through a fair bit. In this area no buildings remained intact or standing, most were gutted with if luck two walls remaining. The town was recreated from photos and paintings which is a pretty darned impressive feat. When you enter the old town, you do get the feeling of being in Prague or some other town of a similar age, yet it is merely 60 years old! Crazy.

Now the area rings with the giggle of school girls, the buzz of business, the snapping of tourists and the clippety clop of Polish women in heels (it is pretty much everywhere in Warsaw you hear this though!) I often mistake the sound of some heels as that of a horse strolling down the narrow streets as it reverberates so much around the hard surfaces that are there.

Anyway, the Old town is nice, it is a huge difference to the rest of Warsaw and it has many great bars, pubs and restaurants. It is always easy to stroll around and you can even buy a big icecream or a zapiekanka there if you just want to keep on the move. It is almost always full of tourists, often loud talking and saying silly things, which in itself is great value. The Old Town was the first place I ever stayed in Poland so it has a soft spot in my heart. It did however, cost me a small fortune, so maybe the soft spot is in my head! Either way, I recommend going to the Old Town and just losing yourself a little. It is a great spot in Warsaw and like nothing else that is here really.

Don't forget to check out the City Museum on the main square. I think that it is perfect as a representation of what Warsaw is in a ways you hopefully experience when visiting Warsaw. It ambles along, no real true or obvious directions, no real authority, no clarity, no signs in English or any other language, no consistency, everything appears to be very ad hoc BUT it is charming, delightful, full of surprises, captivating in its honesty and frankness, allows you to forget who you are and where you are, however most importantly and definingly is that there are at least 2 grannies per room, watching you like hawks, if they have managed to stay awake.

The very best of the best of Warsaw #2

#2
Łazienki Palace

Well I have written previously about the Łazienki Palace complex, as it is a really lovely spot to walk around. It is certainly somewhere to "escape to" on a nice weekend. Only problem with it, apart from the vigilant guards who won't let you sit on the manicured lawns, is that it is darned popular! There is always decent crowds there on weekends or any sunny day, along with free Chopin concerts in Summer which is really lovely if that is your 'cup of tea'.
If not there are statues to look at, some randomly broken like this.....
Or of ladies and fish doing things....
It is similar to Nowy Swiat and Krakowskie Przedmiescie in the sense that people love to walk here, they are still dressed immaculately, however, they tend to walk the extremes. They will have in their gloved hand an icecream, and in the other a small child or grandmother. It is the place where they exercise and show off who they are. Some take the big cameras to snap their wives posing or their kids running amok. Others will take a book and read when the weather is nice. Many will be showing off their prams and new borns to doting grandparents, while some of the younger crowd who still live at home will use it as a chance to get some space from their parents and kiss grotesquely their girlfriend/boyfriend of the moment, play music on their mobile phones or just simply relax.
Overall I like the park, except when they tell me not to play in the meadows of beautiful wild flowers. Darned grumpy security guards!

The very best of the best of Warsaw #3

#3
Palace of Culture and Science (Pałac Kultury i Nauki)
I have to admit that this one really surprised me, as almost everyone always complains about the Palace as being an eyesore (part of the reason for the name of my blog). It was a "gift" from the wonderful and benevolent Josef Stalin. When I say gift, I mean it was paid for by Poles, built by Russians who were housed in luxury at the expense of the Poles and made from Polish material. But Stalin did allow them to build a structure, of which there are 7 identical ones of varying sizes in Moscow, to Russian plans and ideas. It only took three years to build and at this point in time it is 187th tallest building in the world!
It goes even better by being the second tallest clock tower in the world!
I love the Palace, it always lets me know where I am when I get lost. It can be seen from most anywhere in Warsaw and I really don't think it is as ugly as many suggest. Also, it hosts many events, has a cinema, a night club and an observation deck. A deck I am still yet to visit! Some joke (like they do with the Eiffel Tower) that is has the best view of Warsaw, because you can't see the Palace of Culture from there.

Around the base are some fun communist statues like this one.
I really just wish they would make the surrounding square nicer, remove all the car parks, shut down the roads around it and install some cafes, restaurants, link the central station and the metro line by a tunnel and just pretty it up a little. They have removed a horrid market that was standing when I arrived and it will be replaced by a new Museum (of modern art) which looks great, so it shows some promise and progress for an other wise dead heart.
Even with this moaning, I still love the Palace and it looks great at night too!

The very best of the best of Warsaw #4

#4
Wilanów Palace
This is a tricky one, as technically I would say it is out of Warsaw, but it has become a southern suburb now.... so, I have decided to include it. The last time I was at the Palace it was a glorious summer's day. The sun was streaming down, and Marty had just bought me a lovely coffee so I was pretty darned happy. It was a public holiday and there were about 75million people there, but I still had a great time enjoying what I could see around me. Again like in so many public places in Poland, it is a fashion show, but in such great weather I was happy to sit back and watch the grannies in the chiffon and the youngsters walking around in ridiculously inappropriate heels for a stroll in the gardens.
So is a fashion victim one that succumbs, one that has no fashion or the one that hurts themselves trying too hard?

