8th April 2005 – Warszawa

One early Easyjet flight, three ‘bloody’ trips to the toilet, one ‘Marcello Lippi’ look-alike bus driver, about 26 policemen and I’m finally at the Oki Doki Hostel. It’s in a nice little square, guarded by a bloke with an enormous machine gun.

I can’t check in because it’s only 11am, so I drop off my bags and go for a wander.

The streets are absolutely dead and apart from the odd few tourists and a few elderly couples with John Paul flags, the city is empty. I’m surprised by the number of skyscrapers. They break up the skyline and make it look very cosmopolitan without losing any charm.

There are signs on every shop window saying that they are close due to the Pope’s funeral. All I want is a bite to eat, so I’m glad to find a lovely Italian restaurant that’s actually open.

I’m now sitting in what seems like a posh place, but it’s very affordable so I decide to go for soup then pasta. There’s a couple in front of me who act like they’re in a photo shoot, so I try to sit behind and shove larges pieces of breadsticks into my mouth to give their photos a bit of perspective.

The weather is absolutely gorgeous but I’m in no rush to get back outside. The skies look like they may stay blue for a while and the number of photographers I’ve seen reassures me that I’ve come to the right place for my own photographic adventure!

They didn’t have a vegetable soup, so I accepted the ‘fish’ alterative. I did well too, trying prawns, shrimp, crab (I think) but left the weird octopus-looking thing!

The whole meal came to a ridiculous 39zl (around £7!) so I think this may be the first of a few restaurant meals!

After another dodgy toilet attempt, I decided to head towards the river. The city is split in two, with nearly everything worth seeing on the ‘west-side’ (I wonder if taxis refuse to go ‘east of the river gov’).

It only takes a few minutes and I’m shocked by its size. It’s absolutely massive, but still flows at an incredible speed.

I’ve really been ‘lucky’ with the timing of the Pope’s passing. It’s his funeral today and because everything is closed, it has such an incredible, relaxed atmosphere.

Loads of people are either sitting on benches in couples, fishing in the river or just wandering around like me.

I head back west towards the university, which is on a huge banking that looks impressive. Further west I reach yet another park and suddenly there appears to be more people.

It hits me like a thunderbolt when I realise why the city is so quiet: Everyone, I mean everyone, is in Ogrod Saski, a massive park just north of the hostel.

It’s got massive TV screens and thousands of people with even more candles. The booming ‘hallelujah’ music, followed by very ‘gothic’ funeral music is very emotional. People here and there are crying and there’s a real feeling that everyone is at a relative’s funeral. Nonetheless, it makes today all the more interesting. I’m seeing something today that will never happen on another day in my lifetime.

I’ve walked nearly 9km and I go back to the hostel. I’m pleasantly surprised – it’s clean and if it wasn’t for the shared bathroom facilities, it could easily pass as a standard hotel.

After an amazing shower, I head towards the hostel bar. There’s a guy who has been traveling since January who is giving travel advice to a couple of Canadians. However, the bit I really hear, is that beer is 5zl (less than a pound!) and 7zl for 2 beers in happy hour! I grab one immediately!

9th April 2005 – Warszawa

What a hangover! It’s 11.00 and I feel awful. I can’t remember getting home but I do remember the following:

- Joe, Steve and Bertie (plus the other two) can drink like fish!
- The biggest march I’ve seen since the anti-war one in London happened right through the centre of Warszawa
- Polish vodka is no different to Russian vodka – it still gets you hammered
- White Russians here are small and strong.

Just before leaving the hostel, I bump into (Michael Madson look-alike) Rob, Bertie and the other whose name I can’t remember.

They think I’m a lightweight and say last night was a practice session! I find out that Australian Steve stayed in some kind of dodgy strip club; the guy whose name I can’t remember ended up paying a taxi driver 100zl to drop him off in the middle of nowhere and the rest kept drinking for a long time.

I decide to head towards the Old Town. It was completely destroyed in the war and I’m interested to see how they’ve rebuilt it exactly as it was.

