Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Warsaw

  • British Airways (London Heathrow T5 to Warsaw)

    British Airways (London Heathrow T5 to Warsaw)

    For the first time in just over a year, I’ve been able to get the chance to return to Poland, something which I’m more than pleased with. That meant a journey from London’s Heathrow T5 into Warsaw Chopin airport with the hope that I had collected together the correct documents.

    I’ve written about the BA T5 Galleries South Lounge before and so won’t repeat that, as not much has changed recently in terms of its operation. Drinks are still self-service, but food needs to be ordered via a QR code and is brought over by staff. The food delights in the morning included the breakfast option of a bacon roll with hash brown, alongside a fruit salad. The lunch-time options included Vietnamese vegetable curry, chicken jalfrezi with lime & coriander rice, beef keema with rice, mixed leaf salad, five bean salad with feta and a black rice, Quinoa & Edamame salad. I went for the jalfrezi and five bean salad, with the former being excellent and the latter being OK but a little short on feta. I’m always content with the quality of the food, but some people inevitably moan about BA’s offering.

    The lounge was though the busiest that I’ve seen it and that perhaps suggests some sort of normality is definitely returning. A couple of customers were completely rude in their dealing with the staff and although I wanted to say something, I thought that no good could possibly come from that. I was able to get one of the high seats by the power points and remained in the lounge for three hours or so, all very relaxing.

    The gate wasn’t called for ten minutes after it was meant to have been, instead it then switched to ‘please wait’. I guessed that this meant it would be departing from A10, the bus gate.

    And here we are, the bus gates. Boarding was well managed and Group 1 and then Groups 1 to 3 were allowed to board first. I’m in Group 2, as I’m not decadent enough to be in Group 1, but that was enough to get on the bus first.

    The bus was a little over-filled I thought (I didn’t photograph that), not in terms of it being dangerous, it just wasn’t comfortable for those who boarded last.

    And time to board, the aircraft was the A320 G-EUYT, which I’ve never flown on before. And I accept that no-one is really bothered about that, but there we go…. The aircraft was brought into service in February 2014 and it has only been used by British Airways.

    I had a seat in the emergency exit row which I like because of the slight extra space, but dislike that my bag has to be in the overhead lockers. For the first time I’ve seen though, a member of cabin crew was guarding the lockers by the emergency exits so that customers could ensure that their bags were placed there and not half way down the plane. Although I boarded early and this didn’t make any difference to me, it did speed up boarding later on.

    The flight was full and I’m not sure that there were any empty seats. The customer next to me arrived towards the end of boarding and started to put his bag on the floor. I was standing up as I was in the aisle seat and let him in, thoughtfully asking him if he wanted to put that bag in the overhead locker. He replied “no” and in my very British way I added “are you sure, it might be easier?” to which he replied “no” again so I sat back down. The customer at the window seat, who seemed perfectly friendly, was more direct and said only slightly gruffly “that bag needs to go in the overhead locker”, at which point I had to stand up again as that more direct approach worked.

    The aircraft was meant to take off at 15:15 and arrive at 18:50, but we took off late due to a delay in the baggage being loaded. We eventually took off at 15:47, but time was made up en route and we arrived at 18:46 (can I add that I didn’t sit and measure that, I took that information from Flight Radar). As an aside, the crew weren’t handing out wipes for customers to clean their seat area as they’ve done over the last year, I’m not sure whether that’s by omission or whether that has been scrapped.

    The on-board catering and I’m happy with this, it annoyed me when they removed it. There’s the option to buy additional items, but I noticed only a handful of people did so. Crisps and water is sufficient for me though, it wasn’t a long flight.

    The fare cost me £30 each way, which I have to say continues to offer excellent value for money, especially given that BA funded lounge access for me before the flight. The crew were friendly, the aircraft was spotlessly clean and the pilots were professional with timely announcements. I have nothing really to fault BA on, I thought that this was a well managed service.

