Warsaw
Warsaw was cold. The warmest thing about Poland is its people. Between the airport and our Servas host’s apartment we got to know several Poles. The jolly giant working the luggage room at the train station talked our ears off (in Polish.) Him and every other Polish person we flagged down for directions went above and beyond a normal point in the right direction. An older couple made it their mission to get us to the right building when we got lost in a maze of housing blocks. We spoke English to them and they spoke Polish to us and everyone knew no one was understanding anything. We made it after what felt like living through a Seinfeld episode.
Eva and her daughter Paula hosted us in Warsaw. They both speak English very well and are overly hospitable. Paula knew a lot about the US from having done a year exchange program in Michigan. We learned about life in Eastern Europe from talking to them and having read up on a little Polish history on the flight in. To avoid another long-winded history lesson I will just mention that Poland has been dubbed “God’s Playground” for all the blood spilled on Polish soil. It seems, however, that even such a brutal history of conflicts and extreme hardship hasn’t dissuaded the Poles from their upbeat attitude towards life.
With Paula as our guide, we got a nice glimpse of the city. We walked down Warsaw’s version of the Champs Elysées and saw the final resting place of Chopin’s heart at the Church of the Holy Cross. For lunch we insisted on an authentic Polish experience and ate at an old fashioned “milk bar.” Before the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, the communists set up these milk bars so that a working family could enjoy a crappy meal out every once and a while. These days the tastiness has increased drastically, but the price hasn’t. All three of our meals were barely a dollar each.
Warsaw’s Old Town was completely destroyed in the war. What you see in our pictures is the restoration work from the ‘50s. Locals complain that it feels fake, but Paula, Lauren, and I agreed that we couldn’t tell a difference. We got a miniature tour of Old Town when Paula eavesdropped on a passing tour group and translated it.
One night for dinner we initiated a food exchange. Lauren and I made an impromptu batch of guacamole and Paula prepared the traditional Eastern European hot (or mulled) wine. For even more diversity we threw in some of the Belgian beer we brought a long. After dinner, Paula helped us stock up on Polish hip-hop and we promised to return the favor with some American music.
Not that we had low expectations of Poland, but Lauren and I were blown away at how much we loved our time in Warsaw. While the city might not have been the most enchanting place we’ve ever seen, it also wasn’t nearly as bleak as most Americans imagine. After seeing so many European cities aiming to charm visitors to death, it was refreshing to visit an environment that doesn’t fret over its cosmetics (at all.) As I’ve repeatedly mentioned, the most interesting part of Warsaw was the agreeable atmosphere created by its inhabitants.
On the train to Krakow we sat in a cabin with an Australian named Jaime and yet another friendly Pole. We all got a kick out of her, and every other Polish person’s, desire to chat with us despite the huge language barrier. We got out our Texas ID/passports to show her where we were from and started an ID show-and-tell party like none other. We were all shocked when her ID turned out to be a badge – she was a Policewoman from Krakow. Later she insisted I eat one of her ham sandwiches. I had no idea how to explain vegetarianism and she wasn’t buying that I was full (her law enforcement instincts must have seen through the lie.) Luckily Jaime swooped in and took one for the team. It was a lot of fun.
Tags: Travel
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