24 Hours in Warsaw, Poland

On this, the very first Tauni & Michele trip, we were planning to hit up as many countries as we could (spending at least 24 hours in each), while trying to help Tauni hit ’50 countries before age 50.’ We both work full time and had ONE week. Those lucky Europeans have so many budget airlines that make new countries accessible in an hour–all for under US$100! So why not shoehorn an additional country into our itinerary? Thank you, Ryanair flight to Warsaw.

Girls Trip Days 3-4: Warsaw Excerpt

This getaway was tucked between Christmas and New Years, so time was short. The plan was to use Milan as base. The larger, macro-itinerary was:

• Day 1 – JFK to Milan
• Day 2 – Drive rental car to Liechtenstein (side trip to quaint St. Gallen, Switzerland), spend day and night

• Day 3 – Drive back to Milan (Bergamo) via Como’s charming Christmas Market–night flight to Warsaw
• Day 4 Visit Warsaw all day (they had a Christmas Market!)–night flight back to Milan (Bergamo)

• Day 5 – Morning Milan, drive to Monaco, spend rest of day (did someone say Christmas Market?)/night
• Day 6 – See more of sunny Monaco on foot (60 degrees in December? Yes, please!), drive back to Milan – spend night
• Day 7 – Arrivederci, Italia: Michele returned home to the US, Tauni snuck in a trip to Portugal before she returned home.

The Warsaw Getaway

We jumped out of bed in Liechtenstein in a panic, realizing we overslept (cursed blackout shutters and jet lag). Promptly drove to Como, Italy and enjoyed their festive Christmas market and pedestrian zone. Continue to Bergamo airport for our 9:10pm Ryanair flight to Warsaw (Modlin). We were a little surprised at the bare-bones-ness of a Ryan Air flight but it got us there cheaply and safely.

I (Michele) was secretly excited see our arrival airport, Modlin, which is a secondary airport in Warsaw, a little further out of town. My curiosity was piqued because I had read that Modlin was only declared a passenger airport in 2010. It had originally been built in the 1930’s for the Polish military, but not actually used until WWII, by the German Luftwaffe, then later by the Soviet and Polish militaries. But I digress…

We landed around 11:00pm, took an under-US$10 bus ride the 40 minutes to the city center. The bus dropped us off at Plac Defilad, right outside the very Soviet-looking Palace of Culture and Science (tallest building in Poland), made the completely safe 18 minute walk through downtown Warsaw amidst snow flurries to Sofitel. Checked in at 11:59, asked the desk clerk, “What time does the bar close?” He laughed and said, “Midnight.” We did what any self-respecting traveler would do–we sprinted to the bar for a celebratory Polish vodka before bed.

Good Morning Warsaw!

Yesterday we woke up in Liechtenstein, today we woke up in sunny but chilly Warsaw! Wandered outside in the general direction of the old city, curious to see what Warsaw would reveal today. 

Made our way out of the hotel to the Warsaw University Czetwertyński-Uruski Palace complex with its ornate façades. It was so clean! Passed the beautiful rococo Czapski Palace, clothed in a rich terra cotta shade highlighted by its vivid white trim. Wish we had gone into the Warsaw University Library Garden–next time. 

Found ourselves on the ‘Royal Route,’ about 3.5 km of palaces and beautiful churches. Since it had been a few minutes since our most recent palace, we passed the Presidential Palace then the Monument of Adam Mickiewicz, Polish poet, a bronze statue that was destroyed in 1944 after the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.Somehow part of it was saved and it was later reconstructed.

We continued north to the Old Town, situated just past the Royal Castle of Warsaw. It was early, so this part of town was pretty quiet.

The massive, cobblestone Old Town Market Square, surrounded by colorful  3 and 4 story row houses with cafés or restaurants on the ground level. This sprawling square is the home of the annual Warsaw Christmas Market. The Square, pictured above, miraculously transforms into an ice rink surrounded by traditional wooden market stalls. This was only the second Christmas Market I had ever seen (the first was 24 hours prior–I know, almost 50 years old and somehow had never seen a proper Christmas Market. Don’t judge!).

We wandered the narrow Old Town streets, walked along the fortress walls and the Barbakan Warsawski, and found the large white Field Cathedral for the Polish Army, then happened upon pretty park Ograd Krasinkich with its windy paths. By now we were freezing! So we made our usual pilgrimage to Starbucks, to both warm up and plug our in phones for a few. While we restored our bodies to room temperature and restored our caffeine levels to “Functional” again, we mapped out the rest of our day’s route.

Next we found ourselves in what was once Jewish Warsaw and found a marker where the Warsaw Uprising had begun. We continued to the POLIN, the Museum of the History of Polish Jews, and ended up staying here a few hours–it was a compelling museum of faith, pride and hope despite centuries of persecution. In front of the POLIN was a monument to the suffering of Polish Jews.

Entrance to the museum was about 30PLN (about US $6.00)

By now it was probably 2 or 3pm. We grabbed a bite to eat at Momu Gastrobar, where I had a beautiful and tasty sandwich (which appears to no longer be on the menu).

On the way back to Sofitel to grab our bags, our final stop was to majestic Ogrod Sasky (Saxon Park). There were several somber memorials: one was the Tomb of Unknown Soldier; there was also a memorial statue of the 2010 plane crash in Smolensk, Russia which killed their then-president Lech Kaczynski, along with his wife and several other high-ranking Polish officials. Paying respects here seemed a fitting closure to our time in this richly historic city.

We crossed the street to Sofitel, grabbed our bags, then hit the pavement some more to walk the easy 1.4 km back to the Plac Defilad for our bus back to Modlin Airport. The snow flurried again as we waited to board the plane on the tarmac.

After our quick flight, we returned to our rental car parked at Bergamo, then drove the hour to Milan proper to spend the night.A delightful, if not whirlwind 24 hours in Warsaw. Until we meet again, Warsaw, do widzenia!