A Few Days in Warsaw, My First Time in Poland

 

After a good night's sleep, I went and headed to the bus terminal in Berlin, after some waiting, it was time to get on the bus, my seven hour bus journey was made bearable thanks to the fact that Flixbus had free wifi on the bus and I had a charging port. When the bus came into Poland, a soldier came onto the bus and checked everyone's passports and then I thought to myself, finally I am in Poland. When the bus finally arrived I headed to the nearby MacDonald's, I was really hungry as I didn't get to eat lunch that day and it was £3 for a Mcchicken meal. When I got to my hostel I went for a walk around and I had noticed that the city did not look European, it looked like Sydney or Singapore as there were loads of newly-built offices and skyscrapers. Warsaw is a very modern city as during WWII, it was shook to its core by both sides in an attempt to destroy Polish identity. 

After having some breakfast I was walking down the main street and came across the Palace of Culture and Science, one of the most famous buildings and the tallest in Warsaw. It is in the style of 1950s Stalinist architecture and nowadays serves as an office building and shopping centre. 

As I walked towards the old town, I noticed the government buildings and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The tomb contains the body of a soldier who was killed in the Defence of Lwow and is a general memorial to the Poles who were killed in the Second World War. It is guarded by soldiers who patrol around the government buildings and if you arrive at the right time, you can see the changing of the guard. What I only just noticed about the memorial is that it looks like the remains of a destroyed building. 

I then walked along and found one of the most famous historical buildings in Poland, the Royal Castle is located within the old town and it is worth a visit. The entry fee is £6 which is worth it and inside is a museum and you can see the old rooms of what was the residence of the monarchy of Poland. What's worth knowing is that sadly, during the Second World War, the building was bombed by the Germans and it has been restored over the years, on the staircase next to the castle, you can enter the gardens which is also worth seeing. 

 Then I walked through the Old Town of Warsaw and found the Market Square, this place is absolutely stunning is the main tourist spot to see in the city. I bought some souvenirs here and found a place to eat, around Warsaw, you will find loads of places to eat the local food and I found a place called Zapiecek. Ever since I had organised myself to go to Poland, I had wanted to try pierogi, I was told about it by people who had been to Poland and I was sold. Pierogi is a staple in Polish cuisine and it is essentially fried dough dumplings filled with mainly meat, as soon as I had my first I was hooked, seriously pierogi is delicious! 

I took a walk around the Old Town and came across some very moving memorials dedicated to those killed in the Katyn massacre and those who fought in the Polish resistance, within the Old Town as well is the Warsaw Barbican, one of the few historical fortifications that can be found in Warsaw. It was destroyed in the war as well, but has been restored to be a tourist attraction. On the walls of the Barbican is information of the history of the wars in the 20th century in which Poland fought. Nearby to the Old Town, I had also heard that there was a museum dedicated to Polish vodka, however when I showed up, the sign said that you must book your visit a week in advance, I was severely let down. 

I then decided to walk over to Lazienki Park, an park I was told about prior to coming to Warsaw, when I went there it was just a quiet park with some buildings, but admittedly this place is worth checking out. It has some pretty cool looking buildings around and there's a very interesting monument dedicated to Chopin. 

After that I headed back to my hostel so I could charge my phone, on the trams there doesn't seem to be a way to buy a ticket except for on machines at certain stations, furthermore, when you get on the tram, there's no way for them to check if you've bought a ticket. When I went out later on, I found an area in the city centre where most of the bars and restaurant are, it wasn't just Polish too, there were loads of Asian and burger restaurants as well. But for me, I wanted some more Polish cuisine for dinner. I had a Kielbasa and some beers and the bill around came to around £6. 

The next day, I did something that can't really be done in the UK, I hit up a gun range. Ever since I heard that it's really cheap to go shooting in Poland, it was another reason for my visit. I went to a place called PM shooter and I recommend them if you want an insanely good experience in firing guns. For £50, I was able to fire 6 guns. I started off with the CZ 75 pistol, then a Glock, then a Colt 45. After getting to grips with pistols, I got to fire an MP5, an AK47 and in saving the best for last, a Remington shotgun. Pistols are easy enough to fire, although the Glock has a bit of recoil and feels like a really powerful weapon. 

The MP5 is also a really practical weapon and that's why it's used so widespread today, when I fired the MP5 I didn't miss a single shot. The AK47 is a masterpiece of a weapon, something I certainly need to work on is holding rifles properly, it's all about pushing the stock into your arm as much as possible. The shotgun was also brilliant, it was really satisfying to reload it just like in the movies and the recoil was insane. My arm still hurt from the recoil days after. The instructor was also very professional and gave me everything I needed to know about firing guns safely. 

 After grabbing some lunch at Subway, I headed over to the Warsaw Uprising museum, the entry was £5 and it was definitely worth it. It was an excellent museum about the history of Poland during the Second World War, it tells you everything you need to know about how both the Germans and the Soviets did everything to destroy Polish identity as much as possible. It tells of the atrocities of how the Germans destroyed Warsaw and how in 1944, the Polish Resistance fought off the nazis in the Warsaw Uprising. 

I then headed back to my hostel and a little bit later I headed back out to go explore Warsaw during the evening. The castle and the Old Town looks much more magical during the nighttime, however the best place to find a bar is near where the university is. I found another place to have pierogi for dinner and I had pints of beer at 70p a pint which is simply wonderful. 

Is Warsaw worth a visit? Definitely. When I was there it did feel a bit quiet though, in my hostel there were no other backpackers and there weren't many people going out to the bars. I'm pretty sure I was the only British tourist in Warsaw at the time and it certainly does not feel touristy which is a good thing in my book. Warsaw gets a lot of criticism from people I've met because it's an incredibly modern city compared to others, a lot of the buildings around the place look like they've been built in the last 30 years, however you can still see the quaint Old Town which when I went there was almost devoid of tourist crowds.