Its amazing what a make-over and a change of regime can do for a city. In just fifteen years Warsaw has moved away from its grey, concrete architectured Soviet block image to up and coming trendy short break destination.
19 September 2005
“You are brave to brave our February weather” said Barbara, our guide, clearly enjoying her pun. Our breath turning to steam in the cold Polish air, and rubbing our glove-clad hands, we were about to embark on a guided tour of Poland’s capital – Warsaw. “Its been fifteen years since the fall of communism and in 2004 we celebrated Poland’s entry into the EU”.
Warsaw is a pretty exhilarating place to be right now. Developments and renovations are unfolding at a rapid pace and visitors can literally see history developing before their very eyes. Palaces are being used as business centres and the Palace of Culture and Sciences betrothed to the people of Warsaw by Stalin, is now a swinging club, gallery and cinema. Warsaw is so eager to become a visitable place that a private intiative by the Warsaw Destiantion Alliance which started in January 2004, has participating hotels instituting a levy assessment of 1 Euro for all hotel guests. Funds gathered via levy would be used for the purpose of promoting the New Warsaw City as a great destination for Meetings, Conferences and Conventions.
A sure sign of its European fit is the thriving, and highly inventive caf?-bar culture and throbbing nightlife and the streets buzz with life helped by a highly efficient public transport. Eating out is surprisingly cheap and even the best restaurants offer a two course meal with wine for 2 for just ?25.00. At these prices it is worth dining out on Polish gastronomy – an eclectic mix of Eastern European and Jewish influences
Our tour started from out hotel the InterContinental Warszawa in Emilii Plater street in the smart new business district. It is a great location opposite the opera house, just minutes of the shopping and entertainment areas and 15 minutes' walk from the old town. But for all its finery, Emilii Plater, once a part of the Jewish quarter during the Second World War, has not discarded the bullet holes still visible in some of the buildings
Warsaw endured many invasions and partitioning by foreign powers in the eighteenth century, followed in 1939 by the Nazi’s take-over the city culminating in the destruction of 80% of the City. But as we walked around the old town, it looked, well, old. Barbara, our guide, reconciled this for us “the whole town including the Royal Castle and the town walls are a fake. They were rebuilt between 1945 and 1974. The houses around the square, may look centuries old but they too have been rebuilt from scratch.” Restaurants and shops have synchronised their look with the amibience of the rest of the town and horse drawn carriages complete the quaint picture.
It was sadly piquant that much of the tour revolved around the notorious Warsaw ghetto and the fate of the Jews first in the ghetto in 1939 and ultimately their transportation to the death camps. This episode in Polish history still weighs heavily in the national heart. Some parts of the ghetto wall are still standing now used as part of the city structure. The Warsaw History Museum in the old shows moving wartime footage of the capital.
Four years later in April 1943, the Jews revolted openly against the Nazis, with the Ghetto Uprising, resulting in the total annihilation of the a Jewish community spanning eight generations.There are a few memorials here and there and especially the Umschlagplatz, a simple white marble wall on the spot where trams carrying Jews departed for the camps.
Far more prominent is the city's 1989 Monument to the Warsaw Uprising Fighters in Krasinski Square, a kitsch but moving slab of Soviet realist architecture. It commemorates the moment in 1944 when virtually the whole civilian population participated in the uprising to liberate the city. They held out for 66 days but Western aid was woefully inadequate. In fact many believe the Russians cynically waited for Hitler to destroy the city, so it would be easier for Stalin to roll out his master plan later.
Flights
British Airways www.ba.com
Skyeurope www.skyeurope.com
Restaurants
Buffeta on Krakowskie Przedmiescie: Stylish cafe with 1960s decor.
Cafe Poly,ester, Freta, in the Nowe Miasto: Groovy cocktail bar for the new generation.
Jazz Cafe. Helicon, Freta, in the Nowe Miasto: Very retro, with checked tiles and a baby grand.
Caf Blikle in Nowy Swiat: First opened in 1869, with its Art Nouveau decor and delicious ice-creams and pastries.
Nightlife
NoBo, Wilcza: The city's sexiest late-night hangout, with curved red walls, slash screens and low maroon banquettes.
Paparazzi, Mazowiecka: The nightclub for the smart set.