Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Warsaw

  • Warsaw – Restauracja Ceska

    Warsaw – Restauracja Ceska

    I hadn’t visited this restaurant in central Warsaw before, but they have another outlet in Wrocław which I know is well reviewed. They specialise in reasonably priced Czech food and beer and it’s something a little different for Warsaw.

    They have their own beer tanks and the environment is all rather clean and comfortable.

    Hmmm, I’m a little non-plussed by this. That middle one seems like a way to drink beer that isn’t perhaps entirely usual, but it’s the bottom one that most surprised me. I checked on-line and this is a thing in the Czech Republic, but I really can’t see it catching on in the UK. Although I hope Greene King don’t see it, they’ll likely produce something similar for their Greene King IPA, sounds right up their street. Anyway, for anyone who loves froth, this is a dream come true.

    I didn’t order the froth, I went for the half litre of Kozel Cerny, a dark lager. It was a bit bland, with no richness and the caramel edge promised was evident, but not with much strength. There wasn’t much of an aftertaste, although I’d add it settled a little after it was served, meaning there was a little less froth. It was cheap though, so it did the job of being refreshing and going well with the food.

    I’m not really into lard dishes, so I avoided all those traditional Czech options and went for what I considered to be a safer option, chicken in beer batter served with potatoes and a salad. And this was perfectly decent, the batter had a rich flavour to it and the chicken was tender, with the roasted potatoes being suitably salty. I’m not sure how authentic this dish is, but it met my requirements of not being too difficult to eat and not having too much fat.

    The service was warm and friendly, with the environment being organised and well managed. The location seemed popular with families, solo diners and couples, with the prices being on the lower end of the scale for this part of the city. Most of all though, I’ve learned that selling froth is a thing and it was worth coming just for that.

  • Warsaw – Piw Paw Beer Heaven

    Warsaw – Piw Paw Beer Heaven

    I’m not quite sure how I haven’t got to this place of beer heaven on previous trips to Warsaw, I probably just got distracted elsewhere…. But, it’s a location that I should have been to as it has a reputation for being one of the best bars in the city.

    And above are a lot of photos of the interior, as it is quite mesmerising with all of the bottle tops on the walls. The staff member was friendly and welcoming, explaining (in excellent English, which was handy) the three darker beers that they had. I didn’t actually realise at the time, but there’s a full list of drinks at http://piw-paw.ontap.pl/, which shows just what a broad selection they have. This place is beautifully on-trend, but it’s been on-trend for many years, another one of those places which is effortlessly brilliant.

    I went for the Smoky Joe from AleBrowar Brewery, although I forgot that I’d had this before, at one of the brewery’s own outlets in Gdynia. I checked this on Untappd, luckily I rated the beer as highly as I did in January 2020, which goes to show who needs a spreadsheet? It’s a very decent beer, with the flavour of whisky and this is the best use of that drink as far as I’m concerned.

    Anyway, I very much like this bar and it was quiet, although I was there at lunch-time. It’s a large venue, although reviews suggest that it can get busy at weekends, but I’m glad that quality outlets like this do see that sort of volume of people. I didn’t order food during this visit, but they do seem to sell pizzas and they look decent in the photos on reviews. It was all relaxed and comfortable when I was there, with the bar being clean and organised. It’s one of those places I feel that I’ll need to go back to, just one visit wasn’t quite enough.

  • Warsaw – Charles de Gaulle Statue

    Warsaw – Charles de Gaulle Statue

    Wikipedia notes that there are four statues of Charles de Gaulle outside France, located in Warsaw, Moscow, Bucharest and Quebec City. I’m sure that there are more, but that’s not a bad start and I saw the one in Bucharest a few months ago. This statue in Warsaw is apparently similar (well, it’s the same statue, so very similar) to that of the former French President on Champs Elysées in Paris.

    The statue was given to the city of Warsaw by the French Government, which is an interesting strategy as I’m not what sure what the city would do if the UK presented the Poles with a statue of Boris Johnson. There is support for Charles de Gaulle in Poland, but it’s more to do with his contribution to the Second Polish Republic in 1920, following the end of the First World War. Actually, with reference to Boris Johnson, the statue was unveiled in 2005 by Michel Barnier in his then role as the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, but now better known for his role with Brexit.

  • Warsaw – Mercure Warsaw Ursus

    Warsaw – Mercure Warsaw Ursus

    I’ve worked my way around most Accor hotels in Poland and nearly all of them in Warsaw, but this appears to be a relatively new opening. Although it’s not in the city centre, it’s located opposite Warsaw Ursus Station and so doesn’t take long to get to by public transport.

    The reception area, all clean and modern. The staff member at check-in was personable, welcoming and engaging, all rather lovely first impressions. There were sanitisers conveniently located as well, it felt like a safe environment.

    I was fortunate enough to get a room upgrade, which got me a top floor room with a view over the railway station. There’s no getting away from the reality that this is a beautiful suite, well-appointed, clean and functional. The air conditioning worked and so the temperature was easy to get right, always handy as I like hotel rooms to be on the colder side.

    The room also came with a microwave grill, a fridge, coffee maker, kettle, cutlery, plates and far more things than I probably needed. I was pleased that I could understand the coffee maker, that was a nice treat compared to the sachets I’d expected. Although the hotel had put those in the room as well in case they were needed, along with numerous flavours of tea.

    A welcome gift selection, with white wine, biscuits and fruit. I very much appreciated this.

    The fruit was fresh and wasn’t just a cut-up apple.

    And the wine, how rather lovely.

