Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Author: admin

  • Częstochowa – Consonni

    Częstochowa – Consonni

    It’s raining outside, so I thought I’d pop in to this outlet of Consonni, an Italian company which expanded into Poland in 1991. The snail above the counter is quite brave as it might signify slow service, but is actually meant to represent the Slow Food Movement.

    The lighting in this photo is a bit odd, but at the heart of the cafe is this 25-year old palm tree. It was empty when I came in, but all of the six of so tables are now full, so it’s a busy little unit.

    Some of the cakes on display, all looking suitably tempting. They sell coffees, cakes, ice cream and breads, so there’s quite a selection for such a small unit. Nearly everything is sold by weight, including the ice cream and cakes, so customers can choose how much they want.

    The chocolate cherry cake and a latte, which came to under £4 which is really quite decadent for Poland, but it’s a premium location in an expensive part of the city. The staff member didn’t speak English, but fortunately my very limited Polish is sufficient enough to order chocolate cherry cake and a latte, which is handy. I’ve learned the essentials (or what I consider to be the essentials) at least, even though I can’t do much else in Polish.

    Anyway, a nice little cafe, the cake was rich and perhaps not freshly out, but it was still sufficiently moist to be a suitable lunch stop for me. Incidentally, the slice of cake is larger than the photo suggests, it’s on a wide angle and it distorts things somewhat. And looking outside, it’s still raining, which isn’t entirely ideal.

  • Częstochowa – Władysław Biegański Bench

    Częstochowa – Władysław Biegański Bench

    Located along Aleja Najświętszej Maryi Panny w Częstochowie is this memorial to Władysław Biegański (1857-1917), a local doctor. He wasn’t born in the city, but he set up a private practice here in 1883, after studying medicine at the Imperial University in Warsaw.

    Biegański also has the honour of having the local library named after him in recognition of his social activism in the city. He seems to have been a busy figure generally in the local area and he was also responsible for the local branch of the Polish Touring Society, an organisation which promoted tourism. The Polish Parliament also annually declares a number of subjects as an annual distinction, whether that be an event or a person, with Biegański getting a whole year dedicated to him in 2017 (along with the Vistula River as another award winner) which marked 100 years since his death.

    Unfortunately there’s no English translation….. However, there are a few of these benches located along the street and I think they’re interesting as they give an indication as to who the authorities of Częstochowa feel are the most important people who have lived and worked in the city.

  • Częstochowa – Jasna Góra Monastery

    Częstochowa – Jasna Góra Monastery

    This is Jasna Góra, one of the holiest places in Poland, a Catholic monastery and shrine to which many pilgrims walk.

    This is certainly a secure site, I had to walk through four gates to get into the heart of the monastic complex. These gates are the Lubomirskis’ Gate, the Gate of Our Lady of Victory, the Gate of Our Lady of Sorrows and then finally the Jagiellonian Gate. There were a couple of men trying to extract donations for their personal needs standing outside of the first gate, no doubt hoping that pilgrims would be generous. They didn’t invest too much time in me as they didn’t speak English, which was handy on this occasion.

    The reason that this site is so secure is that it is has come under attack almost from when work on the monastery started in 1382, when the Paulines came to the country. The attacks continued for centuries as numerous wars and conflicts played out in the wider area. It’s also fair to say that the Germans didn’t really like this monastery during their occupation of Poland during the Second World War. They took the site over, controlled the monks and ended the pilgrimages, with Nazi leaders such as Hans Frank coming to interfere with arrangements on numerous occasions. They then tried to burn down the entire site in January 1945, but they ran out of time with the Soviets closing in on the Germans.

    The entrance to the basilica and this has been a much visited location by Popes in recent decades. Pope John Paul II, who was Polish, visited here on six occasions when he was the head of the Catholic Church, with Pope Benedict XVI visiting in 2006 and Pope Francis visiting in 2016.

    The grand nave of the basilica. I didn’t take too many photos as this is a revered location and there were services going on in part of the building. There was a peaceful presence in the basilica, although I understand that it’s a little more lively when groups of pilgrims come in after their long walks.

    I didn’t take a photo, for reasons of a service taking place, but the monastery is known for the Black Madonna.

    There’s a whole complex of buildings on the site, with the arsenal building in the centre of the photo. A cold Thursday morning in mid-November isn’t going to be a time when the monastery is particularly busy, but in the summer it seems from photos as if this would be quite crowded.

    I left from a different gate, this one known as the John Paul II Gate, although this area was still heavily fortified.

