Kevin Blake's Blog

I was just reading the Rough Guides book for ideas for tomorrow and I came across something that made me chuckle enough to post a blog entry about it. Traditionally, on Easter Monday in Poland – girls are doused in water by boys to make them fertile. As the guide book describes it, “a marginally better procedure than in the neighbouring Czech Republic where they’re beaten with sticks”. Genius.

It’s with a heavy heart that I’ve now left Krakow, a really really beautiful city that I have really grown to love over the past week. If my flight had not been from Warsaw, I would have most likely stayed. But then think of everything I’d be missing out on! Which wasn’t really very much for my first hour or two in Warsaw. I set all my stuff down at the hostel – which is much more of the stereotypical hostel I had imagined. Bunk beds, IKEA furniture, common rooms and kitchens far more akin to the Big Brother house than the warm homely surroundings provided by Elephant on the Moon. But it’s still not a bad thing by any means and I have still been won over from the every-night-at-a-hotel holidays of the past.

As I was saying, Warsaw is a stark contrast to the romantic city of Krakow. There are far less tourists, and more Poles who are going out to work, building careers as you would expect in a capital city. Life seems a lot more “fast-paced” and everyone appears to be heading somewhere. I am no longer greeted with benches, wide pavements lined with trees, and a healthy scattering of parks on every corner. There is most certainly a reduced amount of festivals, casual sellers, eateries, drinkeries, street entertainers, music – and you really notice. Many of the buildings are large, square, grey and functional – as a city recently rebuilt during Russian “partnership”, Warsaw can appear stark and unwelcoming. But at least it has a Subway.

I opened the guide book in the first park I came across. Far sooner than I would usuallly resort to such measures, usually preferring to get a feel for a city without prejudice. Well – my prejudices were already set, they weren’t good and I really didn’t have anything to lose. I had already started daydreaming about what trips I could go on to get out of here for the next three days.

And then everything changed.

Warsaw was almost entirely levelled in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising. It was one of the most bloody and destructive battles of World War II. The Nazis were already being pushed west by the Red Army and their withdrawal from Warsaw seemed a strong possibility, which is still greatly debated by historians today. With over 400,000 soldiers, the Polish Home Army was the largest resistance force of anywhere in Europe. Advised by the allies to cooperate actively with the advancing Soviet forces, the arrival of the first Soviet tanks across the Wisla in the Praga district of Warsaw prompted the Polish forces to launch a single handed attack on the Germans. On August 1, 1944, 50,000 poorly armed troops sprang an assualt on the city centre and manage to capture large areas of land from the Nazis. The successes were short-lived and the Nazi recapture of the Wola district on August 11 was followed by the massacre of 8000 civilians. Women and children were tied to the front of tanks and rows of civilians were marched in front of German troops to deter sniper attacks. 63 days after the fighting began, the Polish forces surrendered – but not before 20,000 of their soldiers had been lost, and 225,000 civilians killed during the fighting. Nazi demolition squads under orders from Hitler levelled the city, destroying all but only 16 buildings from the centre of Warsaw – compounding the damage already carried out by the German bombers.

The city has since been rebuilt, including the cobblestones and the Stare Miasto (Old Town) is modelled upon Baroque-era drawings by Bellato. Some older residents even refer to these replacements as improvements on their pre-war counterparts which contained a number of 19th and 20th century improvements. Well, I was fooled. Exploring Old Town today was a vast improvement over the skyscrapers of the new Warsaw I had arrived at. St Ann’s Church, the Royal Castle, Old Town Square and The Barbican (not to be confused with the cement-tastic monstrosity of London) are all beautiful structures that bring the city somewhere towards the same life that Krakow has. The Palace of Culture and Science is quite stunning, even though many Poles have incredibly mixed feelings about it. Provided as a gift of friendship from Stalin, it is apparently the tallest building in Warsaw (I’m not sure, some of those skyscrapers are BIG – I’ll check tomorrow). With a surface area of over 80,000m(3), and 234.5m high, it is not the sort of gift you can ask “Gee, thanks Stalin. Hey, did you keep the receipt? You know, in case there are any breakages or I need to take it back to the store or anything?” Which I kind of get the impression they’d like to

But still, it’s here to stay and the symbol is represents to the people of Warsaw of different, more unpleasant times is slowly being forgotten by every passing generation. It’s definitely helpful in finding your way around, anyway

And lastly, food. Today’s dish of the day was Pierogi domowe z kapusta I grzybami, okraszone skwarkami z boczku, from the Restauracja Barbakan, or in English – Homemade pierogi with cabbage and mushrooms, cracklings. Pierogi is something of a celebrity in Poland. It’s a kinf of flour-based pastry / pastery pocket thingy filled with meat or cabbage, potatoes with cottage cheese and onions, or fruit. Not totally unlike that pasta stuff I can’t remember the name of. But they’re really good The same restaurant also sells the Zurek soup inside the bread, as recommended by Gregory. So if I find myself in that area again in the next few days – I may stop and try it out. It’s just so crazy, it might even work.

But that’s all for the rest of my trip. Which I’m certainly feeling a lot more uplifited about, after the ropey start. Come to Warsaw – but keep your eyes closed until you’re in the old town. And maybe visit Krakow AFTER, as I had originally planned. That probably would’ve helped