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Bookmark & shareA Top Day in Warsaw
For a classic Warsaw breakfast I'd head to the Bar Pod Barbakanem just outside the Old Town's walls; it's one of the few Communist-era cafeterias to have survived into the brave new free market world, and is a timeless purveyor of cheap Polish dishes. After this, I'd wander through the beautiful Old Town, a peaceful cobblestoned enclave in this busy city, and marvel as always at the flawless restoration of an area that was reduced to rubble in World War II.
Continuing my stroll along the Royal Way, I'd drop into a museum or two - perhaps the small but elegant Chopin Museum, with its collection of items related to the great composer. Lunch would have to be at one of the many cafes or restaurants along ul Nowy Świat, an attractive boulevard in the city centre.
A wander west would bring me to the mammoth Soviet-style Palace of Culture and Science, gifted to Warsaw by Joseph Stalin in the 1950s. A visit to the 30th-floor observation level reveals a panoramic view of the sprawling city, with the added bonus of not being able to see the slightly sinister Palace itself. If I have time, a visit to the Museum of the Warsaw Rising further west is always stirring though saddening, with its excellent audiovisual depiction of the city's doomed revolt against the Nazis in 1944. To digest this potent dose of the city's tragic past, I'd take an evening walk through one of Warsaw's great parks, perhaps the nearby Saxon Gardens or Łazienki Park further south.
Dinner is easy to find in the restaurant zone around ul Zgoda in the city centre, maybe followed by a movie at its neighbouring cinemas or a classical music concert at the Filharmonia Narodowa. Then it's time to hit the Warsaw nightlife with a visit to bars and clubs along lively ul Mazowiecka, or in the area around ul Nowy Świat. It might even be my chosen club's 'old school' night - music from the ancient '70s, '80s and '90s. Bring it on, Warsaw!
Author: Tim Richards
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