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  • Warsaw – Museum of Warsaw (Ministry of Justice Building)

    Warsaw – Museum of Warsaw (Ministry of Justice Building)

    I hadn’t realised how large the Museum of Warsaw was, so that means I’ll have to break it down a bit otherwise I’ll never get to writing about it.

    This exhibit has quite a lot of emotive power, although it’s just a marble sign from 1933 which was on the Ministry of Justice building at 7 Długa Street. On 12 August 1944, it was turned into the Central Insurgent Surgical Hospital No. 1 as part of the Warsaw Uprising. When the Germans regained control of the city, they killed the 430 patients in the hospital and buried their corpses outside the building.

    The sign has such huge significance now as it was one of two where friends and relatives of those missing (who had nearly all died) wrote asking for more information to try and find out what happened to their loved ones. It’s not dissimilar to the messages left at the 9/11 site in New York and a sign of the desperation that the returning population to Warsaw had in trying to find out what had happened. There’s a memorial on the building today to note the atrocities which took place here.

  • Warsaw – Novotel Warszawa Centrum (Repeat Visit)

    Warsaw – Novotel Warszawa Centrum (Repeat Visit)

    I’ve visited the Novotel in Warsaw several times before, including last year during the period between the lockdowns. The service then, as with my previous stays, was excellent and so I was in the city for my birthday this year, I thought that I’d stay here. It later occurred to me that this might have been a mistake, as there’s nothing like previously high expectations being dashed. However, all was well, and indeed the service was as impeccable as ever.

    On the morning of the booking I received an email from the hotel saying that I’d been upgraded. I’ve never had a hotel tell me this in advance and it seems a really quite clever thing to do, as the guest gets a warm glow of knowing the room will be better than paid for several hours ahead of their check-in. The check-in process itself when I arrived at the hotel was efficient and the staff member was personable and welcoming, and I appreciated the happy birthday comment.

    My room was on one of the top floors and I had hoped before booking that it would overlook the Palace of Culture, as those views over the city are some of the finest from any hotel that I’ve stayed in. Richard had booked into the hotel the day before and had been upgraded to a larger room which was also rather lovely, so he was equally pleased with the whole arrangement.

    I was delighted to see this view from my window and, perhaps rather sadly, I enjoy watching all of the trams, cars and buses shuttling about.

    The same view at night.

    And the hotel had gone far beyond what they needed to, with a slice of birthday cake (which was delicious) and some welcome gifts and a letter. It’s fair to say that this was really rather lovely and touching. As an aside, the cake seemed to have just been placed there, and I suspect that the call made by the receptionist to someone during check-in might have been them arranging for it to be brought to the room or at least checking that it was there. Either way, this is a nice thing to see when arriving.

    These were absolutely delicious, suitably decadent and they went well with the provided Nespresso coffees.

    The Żywiec Porter which was my welcome drink from the hotel. The member of staff in the bar was polite and helpful, bringing the drinks over to the table for us. Richard had saved his welcome drink up from his check-in the night before, and apparently was pleased with his wine option.

    The room was a little expensive by Polish standards, coming in at £55 per night without breakfast, but I very much like the welcome and comfort of the hotel so I think it’s very good value for money. And as a choice for my birthday, I was very pleased with the entire process, all really rather lovely and I appreciated the e-mail on the morning of check-in telling me I had been upgraded and they were looking forwards to welcoming me back. I think I’ve been to something like 100 Accor hotels, and the Novotel Warsaw is as far as I’m concerned the best managed of any of those locations. Really quite marvellous.

    And here’s a link to book and find out more.

  • Warsaw – Indian Taste Restauracja

    Warsaw – Indian Taste Restauracja

    I’ve for many years made an effort to visit an Indian restaurant in every country that I go to, and although I completed that target in Poland in around 2011, I’ve expanded it to try and go to one in every district of every city. I accept that is quite an expansion of my little programme, but I’m inspired by people such as this man who has visited 8,000 Chinese restaurants.

    There’s my friend Richard in the centre of the action in the restaurant, which was a warm and homely place, albeit one with very few other customers. We selected this restaurant (located at ul. Przemysłowa 36, 00-450) as we were staying in different hotels on that night, with this one being convenient for both of us and it was very well reviewed.

