Departure!
Alitalia flight AZ490 departing from Rome, destination Warsaw. Flight on time and a pleasant trip even though on such a long flight (about 2.2 hours) I would have expected a more complete on-board service (even paid, of course!). But you can't have everything in life, can you? We arrive at Warsaw airport where a partly cloudy sky and 7° await us. Well yes, the climate aspect I must say was one of the reasons for my initial fear and it was the only one to be fully confirmed: in Poland it's cold but it's certainly not in North Africa so it's normal that the climate isn't yet "spring-like". The first fear (or rather the first decision) is: 1) Changing money. I recommend, also based on the numerous reviews read on the web, not to change a lot of money at the airport because the exchange rate is very unfavourable.
They exchange 1€=3.40 PLN (that is, the zloty which the Poles, poor things, will probably abandon in 2012 to make room for the euro). In the city we easily exchanged at 3.75 and 3.80 near the central train station. We therefore changed about twenty euros, just enough to get to the city 2) Taking a taxi or public transport. We read various alarmist things about Warsaw taxi drivers (and Polish ones in general) but we're from Rome, where surely there isn't galloping honesty in that category...and so we trust a taxi, carefully choosing one of the official ones which they tell us are only the radio taxis, the ones with the phone number on the side. To be even safer, before setting off we candidly ask how long it will take to get to our hotel and the driver tells us "more or less 35 PLN".
That "more or less" reassures me and as soon as we get in he turns on the meter and the distrust immediately fades. The first change in a long series. In any case at the airport you'll find numerous people who discreetly ask if you need a taxi: politely decline because I've read that they'll ask for no less than 100 PLN. The ride lasts no more than 15-20 minutes; the airport is 10 km from the city centre. We head to our hotel, the Sofitel Victoria, a scary big building with mirrored glass positioned a stone's throw from the royal route. We check in and are given a lovely double room on the 5th floor overlooking directly the square of the unknown soldier right on the busy (so to speak) Ul. Królewska.
The room is very large with a sofa and armchair, a TV with 32 international channels of which 2 Italian, free internet both via cable and wi-fi, two bottles of mineral water and free tea and coffee for the whole stay. The amenities are completed with a safe and all the necessities for the bathroom. Ah, the bathroom impeccable, large and clean. Everything truly perfect including the cleaning lady who every evening left us two chocolate Easter bunnies on the bedside table. We head straight to the centre because hunger is making itself felt (it's almost 2pm) but first we stop by the hotel concierge to get a map of the city (free): he immediately tells us, discouraging us quite a bit, that we'll find everything closed because of Easter. He then tells us that the bus ticket is useless (and he'll be right) because all the interesting things are nearby.
We go towards the Old Town (Stare Miasto) along the prestigious Royal Route (Krakowskie Przedmiescie). The impact is very good, elegant, clean and tidy...but we're desperately looking for something to sink our teeth into and we realise it will be an arduous task...everything closed, very closed. In the end we find a little kiosk selling hot dogs and pizza and we refresh ourselves. On Castle Square (Plac Zamkowy) we witness a fight between a sea of people...with pillows! They hit each other with pillows, under the watchful eye of the police, until only one remains! Incredible, we didn't understand whether it's a tradition linked to Easter or whether it's improvised. We stroll through the Old Town, very pretty and characteristic with its graceful colourful houses, it feels like being in a Neapolitan nativity scene.
The impressive thing is that in reality the whole old town (and much of the new one too) was completely rebuilt after the Second World War when the Nazis completely razed all the houses and monuments to the ground. Incredible, they're buildings that aren't even 60 years old and seem to be at least 300...they did a great job. This is one of the reasons why I changed my mind: a tough people, hard to kill, who took courage and started again in a big way, well done!. We stroll and see very long queues outside the Churches: everyone is patiently in line to have the Easter eggs blessed. All hard-boiled eggs coloured and placed in wicker baskets and covered with little crocheted fabrics. An incredible, moving spectacle that goes on until the evening when around 10pm the Churches close.
On the churchyards, however, thousands of little lights lit by the faithful remain, which will stay there for the whole of Easter Monday. In the evening the temperature drops and tiredness starts to make itself felt and so we go to eat. We choose a Polish restaurant that had struck us because inside it was rather austere and furnished with ancient armour and because it offered a couple of typical dishes we wanted to try: honey duck and goose with blueberries. The place is called Zapraszmay and is located at Ul. Szeroki Dunaj 11 in the old town. We ate very well, drank the classic bison vodka zubrowka, made with the herbs the bison feeds on. We spent about 22 € each including rivers of beer and a dessert for two. Then off to bed.
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