    Beautiful and historic as the buildings are, the whole complex did feel a little commercialised to me, although perhaps that’s a necessity of running a major pilgrimage site. Certainly pilgrimage sites were commercialised in the medieval period, so there’s nothing new there. But there were numerous money making projects going on, not just the selling of religious imagery, but also offices to donate to the refurbishment project and a host of food outlets with some quite garish signage. However, the basilica is beautiful and the site felt calm and peaceful. The defensive arrangement around the monastery also really adds to the whole pilgrimage, especially walking down Aleja Najświętszej Maryi Panny w Częstochowie to get here.

  • Częstochowa – Aleja Najświętszej Maryi Panny w Częstochowie

    Częstochowa – Aleja Najświętszej Maryi Panny w Częstochowie

    Mainly just photos in this post, but I was impressed with this street in Częstochowa (the English version is Avenue of the Blessed Virgin Mary) which was constructed in the 1820s to connect the old and new parts of the city. It goes from Plac Ignacego Daszyńskiego in the east to the monastery of Jasna Góra in the west, with Plac Władysława Biegańskiego roughly in the centre. More on Jasna Góra in other posts, but this is now part of a pilgrimage route, something which has been important to the city for centuries.

    There are three avenues, two of which are used for cars and the central one which is primarily for walkers. During the German period of occupation it was renamed Adolf Hitler Allee, inevitable that he’d want the major street in the city named after him.

    It’s nicely done and although the weather was a bit overcast today, it makes this quite a spiritual final section of the walk for pilgrims, with the monastery above at the end of the road.

    More photos along the route and there are some sculptures along it, more of which in later posts.

  • Warsaw – Mercure Warszawa Airport

    Warsaw – Mercure Warszawa Airport

    I’m back again in Warsaw and at a hotel that I stayed in last year during my brief sojourn to the city in between lockdowns. It’s conveniently located near to the airport and easily accessible to the city centre, hence why I thought that I’d go for two nights here. There’s also an Aldi opposite the hotel which is handily located and which provided my snacks on the first evening. For anyone coming from the airport, the hotel usually has a shuttle in normal times, but at the moment it’s easy enough to jump on the train into the city centre and then just jump off after a couple of stops (not literally jump obviously) with about a 6-minute walk to the hotel.

    It took me a few seconds to remember where the hotel room numbers are located, which isn’t on the door. This is the one little problem I had at the hotel, which is that the key card was a bit unreliable and sometimes required me to make several attempts to get into the room. To be fair I didn’t bother going down to reception to change the card as it was a bit of a walk and no-one saw me patiently trying again and again to get it to work.

    The room which the hotel had upgraded for me, which was rather lovely. There was a sofa, chairs, a large desk and a fridge, with everything being spotlessly clean.

    The bathroom was the size of a small changing room.

    There was a espresso coffee machine, other hot drink making facilities and two bottles of water. I spent a good few minutes trying to turn the machine on, until I realised there’s a small switch at the back. And then there was espresso coffee….

    And a welcome gift of fruit (which I did eat) and cake, all much appreciated.

    And a welcome drink voucher, which mentioned that I could have any drink, a policy which seems to vary at different Accor hotels in Poland.

    The friendly member of bar staff said that I could have the Żywiec Porter, so I went with that quite happily. I commented in my post last year that the seating in the bar area is a little basic, although I could have gone into the restaurant with my drink and I can’t imagine that they would have minded.

    Back in the room, the windows opened as far as I wanted them to, and it would be possible to walk out on that bit of roofing if anyone was particularly adventurous (I’m not). It’d take an idiot, but I like that the windows weren’t sealed up as some hotels seem to feel is appropriate. Lots of fresh air was accessible to me, although the air conditioning was also very effective for those who don’t need street noise.

    The breakfast arrangement, hot food on the left, breads and fruit on that table in the middle with cold cuts, cereals, yoghurts, cheeses, fish and the like at the back.

    Behind me is the hot drinks and fruit juice area. Another friendly staff member was in the breakfast room and she was busily clearing tables with everything feeling clean and organised.

    And food photos from the two mornings that I was staying at the hotel (I mention that in case it looks like this was just one breakfast, which would have been a little greedy). This is just the sort of breakfast that I like, cold cuts, cheeses, bread rolls and everything tasted of a decent quality. And there’s a certain decadence to having blue cheese in the morning, that’s always a delight.

