Warsaw, Poland
City and local notes: Line on Travel’s vignettes of larger cities, well-known attractions, and short trips.
You see the slogan “Fall in Love with Warsaw” with its cute logo all over town. And I did, for a lot of reasons. But when I first got there, I was curious instead of enraptured as I rode into the commercial center on a late summer weekday rush hour. What was the look? What kind of city was this? An architectural mélange where tall modern buildings overlook the enormous Stalin-gothic Palace of Culture and Science. Communist-era architecture sidles up to blocks rebuilt in the old style. There are big parks and Chopin’s music somehow figures into everyday life. All this in a city that had ceased to exist in 1945.There was so much to see and figure out, and I still have things that I’ve left undone. More to learn in this welcoming city that came back from World War II’s total destruction and depopulation.
Warsaw Impressions
This is an account of some of my experiences. It’s not a travelogue – there are loads of guidebooks, and a lot more things that I could include here. But I also want to share more than I might for a similarly well-documented city. That’s partly because while I’ve read plenty of articles about Warsaw as an up-and-coming destination, I still don’t know many Americans who think of Warsaw when it comes to picking European cities to visit. We should.
Don’t speak Polish? No worries. English is pretty much a lingua franca, so with adequate English getting around is easy. Don’t think you’ll like Polish food? Well, it’s delicious and diverse and besides, you can find every cuisine you’d expect to find in any other city this size that has a growing food scene. And there’s no need to pack the kitchen sink. There are shopping malls where I found everything I needed but hadn’t thought about, like wool socks and tights when I came back in late October. Plus all the brands you know from wherever home is.
Palace of Culture and Science
What else to do? I found some great museums, good food, a good public transportation system and enough palaces and gardens to keep me happy for days. I heard two piano recitals by winners of the 2015 International Chopin Piano Competition. There’s lively night life, too, but night life for me was usually total collapse after a day roaming around. I do think it’s important to get into Warsaw’s history to some extent – it’s essential to know some recent history to appreciate what you see. But it’s not all about history class. Enjoy the flavors of Poland, stroll in the parks, visit museums, visit the shopping malls, and keep a list of things you want to do next time. There’s so much I still want to experience and learn.
Some background and thoughts about a few of the top sights
I suggest going early in your visit to the excellent Warsaw Uprising Museum, because it gives us visitors a context for everything we’ll see in Warsaw. I went near the end of my first trip and wish I’d gone earlier. Here’s a little background.
In 1939 Hitler invaded Poland from the west. The Soviets invaded from the east not long after. Hitler broke his pact with Soviet “allies” and went on to invade the USSR and occupy all of Poland. After years of struggle, in 1944, Warsaw’s underground home army tried to seize the city from the Nazis. After 63 days of fighting the home army surrendered, and in revenge, Hitler personally ordered the city razed to the ground, leaving only about 15% of greater Warsaw standing. From a population of about 1.3 million in 1939, in 1945, there were only about a thousand people living in the ruins. The Museum covers the events leading to the uprising and its aftermath. Be warned. This innovative museum is a warren of galleries and gets crowded, so ask around (for example, your hotel’s concierge or local friends) about slower times, or just get there early. An audio guide (available in many languages) will help a lot. The destruction of Warsaw isn’t the whole story, but for a preview of what that destruction was like, you can watch “The City of Ruins,” Warsaw in 1945 on YouTube. It’s a montage of still photos made to look like a flight over the city. The 3D version that the Museum shows seems shorter and if I remember, spares you the music. Or you can also turn off the sound.
Old Town and Royal Castle
Everyone is probably drawn first to the Old Town and Royal Castle. I was. What you’ll see was scrupulously rebuilt according to pictures, photographs and documents. In the Castle, don’t miss the Rembrandts but also be sure to look closely around you in the Canaletto Room that contains 22 townscapes of Warsaw painted by Canaletto between 1767 and 1780.
