Where the Vodka is for Sipping (Poland)

In Poland, we found a thoroughly engaging mix of natural beauty, history, and industrious, energetic modern cities. Although our visit was brief, we managed to digest a good amount of history and culture…and a quite a lot of vodka.

Historically a diverse and tolerant country (at least in relative terms), Poland found itself in the worst possible geographic position through much of the last few centuries. Lying in central Europe in the center of a pack of power-hungry wolves, Poland became a key battleground and suffered greatly as a result.

Poland represented a significant European power through the middle ages and, as we discovered earlier on our travels, the nation formed close links with Lithuania during the 14th-16th centuries. However, the country suffered at the hands of its neighbors starting in the 17th century, and its territory was eventually was divided by Russia, Prussia, and Austria late in the 18th century.

A second Polish republic was established in 1918, but was catastrophically interrupted by World War II, which killed millions of the country’s inhabitants, led to the destruction of much of its infrastructure, and all but eliminated its multiethnic culture. After the War, the Soviets annexed territory for Poland from Germany in the west, and ceded eastern Polish territory to Belarus and Ukraine in the east. This, combined with large forced resettlements of people, shifted the center of gravity of the state westward, and altered the demographic composition considerably.

During our trip, we managed to hit the highlights on the east side of Poland – Warsaw, Krakow, and Zakopane – but we didn’t have time to explore the west, which we hear differs significantly thanks to its historical German links.

Coney Island Dogs step aside: hot dog, onions (fried and raw), mustard, tomatoes, mayo, and pickles. And yes, the bun is grilled

Warsaw

Warsaw was the first place we visited after the Baltics, and was a big change for both of us after a succession of small cities. Skyscrapers, a large industrial sector, Indian and Thai food, etc. It does have a serious tourist scene as well, in addition to a strange (although not unwelcome) obsession with breakfast ice cream, i.e. ice cream served before 11 in the morning.

These days, Warsaw’s biggest tourist beef is with an unexpected rival to the north: Copenhagen. Both cities have mermaids as their respective symbols, and this naturally engenders a rivalry of sorts, at least according to the guide of our free walking tour. The mermaid is visible all around town, appearing on the city’s crest and replicated in multiple statues. Legend has it that Syrenka and her twin sister swam across the Baltic Sea to Gdansk, where they parted ways, heading to Warsaw and Copenhagen respectively.

… and wetness is the essence of beauty…

One of the first things you learn about Warsaw is that it was nearly totally destroyed by the Nazis during World War II. Pretty much the entire city has been rebuilt, including the historic old town. Warsaw was bombed when the Germans first attacked in 1939, was further damaged when the Nazis burned down the Jewish Ghetto in 1943 during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, and was subsequently effectively demolished by the Germans in 1944 after the failed Warsaw Uprising by the Polish resistance.

After the failure of the Polish Resistance in their uprising against the Nazis in 1944, a few survived by escaping through the city’s sewers; this statue commemorates them

A Nazi “Goliath” remote-controlled mine. These could be steered into a target and then blown up. A couple of them were used to destroy the main Warsaw cathedral

The central square in the Warsaw old town. Nearly all of this is reconstructed, but very beautiful

Inside the palace courtyard

While in Warsaw, we took a second tour of the “alternative” side of the city, which focused on the Praga district to the east of the Vistula River. This was the only part of the city that survived World War II, and thereafter became a dangerous slum during the postwar decades. In the last few years it has become a rapidly-gentrifying place full of coffee shops, art collectives, bars serving microbrews, and the like.

The bridge over the Vistula

The main cathedral on the East side of the river

Street art

An artist made a series of sculptures in Praga of a family of angels – they’ve been repeatedly vandalized and repaired ever since

This bar wouldn’t be out of place in Williamsburg. Books, chalkboards, and microbrews

Just your standard reclaimed factory / tattoo parlor

Due to the drastic shortage of housing following WWII the characteristic Soviet architecture is visible everywhere. Most startling is the giant Palace of Culture and Science, built in 1955, which continues to loom over the city center.

The Palace of Culture and Science

Milk Bars represent another persistent relic of the Soviet influence – cafeteria-style servings of various potatoes, crepes, soups and barely-recognizable meats. Orders, selected from an intimidating board of all-Polish alternatives, must be placed with a rather fearsome elderly cashier, and dishes are dispatched shortly thereafter from a small hatch. While not the most photogenic, the food was quite edible – and extremely cheap. Unsurprisingly, it remains popular with the locals.

A selection of Milk Bar offerings: chicken and tomato soups, blintzes, and a cutlet with potatoes

We also had a chance to visit the tiny yet fascinating Museum of Life Under Communism. Exhibits are mostly mock-ups of typical Warsaw apartments, and include great background notes regarding everyday practicalities, fashion and media behind the Iron Curtain.

A crowded kitchen – often just an alcove in an undersized apartment. Probably a few more household conveniences than was typical…

Living room with fold-out bed to better use limited space

Sought-after technology… the evolution of the vacuum cleaner

Finally, we devoted a considerable portion of our time in Warsaw (and our stomach capacity) to exploring the complex world of pierogies. While we quickly established that the lentil ones were the best, identifying them proved to be more of a challenge and led to repeated games of culinary Russian Roulette. Ethan took down an impressive 14 on his first attempt.

Naïve excitement, to be replaced by crushing fatigue 8 pierogies later

The carnivorous pierogi selection

Krakow

Next up was Krakow, which is a much smaller city with a much greater concentration of historical buildings since it wasn’t damaged nearly as much during WWII. We mainly spent time in the old town, which, while touristy, had an almost cozy feel, and delivered a huge dose of culture.