    The mango lassi I went for, smooth and tasting of mango, which is always a bonus when ordering a mango drink. The menu didn’t list any beers, although I could see that there were bottles behind the bar, but as there weren’t going to be any decadent craft beers, I thought a non-drinking day sounded a good idea.

    The chicken jalfrezi, lemon rice and naan bread. The portion size was generous, the naan and rice were perfectly cooked with everything being well presented. The chicken was tender and the sauce had a depth of taste, including a certain level of spice to it. Richard went for some lumps of vegetable in a curry, but despite that it was apparently still flavoursome and delicious. Indian food in Poland can at times be a little bland in terms of spice and heat levels, but the food here was some of the best that I’ve had in the country.

    The curry, rice, naan and drink came to around £10 per head, which I thought was entirely reasonable. The restaurant has business lunches available though, which cost around £5 per person with a daily changing menu. The server spoke excellent English and the environment was welcoming, with no effort made to get rid of us which meant that we could linger and gossip about various things. When we asked for the bill, it was though brought over promptly. I liked the environment, which was warm and the staff were hospitable, so I’d happily recommend this restaurant to others.

  • Warsaw – Galeria Kordegarda (Polish Enigma Machine)

    Warsaw – Galeria Kordegarda (Polish Enigma Machine)

    When we were on the tram, the ever alert Richard noticed that there was an exhibition on at the moment in Warsaw about the Enigma Cipher Machine. He’s very interested in the whole arrangement at Bletchley Park, so we thought that we’d go and hunt this museum exhibition out. It transpired that it was being held at the Galeria Kordegarda, a short walk from the Old Town, and the exhibition was free of charge which was a bonus.

    As can be seen on the map above, the Polish made a huge contribution towards cracking Enigma and there are numerous places in Warsaw which are part of that story.

    This diagram explains the difference between the German Enigma and the Polish Enigma machines, with the Poles having developed their replica version of the device.

    An original German Enigma machine.

    The Polish replica of the Enigma machine, which has apparently never gone on display before.

    I hadn’t realised before the importance of the Polish in cracking Enigma and that started in earnest in 1929 when the intelligence service began a cryptology course at Poznań University. Within a few years, Marian Rejewski had broken the Enigma code, meaning that the Poles were the only ones able to read German dispatches. This knowledge was shared with the British and the French in the 1930s, with the operation moving to France in 1939 when the Germans invaded Poland. Much of the work in decrypting German communications then took place at Bletchley Park in the United Kingdom, with the work that was done likely shortening the length of the war.

    There’s a better Enigma timeline available at https://enigma.umww.pl/en/enigma-timeline/ which explains the Polish contribution to the whole arrangement.

    Unfortunately, this exhibition is I think only here for a short period of time, but it was well worth going to see and Richard should receive credit for being so observant in finding out about it. All of the text was in English, as well as in Polish, and there was a video being shown which gave additional background information.

  • Warsaw – Sofitel Victoria Warsaw

    Warsaw – Sofitel Victoria Warsaw

    I’m not normally decadent enough to stay at the Sofitel brand within Accor Hotels, but I had two expiring suite upgrades and thought that this might be a useful place to use them. Although I didn’t stay at this hotel on my birthday, as I wanted to be at the Novotel, it was a little treat to myself to stay here for a couple of days earlier on during the week.

    Richard had checked into his little room earlier on in the day, but I guessed correctly that my suite wouldn’t be available and hadn’t even tried. I tried to check in at 15:30, but the room wasn’t yet ready which wasn’t ideal, but wasn’t a problem. The staff member was polite, although she gave me a drinks voucher to apologise for the wait, although it transpired that this was the voucher they would have given me anyway as a welcome drink. I thought this whole element was botched by the hotel, who could only provide the room over an hour after the standard check-in time.

    There was then a problem that the hotel couldn’t find payment in their systems, even though they agreed that Accor had stated that they had taken it. There was some discussions about what had happened by staff members, but I thought best to just resolve it on check-out, which transpired to work well as I switched to a currency commission free card which saved me some money compared to if they’d used the card on file.