You can see what a fine city Warsaw was, and these pictures among many other resources informed the rebuilding of the old town. If your Castle Museum ticket includes the Tin-Roofed Palace, visit this too. I don’t know if everyone does. When I visited in August, there was only one other visitor there. This fine house has also been restored. The upper floor contains the apartment of Prince Józef Poniatowski which I found pretty and intimate, even cozy. I’d be happier living there instead of in the Castle, not that they offered. The helpful docent guided me back to a piano with knee levers that I’d missed seeing, and I likewise guided the other visitor to it. He tolerated my mini tour well but must have wondered, “Who is this woman and what is she saying to me?” Downstairs, there’s an exhibit of rugs and tapestries which I confess to skipping.
Sigismund Column and Castle Square rooftops
It’s important to understand Warsaw’s Jewish history, even if you’re not Jewish. The POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews is another top sight. Pre-World War II, Poland had the largest Jewish population in Europe, and as many as 30% of Warsaw’s residents were Jewish. Not so now. The POLIN Museum is brilliantly researched and curated, and it’s in a stunning building. It was also the 2016 European Museum of the Year. It would take a long time to go through the Museum thoroughly, so if your time is short, pick up the “One Hour, Eight Highlights” guide. I also picked up the “Jewish Women: 12 Highlights” guide and combined the two. The reception staff were helpful and spoke good English. The only challenge might be maneuvering around visiting school groups.
I read that along with visiting the Uprising Museum and the POLIN Museum, a visit to the Chopin Museum is essential to understanding Warsaw. That goes even if you’re not a music lover. Fryderyk Franciszek Szopen or Frédéric Chopin is a favorite son of Warsaw. (Yes, he was born down the road, but lived in Warsaw before he moved on to Paris.) And, Chopin’s body may be buried in Paris but his heart’s in Warsaw’s Holy Cross Church (you can visit there, too). The Chopin Museum has a mix of high-tech interactive exhibits (your “ticket” is a smart card), along with more traditional exhibits about Chopin’s life. And I “played” a Chopin Étude by placing the score on a smart stand. That was kind of fun. I felt very artistic.
Łazienski Park
Another top sight, Łazienski Park is a short bus ride from the Centralna train station. Take a bus to Plac Unii Shopping City mall and Łazienski Park is a short walk. You can shop at Plac Unii, too, and there are plenty of places to eat nearby.
Łazienski Park is a large wooded park, good for a stroll to break up the relentlessness of sightseeing. And, there are palaces to visit as well. Łazienski Park was like a festival the summer weekend day I went, with dancing, the brass and percussion sounds of band off somewhere, and families strolling around eating ice cream. Even nuns with cameras were strolling in the park. It was quieter when I went in the autumn, but there were still plenty of people around, sitting on benches, picking up tree nuts, playing with red squirrels to get pictures of their enormous tufted ears. I finally got to the Łazienski Palace (the Palace on the Water) in October, the centerpiece of the park, and another lovely palace badly damaged in World War II but refurbished and charming now. I was almost alone in the Palace that autumn day, and had plenty of time to pose for selfies. I have a nice picture of my reflection showing off the plastic booties you wear to protect the floors. The park trees were just turning – a pretty autumn afternoon. I caught a bus back to Centralna just outside the park, near the Chopin monument, where there are free concerts summer weekends.
Palace on the Water, Łazienski Park
Wilanów Palace
Wilanów Palace is on the outskirts of town. Don’t be deterred by the apparent distance – it’s not that far, and even without a car it’s easy to get to. They call Wilanów the “Polish Versailles” but no worries. It’s smaller, and the royal apartments are just as delectable. This is the original palace – it survived World War II. It’s all beautiful but I liked best the apartments of King Jan III Sobieski and Queen Maria Kazimiera. King Jan defeated the Ottoman Empire at Vienna in 1683, preserving Europe more or less as we know it. Important, and I didn’t know, or didn’t remember. And the King and Queen actually loved each other, which makes a nice story different from so many dynastic unions. Visit the park if you have time. I found the gardens nice, but the lakeshore wanted a little TLC, and there’s the unfortunate view of what appears to be a power plant beyond one end the lake. No matter. Focus on the swans instead. Wilanów is a longish but easy bus ride from Centralna. Make sure to note return times. If you’re game, rent a bike. It would be a long ride but there are bike paths and remember that Warsaw is flat.
