On April Fools 2016, I became prudently homeless and left the continent as digital nomad. In this part, I finally do it right by exploring Warsaw and catching up on work with a beer in hand!
Missed the first Part? Start Here or read the Previous Part!
Warsaw Highlights
In the last part I talked about indulging the feastly polish breakfast of diverse breads and sausages, sipping on drinkable alcoholic honey, and closing the evening with some grain coffee. This time, I venture out exploring the town and reminding myself about the few things I really missed about my heritage-land.
Walking down the suburb streets, one will quickly notice the sheer spaciousness filled with greenery and playgrounds. Between the 10-story concrete housing blocks there’s always a little quiet alcove of peace. The Communists, as my grandfather says, actually planned ahead.
Stare Miasto ( “The Old Town”) is one of the biggest tourist traps of Warsaw, and one of the few in the world I actually enjoy visiting – perhaps we haven’t sold out quiet yet. But the hundreds-of-years-old houses and signature medieval castle are a lie. They were mostly bombed to all hell courtesy of the Germans who invaded us during WW2 came to hang out. After Poland was liberated by the Russians they got bored and left, the new government did the smart thing and rebuilt everything exactly as it was (just with elevators). Our cultural heritage got a strong boost of botox for generations to enjoy!
(Ha ha just kidding, we don’t actually have elevators)
Getting around is fairly easy too, thanks to relatively good system of buses and trams. The metro lags a bit, with some complaining of a useless extension covering literally two blocks no one walks to. Still, after 4 years of Los Angeles, my commuter-loving self is delighted. Well, except for the occasional, illegally parked tram…
If you find this interesting, check out my list of 8 things I missed about Poland (and didn’t!) from December last year too!
Working from a café, Polish style
Freedom to travel comes with a price tag of my skill and time. After all the walking, catching up on emails in a whimsical third space playing Édith Piaf with a warming ceramic on the lips felt like the thing to do. But that would be too quaint, so instead, I stopped at a pub! With the window’s sun warming the face and the bubbles delightfully cold, Edith Piaf sang on. Did I mention beer is cheaper than coffee?
For those just stumbling on my blog (dear god what must have you googled), I am a freelance game and web developer with over a decade of experience. Or, as I like to put it, I spend half my time making money so I can spend the second wasting it away. I’ll let you figure out which side is the more profitable one. But hey, why not check out my games on the right while you’re already wasting your day reading this?
Pizza Hut. Pizza What?
With website updates checked-in and invoices sent out, the abdomen demanded my attention. Spending the weekend on a hefty diet of traditional grandmother’s Gulasz with groats, chicken soup, and obligatory pierogi, I was in a mood of something characteristically un-Polish. Subliminal greasy fragrance of pub food did its magic and so I set out to… Pizza Hut.
An odd choice perhaps, but you must understand polish Pizza Hut is unlike the U.S. bottom-rung-ladder equivalent. Here, it’s an actual sit-down restaurant where you eat the pie with fork and knife and have a choice of pastas that don’t immediately drown in catchupy meat sauce monstrosity. Plus, the Polish style all-you-can-eat salad bar is a nice faux-healthy addition.
Oh and the Polish McDonald needs to win an award for making their burgers actually look like the pictures. Tasted surprisingly decent too.
And Now…
Some Quirky Things in Warsaw!
The Łazienki Park
The next day, my awesome grandpa took me on a day trip to the famous Łazienki, a quaint park with numerous Greek-style architecture, statues, and an open-air atrium.
Built in the 17th century to entertain the Polish artistic elite, it’s a peacful get-away just a 10-minute bus ride from the city center! If you’re not convinced, maybe a slew of peacocks, swans and squirrels can do the trick?
Aside from the park, my grandpa gave me a tour of his childhood neighbrooh while sharing some chilling stories of the Nazi occupation. But more on that later…
Oh fine it’s still junk food, but I had a nostalgic childhood craving; indulge me!
Retrologue
Having revisited a few months back, my sense of childlike wonder is now replaced with pragmatism. Exploration turned to errand-running, like picking up gifts for friends I will visit or getting a new sim card for the phone (which did not work). I like to think I am just saving the excitement for new lands and flavors I haven’t yet savored… but this thing was pretty exciting:
Yep, a free automated shoe cleaning machine in the middle of a mall. Because Poland.
In the next part, I will share my Grampa’s childhood stories surviving the Warsaw Ghetto. Prepare for sobering tales…
But first, my grandpa treats me to afternoon ginger-flavored Beer!
Read the next part: A Child of the Warsaw Ghetto