    The hotel’s water feature in the lobby, which kept making me think that it was raining when walking into reception. The hotel was built between 1973 and 1976 on the site of the Kronenberg Palace which had been destroyed by the Germans during the Second World War. There was lots of dithering about what to do with the site and the remains of the structure weren’t removed until the 1960s, and then there was talk of building an embassy here. It’s a large hotel, with 359 rooms and around 50 suites, and other than the Raffles over the road (also Accor, and too decadent for me) it’s the grandest accommodation option in the city.

    As another aside, there has been some drama here, with this paragraph coming from Wikipedia….

    “On August 1, 1981, the hotel saw an attempted assassination of the Palestinian Abu Daoud (nicknamed Mohammed Oudeh Daud), suspected by the Mossad of involvement in the attacks in Munich , who occupied the presidential suite.”

    I obviously feel the need to comment about the drinking options and there was a poor selection of beers available, this is a generic Żywiec in the Victoria Lounge. The whole set-up here felt quite dated, neither on-trend nor classy, and I thought this was the weakest area of the hotel, something more inviting could be done with the bar area.

    At this stage, I wasn’t thrilled with the hotel as everything seemed botched and muddled, but I arrived at my room with sort of high hopes.

    The suite’s living room area, with my first impressions being positive. I don’t usually watch television in hotels, but that’s one of the largest that I’ve seen in a room.

    I didn’t realise when booking that the suite came with two bathrooms, this is the one attached to the living room area. It was probably a little more than I needed since I was in the suite on my own, but it gave me options….

    The suite’s bedroom.

    And the second bathroom, with a shower and bath.

    The coffee machine.

    An umbrella was available should it rain.

    Slippers and dressing gowns were provided, along with a range of other posh toiletries and the like.

    The welcome letter and gift, which I always appreciate (both the letter and the gift).

    These were delicious, chocolate coated orange things, very moreish.

    I very much liked the view of Piłsudski Square from my room and that’s the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to the mid-left of the photo. It’s the largest square in the city and this was once the Saxon Palace, until the Germans destroyed it during the Second World War, but there are some quite surprising plans to rebuild sections of it. Incidentally and back to the hotel, the windows don’t stay open, although they’re meant to.

    Anyway, any annoyance I had with the hotel disappeared with the comfort of the room and two of the best night’s sleep that I’ve had in a hotel. The room can be blacked out entirely so no light comes in and there were no internal or external noise issues.

    And here’s a heap of breakfast photos. There was a wide selection of food and drink options, with the only slight omission being the variety of breads seemed quite minimal. But there were plenty of cheeses, cold cuts, yogurts, cereals and hot options. There was an egg section where omelettes and the like were available, with the staff member making me a rather lovely Eggs Benedict. There were plenty of juices, including some detox ones to give more choices. The quality of the food and drink was high, with the choice meaning it’d be hard for someone to complain about the lack of options. The breakfast room was large and spacious, with relatively few other guests, so it was a relaxing environment, not like the Holiday Inn Express set-up I’ve had this year which is a bit more, well, hectic and lively.

    The cost of the suite for two nights including breakfast would usually be somewhere around £300 to £400, but my suite upgrades meant that the cost to me was £187.16 for two nights. However, I gained 1,600 Accor reward points with this stay, which is around £28, making what I consider to be a charge of £160 or so for this rather lovely experience. At £80 per night including breakfast, I’m going to say that this is excellent value for a (very) occasional treat.

    The welcome was a bit botched, but the staff were helpful throughout and the breakfast was excellent. The room was beautifully comfortable, although lacked a large desk and some of the furnishings were a little rickety, but this didn’t impact on my stay. There was definitely an air of decadence about the whole arrangement and a turn-down service was provided on the first night with a staff member coming in to move slippers near to the bed and put a bottle of water on the bedside table. As an aside, I can’t be doing with that sort of thing and as there was no free chocolate, I put the ‘do not disturb’ sign on the second night. Richard didn’t do that in his room, he likes the turn-down service for reasons unknown to me.

