A Short Visit to Warsaw, Poland

I finally went to Warsaw. It was two weekends ago, in the middle of October. A friend and I booked a hostel online and a bla bla car (a form of car-sharing), set out for Warsaw at 7 AM on Saturday morning from Rondo Solidarnosci in Lodz. Unfortunately, the car that we booked broke down as it stopped to pick us up. As a result, my friend and I had to travel by train. At the railway station, we paid 25 zloty for a one-way ticket.

After two hours, we arrived in Warsaw on a rainy morning and the first thing we did was grab some warm drinks from the McDonald’s located on the second floor of the railway station.

After we had warmed up a bit, we decided to go to Stare Miasto to visit the oldest part of the capital city. Though it was still raining, we walked all the way from the railway station to Stare Miasto. We enjoyed the seeing the post-World War II skyscrapers near the railway station and the big park, located halfway between the station and Stare Miasto.

After about an hour of walking, we reached Stare Miasto completely wet. We wandered around Stare Miasto for a while and saw the castle. We enjoyed the narrow streets and the nice shops that sold amber jewelry and other mementos for tourists. I spotted a shop with an Italian name, called Bellotto.

A Short Visit to Warsaw.

We left the main square, and took the stairs to where the buses and trams depart from Stare Miasto to our hostel,which was located on the other side of the river on Ulica Siennicka.

At first, the hostel could not find my reservation. When they finally did, they placed the two of us in a renovated room together with another woman and her child. First, we placed our clothes on the radiators to get dry. We were wet, but satisfied! Maria started playing with the child, while I prepared some sandwiches.

At around 6 PM, we both fell asleep and we slept until 7 AM the next morning! We also watched TV for a while but didn’t find it entertaining because we can hardly understand Polish. Maria’s Polish is stronger than mind as she went to Krakow for her Erasmus and is currently taking Polish courses but still she is not fluent.

After another day of sightseeing, we left Warsaw with the 4.45 p.m train to Lodz, and reached Lodz at dusk.

My next plan is to visit Krakow and then to return to Warsaw! I still have to visit what remains of the famous Jewish ghetto of Warsaw.

Top photo for A Short Visit to Warsaw by Unsplash.