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  • Warsaw – Kościuszko Infantry Division Memorial

    Warsaw – Kościuszko Infantry Division Memorial

    This memorial is currently closed off at the moment as work is being done around it and there was a plan a few years ago to move it, although I have no idea what is happening with that.

    Anyway, this is a memorial to the Kościuszko Infantry Division which was formed in the Soviet Union, but it was mostly comprised of Polish fighters. Hopefully, I have my history correct here, but this memorial is on the Praga side of the Vistula River, so the opposite side to the main part of Warsaw. Back in 1944, the Polish resistance (the Home Army) were looking to retake Warsaw and that’s nearly what they did, with the Warsaw Uprising, a ridiculously brave campaign to free their city. This undertaking needed to take place on both sides of the Vistula though to be successful and to liberate Warsaw.

    The Polish resistance knew that the Soviet Red Army was nearby and they attacked the Germans expecting that they would receive assistance. However, they didn’t, Stalin held the Soviet army back whilst the Nazis destroyed Warsaw block by block. The Warsaw Uprising perhaps only failed because the Soviets didn’t offer their assistance, although some members of Polish divisions did try and cross the river to help.

    This memorial marks the efforts made to retake Praga, which were successful, but on its own, they weren’t enough to save Warsaw. The memorial was designed by Andrzej Kasten and Bogusław Chyliński, with work starting in 1983 and being completed in 1985. The area has fallen a little into disrepair more recently, but renovation works have at least started now.

  • Warsaw – Takie Miejsce

    Warsaw – Takie Miejsce

    This is a small cafe located a relatively short walk from Warsaw Zoo and it’s very well-reviewed. There were though no other customers when I went, although there was some noisy road construction work which might have put some people off perhaps.

    I’m not one to worry, although I did wonder in the current climate whether these should be covered, although they still looked delicious.

    The latte was excellent, with a rich and creamy taste. The raspberry cake was fine, although the base was a bit too firm for my liking and it didn’t feel entirely fresh, but it still had a pleasant taste. I quite liked these raised windows seats where I was sitting and the atmosphere in the cafe was welcoming and comfortable. The staff member was helpful and polite, although I got confused when she asked me what type of milk I wanted, and my answer of “any” really didn’t help. Anyway, the final product met my expectations, so all was well.

    This had a community feel to it, although it’s a shame that it wasn’t very busy, but it is a little out of the way and I can’t imagine that many visitors to the city pop in. They did have on the board that they sold local beers, which I think were in the fridges, but unlike their other products such as wine and spirits, they hadn’t listed them on separate menus on the table. If they had done, I might well have been tempted, but I had already caused milkconfusiongate and didn’t want to start on craftbeerconfusiongate.

  • Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day 187

    Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day 187

    The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue was first published at the end of the eighteenth century, and given that the current health crisis is giving too much time to read books, I thought I’d pick a daily word from it until I got bored….

    Lazybones

    I’m not quite sure where Grose got this definition from, as it differs from other accounts on how lazybones evolved, which remains a commonly used word today to describe someone as lazy. He defined it as “an instrument like a pair of tongs, for old or very fat people to take any thing from the ground without stooping”. I prefer his definition though, ‘tongs for very fat people’ to that presented in etymological dictionaries, which just says that it evolved from the word ‘lazy’ being added to ‘bones’, to represent a person.

    It’s one of the few words in the dictionary which is much more in use today than it was when Grose published his book.

  • Warsaw – Warsaw in 1947

    Warsaw – Warsaw in 1947

    One thing that I find particularly fascinating is how Warsaw went from being nearly entirely destroyed by the Nazis to a modern and vibrant city. That process couldn’t have been easy, and progress was no doubt slow for many years. It is rare for a city to be nearly entirely flattened, but Warsaw was left as a pile of bricks and there was a time where it looked like it might not be rebuilt at all and would remain as a memorial to war, similar to Oradour-sur-Glane.

    Anyway, I hadn’t seen this video before, it’s of Warsaw in August 1947, showing how the city was still derelict two years after the end of the Second World War.