    I’d absolutely stay here again and since I have a couple more suite upgrades to use next year, I might repeat this whole experience in November 2022. Absolutely the best breakfast that I’ve had in an Accor hotel and also the most luxurious room, but since I’m really an Ibis Budget person at heart, that’s probably not surprising. For anyone wanting more information, the hotel can be booked here.

  • Warsaw – Whiskey in the Jar

    Warsaw – Whiskey in the Jar

    I visited the Łódź location of this small Polish chain a few years ago, and noticed that there is now one in Warsaw which is very well reviewed. Since it was near the hotel where we were staying it seemed a suitable place to visit for my birthday and the menu looked sufficiently interesting. There was a friendly welcome from the English speaking staff member and we were shown to a table which was located in an area which was lively, but without the music being too loud.

    Photos of the interior decor in this large venue, which was busy during our visit and there were few tables free by the time that we left. Reservations are clearly recommended here, particularly at weekends. It seems to be an on-trend location, with most of the customer base being younger, although I’m fairly sure that the welcome would be authentic for all diners.

    There’s a wide range of drinks, but the jars seemed the most intriguing so I firstly went for the My Thai Jar which had Bols Amaretto, Jim Beam Bourbon, mango puree, lemon, chilli, ginger and sugar syrup, with the presentation of this being suitably decadent. I moved the chillies onto my food, although I discovered there were some in the drink which gave it some extra spice.

    The Major Jar, which had Campari, Jim Beam Bourbon, orange, mango puree, Sweet & Sour mix and sugar syrup. I preferred my first jar to this one, but it was still very drinkable, although perhaps just a bit too sweet.

    The Beef Master Burger which is in a sepia dyed bun with 180g of burger, sliced beef sirloin, lettuce, pickle, marinated onion, rocket and a mayonnaise sauce, along with a portion of chips and pot of ketchup. The burger was really quite decadent, rich and meaty in flavour with a depth of taste. The key items on the menu are steaks, burgers and ribs, although there are some vegetarian and other options, but judging by the reviews, most diners are going there for the steaks and burgers. The meat that the restaurant used is cured for 60 days to add flavour, and I can believe that given the depth of the taste.

    The service was always polite and efficient, although the staff didn’t really push any sales and it took a little longer than expected to get the bill, although nothing excessive. The prices are towards the higher end of the scale for Poland, but very reasonable by British standards, with the two drinks and meal costing £20. It’s all on-trend, friendly, clean and organised, with some care taken with the presentation of the food and drink. I can imagine that further restaurants, beyond the six that they already have, will be opened by this chain over the next few years given the popularity they’re currently experiencing.

  • Warsaw – Pasieka

    Warsaw – Pasieka

    My friend Richard had meandered over to Warsaw to this week and this was the final day that he’s in the city, so that means that I can catch up with this blog now he’s gone back to the airport. His presence really slowed updates down, which I think he feels very guilty about, but I didn’t say anything  🙂

    Anyway, as a final meal for Richard in Warsaw (other than his decadent lounge visit at the airport), I thought we’d have a Polish experience lunch in the Old Town part of the city, choosing Pasieka (located at ul. Freta 7/9) which I’ve never visited before.

    I think that it’s fair to say that the restaurant wasn’t entirely packed. We were the only diners when we entered, although a couple of other people came in a bit later on. The atmosphere felt quite rustic, although the music was more Heart FM than traditional Polish classics. Warsaw’s Old Town has felt really quiet compared to my previous visits, so I suspect that a number of the restaurants in the area are finding it economically tough at the moment.

    Despite some average Untappd scores, I opted for the Staropolskie Koźlak which I haven’t had before. It transpired to be fine, a decent bock with a bit of a roasted flavour going on.

    I went for the chicken in batter with chips, salad and some sort of carrot and pea part puree. When the food was served I thought that the batter looked a bit soggy, but it was fine with a rich taste and the chicken was tender. Richard had pork and mashed potato which didn’t look as good as my meal, but I didn’t say anything. There was some effort made with cutting the cucumber, with Polish cuisine not always being the easiest to make look well presented.

