Poland - Warsaw Rising

July 3-4

Hello everyone!

Welcome to Warsaw! 

'Radioactive' crockery found in the Marie Sklodowska (Curie) House 

Flower clock outside the Palace of Culture and
Science, which features over 3,000 seedlings 

Having a five week break between jobs has given me the opportunity to do a bit of travelling. Though this trip will go to a few new places, it’s starting in a city that I have visited before. I came to Poland’s capital when backpacking around Europe in 2008. One of my main memories of that is being sat in HSBC, being fed biscuits and chatting about skiing whilst some money was sent to me. Hopefully this experience, with a few more Zloty to spend, will be different…

Communist-era food called zapiekanka

You have to wait for the green light to cross the street here, and
we were told that tourists are regularly fined for jaywalking

Whilst I do remember seeing some other parts of Warsaw, it was 18 years ago. Things will have changed. And just because you’ve visited a place before doesn’t mean that you can’t return!

A quirky shopping mall roof

This memorial honours a political protestor who self-immolated in 2017

The skyline has changed, for one thing. The large stadium on the other side of the Vistula River was built for a football tournament co-hosted by the country in 2012. 

The river itself is busy in the evenings when the weather is nice

The stadium in the distance hosted the opener of EURO 2012

Some of the skyscrapers are probably new as well. One of the more striking towers, Zlota 44, began being constructed in the year that I previously visited. It’s the largest of a stretch of modern, bizarrely-shaped buildings a little bit to the west of the historic centre of Warsaw.

Also known as 'The Sail', Zlota 44 is a
residential tower with 52 floors

The holey Inercontinental Hotel

One building is a bit less modern, being built in 1955, but is iconic. Warsaw’ Palace of Culture and Science looks like the Tower of Terror from Disney, and eerily similar to buildings I have seen before in Prague and Moscow

237 metres tall, it is Poland's second-tallest building

It has a nice immediate surrounding area

Like Czechoslovakia, Poland wasn’t part of the Soviet Union, but definitely came under its ‘sphere of influence’. This building was commissioned as a ‘gift’ to the Polish people by Joseph Stalin. It arguably gets more love now than it did during the Cold War, and is home to a variety of offices and museums. It also has a 30th floor observation deck, giving a great 360 of the city.

View of Warsaw Old Town from the Palace

Well protected

The Soviets, and later the Russians, are not seen favourably in this country. That was made explicitly clear during a walking tour of the old city, and can be noticed with the amount of Ukrainian signage. Poland has taken in millions of refugees from the country since 2022, with over 1 million remaining. Though numbers are hard to pin down, it’s estimated that there are over 100,000 Ukrainian refugees in Warsaw at the moment. Obviously, that is very different to the last time I visited. 

Poland currently has a strong relationship with the EU

Not Ukrainian, but an excuse to show food from further east:
one of my faves, khachapuri azaruli from Georgia

Warsaw has been a haven for the oppressed before; most notably, it had one of the world’s largest Jewish populations in the first part of the twentieth century. This felt like a safe place when the Kingdom of Poland existed; then came the start of World War 2, which British people will tell you began when Nazi Germany invaded Poland.

This would have been part of the Warsaw ghetto, which
sealed in over 350,000 Jews into a cramped space

These memorials show the line of the ghetto wall

It’s common knowledge that Germany invaded and quickly overran Poland. Those versed in history will know that Poland was also invaded, in the same month, from the east…by the Soviet Union. A not-that-secret pact had been made between the two powers to carve up the Kingdom of Poland. Another reason for anti-Russian sentiment.

The Polish flag is prominent around the city

Warsaw's Barbican has been used to defend the city once -
by the Swedish, who were being attacked by...people from Warsaw

With more time, I’d have explored the Jewish history in more detail. What I learnt about on the walking tour was another horror: the razing of Warsaw itself. This is partly due to Polish resistance, which happened throughout the war, came in many forms, and was conducted by many different sets of people: young or old, Christian or Jewish, they regularly found ways of subverting the Nazi state.

The symbol of the Polish resistance - its two letters
(P and W) are combined to form an anchor

Statue of The Little Insurrectionist,
honouring Polish child resistors

There was an uprising in 1944. Brave, but naive, as they didn’t have many weapons. And the Nazis, who were very much on the back foot in the more global war, took out their frustrations on the city. The result of this was the murder of about 200,000 civilians, and the destruction of over 80% of its buildings. The Soviets? Apparently waiting on the other side of the river, not getting involved until the city was empty and gutted. Another reason for anti-Russian sentiment.

Monument to the Warsaw Uprising

World leaders came to survey the damage

The rebuild brought the country together, and resulted in Warsaw’s Old Town looking somewhat similar to how it was before 1939. It’s apparently the only UNESCO heritage site that has been permitted having been completely rebuilt, as they used original plans.

The man on the plinth is an old Polish leader called
Sigismund - when his son made the monument, it angered the
church, as it was one of the first monuments to honour a secular ruler.

Warsaw's Royal Castle may look a bit lame -
when first built, the more ornate side was facing the
river, as that was how more people would arrive

Part of the rebuild has allowed a bit of change outside of the Old Town, with more green spaces being created. It makes Warsaw quite a pleasant and walkable city.

There are about 80 parks in the city

Monument to Frederic Chopin in the Uzajdow Park

One of the parks slightly south of the centre contains a monument to Frederic Chopin, an expert in their field and famous Pole…who spent a lot of time in France. He is venerated here, though, and loved Warsaw even after leaving when 19 years old and never returning. Musical benches were installed around the city in 2009.

Chopin's heart is in this church. I tried to go in three times -
each time there was a church service. Good that it's being used!

There are 14 of these benches around the city  

There is another expert in their field and famous Pole…who spent a lot of time in France. You may know her as Marie Curie. Here, they prefer to name her with her Polish surname, Marie Sklodowska. They’ll also tell you that Marie Curie preferred to be called Marie Sklodowska-Curie, because…well, patriotic pride.

She was born in this house in 1867. It was reconstuctred in
the 1950s after being destroyed in WW2.

Marie had to earn money in Poland to pay for her
sister's studies - their deal was that her older sister,
Bronia, would then pay for Marie to study in Paris.

Whatever you call her, she was born in Poland. Not technically a Polish national until being given honorary citizenship in the 1920s, however; Poland as a state did not exist when she was born, and Warsaw was actually a city under Russian control. Another reason for anti-Russian sentiment. Ignoring that, and moving to Paris, Marie became a super scientist and female trailblazer. 

A mock-up of the Curie's laboratory. They discovered
two new elements: polonium and radium.

The certificate for one of her Nobel Prizes: she
was the first female recipient, and the first to
win two in separate scientific disciplines

Warsaw strikes me as being a slightly less touristy version of Prague. It has the challenging 20th century history. It has remnants of communist tower blocks seen in the distance from a height. It has the cheap beer and heavy food. It looks lovely in the sunshine and has many green spaces. 

Soup in bread and a beer: heavy

A series of globes outside a shopping mall
suggest ideas of how to improve the city

Grammy-nominated singer Christie Dashiell performing
at a jazz festival in Warsaw's Market Square

It also has culture and seems quite an intellectual city. Maybe if Poland had qualified for the men’s football World Cup, the atmosphere would be different. Overall, I found Warsaw to be a peaceful and pleasant place to spend a couple of days, and a good place to start my latest little adventure. And a trip to HSBC wasn’t needed, either…

The city's mermaid, said to protect them. Hasn't
done it that well over the years...

This blueberry-filled bun, called jagodzianka, is only available
at this time of year. Not as delicious I had hoped...

Dziękuję Poland

Love you all,

Matt