First Glimpse of Warsaw
After years of watching Rick Steves' travel episode on Warsaw, Poland, we finally made our way to the beautiful Polish capital last July. It wasn't our first time to the country. We visited Szczecin and Poznan during our summer vacation in 2012. We were quite happy with that trip and news about Poland being anti LGBTQ+ made us think twice about going back. But, we sure were happy to have gone this time around. We loved our stay so much, we want to visit Krakow in the near future next.
Meanwhile, as soon as we got out of Warsaw's Main Central Station, the building we saw right away due to its imposing size and location was the Palace of Science and Culture. Said to be easily seen from any part of Warsaw, it was opened in 1955 on the initiative of Joseph Stalin as a “gift of the Soviet people for the Poles”. Today, it is said that the younger generation of Poles don't dislike the building at all. In fact, some even admit to liking it for the way it enlivens the new, predictable, glass-and-steel skyline springing up around it.
Right by the main railway station was the ginormous Zlote Tarasy Mall. A mall similar to the ones we have in the States only busier and more popular among the locals. And right next to the mall was the hotel we thought of staying at back when we were still planning our trip to Europe for the summer of 2025, the Mercure Centrum Hotel.
There was no way I was going to be in Warsaw and not have my picture taken with the Palace of Science and Culture.
Today, the Palace of Science and Culture houses the Museum of Technology and Industry, the Museum of Evolution, and the Dollhouse Museum, alongside theaters, cinemas, restaurants, and an observatory deck, making it a significant cultural complex. Sadly, we didn't get visit this building although we saw it and passed by it a million times when we were there.
A rear view of the Palace of Science and Culture. We have got to visit this important building next time we find ourselves in Warsaw. We really, really must.
Here's the Warsaw Central Station. This was where we got out of after catching the train from the airport. From here our hotel, the Novotel, was a straight walk down the long avenue in front of the station.
There was a huge foodcourt inside this mall which we visited a number of times during our stay in Warsaw. Truth to tell, we love eating in foodcourts inside malls built for the locals. Food here was good and affordable.
The Zlote Tarasy Mall