    For those interested, anyone going to Poland at the moment needs to fill in a locator form and have their Covid pass ready, with both being checked. The Brexit arrangements mean that British travellers are inevitably now sent to a different area which all takes longer and passports are now stamped. Some idiotic British passenger (I admit to be judgemental as she was being rude) was lucky to be allowed in as she was complaining that she was being asked where she was staying and why was only she being asked? The member of the Polish Border Guard was calm and helpful, not mentioning that it was because she hadn’t bothered to fill in a locator form. This whole process only took around five minutes though and with that, I was back in Poland. How very lovely.

  • Warsaw – Caffè Dell’Amore

    Warsaw – Caffè Dell’Amore

    Looking for a little cafe in Warsaw last week, this one was well-reviewed and is located between the central railway station and the Old Town.

    The fridges in the cafe with the cakes looking rather sparse, although they were reasonably priced.

    It’s not perhaps the most sophisticated of interiors, but it’s clean and organised with an Italian feel to the whole arrangement.

    The latte really was rather lovely, a richness of taste and at the appropriate temperature, ie, one which isn’t so hot it burns the mouth. The meringue was light and probably far too sugary for my health, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. The environment was comfortable and relaxed, although not particularly busy. It’s larger than it looks from the front, as there are some seats at the rear, as well as the outside seating.

  • London – Lambeth – Imperial War Museum (Warsaw Uprising Graves)

    London – Lambeth – Imperial War Museum (Warsaw Uprising Graves)

    Returning to my little theme of the wonderful on-line photo collection of the Imperial War Museum….

    © IWM HU 105736

    This is quite a raw photo, showing a little girl in what was likely late 1944 and she’s passing by a number of graves. There were hundreds of these plots of graves in Warsaw as people didn’t know what to do with the number of dead. It was only after the end of the Second World War that they were mostly exhumed and moved to the Warsaw Insurgents Cemetery.

  • Warsaw – Holiday Inn Express Warsaw Airport

    Warsaw – Holiday Inn Express Warsaw Airport

    I stayed in Poland for ten nights on this trip and this was the only one not in an Accor hotel. This hotel isn’t the easiest to get to from the city centre, but it was cheap, coming in at under £25 for a room and breakfast. I had quite low expectations for the hotel, primarily as I don’t often stay in Holiday Inn Express hotels and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.

    My first impressions weren’t marvellous as there was no-one on reception, but everything was clean and organised. And when the receptionist came along, she was friendly and helpful, so my general impressions were restored.

    The room was better than I had expected, all clean and sufficiently large. The desk is bigger than it looks in the photo and there were no noise issues either internally or externally.

    The welcome drink voucher.

    Unlike a few Accor hotels, there was no issue here with me having Zywiec Porter. I was now very impressed at this hotel, a reminder of just how easily pleased I am…..

    The breakfast in the morning was still self-service, the first one I’ve had since March, as other hotels have had staff serving customers. I liked the set-up and it was nice and quiet, so I felt it was all still safe.

    They’ve made the process safe by removing the serving spoons, which I’m not entirely sure is the best solution here, but there we go. There was a sufficiently wide selection to chose from, including cold meats, cheeses and best of all, hot dogs. And I’ve missed those, they were a staple of mine when I went to the Ibis Budget in Torun earlier in the year.

    The reviews for the hotel are generally very positive, although someone was livid earlier this year:

    “I chose the HIE since I love the IHG brand. The night prior i stayed at the Intercontinental in Budapest and had an incredible experience. I stay in IHG hotels 60+ nights a year. I rarely if ever complain but in this case, I have no choice and I must alert other business travelers to this hotel. I will also send a certified letter to the CEO of IHG it was so bad. Once I landed at the WAW Airport, I called the hotel to have a pick up at the airport.”

    The problem was that the shuttle wasn’t there and the receptionist insisted it was, so there was a misunderstanding. I’m not sure that the CEO of IHG would be too concerned at the misunderstanding, but there we go…..

    Overall, I was suitably impressed at this hotel and thought it represented excellent value for money given the price being charged. I wasn’t going to or from the airport when I stayed, but it is conveniently located for that and I think that there’s a free shuttle available (although it might be late judging from the above review). I’d certainly stay here again, my initial low expectations were certainly surpassed. Very lovely.