Krakow’s tallest church tower, from which a lone trumpeter plays and “interrupted” anthem every hour on the hour – legends abound surrounding the source of the interruption, but nobody seems to be sure

The main square

The Krakow palace, meant to resemble an Italian villa, including frescoes

Krakow cathedral – exemplary of Polish architectural eclecticism. A half-dozed different styles crammed into one building. If you need a source for an architecture masters thesis, do we have the place for you

St. Florian’s Gate, the 14th century focal point of the Old Town

Pope John Paul II is unsurprisingly a huge hero within Poland. As the first Polish pope, he visited Poland while it was under Soviet Rule during the Cold War. His visit was one of the main inspirations for the surge in the organized Polish opposition that eventually overthrew the communists.

You can find statues of John Paul II everywhere. There are dozens just within Krakow

In addition to its history and wonderful architecture, Krakow is also a mighty hub for street food. Poland in general is great at providing salty, greasy, booze absorbers at all hours of the day, and Krakow in particular impressed on this front.

Sausages, Lincoln-log style

Zapiekanka: half a loaf of bread covered in cheese, veggies, meats, sauce, and more cheese. Then baked

Human head provided for scale

And what’s the point of swallowing savory, booze-absorbing sponges if there isn’t anything to absorb? While in Krakow, we went to a vodka tasting bar and experimented with a series of different flavored vodkas. Walnut was by far our favorite, but we got at most 15% through the entire repertoire, so by no means is that a complete assessment.

Daunting but exciting

Vodka isn’t the only thing: a beer tasting at a basement in Krakow

The Holocaust

Because Poland was a relatively tolerant country to Jews over much of its history, many Jews moved to Poland from other European countries, and there was a very large Jewish community at the start of World War II.  This community was nearly entirely destroyed by the Nazis, and we found numerous memorials to it all over the country. The Nazis first moved the populations of each area to urban ghettoes, and then later exterminated them, either in the ghettoes, or by sending them to concentration camps from which few returned.

The Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw does a very good job of covering the entire history of Jews in Poland. One exhibit houses a reconstruction of a Polish synagogue in all of its colorful glory

The ghetto wall in Krakow

The memorial to the Jewish victims of Krakow – each chair represents 1,000 murders

Because of its central location, the Nazis used Poland as the base for their plan to exterminate the Jews in the entirety of Europe, and built their largest concentration and death camps there. We spent a day in Auschwitz, where the Nazis murdered more than one million people, and found the experience to be even more overwhelming than we had anticipated. The massive scale of the two main camps that have been preserved there really brought home the enormity of the Holocaust, and the calculated, murderous intent that lay behind their construction and operations was clear to see.

The electrified fence and several buildings of Auschwitz I

The train tracks and main entrance of the Auschwitz II-Birkenau extermination camp. The camp was designed to murder people as efficiently as possible. It was chilling to see the thought that went into it

The shoes of victims killed in the gas chambers. There were entire warehouses full of these

Looking off to one side of the tracks in Auschwitz II-Birkenau. Each pair of chimneys is the remains of a demolished barracks which held hundreds of people. The massive scale of the camp is very difficult to convey with a few photos

After World War II, many of the few surviving Polish Jews left the country. A few remain, and there is a small but devoted community that remains and maintains historical synagogues and cultural sites.

One of the historic synagogues in Krakow, noteworthy for its compact but elegant construction

The Jewish cemetery in Krakow

Zakopane

The final leg of our Polish adventure began with a three-hour trip on an antique bus – all the while praying that we were heading in the right direction, since it wasn’t entirely clear. Thankfully, we made it to Zakopane intact, and we were immediately glad that we had made the effort to get there.

Zakopane is a Polish mountain resort town close to the border with Slovakia. Although it was crammed with tourists, there were refreshingly few British / American / Australian visitors – most visitors were Polish families enjoying a summer break. As a consequence, we got to enjoy some amazing – and reasonably priced – food and accommodation, and pretend to be locals for a while. The main pedestrianized street was full of music, atmosphere, and people long into the evening.

Scenes from the deep playa

Some of the excellent food we had in Zakopane – again, Polish food is not the most photogenic, but it is certainly hearty. The thing that looks like a pre-digested meal is a potato pancake with beef stew and cream sauce.

We were primarily there to hike up Mount Rysy, the highest peak in Poland, and despite being afflicted with pretty nasty colds we had the benefit of glorious sunshine and a quite reasonable temperature – something we mostly lacked in Norway. We set off down a fairly boring path through the trees, along with a few thousand Polish hikers, who were mostly chain smoking.

Hiking Poles with hiking poles…

A few hours in, we reached a gorgeous lake. We ate some bag pasta (improvisation when lacking Tupperware, which did not go unnoticed by onlookers) and began the serious part of the hike.

Excellent fuel, excellent taste, somewhat flawed packaging

The climb was no joke – in fact the level of challenge took us somewhat by surprise, given the number of people attempting it (the crowds had thinned out by this point but were still plentiful). A large part of the ascent involved scrambling up rocks or even clinging onto chains, with real drops stretching out below.

Taking a quick break – and working on the tan

Energy drinks are extremely popular in Poland – possibly a source of climbing fortitude?

The views, too, by far surpassed our expectations. We were left mystified that Poland isn’t better-known for its natural beauty.

Seeing double – the lower lake

The second lake, and a glimpse of the climb behind us

The two lakes from above

An attempt to smile through the pain! Total failure…

Looking relieved on the way down

Overall, we found a wonderful mix of things in Poland: big cities, little towns, amazing nature, and a vast amount of history. We met a host of warm, energetic people, and really enjoyed our time there. It’s well worth a visit!