    I was given this card giving me 10% off in the restaurant, so I felt it impolite not to take advantage. I didn’t have breakfast in the hotel, so this was a chance to see the large restaurant and bar area. Which, like every other part of the hotel, was spotless. Actually, on that note, I suspect that many hotels aren’t really cleaning any more than they normally did, they just pretend to. Not here, I noticed a three-man cleaning team going around ruthlessly sanitising rooms. This hotel is impeccably clean.

    The menu options, a reduced standard menu as well as their burger offer. Reasonably priced and a well-balanced selection of choices. The restaurant wasn’t particularly busy, but there were a few guests and the atmosphere was laid-back and welcoming.

    I’m never quite sure whether Zywiec Porter, one of my favourite drinks, is available or not with the welcome drink offer (we’ve had this debacle before). It should be given the text on the card, but some Accor hotels allow it, some don’t. I just asked what dark beers I could get with the welcome drink and the staff member in the restaurant suggested this, so I didn’t intend to turn it down. And, the staff member was also genuinely personable and welcoming.

    This was beautifully presented with a selection of cheeses and meats. The portion was larger than it looks in the photo, with the quality of the meats and cheeses being high. And I always like some pickled treats, so they were welcome. All of the ingredients seemed fresh and of a decent quality, so this was reasonable value for money for the £7 or so that I paid.

    I don’t like lard and I dread getting it with bread, as is some Polish tradition. But, not here, I got butter.

    So, in conclusion (this sounds like a write up after a science practical), this hotel was the best Accor location that I’ve stayed in. I don’t know who the manager is, but he or she is doing a fantastic job, this hotel was clean, the room beautiful and the staff endlessly friendly. Accor should be delighted at this Mercure hotel, it reflects their brand impeccably. And I’ll probably go back next week and just have to hope it’s just as good, although I’m confident that it will be.

    For anyone wanting to book the hotel, it’s here.

  • Warsaw – 1976 Protest in Ursus

    Warsaw – 1976 Protest in Ursus

    The ‘Factory’ on the right of the above photo is now a shopping centre, but this was once an industrial area linked to the Ursus Tractor Company. Poland, which it’s fair to say wasn’t the economic miracle that it is today, was lurching from one crisis to another in the 1970s and the beleaguered Prime Minister Piotr Jaroszewicz needed a solution. The obvious one to him was to increase prices and to try and hide that from the Polish people as best as he could.

    This wasn’t the greatest plan, as it led to a revolt in Radom which then started to spread. The workers at the tractor factory at Ursus decided that they would smash the railway line which ran to Warsaw, a major line which connected the country to France in one direction and to the then Soviet Union in the other direction. The Prime Minister wasn’t impressed with the 1,000 demonstrators and their little rearrangement of the railway line and the protest was soon broken up.

    There was a balance in punishing some people without leading to an uproar and although there were 131 arrests, only seven people were given prison sentences. The political situation in Poland was already tense and the Soviet Union had to intervene to order the cancellation of the proposed price increases across the country. This was likely a wise move, as a revolution in Poland would have caused substantial disruption across the Warsaw Pact countries.

    Although the Government seized back control after the the troubles in 1976, the economy remained in crisis and shrank in 1979. Revolution was perhaps inevitable and Solidarność, or Solidarity, was established in Gdansk (where there’s a rather lovely museum on this) in late 1980 and this spread throughout Poland. This monument marks the bravery of the workers in 1976 and also its indirect connection to the creation of Solidarity.

  • Warsaw – So! Coffee (Factory Ursus)

    Warsaw – So! Coffee (Factory Ursus)

    I’m not sure why I haven’t written about So! Coffee before, as I know I’ve visited a few of their outlets before. They are a relatively large chain in Poland, but I like them even though they’re not necessarily the cheapest. This is their outlet in the shopping centre at Factory Ursus.

    The shop was clean and organised, with the staff being ridiculously fluent in English (the Polish exchanges fell apart when I didn’t understand they were asking if I wanted a double shot of coffee) and, as so often in Poland, friendly.

    Latte and apple cake, a perfectly acceptable breakfast as far as I’m concerned. The latte was rich and creamy and the cake had one of my five a day underneath the sugar. All rather lovely.

    And, I’m very easily pleased, so I was entirely happy with the free piece of fudge that comes with the coffee. The shop was a comfortable environment, with seating inside and outside (well, outside the shop, still inside the shopping centre) which was all kept clean.

  • Warsaw – Quo Vadis

    Warsaw – Quo Vadis

    The location of this puzzled me (as many things do) as it’s one of my favourite Latin expressions (where are you marching?), sometimes suitable to describe our politicians…. But, I’ve now discovered it’s also a classic Polish book, written by Henryk Sienkiewicz. One of the characters is Ursus, which is also the part of the city where this road is located and that’s the only reason I can think of why this road has been named as it has….

    Nice though, I’d like to live on a street called this.

  • Warsaw – Wayside Shrine

    Warsaw – Wayside Shrine

    This rather lovely wayside shrine, or Kapliczka, is located on Dzieci Warszawy in the Ursus region of Warsaw. It has been here since the early nineteenth century and inside there was a painting of Our Lady of Częstochowa and a painting of St. Stanislaus. The shrine became derelict in the twentieth century, but was restored in the 1990s and modern copies of the paintings were placed back inside the shrine.

  • Warsaw – Sadist JW

    Warsaw – Sadist JW

    I have no idea what this graffiti means, but I noticed it given my own initials…. Perhaps there’s a deeper meaning.

  • Warsaw – Ursus Parish Cemetery

    Warsaw – Ursus Parish Cemetery

    I don’t have much to add about this cemetery in Warsaw other than to note the remarkable number of flowers on the graves (compared to British ones at least) and how spotlessly clean it was. It was quite a busy cemetery with quite a community feel it and I got the impression that tending graves was bringing people together.