  • Warsaw – Warsaw Zoo (Jan Żabiński and Antonina Żabińska)

    Warsaw – Warsaw Zoo (Jan Żabiński and Antonina Żabińska)

    This house at Warsaw Zoo is where the head-keeper and his family used to live, an otherwise unassuming building. But, during the Second World War, this is where Jan Żabiński and Antonina Żabińska hid Jews to save them from being killed or sent to concentration camps. Jan Żabiński served as the Director of the Zoo between 1929 and 1939, when he was given the role of looking after the city parks. This gave him access to the Warsaw Ghetto and he helped many Jews escape, placing himself in huge danger.

    Some of the Jews were hidden in the cages where the animals were once held, now most of them had been killed by the Nazis for fear that they would escape. A few Jews were also hidden in the cellars of Żabiński’s house and there was a cellar which linked to a tunnel. This tunnel came out in an area of trees, so if the Nazis raided the house then the Jews could escape and hide above aground.

    Both Jan and Antonina were later awarded the huge honour of Righteous Among the Nations, those who had taken a substantial risk to try and save members of the Jewish community. Jan returned to his role as Director of the Zoo in 1945, where he continued until 1951. The regime of Józef Cyrankiewicz saw an end to that, Jan who had fought courageously with the Home Army in the Warsaw Uprising was fired from his role because of that loyalty to his country, which conflicted with the communist influence from the Soviet Union.

    However, the bravery of Jan and Antonina came to the attention of the world primarily after the publication of the Zookeeper’s Wife, which was turned into a film in 2017.

  • British Airways (Warsaw to Heathrow T5)

    British Airways (Warsaw to Heathrow T5)

    This was the British Airways aircraft in Warsaw, G-NEOY, one of the new Airbus A321-Neo aircraft and this was only delivered to BA on 15 June 2020. It wasn’t the aircraft that they expected to use, but the UK Government announced an end to the travel corridor from Poland and this was one of the last flights back to the UK that avoided this issue. So, the aircraft was entirely full.

    The gate was busy and the announcements were hard to hear as the tannoy wasn’t very loud. There was boarding via seat row and this seemed sufficiently well managed.

    The free snacks provided en route, although three customers near to me tried to order food and drink from the Buy on Board service which has been suspended for some months. The crew explained that it was unsafe to serve customers food at the moment, and one customer asked why they were serving food then. It isn’t an unreasonable question (and the crew member couldn’t answer it), although I’m happy with the current set-up.

    This was one of the tensest flights that I’ve been on with British Airways and it’s clear that some passengers were on edge throughout. A passenger opposite me who reclined his seated immediately and then hugged the seat in front of him was one of the more selfish I’ve seen, but I was pleased he wasn’t near to me. This same customer also irritated a member of cabin crew who ordered him over the tannoy to sit down after we had landed otherwise he’d suspend the disembarkation process. It was the same customer who talked over the safety announcements and ignored the crew throughout, then seemed confused why he was being called out for standing up whilst taxiing to the gate. I quite liked the drama to be fair.

    Overall, this wasn’t an expensive flight as I booked early, although the last few seats were costing hundreds of pounds each for those who needed to return home before 4am on Saturday when the travel corridor option was slammed shut. The problem with this new aircraft is that it’s not very comfortable when it’s at this capacity. There’s not enough space and things such as the at-seat power didn’t work, which it really should have done given how new the aircraft was.

    But, having written that, I was just pleased to get back out of Poland given the travel corridor issue, and British Airways didn’t let me down there. The flight was around thirty minutes late in departing due to a delayed outbound flight to Warsaw, but our aircraft arrived just one minute later than timetabled as they were able to make the time up. It was a slight shame that the aircraft landed at C-gates, as that’s a bit of a trek back, but the airport wasn’t particularly busy. So, all sufficiently pleasant, but not my best flight with BA.

