Getting from the Chopin Airport to our hotel was almost as easy as we thought it would be. We thought the train ticket would get us on the Metro, but it appears that we bought the wrong type of ticket. No big deal. We bought another for the Metro. Check-in was fast; the room is small but well-appointed. Nice bathroom, TV, free wi-fi, an openable window, decent mattress with a duvet that kept us too warm. Nice for $60. From now on, prices will be in złotych (zwo-tik) - about three to the dollar (3PLN=Cdn$1).
After a nice shower, we started exploring the neighbourhood. First stop, a mini-mart for bread and cheese and yogourt. A 560g loaf of excellent rye bread, 70g of cheese and a small yogourt was about 20PLN. That would be dinner as we were still stuffed from all the plane and lounge food. More wandering - found the Wisla river and the Polonia Stadium and a few parks. So far so good. A bit of football on the telly and then asleep by 20:30 --- for 12 hours!
It was gone 9 by the time we left the room for breakfast, trying to ignore the fact it was 3 am in Toronto. We found the Bar Mleczny Pod Barbakanem - Milk bar under the Barbican. A plate of pancakes with cream cheese, a huge spinach omelette, bread roll, hot milk (no cold), 2 excellent coffees: 25PLN. The food was a bit greasy but meh, so what. A quick trip to the tourist office (good English) for answers on our ticket problem and trains was useful. The old town (Stare Miasto) is quite a treat for the eyes. Lots of decorations and ornaments on everything. And statues and monuments litter the city.
We bought our train tickets for Tuesday's almost-7-hour-trip to Gdansk; splurged on first class (100PLN each) and no old-fart's 50% discount for foreigners. Darn. We kept walking, found a couple of nice milk bars, and meandered back to the hotel. The main street was closed to private cars and there was music and food everywhere. I think it's the first nice weather (14ºC) for months - huge queues for ice cream at every place - 1000s of people out enjoying themselves.
First impressions: we like Warsaw. Only negatives - lots of broken beer and vodka bottles and some litter. Positives: fantastic affordable public transit, friendly helpful people, great sights - modern glass curvy skyscrapers next to ancient (or reconstructed to look ancient) buildings.
After dinner, I'll try to add some pix to the blog.
No comments:
Post a Comment