Outside it suddenly feels like I’m in a different city. There are people everywhere; stalls open selling everything from flowers to books to CDs. The place has woken up!

I see a very old lady (who looks like she’s probably blind and deaf) and in giving her 5zl, I thought I had earned the chance to take her photo. Just as I position myself, a passer by runs in between, shouting Polish. He’s very angry and despite offering more money, my photo opportunity is lost. Lots of people are now looking over as I sheepishly walk away.

Heading further north, I reach the Old Town. It’s like walking into a World War II film just before the war breaks out.

People sell the most fantastic things on the street and despite it being all for the tourists, it doesn’t feel that way.

I walk for ages before finally finding a menu that satisfies my munchies. It’s so ridiculously cheap but it still is a struggle to make a restaurant choice as they all sound so good.

I’ve just finished a zucchini soup and I’m waiting for my salmon dish to arrive. I’m expecting it to be excellent as it was suggested by the (very helpful and friendly) waiter to me over my original choice (also a salmon).

Well, the salmon dish was ok. It was absolutely enormous though, so I shock myself when the waiter persuades me to have pudding, even though I’m full to burst. I could hardly resist when he insisted the tiramisu was the best in all of Warszawa! Although I did manage to stop him from bringing a grappa too!

It turns out to be my most expensive meal so far, but it’s still nothing even with the pudding.

I walk a little further around the old town and as the weather today has been a bit poor (cloudy with occasional spits of rain), I enter the King’s Castle.

Each room is ‘guarded’ by staff that stand up when you enter. It makes for a great Mexican wave if you move quickly through the rooms!

Most of the castle is paintings, which I’m not so fussed about. However, the rooms themselves have a rich quality to them and they are all so different in style.

With the help of the staff who kindly tell me where to go, I make it through the maze of rooms and out into the main ’square’. It’s a nice little square with a huge monument of the guy who moved the castle from Krakow to Warszawa.

I’m nearly falling asleep on my feet, so I head back towards the hostel. It’s perfect timing too as I’m shattered by the time I reach my room.

I wake up three hours later and after a long shower I feel a lot better.

I try to find a market but when I see a McDonalds I can’t resist. I have the best (and cheapest) Big Mac that I’ve ever had and for the first time in a McDonalds, I actually feel like I’m in a restaurant! It’s got pictures of other McDonalds all around the world and the friendly staff and clean interior really make the meal quite nice!

I get back to the hostel and it’s 21.30, so off to bed I go.

10th April 2005 – Warszawa

10 hours of sleep and I feel much better! After a free breakfast *made slightly awkward by the quiet Dutch guy who wanted a chat) I decide to find the cemetery that holds over 100,000 Jewish graves.

Well, five hours of non-stop walking and I still haven’t found it! It’s supposed to be enormous but I cannot for the life of me find it. I’ve seen some Military zones on the far west of the city as well as one area of ‘absolutely nothing’, so my legs are completely giving away!

There’s a road names after Pope John Paul II, which understandably has a lot of candles on it. However, it’s only when you walk the entire length of the road (several kilometers), that you realise how many candles there really are. There are literally millions of candles, messages, pictures and flowers.

During my ‘little walk’ I also come across a large market that looks like some kind of Titantic antique sale! There’s so much (crap) stuff, it’s a wonder why so many people are there to shop!

I finally give in to my legs when I see a massive shopping centre. It’s very moderns and therefore looks totally out of place with everything that surrounds it/

I’ve picked a chain restaurant called ‘Sphinx’ that has the most absurdly cheap food I’ve ever seen. I’m on an onion soup followed by ham pizza with a glass of fizzy water and it’s around 20zl which is less than £4. There are also practically as many staff as customers, all pleased to help. It makes the rest of the shopping centre a joke, as clothes, electronic and home furniture is just as expensive as in the UK!

It’s 18.45 and I’m sitting in the hostel bar. I’ve just been telling Rob and Bertie about my 25km (yes – 25km) walk to find the Jewish cemetery.

Unbelievably, it’s only about 3km away. I must be the first person in Poland to have walked all the way around it without finding it.