Wilanów Palace, the Polish Versailles
Some other sights: National Museum of Poland – Faras Gallery, State Ethnographic Museum and John Paul II Collection
There’s a lot in Poland’s National Museum but not all the galleries were open when I visited, which narrowed my focus to getting lunch and seeing a couple of the galleries that were open. I had the daily special in the Museum’s café where I found the food good and the atmosphere congenial. Back to the galleries, I was astounded by the museum’s newest permanent gallery, the “Professor Kazimierz Michałowski Faras Gallery.” This is described as “containing Medieval Nubian paintings from the Nile River Valley south of the First Cataract.” That doesn’t half describe for me how wonderful the “paintings” are. They’re essentially frescoes from the ancient (8th century) Nubian Christian cathedral in Faras, a town that was going to be inundated because of Aswan High Dam construction. Polish archeologist Kazimierz Michałowski led the rescue team and artifacts were divided between Poland and Sudan. The Faras culture no longer exists. These large, strong paintings and artifacts are their legacy, and the only other place to see artifacts from Faras is in Khartoum. It’s amazing. Go.
I’ve read that tourists don’t often visit the State Ethnographic Museum, but to get a feel for Polish folk culture it deserves a visit. The first person I met at reception referred me to a man who not only spoke English but knew everything there was to tell about the museum. So I bought a combo ticket for all exhibits (the price is modest) and off I went. It’s a big place with lots of galleries. Along with their permanent collection, the museum presents special exhibitions. I was happily surprised by “Biblia Pauperum – The Art of the Poor and Excluded; Depictions of God in Folk Art.” The exhibit presented the “peasants’ take on the Bible and their understanding of the world . . . .” It was interesting learning. The exhibit was in a bright gallery just beyond a subdued gallery full to the ceiling with farm equipment and rural household artifacts. Another exhibit that’s now closed was certainly entertaining. “Futbol Love Stories” dressed mannequins in Polish folk costumes combined with international football (soccer) jerseys in a colorful and amusing display. I would just say to expect creativity when you go.
The John Paul II (painting) Collection has slenderest connection to the late Pope, and I’m not even sure it’s connected at all except for the name. The collection is in Warsaw’s old stock exchange building and the directional sign on the building is very small. The entry is through sort of a vestibule-cloakroom where a nice man and I talked – we didn’t speak each other’s language but you know how you manage to communicate. I knew just enough Polish to make a small joke and he quipped back. We both laughed. Then he opened a door and turned on lights in a small room. I thought this was the collection and it sure was small. I studied all the paintings and sculpture carefully so I wasn’t just in and out. There were some famous names but not necessarily the best examples of their work. So, finally I exited the room, thinking I’d be leaving, but the man walked across the vestibule and opened another door. This led to a succession of huge rooms, not conventional painting galleries as such, not well illuminated but hung high with artwork. I had no idea. If you have someone to tag along with, you won’t feel that special kind of aloneness that I did in the rotunda, a very large space with a whiff of damp lit only through a skylight, where a lot of paintings stared down at me. Go, because a lot of people don’t. And take a friend.
To me, walking around is the best way to see things, although some neighborhoods are obviously prettier than others. The trams are handy when feet tire. I especially like walking along Nowy Świat that becomes the pretty Krakowskie Przedmieście leading to the Royal Castle. Of course after I’d been up and down the street a couple of times, I was content to ride the bus. Łazienski Park is great for a walk, and I started taking short cuts through the Saxon gardens, and small streets near my hotel. I have a list of streets to explore next time that I read about in a Warsaw in Your Pocket article.
There’s a lot I haven’t seen yet
Warsaw has made me want to know more. There’s the interesting city itself and the allure of a nice place where most people I know haven’t yet thought of going. Some of Warsaw’s top sights are still on my to-visit list. I haven’t been across the river to Praga and the Neon Museum, which is high on my list. There are more palaces to see in Łazienski Park. And there are some walking tours I want to take. There’s night life that I’ll probably still miss, although I’ll look for concerts that appeal. Plenty still to do.
Trip date: August and October 2016