Rainy Warsaw
We're not going to be doing much today with heavy rain forecast all day, so I will catch up on yesterday.
As always, we started off with coffee. There's a Green Caffè Nero right down from our hotel.
Mine's the one with the whipped cream. Don't judge me.
After a quick trip to the mall to get a SIM card for Fe's phone, we took a tram to Warsaw's Old Town. The area looks centuries old, but was actually reconstructed after World War II.
Old Town Square
Royal Castle Courtyard
Inside St. John's Archcathedral
The Barbican. You can read all of its history in the link, but it was part of the 16th Century city walls.
It was past 1 pm by now and we were hungry. Luckily I had seen and read about Polish milk bars, which have cheap local food. I don't have pictures of what we had, but I pulled them from the menu. Fe and I shared a plate of Ukrainian pierogies, apple crepes with cream, and two cherry compote drinks.
Now doing the math, that's 31.21 zloty (PLN) which, at the current exchange rate of 4.21 PLN to the USD, came out to $7.41 for both of us! Every city we are visiting has places like this so you can be sure we'll be eating at each one of them.
By this time, we were on the other end of the Old Town and were walking through a residential neighborhood to the tram stop. I saw this on the way:
These markers were placed between 2008 and 2010 to memorialize the extent of the Jewish ghetto set up by the Nazis in 1940. I saw another line later that night right outside the Palace of Culture and Science. When we were in Ireland in 2011, I noticed how "sad" their history was, but Poland's is much worse (in my opinion).
After a break at the hotel we went out again that evening to see more of the city and Old Town.
Warsaw skyline from the top of our hotel
Fe and the Presidential Palace. Doesn't she look presidential?
We had another great dinner out here--not at a milk bar--and shared some "sizzling" pork ribs with saurkraut and more pierogies--this time stuffed with local fruits: strawberries, black currants, and apples.
I had to walk all that off, so I went around our hotel again to get more skyline views. Because I am a city boy.
I am also late on posting the money shot that my blogs traditionally have:
Polish Złoty
As I said before (and in the title), it rained all day today but we did manage to see a few things. First we took the subway (for the first time here) to a park near the Copernicus Science Center and the Vistula River.
Another Warsaw Mermaid Statue. It's the same Fe.
On the subway this time, a police officer asked to check our tickets, which was a first. I may have said this earlier, but on our first day I bought a 3-day timed ticket for the Warsaw system which includes tram, subway, and bus. For anyone doing a similar thing--anywhere in Europe--be sure to validate the ticket. We knew this so everything was fine, but I've heard that some people who don't validate have to pay a huge fine. I told Fe she looks like a tourist so that's probably why he picked us. I just got a look.
I hope this guy got his senior discount.
We also did our typical McDonald's stop in this area just to see what differences there were in the menu. Really, there wasn't much. Except they had a spiced apple hot tea--brewed with a teabag and real apples with cinnamon. We both thought it would sell in the US.
Polish Palm in the Roundabout
The photos above were in the University area, not too far from the Old Town but it was raining (sometimes heavy) and we hopped a tram back to the hotel and I got some blogging done.
Around 6 pm we headed for our last supper in Warsaw. I had seen the Dubrovnik Chata Chorwata earlier and while it was only a block from our hotel, it was mostly a "local" place. We shared a starter, main course, and dessert--I'm not getting any thinner, you know.
Grilled Perch
San Sebastian Light Marshmallow Cheesecake
Now we're all caught up! Tomorrow morning we pick up our rental car and head to Krakow. Time to pack up and review my European sign manual.
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