However, find it I did. Luck too, as it was 30mins before it close. They insist on visitors wearing head covers, as part of Jewish religion.

It was pretty much as I expected. Graves everywhere, particularly close together. The odd reference to the Holocaust was moving, but with the sun finally shining, it didn’t hit hoe as much as I expected.

Anyway – back in the bar, Rob and Bertie have gone home. They act like 15yr olds and are proud to relive any story that involves drugs, drink or speeding.

I’m now surrounded by two guys playing chess, an ex-Swedish basketball player and some well spoken English. It’s more relaxing, despite my terrible urge to tell the basketball player that he is the spitting image of Paulo Maldini!

The night develops into a drinking frenzy. The Swede disappears and the two other well-spoken people are Matt and Kerry, married from Oxford. Another Matt joins us as do some Canadian brothers, one of whom is called Chris. He’s very funny: His attempt to describe how cold it can get in Vancouver is that they have to ‘wash our balls in ice water, man!’

The camp, knowledgeable guy whose name I can’t remember is also there, but other than try to turn every conversation into a political debate, he doesn’t do much.

As the drinks keep flowing, Chris and I discover a kebab (’kebaaaarb!’) house doing kebabs at 5zl each! He goes mental with the absurdly hot sauce, as does his brother. I follow suit and get two kebabs, but the Polish kebab-man laughs when I insist on ‘no hot sauce’.

‘Two hot sauce?’ He replies’

‘No! No hot sauce!! Hot sauce is bad!’

The barman at the hostel, brilliantly named Komrad, is absolutely great too. He shows me exactly where I walked today and finds it hilarious that it really was about 25km!

At 2am, we’re finally thrown out, so off to bed I go.

11th April 2005 – Warszawa

It’s a miracle that I feel good! Even more incredible is that it’s 7.15 and I have time for a long shower and get ready to pack before breakfast opens at 8.00.

I’m out the door by 9.00 and following Komrad’s advice, I’m heading south towards the Royal parks. Being rush-hour on a Monday, I finally get to see the cosmopolitan side of Warszawa. People are rushing about and cars are everywhere.

I reach the first park (Park Ujazdowski) and it’s quite cute. Stopping for a rest, I see the tamest squirrel I’ve ever seen, running up to the few people there are, in search of food.

Moving further south and crossing the main highway I enter the gigantic Lazienkowski park. It’s truly breath-taking, with one view after the next, being worth the walk. It too is pretty quiet although there are workers literally everywhere doing gardening and tidying. It’s something I’ve noticed quite a bit in Poland; they do have plenty of people doing what in England they would attempt with 10% of the workers.

I spend a good hour in the park before heading northbound in a different route. The weather is relatively clear, so I’m heading back to the Old Town to do the last two things on my itinerary.

It’s 11.00 and I’m already up in the main shopping street; Nowy Swiat. One person yesterday said they struggled to find things to do in Warszawa, but I’ve managed to fill four days practically perfectly!

I climb the tower on the edge of the Old Town and get a cracking view of the rebuilt town. 150 steps (!) back down again and I make my way to the Monument to the Warsaw Uprising. It’s to remember the crushing of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

That done, I’m ready to eat! For the first time on the holiday I use the guidebook to pick a restaurant; it works a treat.

I have the traditional Polish soup which is absolutely delicious (and a bargain at 3zl!) followed by a steak and vegetables (also an absurd 25zl). I still don’t understand how restaurant food works over here!

I make my way to the final thing I want to see, which is a museum with art and photography.

However, just as I was lucky finding the park with thousands of people mourning over the Pope, this time the Ukrainian President it there! He inspects the Polish troops and takes a look at the memorial display for the Pope, before jumping back in his car; surrounded by loads of police and security (as well as an ambulance on standby!) he is driven away!

Just as I think my luck on this holiday could not get any better, I find the museum and it’s closed on Mondays!

I accept defeat on that and head back to the hostel to chill before my departure.

I’m now in the minute second terminal of Warszawa airport. I’ve never seen anything so small pass itself off as an airport! Anyway, I’m here and made it in one piece!