  • Warsaw – Warsaw Zoo

    Warsaw – Warsaw Zoo

    I haven’t been to Warsaw Zoo for about a decade and the 1 October meant that winter pricing kicked in, making it 20zl or around £4 to visit. A bargain. There weren’t many visitors at the zoo, although there were a few school parties dotted around the place. Some of these were better behaved than others, but, fortunately, they made sufficient noise to ensure I could avoid them.

    I’m not sure that I’ve been so near to a rhino before, that was perhaps the most exciting element of the day. Although watching the polar bear was another highlight, although he (or she) looked a bit bored and was pacing around. Most animals seemed to have sufficient space, probably a few areas where they were a little limited, but I’m sure that the zoo is working on that. Perhaps one area where I was a bit uncomfortable were the birds, which did seem limited in space and some were very loud, which must impact on other birds in nearby cages.

    A few of the animals were a little hidden away, not sure what had happened to all the big cats, but otherwise I think I saw everything I intended. Although it was a little difficult to work out what there was to see as there was no map handout at the desk and it took me a while before I saw a plan of the zoo on a board.

    I also saw the house and tunnel where Jews were hidden during the war, but I’ll post about that separately, but it’s what was brought to a wider audience in the book and film ‘The Zookeeper’s Wife’. So, a rather lovely way to spend a couple of hours. I didn’t have my camera with me, just my phone camera, so the zoom shots aren’t particularly marvellous, but they’ll have to do. Anyway, lots of photos below….

  • Warsaw – Rasoi Lounge Indian Restaurant

    Warsaw – Rasoi Lounge Indian Restaurant

    Someone else posting on WhatsApp about their Indian meal reminded me that I haven’t had such an experience in Warsaw since I’ve been here. Since this one was nearby to the hotel and was reviewed, I thought I’d go there. I walked just under ten miles earlier today, but it had started to rain, so nearby was useful.

    The mango lassi, which came with the thali deal. The service was attentive and friendly, with around four tables with customers out of the fourteen or so tables in the restaurant. It was all clean and comfortable, a relaxed environment.

    And the thali itself, which had, from left to right, butter chicken, chicken korma, chicken haryali, raita, salad, naan bread and rice in the middle. This, including the drink, cost £7 and I thought that was reasonable for central Warsaw. It was well presented and I like thalis because of the range of tastes and textures. The dishes were all of a decent quality, although perhaps the haryali could have been a little spicier. The rice was well cooked, the naan breads were light and flavourful and the chicken was tender in all the dishes.

    So, all in all, a rather lovely little restaurant, and I’d go back there. I wasn’t looking for alcohol, but I didn’t see any on the menus, so I’m not sure if they were licensed. There was probably a bit more that could have been done with offering some slightly spicier dishes with the thali option (masala chicken was the other option, you could pick three from four) but the taste was fine.

  • Warsaw – Warsaw Insurgents Cemetery

    Warsaw – Warsaw Insurgents Cemetery

    This is the Warsaw Insurgents Cemetery in the Wola district of the city, commemorating the lives of those who were killed in the Warsaw Uprising. There are something like 100,000 people buried here, but the exact number isn’t known as some bodies and cremation remains were brought in from other sites around the city.

    The main monument known as ‘The Fallen Unconquerable’, unveiled on 20 September 1973.

    The cemetery itself opened on 25 November 1945 and burials continued there until the early 1950s, such was the complexity in moving so many human remains. Unfortunately, the cemetery wasn’t given the attention that it could have been when under Soviet influence, something only corrected in the 1990s.

    The figure has a shield, a deliberate reminder that the people of Warsaw were defending themselves from attack and weren’t the aggressors. The stones in front of the monument were taken from around Wola, to signify the blood of Poles which had flowed onto them.

    A mass grave of victims.

    The names of people who died in the Uprising, along with when they were born and where they lived.

    The scale of the massacre is evident when looking at how many of these columns of names there are.

    And they go on almost as far as the eye can see.

  • Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day 186

    Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day 186

    The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue was first published at the end of the eighteenth century, and given that the current health crisis is giving too much time to read books, I thought I’d pick a daily word from it until I got bored….

    Laystall

    As usual, Grose uses his careful prose here, defining this word as “a dunghill about London, on which the soil brought from necessary houses is emptied; or, in more technical terms, where the old gold collected at weddings by the Tom t**d man, is stored”. The striking out of part of one word is Grose, not me, always dignified…..

    The word ‘laystall’ originally meant the area where cattle were held before they went to market, but it evolved into meaning any old dunghill. When cities were reconfigured, such as London after the Great Fire in 1666, there was a desire to try and put these as far away from residents as was possible. This wasn’t always particularly achievable though and I can imagine the disappointment if the city authorities decided to shove one next to where you lived.

    There are a few streets across the country which retain this name, a rather lovely record of something which wouldn’t have been particularly lovely at the time. One example of this is in London, where Laystall Street is located off of the Clerkenwell Road in the Holborn area.

    Never really a word that would be dropped into casual conversation or writing, but it fell nearly entirely out of usage in the twentieth century.

  • Warsaw – Ibis Styles Warszawa West

    Warsaw – Ibis Styles Warszawa West

    As I carry on working my way around the Accor hotels in Warsaw, this one is located a little outside of the centre and I took a train to reach it. Although I’m walking back as it’ll let me meander through some parts of the city that I haven’t seen before.

    The hotel reception and layout feels quite old-fashioned and I’m unsure why it’s an Ibis Styles. There’s no design-led element to the hotel, it’s all quite bland. Actually, it feels like a prison where they’ve put some jazzy lines on the walls to cheer it up a bit.

    This is the most, well, unimpressive room that Accor have given me in Poland. It’s functional, although the lights didn’t work but the hotel fixed that when I went to query it. Every Ibis Styles has a theme and I’ve liked the previous Roman, space, canoeing and so on themes. I’m not sure what the theme here is, perhaps it’s communist Poland. The room was sort of clean, but it wasn’t to the standard of the other Accor hotels I’ve visited over the last week.

    The desk size wasn’t ideal at all. There are meant to be tea and coffee making facilities in the room, but they didn’t provide any coffee, just tea.

    This is the first Accor hotel I can recall staying in where they use coins instead of vouchers for their welcome drink. I wonder whether it’s to avoid the rather generous terms of the voucher…..

    There are a diminishing number of Accor hotels that decide that anyone who wants beer must want lager, but this is one of them. I really don’t particularly want generic cheap lager, but that was the sole beer option with the welcome drink voucher. On reflection, I probably should have kept the coin as a souvenir of the hotel.

    The breakfast, which was mostly set out in little boxes for hygiene reasons, was fine and I also managed to get more Greek salad as well as fruit salad and apple crumble. Staff served some of the breakfast items, the rest were self-service where they could be covered. All fairly standard Ibis fayre, but since it was included in the room rate, I thought it was entirely reasonable.

    The staff in the hotel were helpful, but the state of this hotel is a country mile behind the Mercure Ursus which is only a short distance away. Slightly dishearteningly, given that I’m an Accor fan, this hotel is also way behind the cheap and cheerful Holiday Inn Express I visited yesterday, which sets itself at a lower price point. I suspect this hotel is doing a sustained trade from conferences and group bookings, but their reviews on TripAdvisor aren’t great. I wonder whether Accor would be better off just rebranding this hotel into an Ibis Budget and being done with it.

  • Warsaw – Taped Over Pedestrian Crossing Things

    Warsaw – Taped Over Pedestrian Crossing Things

    One thing I’ve never quite understood in Warsaw, and indeed all of Poland, is that these buttons rarely seem to do much as pedestrian crossings go green soon enough without pressing anything. I’m sure they likely do and I’m an idiot, but anyway. Poland has had them taped up in Warsaw for months, thousands of them across the city, and everything still seems to work just fine. So, my theory persists about their usefulness, although I assume that they have some functionality that is useful to those with limited vision.