    The prices were a bit decadent here as there were no lunchtime offers and so it cost us £10 each for the food and a drink, which I thought was reasonable given the location. The service was friendly and engaging, so the environment felt relaxing enough. I’m not sure that we went for particularly Polish options with the food, but Richard had some heated up mead and my Polish beer added some localism to the arrangements. All really quite nice and a perfectly decent way to experience some Polish options.

  • Częstochowa – Ibis Częstochowa

    Częstochowa – Ibis Częstochowa

    I stayed at the Accor operated Ibis hotel during my few days in Częstochowa, with the price being about £25 per night including breakfast. There’s a Mercure in the city as well, but that was a bit decadent in terms of the pricing, with the cheaper option inevitably being the one I went for. My first impressions were primarily of concern as the hotel looked quite shut and there were signs on the front door, usually signifying a problem. It transpired it was just a sign in Polish saying that the doors were broken and to enter via a side door, so I was considerably relieved that I didn’t have to hunt for another hotel. The staff member at check-in was friendly and helpful, so my early impressions transpired to be positive.

    The room, all to brand standard, although this hotel doesn’t have hot drink facilities in the room which seems unusual for an Ibis. The room was on the top floor away from the lift, which is always my preference. It’s the older style Ibis room design, but I assume it’ll be updated when there’s refurbishment at the hotel.

    The welcome gift of meringue things, all very lovely as Ibis hotels don’t need to give anything.

    The view from my room, primarily of two petrol stations. The hotel has a policy of not cleaning the rooms because of the current health crisis, but it can be requested at reception if required. I checked the wi-fi (my Vodafone data gives me 25GB per month to use outside the UK which should be enough, but I use the hotel wi-fi when trying to back-up photos and the like) and it seemed to be reliable and at a sufficiently fast speed.

    The food menu for anyone interested who is reading this (goodness knows who though). Hotel prices are inevitably towards the higher end of the scale, but they’re not unreasonable (divide by 5 for an approximate UK amount).

    The welcome drink of Żywiec, which isn’t the most exciting, but it was free and so therefore clearly acceptable to me. I’m easily pleased.

    The breakfast options, lots of cold choices along with a few hot options that I didn’t bother with. The meat wasn’t the most exciting in terms of the quality, but there were plenty of options. The coffee in the hotel is all branded from Costa, I can’t recall seeing that set-up in an Accor property before.

    It all transpired to be a comfortable stay with no internal or external noise issues. I’m pleased to note that the windows opened, this wasn’t one of those sterile hotels where everything is sealed up, and the air conditioning also worked. It’s about a ten-minute walk into the city centre and there are KFC and McDonald’s outlets within a couple of minutes walk. The hotel inevitably isn’t the most luxurious, but anyone wanting that can find other options in the city, not least the Mercure.

    And, a handy booking link for the hotel…..

  • Flixbus – Częstochowa to Warsaw

    Flixbus – Częstochowa to Warsaw

    Let’s just start this was the succinct phrase ‘bloody Flixbus’. I’ve been on many Flixbus trips and in recent years my experiences were getting better after many annoying journeys. That meant I was hopeful that the service might be comfortable and easy.

    I arrived at the bus station 45 minutes early (I feel the need to always be early to recce the situation), pleased that it clearly stated that I should board at gate 13. I thought that this was marvellous, until I realised that there were only five platforms. Brilliant, just the confusion that I didn’t need. I roped in a young Polish guy who I guessed correctly might speak English and he had missed his bus, but he said that Flixbus could depart from one of the three places due to changes at the bus station. It could be from either end of the bus station, or it would be from outside the front.

    I will say that Flixbus support is very good and they responded to my Facebook message quickly and we soon discovered that they didn’t know where their coach went from either. I have to credit them with replying so promptly and politely though.

    This is the dilemma. Flixbus say to wait outside the bus station, which is the bit just above ‘parking’ in the above map. However, I was aware that was a stupid place to stand as coaches weren’t using the bus station, they were either going off near to the Jamaican Shop (very decadent), outside the front, or right down the bottom of the map on that little turning circle.

