Warsaw, Poland- July 2011

Arriving in Warsaw was a mission of good will. The thunder and lightning surrounded our 30 passenger tour bus. Before we sat for hours at the Belarus border until we finally reached a city filled with people and civilization. The new and the old are split into two in a metropolis like Warsaw. You have your Old town filled with buildings dating back even before the Jewish Ghetto to your New Town filled with dozens of shopping malls and a central train station. After having a quick breakfast the next morning we were set on seeing all the sites Warsaw had to offer. Whether it being the WW2 antique shoppes or the malls filled with designer clothes. Our bus tour of the city was not exactly what I thought it would be. The tour guide kept on talking about architects of buildings and totally discarded the actual history of this place. We passed by the National Stadium where the UEFA Euro 2012 is being held. There was a lot of construction going on throughout the exterior of it. We also passed the Palace of Culture and Science where you could get a birds eye view of Warsaw.

Old Town

New Town

The Jewish ghetto is now just normal apartment houses on basic city looking streets. There is however a monument dedicated to the Ghetto located right in the heart of it. After visiting the monument we decided to check out the shopping malls in New Town. Located right across from the central train station is a shopping complex called the Golden Terraces. The glass facade of this thing just comes out in a weird shape. Inside there is over a hundred stores ranging from clothes to restaurants. We found a little restaurant inside the mall up in the food court. Knowing that perogie's were the Polish national food I knew i had to try one. They ended up not having meat so I got a cabbage and mushroom perogie. It was honestly one of the best dishes I tried the whole trip. I ate it down in literally 5 minutes. Washing it down with 2 bottles of sparkling water. After the meal I continued to walk around a little. Knowing that my group of friends on the tour wanted to take a train from Warsaw to Berlin we stopped off in the train station to buy our tickets for our departure the next day. It was a smarter idea doing that rather than sitting on a bus for 12 hours. The train would get us there in about 5.

Getting our tickets was a relief knowing that we weren't going to waste a day on a bus. We decided to head over to the Old Town area because we felt that we spent a substantial amount of time journeying thru the newer parts. Both parts are very close to each other. It's almost like you enter a time machine when you go from old to new or new to old.  With the rain dropping down on our head's I was not thinking much of time machines or movies like "Back to the Future". We got to the central square of Old Town where there are benches and umbrellas with people drinking the cheapest beer known to man. Only about 2 euro you get a 24 Oz of beer. Walking around the old looking buildings I stumbled upon an old antique store. I decided to go in and give a look. Searching thru the stuff in the store I realized that it was all WW2 memorabilia. This was legitimate stuff. From old jewelry to papers and uniforms. I ended up buying myself a silver ring with the Polish emblem on it. I could of spent hours going thru the thousands of things they had laying around that shop. 

Around 5:30 we needed to get back in time to get ready for our farewell dinner. Warsaw was the last stop for the tour. Although people were taking the bus to Berlin the tour officially ended in Poland. We went to some beautiful place for dinner. The food was amazing. Mushroom soup, a main course of Duck, and the best cake. My friend Diane was celebrating her birthday that day she turned 32. We got her a cake. At the dinner I was loading up on some red wine. After the dinner there was some drama between me and this australian guy on the tour. We got into a fist fight and I got some good shots on him. The tour manager told me that it would be best if me and my friend Dutch took a taxi and not get on the bus. Nothing like a fist fight in Warsaw, Poland. Not everyday you come home with a story like that. It's funny because the guy I fought is 5 years older than me and 5 times bigger yet I still managed to win. Dutch and I took a cab to meet with our friends who were waiting for us at the Paparazzi Club.

Standing outside for 20 minutes trying to hail a cab was not fun but we were determined to get one. Finally one came and we asked for him to get us to the Paparazzi Club. A great nightclub and bar in the clubbing district of the city. We were let out and we walked inside. There I was greeted by all my friends that I made on the tour. All asking me if I was alright because of the fight. I told them I was fine and that it was nothing to worry about. Since it was Diane's birthday I told them we had to party our asses off. We got a whole bottle of vodka with shot glasses and red bull to mix with. I was taking shots of vodka at the bar since I heard Poland's national drink was Vodka. I didn't understand that because I always thought the vodka in Russia is more famous. Either way I got pretty shit faced. It was fun being surrounded by people that seemed like friends you've known all your life. Around 2 in the morning we had to get back to the hotel. We were waking up at 4 AM to be able to catch the train at 5:30 to Berlin. It was very hard that morning to get up.

Warsaw, Poland. A place where the word ghetto has air lifted a million galaxies away. A place where the old meets the new. The shopping meets the history. Where fist fights in the street end up taking you to great nightclubs and bars. This city is one of a kind. My thoughts on Poland before even coming here were that it would be a very depressing place. Very farm like and cold. Wow, I was completely wrong. This place is more alive than a new born baby. People of all ages can come here and have a good time. Between the museums and the nightlife. Definitely a place I could picture myself coming back to visit again one day in the future. A 6 in the morning train did not sound like such a fun thing. But in the world of a traveler you need to pack your bags and move on to the next destination. Berlin, Germany.