Warsaw, Europe’s Rising Star

“Are you ready to get into your time machine?” Those words spoken some years ago by a Budapest tour guide still resonate with me today. I was taking a private tour that juxtaposed the Communist years in Hungary with the present day and it was really interesting. The city was just opening its arms to tourists, but it still retained a touch of a “stuck in a time warp” vibe. That was my second foray into visiting Europe’s Cold War countries, the first being Prague a few years prior. Prague was something of a revelation, newly liberated, and even though classical music was alive in the streets it wasn’t what I would call a shopper’s paradise. In fact, I sort of remember not seeing many stores, only monuments. Here I was a full 10 years later heading to Warsaw, the kingpin of them all. I’d read up a bit on Poland’s war-ravaged capital for weeks before departing, surprised at how little I knew. I’d been told it was almost completely destroyed during World War II and rebuilt practically from scratch. It was also the locus of the Nazi’s annihilation of central Europe’s Jewish population with over 600,000 Jews being sent to the infamous death camps.

Jewish Roots

Few places are inextricably linked to their past like Warsaw. This is no more poignant than on a visit to the Polin Museum that presents a comprehensive history of Polish Jews. The site chosen for the architecturally relevant structure named European Museum of the Year in 2016, sits on the border of the Jewish Ghetto just opposite a spectacular monument commemorating the Ghetto Uprising of 1943. On one side of the beautiful hunk of bronze Jews are being herded toward Umschlagplatz where the death camp trains awaited while the other shows them revolting against the Nazis. Behind the truncated glass façade of the museum, an undulating ramp echoes the entrance’s snakelike window and puts you in the middle of a series of curvilinear walls that lead toward a skewed stairway down to the exhibits. Here you’ll get lost amid a maze of 8 interactive galleries, with those depicting the war years deliberately confined within dark, cramped spaces to simulate life in the ghetto. The exhaustive amount of material could easily consume a half-day but the important thing to understand here is how the events of the war and the Communist domination afterward are the skin and bones of Warsaw’s people today.

Green Space

You’ll need to have a Zen stroll in the open air after time in the Polin Museum. Centrally located in the heart of the city is Lazienki Park, one of Warsaw’s many green spaces with miles of rolling paths, ponds and palaces. It’s said that 30% of Warsaw is denoted “green space” and if it’s a Sunday in summertime you have a standing invitation at noon and 4 pm to a one-hour live concert of the music of Frederic Chopin, Poland’s revered composer, who spent most of his life in Warsaw. Chopin’s enigmatic life and personality are often painfully reflected in his work, especially his piano concertos and nocturnes which portray a complicated persona who started writing music at the age of four. To hear these melodic pieces played in the open air adjacent to the giant freeform sculpture of the composer at the back of the rose garden is to peer into a window on the soul of Polish people.

Café Society

What does music and a stroll in the park do besides move you emotionally? It makes you hungry of course. Head straightaway to Hala Koszyki, an old market hall in the Śródmieście neighborhood, behind the Square of the Three Crosses. This strollable quarter with a mixture of old and new buildings, designer shops and trendy restaurants is worth discovering. Here an upscale assortment of food purveyors, eateries and shops gives way from a repurposed two-story warehouse to a plein aire grouping of four restaurants situated in a lush garden, all different from each other.
Grab a table outside for brunch at Ćma Restaurant, one of the outposts of Polish celebrity chef, Mateuz Gessler. Gessler has made a name for himself on reality TV and as a result, he’s no stranger to experimentation and re-invention. His takes on traditional Polish staples resonate with both Poles and tourists alike, obvious by the faces on the crowd. Try the Bigos, a Polish national dish that consists of stewed Pork meats and sausages with beer-soaked SauerKraut.

A Toast to Vodka

The courtyard entrance to the newly opened Polish Vodka Museum contains a curious sight. Two Soviet-era Polish cars, one yellow, the other orange, sit squarely in front ready for a spin. Inside study up on the history of Poland’s special sauce, Wodka. Don’t think for a minute that you know everything about your favorite party drink, because you’ll learn more … infinitely more. Like, did you know that vodka was originally made from potatoes but is now predominantly made from grains like rye and wheat? Or that it should be served at 18 degrees Celsius? The museum is largely the brainchild of Wyborovka Vodka, one of Poland’s biggest exports and maker of other well-known brands like Luksosowa. At the close of the capsule presentation a curated tasting by an expert will instill in you the idea that you must take a bottle home and the wonderful shop on the ground floor is ready and waiting to wrap it up for you. Afterward, continue your research at the No. 1 Vodka Bar situated at the back of Wu Wu Bistro right behind the museum. Here pair glorious artisanal choices like the Żubrówka Bison Grass Vodka with farm/fish to table cuisine that’s innovatively conceived and prepared.

Neon Madness

Who says Vegas has a lock on neon? Not David Hill, at least. Brainchild with Ilona Karwinska of Warsaw’s Neon Museum in the artsy Praga district on the opposite side of the Vistula River, David and his lovely wife have amassed a thrilling collection of Communist and pre-Cold War era neon signs. We’re talking big, as in HUGE, many of them having lived a past life atop hotels, cafes, restaurants and retail shops. My friends, this is no small accomplishment that defies belief when you’re staring at a blinding hot pink Café Mozaika that’s close to 25 ft. long, one of many signs living a new life startling the museum’s patrons. It started with a silly hunch on Ilona’s part, she a photographer that began documenting the city’s neon dominance, with the belief that these blinding beacons of a bygone era could connect Poles (today, many of millennial age with no association with their parents’ times) to the past. David, a graphic designer with an eye for typography, came along for the ride and together they’ve succeeded in convincing the public that these signs have a life of their own beyond their artistic and technical beauty. We don’t disagree. The museum, located in a former jute factory with the oldest timber interior in Warsaw, is one of those crazy shortstops that you marvel at later when you look at all the great photos you’ve taken.

Art for Everyone

Polish artist, Tytus Brzozowski, is a watercolorist that has a passion for history. A former architect, his figurative paintings display old buildings, monuments and even entire neighborhoods that are now gone. At the moment several of his works have been transformed into large murals around town and as such he’s somewhat of a minor celebrity. He admits that Warsaw is a complex city especially in light of its history and although his inspiration is rooted in its past his art expresses a visual expansion that speaks of the city’s evolution. What was once another Cold War capital is a sophisticated global destination today. Yes, the past is always present in Warsaw but today Poles are embracing the future with it and it was a joy to experience that powerful connection with them in a new capital city.