Guest Post: Warsaw

Welcome to my first guest post! My dear friend, T., shared an email written by her beloved nephew, Z., about his travels in Warsaw. Z is a college student, and his account of his Polish experience left me breathless. I read this and thought, "THIS is why I travel. This is why you see the world." The joy in his experience comes through with every word, every syllable. Z graciously gave permission for me to share this post, absent his contact/identifying information. Here it is:
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Since I have a little more time, I will expand upon my trip to Poland:

Sunday evening, I fly from Moscow to Warsaw, where I arrive around 10pm.  Take a city bus to my hostel. Check in, get my key, take my stuff to my room, make the bed, all that jazz.  I was told that there is a bar in the basement, and that it is open tonight, as it is Easter (which in Poland calls for a 4 day weekend).  I head down, and walk up to the bar.  The bartender is maybe late 20s.

"You want beer?"
"Sure"

There is a fridge of different bottled beers, and one tap.  The place where you can usually find the label or name of the beer, instead of either of those, has a picture of the bartender's face.  Thats it.  Without asking what kind of beer I would like, he poured me one from the tap.  It was actually very good.  

The next day, I wake up fairly early, probably from excitement.  I grab breakfast from one of the few cafes open (Monday was a day off, after all), and walk across the downtown to the Warsaw Uprising Museum.  What a museum. It is by all means an incredible museum: Well done, well maintained, interactive, informative; but Lord was it rough to get through.  They didn't try to soften anything.  It is really better to describe in person.  Anyway, I ended up buying a DVD of a documentary (which I had already seen, but the DVD had English subtitles, which I hadn't seen).  It is entirely footage from the Uprising, and the historical preservation work, from coloration, to getting deaf Poles to read lips, and then cross referencing that with eye witnesses, is simply outstanding, and worth every złoty.  

After that, it was about time for lunch, so I head back towards my hostel, and the Old Town.  They closed down this one road (Nowy Świat) to cars, and it was peacefully and calmly bustling.  There were people everywhere, but no one was in a rush, no one was in a bad mood.  It was a cool day, but very much spring.  The sun was shining, and didn't really need a jacket.  I stopped by a small Polish restaurant, and sat down at a table on the sidewalk.  The staff were incredibly friendly.  And I can remember that moment like a picture in my mind:

The quietly bustling street
Families walking
Couples strolling
Laughter
Birds singing
The clear blue sky
Warm sun on my back
A cold glass of beer
Delicious food

And I just felt so.... happy. So.... whole.  And in this moment, I realized: this is living, this is being alive.  In a place that has seen so much suffering, so much struggle, so much death and sadness, I had never seen such happiness.  This moment really set the tone for the whole trip. 

I went walking around the Old City, which is simply breathtaking.  I had gotten used to Petersburg, which, while equally breathtaking, is differently so.  Petersburg is a city of scale, of grandeur: massive squares, towering cathedrals, monolithic palaces, grand visages.  Old City Warsaw is, well, cute: winding narrow stone streets, smaller, enclosed squares, cozy.

There I ran into two of my roommates at the hostel: two Americans studying in England, on spring break.  We ended up talking, and I ended up showing them the joys of Georgian food.  

The next day, I wandered around a little more, before heading to the train station in the early afternoon.  My train ride from Warsaw to Krakow was about two and a half hours long, and every moment I spent glued to the window.  Warsaw, being in central Poland, is fairly flat.  We passed a decent number of vineyards on our way into the countryside.  As we traveled further south, we started to encounter rolling fields, freshly green in the setting spring sun, punctuated by hedgerows and streams.  Then we passed through a small tunnel, and encountered a series of larger hills and valleys.  Gorgeous fields were layered, almost, to help counter the slope of the hills, which made them look like waves.  Small villages in valleys, green fields, streams surrounded by trees, forests.  It felt like falling in love.  

By the time I arrived in Krakow, it was around 7:30 or so.  I walked to my hostel (which was Lenin themed), did the basic settling down stuff, and then asked the front desk where the best place to get Polish food nearby was.  I was directed to a very small cafe a short walk away.  Some of the best pierogi I have ever had.  The room I was in was a four person room, but since I was the only person to book the four person room, it was just a one person room.  

It seems I have written quite a lot, and it is getting quite late.  I will follow up soon with the rest of my trip (which involved adventures in the Baltic states!).  

Love, Z.