  • Warsaw – Chopin Airport Preludium Lounge

    Warsaw – Chopin Airport Preludium Lounge

    The Bolero Lounge at Warsaw Airport is currently closed, with British Airways customers being asked to use this lounge instead. It’s at the other end of the terminal, but it’s not a particularly onerous walk back to the Schengen area. I had a five-minute wait or so to enter the lounge as it was at capacity, but it seemed to stay a little quieter for the rest of my visit. There might be a few extra customers at the lounge today from the BA flight, now that Poland has been removed from the travel corridor, and perhaps a few paying or Priority Pass customers from the WizzAir flight to Luton.

    Everything in the lounge is now handed over by staff, rather than being self-service. It’s not perhaps ideal, but there wasn’t ever much of a wait to ask for anything. The lounge was clean and comfortable, although it doesn’t have any windows which always makes these places feel just a little forlorn. Staffing was efficient if not always entirely engaging, but I imagine the staff are growing just as tired of this situation as everyone else.

    The food and drinks menus, I thought that this was quite a reasonable choice.

    I couldn’t resist the chocolate and beer….. Incidentally, it’s not craft beer, but it’ll do as it’s free. Amazing how less picky I get when things are free.

    The Greek salad and tuna wrap, the former of which seemed fresh and was sufficiently tasty, the latter was just a bit moist and I’m not a huge tuna fan. But, it was perfectly edible and I had no cause to complain about it.

    So, it’s positive that the lounge is open and in operation, with pretty much the full food and drinks options that they had before the health crisis. I think I preferred the system at the BA lounge at Heathrow, but it’s a comfortable enough place to wait for a flight. Perhaps next time I fly from Warsaw the Bolero lounge will be open again and fully self-service, but that feels a long way off at the moment.

  • Warsaw – Rzeźba Żyrafa

    Warsaw – Rzeźba Żyrafa

    This rather lovely giraffe sculpture was designed in 1967 by Władysław Dariusz Frycz, for a metal sculpture exhibition which was being held in the city. There’s a similar sculpture over in the Woda district of Warsaw, which is in the west of the city. This one is handily located near to the city’s zoo, within Park Praski.

  • Warsaw – Warsaw Metro

    Warsaw – Warsaw Metro

    Despite having visited Warsaw on many previous occasions, I’ve never quite got round to using the city’s Metro network. That’s primarily because trains and trams serve the capital well enough for my needs, but there’s been a large recent investment in the network. Since I had a 72-hour pass to use public transport, which includes the Metro, bus and trams, it seemed sensible to just pop in to have a look.

    The process of getting onto the network is easy, just insert the ubiquitous little public transport ticket into the slot on the machine and all is well. The gate opens and the ticket is spat back out to be used again. When leaving the network, there’s no need to do anything with the ticket, the gates just open to let people out. There are ticket machines all over the place for those who want to use the service, with English available as one of the language options.

    The network is all relatively new, with the first line (M1) opening in 1995 and by 2008 it had been extended and the number of stations served increased. The second line (M2) opened in 2015 and there is work underway to increase the length of it. There are also plans for an M3 line, although nothing concrete (I’m sure there’s a pun there) has been done with that yet. That means that there are currently 34 stations that are now open, with a plan for there to be 58.

    I can’t say that the trains seemed to be particularly busy when I was on them, but they were clean and spacious. The signage on-board the trains is also clear, so that it’s easy for passengers to see where they are and where the train is going. Over the next few decades, I imagine that this network will get even bigger and it’s a cheap and efficient way of getting around the city.

  • Warsaw – Fort Wola

    Warsaw – Fort Wola

    This was of passing interest to me as I’ve never seen a shopping centre in Poland which has been shut down. In the United States there are plenty, as well as a growing number in the UK. It opened in 2001 and the flagship tenant was the large supermarket, Auchan. The shopping centre closed down in May 2017 and it’s looked like this since.

    There are meant to be plans to redevelop the site into a new centre called Galeria na Woli with a large Ikea on site, but little seems to be going on. I can’t imagine that a piece of real estate like this will be left for too long though.