Wednesday November 6th 2019

Warsaw Ghetto

I wanted to see Sarah Brightman on her latest world tour Hymn and when she finally came to Europe, I decided to go.
I combined the concert with visiting a city (and country) I have not yet been in; Warsaw, Poland.

I came to Warsaw Wednesday afternoon, just a few hours before the concert - so I took a taxi to the Old Town and found (with some problems) my apartment hotel (Stone Steps Apartments).
I realized quickly that they had no reception or lobby - so I had to call them to get instructions on how to find my room - and the key.
I highly recommend this place (great room, nice people at the other end of the phone and a perfect location next to the old town square), but I suggest you contact them before you stand outside, getting nervous if I would be able to find the place - and in my case - make it to the concert. :D

Anyhow; I got in - and later went (with another taxi) to Torwar Hall, where the concert was held.

The concert was great (of course), but the sounds was sometimes really bad. Not sure if Sarah's voice is aging - or could it be that when the architects in old communist Poland created this sports arena, they did not think so much about acoustics..?

Anyhow, back to the hotel after the concert.
Next day would be my only full day in Warzaw - stuffed with interesting things to see and do (I hope!).

Thursday November 7th 2019

Next day I ate breakfast at a place I had found researching Warsaw; the E. Wedel's chocolate shop and cafe.

A really nice place where they had a lot of chocolate drinks (both hot and warm). Plus regular chocolate candy from their factory!

I also looked at the Old Town - obviously (since I lived there).

There is an old observation tower close by...

 ...so naturally I went up there. :)

I continued my walk throughout Warsaw and came to the statue of the famous astronomer Copernicus. 

The square was pretty cool with the solar system in the ground,

Thank you, Copernicus for correcting the old view of the solar system!

When in Warsaw it's hard not to come upon the highest building in the city; the Palace of Culture and Science.

A big place (not just tall) with plenty of theatres and museums.

You could go up to the top here as well. And of course I did.

Then I wanted to visit an interesting museum, the Warsaw Gasworks Museum.
It didn't look too far on the map so I decided to walk there. It took about an hour, double the time I had foolishly calculated.
And there was not much interesting to see on the way there either.

And once I got there I found...nothing. Not a trace of the building - only brand new apartment houses.

Not sure what has happened. Maybe it had been torn down?
While standing confused, I found an old comment on the internet, stating that the museum was "closed until Spring". So who knows what happened?

Disappointed I turned back. I ate at a almost-nearby Milk bar - because of A Clockwork Orange.
More for the fun of it, but the food wasn't bad in anyway.

After this I went to the Copernicus Science Centre.

I had expected more of a museum, but there were mostly experiments you could do. More focused on kids and teenagers, I suspect, but I managed to have some fun as well.

However I did not stay too long and instead went back to my hotel.

Dinner today was Fish (wrapped in a pancake!) and chips.

Friday November 8th 2019

Not much to report.

My flight was around lunch so after waking up and a shower, I took a taxi to the airport.
Then straight on the airplane and homewards.

Home sweet home.

Warsaw Overview

In November I found Warsaw and rather grey and dull city. But I hear it is really nice during Spring and Summer. Not complaining though - I am used to it from back home. :)
But I do not think I will come back here unless something special happens here.

When it comes to eating, I did try the Polish dishes Pierogi (ok) and the fast food, Zapiekanka (also ok). Had I not been here alone, I would probably have tried some more fancy places with really good food, but I did not - and don't really miss it.

Total cost of this trip was about 7600 SEK (including Concert ticket @ 850 SEK).