    Flixbus do have coach tracking, which saved the day here. If I had waited where Flixbus customer support said to wait then I would have missed it, the coach parked up right at the bottom of the above map. That’s actually quite a distance away and it isn’t visible from the bus station, so very easy to miss. To me, this is completely hopeless, it’s like a railway station not having any platform numbers and expecting customers to just work it out.

    The driver was friendly enough, although there were no checks of my documents. For unknown reasons Flixbus give a reserved seat, but it’s visible only on the app and not on the ticket they send. I didn’t much care where I sat, but there was someone in the seat that I had been allocated. I have no idea why Flixbus need to give out seat numbers to those who don’t want them, they’re pretty much entirely ignored by customers and it creates confusion when none was needed. The bus departed seven minutes early, so I assume that I was the only customer being picked up in Częstochowa.

    I don’t know the safety rules in Poland, but there no announcements, no customers wearing seatbelts and the like. Without being rude, the interior of the coach was also quite Hogatharian. We had some customers passed out drunk over seats, some just drunk and some who were standing whilst the coach was in motion and they promptly fell over. It wasn’t a problem for me, but it wasn’t really an ideal set-up and it was clear that the sole driver, who wasn’t wearing anything that might suggest he was the driver, wasn’t going to burden himself by dealing with anything.

    The coach was generally clean, but it was a slightly rickety thing and the seats reclined so far as to be a complete nuisance for the customer behind. That didn’t impact me as the coach was very quiet and I had no-one in front, but it seemed a cheap vehicle and not at all decadent.

    The coach arrived on time and in one piece into Warsaw West. The fare was £10, similar to the train, and I decided to go by coach to see how it compared. The whole Flixbus outfit worries me though, there are what I consider to be customer safety issues that the company isn’t worrying about, let alone the problems that customers have getting any joy after complaining. One customer on a review said that the driver on their service hid an illegal immigrant on the coach into the UK and got caught, with Flixbus doing nothing to get customers to their final destination. The detail provided suggests that it might be true, but if not, there are hundreds of other complaints logged on-line.

    So, that’s it for me, I’m not going to risk another Flixbus service, I don’t think they’re safe enough or have a robust enough procedure to know what is going on. They have now launched in the UK, but I think I’ll stick to National Express and Megabus. It’s probably a better experience for those departing from major termini, as it’ll be clearer where they’re going from and it’d be possible to get a seat. But, I think I’ll stick to th Polish railway network in future.

  • Częstochowa – Various Photos of the City

    Częstochowa – Various Photos of the City

    Just some random photos of Częstochowa…….

    St. Sigismund Church, the oldest in the city, first constructed in the middle of the fourteenth century. It was knocked about over the centuries during conflicts, before being used by the Germans as a military warehouse during the Second World War, after which it needed substantial repairs. Until 1825, there was a cemetery located at the front of the church, but it was knocked down to allow for the building of Aleja Najświętszej Maryi Panny w Częstochowie.

    The Cathedral Basilica, which dates from the early twentieth century when the city was growing in population size and needed a cathedral of this size. Located on the site of a cemetery, work wasn’t completed until just before the outbreak of the Second World War and the new towers were only added in 1997.

    It’s clear to see here how the railway dominates the heart of the city and also divides it in two.

    There’s a walk by the Warta River, the country’s second longest river, with only the Vistula being longer. The area to the left in this photo was the Jewish ghetto during the Second World War, but I’m not that very much of that survives.

    I liked the clock in the city’s main shopping centre.

    These photos are all a bit bleak, but there are many buildings in this state in the city centre. The city has been depopulating over recent decades and it’s not the industrial powerhouse that it once was. It’s often possible to judge a city’s fortunes by looking at how many cranes there are building and renovating properties, but it’s fair to say that there aren’t many in Częstochowa. The local council themselves admit that the city has significant economic challenges, but there have been a number of ongoing infrastructure improvements, some of which have been funded by the European Union. There are new roads being built in the area and there’s also a relatively modern tram system, with some areas being defined as Special Economic Zones to encourage investment.

    The city does have a large number of tourists, but these seem to nearly all be going to Jasna Góra which presents its own benefits and challenges. Museums in the city seem to be closed at the moment, or just badly advertised, and there’s not much else aimed at tourists which is a situation that isn’t helping the local economy.