    The hotel was around £48 per night including breakfast, although I had Accor Rewards points to use up which halved that price. It’s not the cheapest rate that I could have got in Warsaw, but I very much like this hotel and it’s my favourite non-central Accor option in the city. The staff were friendly throughout, the hotel was clean, the restaurant area was organised and everything felt really well managed.

    For anyone who wants to book it or find out more, here’s the link.

  • PKP Intercity : Warsaw to Częstochowa

    PKP Intercity : Warsaw to Częstochowa

    Today’s little adventure began at Warszawa Centralna, the city’s main railway station. The station was built in the 1970s and is an impressive and open structure, replacing the remains of the Warszawa Główna railway station which was nearly entirely lost during the Second World War.

    There are plenty of screens indicating the platform numbers and there are escalators down to the tracks.

    I like these screens, they make it relatively easy to know where to stand on the platform to board the train. I fail to understand why the British railway network has never managed to implement this, I don’t really understand why this is so complex. I know that it has been done in a few railway stations, but generally it’s a stand and hope you’re in the right place policy for those catching a train.

    That meant I was departing from Platform 3, Track 4 and Sector 2. I had a reserved seat which was carriage 12 and seat number 36, so I felt that I had all the information that I needed.

    The platforms are long, this is only about half its length.

    I’m always pleased to see confirmation on the signage that I’m at the right platform and at the right railway station. My service was the train departing at 10:10 and arriving into Częstochowa at 12:55, a journey time of two hours and 45 minutes.

    The train isn’t one of the more modern set-ups, here it is arriving into the railway station. They’re also not the easiest to get on and off, there’s quite a step to get into it and so it isn’t ideal for those with limited mobility to access without assistance.

    This meant that it was a carriage train, something I’m not hugely keen on. There has been a move towards open carriages and I prefer that to these eight person compartments.

    There were three of us in this compartment for most of the journey, so plenty of space as it can seat up to eight people. There were eight or so stops along the route, with everything running to clockwork in terms of the timing. I’d add that I took this photo when one of the passengers left the compartment, we weren’t all sitting on the same side. I didn’t need power for electrical devices, but another one of the passengers did and was unable to find it in this area, although she disappeared with her phone charger for some time and so I imagine there’s a power point somewhere.

    Also, it looks from the photo that it’s possible to see across the tops of the compartment, but that’s just the mirror and it is sealed quite tightly other than for the door. There’s a handy metal bar running along the base of the seats which is useful for putting feet on, saving passengers doing that annoying thing of putting their feet on the seats. The seats were adequate and were cushioned, but I didn’t think that they were as comfortable as those on most modern British trains.

    The corridor down the side of the train and a refreshments trolley did work its way up and down. The conductor was friendly when checking my ticket, although I proffered my passport and he said that he didn’t need it, although I thought they were checking them. He didn’t speak any English, but my very limited Polish is enough to understand “ticket please” and “can you make the screen larger?”, but that was the limit of the verbal interchange.

    And safely into Częstochowa railway station, which isn’t entirely obvious as I think that it looks like a shopping centre, but the service was on time and everything was smooth and efficient. The journey cost £9.80 (and I booked that at https://mt.rozklad-pkp.pl/en which is the official web-site of the rail company), which I thought was entirely reasonable given the distance travelled.

  • London – Wandsworth (Borough of) – Holiday Inn Express

    London – Wandsworth (Borough of) – Holiday Inn Express

    I’m posting out of order again in case anyone wonders how I’ve gone so quickly from Warsaw to Wandsworth….. This is my stay at the Holiday Inn Express in Wandsworth, London from last week which was handily paid for by rewards points.

    I arrived a little early, at around 14:30, which is well before the 16:00 check-in, but I thought I could always sit and work in the hotel’s bar if the room wasn’t ready. I mentioned to the friendly member of check-in staff that I knew I was quite early and he said that a room probably wasn’t ready, but he’d have a look. I gave him my name and he replied:

    “Mr White, you’re a Platinum member, there’s always a room ready”.

    I don’t think I’d ever dare go into a hotel and say “I’m Platinum, I want a room now” as that might lead to a DYKWIA moment (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/2002071-dykwia-2020-21-edition.html) but handy to know. I suspect that I’ve reached Platinum status with one of the lowest spends possible, other than people such as my friend Richard who just bought their status (but he’s very decadent and would very likely go into a hotel and demand a room).

    The room, all to brand standard and spotlessly clean, so all rather lovely.

    The view from my window and that’s the Thames between the buildings. The windows opened so that I could hear the comings and goings of Wandsworth…..