Anyway, the park palace culture is also a great place to ride to as it has really easy access by bike from all parts of Warsaw. So you can even jump on the Metro with your bike if you live too far North and then ride down from Wilanowska station. When there you can stroll for free around the Baroque gardens , the English park or pay to see the internal palace and the Orangery where there are exhibitions. I like it there and you always get the chance to see some great cheesy wedding photos being taken as there is a very popular (and expensive) church near by. These photos sessions are really one of my penchants in Poland, as the poses they get into are just purely classic! Trust me on that one.

The very best of the best of Warsaw #5

#5 Nowy Swiat and Krakowskie Przedmiescie
The main thoroughfare in town, and by thoroughfare, I mean that on the weekends they actually close this street to traffic! It has come into itself even in the last 20 months or so that I have lived in this city. They regularly have fairs of food, regional handicrafts or even wine tasting!
It is really a connection between what is considered by some to be the cutural and business centre, i.e. Centrum and the Palace of Culture, and the historical and sentimental heart the Old Town.
The buildings were recreated from paintings after their destruction by the Germans in WWII and some are really well preserved like the Presidential Palace and the other government buildings and, of course, Poland's very wealthy church is also well represented with at least 4 churches along here from memory. However, there are some buildings that need a good steam cleaning on the outside and facades that could do with some plaster in parts. It is said that Nowy Swiat is the most expensive piece of real estate in Poland, it is about a quarter of the price of Pitt St, Sydney, so not too bad when you compare it against average earnings.
During the week you will see lots of students milling about, as the main Warsaw campus is located here, along with many faculties along the road as well.
Also you may see a celebrity or political figure staying at the Bristol Hotel (the most expensive in Warsaw) or a granny grumbling about something as they wait for a bus as many buses flow down the street on weekdays. But, it is the weekends where it thrives best, as I already mentioned it gets closed to most traffic with a few exceptions. The streets also offers some great little side streets to duck off to, and you will find the greatest donuts in the world on Chmielna, you can be funky in the cafes and resturants that line the street or just Promenade like in the Mediterranean climes. If you are a people watcher, this is the place to come on weekends. You will see the Polish women in all their finery. The do love to parade as they think looking good is not just natural but an artform that should be shown to others. This said and labels abound, you can also still eat at a Milky bar or even buy an obnoxiously noisey lovebird at the pet store like we did.

Always a nice place to stroll if you have the time.

The very best of the best of Warsaw #6

#6 The Uprising Museum
This is the museum I recommend to all guests coming to Warsaw.
However, I have, admittedly, been there only once and that was over 2 years ago! The first time I visited Warsaw in fact. Yet, it still leaves me the right impression about what museums are appealing to me. It is interactive, it has a well defined history and interesting individual stories.

I do like its setup and the way that you can get an understanding of what some of the fighting people went through. All this said, it also has been criticised by many who lived the experience of the Uprising. As it glorified an "ultimately idiotic act" which killed many innocent, made even more suffer horrible hardships, along with encouraging the wanton destruction of Warsaw by the Germans as they planned to flee the city.

To get an idea of how it ended up maybe you should see this video

The very best of the best of Warsaw #7

#7
National Museum and linked Military Museum.
It is funny, as I really loved my visit to the National Museum, funny because lots of Poles tell me that they don't think it is impressive. I guess they are comparing it to London and Paris National Museums which are bigger in collection but bigger isn't always better.

The Museum is a really imposing building, built in the early 1860's so it has a certainly strong definate character and style. It was, of course, looted quite heavily during WWII, as most of Warsaw was.

This said it has a really lovely collection of Mediterranean art (including Egypt),
as well as some great Polish communism era works.
The fabulously commissioned styles of working women and men with hammers too.
You just can't escape that time in Poland and with good reason too. Overall the most fun part is annoying the old grannies that sit in every room. We were told that we took too long to take our photographs of things, especially this one below which is of a rotating display. Funny thing was, that at that time we were the only people in the room!Let's face it, museum workers are just unread librarians. Either way I still think it is a cool place to visit.

The very best of the best of Warsaw! #8

#8
Warsaw University Library and University grounds.

Although these locations are actually separate, for the sake of trying to link some sights together I have combined these actually associated subjects.
The library is probably the main highlight and it has to be good, when the street it faces is Dobra (good) street!! That said, I have never actually taken my own camera to the library! I have been there about 5 or 6 times, but I have never had my camera, so I have "borrowed" some net pics for it.
The area is an really interesting place to walk around, sometimes I have to admit to getting lost in the maze of backstreets that lead away from Krakowskie Przedmiescie down towards the river. As numerous people who have come to Warsaw to visit can attest to. But, once I get down to the library all is forgotten. It really is a cool place. It has a great roof top garden which is now overlooking the new and fancy looking Copernicus Centre of Science. It should all be opened by the end of the year! Hooray for interactive science!

I hope to get there soon to get some photos of the Autumn kicking in. Fingers crossed.....