    The beer choice wasn’t entirely ideal and I only realised that they had Goose Island IPA too late, the staff member didn’t list that as an option. This is Peroni, which I personally think is bland and a bit pointless, but that makes me sound like a craft beer snob who sneers at lagers, but there we go…..

    I like these, indications of when breakfast will be the busiest.

    Breakfast was busy, although I was able to take this photo during a lull in proceedings. It did get quite a bit more hectic and I didn’t think that things were entirely logically laid out. By that, I mean I kept getting muddled up, so I blame the hotel rather than myself.

    The standard Holiday Inn Express breakfast options were available, which were the four hot items of baked beans, sausages, bacon and scrambled eggs, alongside pastries, yoghurt, cereals, toast and the like. Breakfast is included in the room rate of Holiday Inn Express outlets and it’s entirely serviceable.

    Given that this stay was free with rewards points, I’m not entirely sure what it usually costs, but I think it’s usually somewhere around the £70 per night mark, which is rather too decadent for me. However, it’s easy to get to by public transport and it took me just over an hour to walk to Victoria Coach Station the next morning. The staff were friendly, the hotel was clean and so all was well.

  • Warsaw – Baszta Home Army Regiment Memorial

    Warsaw – Baszta Home Army Regiment Memorial

    Apologies to anyone reading that my understanding of this memorial is limited, but I think it represents where 150 Poles died on 1 August 1944 as part of the Warsaw Uprising, in this case fighting against the German Luftwaffe. The panel on the left notes that this is a place sanctified with the blood of Poles who died for the freedom of their homeland, with the panel on the right referring to the Home Army Regiment known as Baszta, fighting near to Fort Mokotów. This memorial was placed here in 1997, replacing a previous temporary plaque.

    There’s more information at http://www.sppw1944.org/index.html?/mapapowstania3/m_34.html.

    I posted this as every time I visit Warsaw I am reminded of the great bravery of the Polish troops and residents who defended themselves with such courage against a German onslaught.

  • Warsaw – Robert Schuman Roundabout

    Warsaw – Robert Schuman Roundabout

    I’m easily confused at the best of times, but I was a bit puzzled as to why there’s a stone commemorating the life of Robert Schuman at what seemed like a random place in Warsaw. There’s no doubting the great ability of Schuman, he’s one of the best known of the post-war political European leaders and also a founding father of the European Union.

    It took me a little while to work out that the stone is here because in 2017 the Polish authorities named a roundabout after him. I’m not entirely sure why this roundabout was selected and indeed why a roundabout was thought to be a fitting honour. Anyway, it’s here for anyone who wants to visit it, just a little south of the centre of Warsaw.

  • Warsaw – PINTA Warszawa Craft Beer

    Warsaw – PINTA Warszawa Craft Beer

    It’s becoming more challenging for me to find a craft beer bar in Warsaw that I haven’t been to, but I persist in my efforts. Since it’s my first day back in Warsaw I visited my favourite bar in the city first, Hoppiness, and was delighted as ever. After that, I made the short walk to PINTA which I understand opened earlier this year. They’re a brewery who have been trading for some years and were apparently the first Polish brewers to have an international collaboration, with O’Hara’s from Ireland. Things seem to be going well for this bar judging by the reviews, they’re nearly all positive at the moment.

    The beer options are chalked up on the board, although they’re also listed at https://pinta-warszawa.ontap.pl/. The server was helpful and I’ve realised how much of my already very limited Polish that I’ve managed to forget. Not that it mattered much in this instance, the server spoke fluent English. In terms of the beer selection, it was excellent with a range of beer styles and the like, all neatly presented.

    This is the upstairs area of the bar, it’s all quite spacious.

    I went for the Kwas Xy sour from Browar PINTA, the brewery who operate this bar. A decent sour, taste of stone fruit and suitably, well, sour.

    I also went for cod bites and these have to be collected from a little hatch upstairs. A little greasy, but they tasted fine, although I tend to like most things in batter (preferably not vegetables, although they taste better in batter).

    This is a decent enough bar, although it was a little sterile since I visited on a Tuesday early afternoon when I was the only customer. Service wasn’t quite as engaging as Hoppiness, but it was polite and friendly, so that was more than good enough for me (and Hoppiness set very high standards). The bar was spotlessly clean, the environment was comfortable and so all really rather lovely. They also opened a bar in Wrocław in 2018, which reminded me that I haven’t been to that city for a few years. All very on-trend though, I’d like to think that there might be a little chain of these throughout Poland in a few years.