My 24 Hours in Warsaw

I really like to go out to have breakfast. A lot of people in Warsaw do, too, and there are many good options around. I alternate between the outdoor garden at Flaming&Co, Bazar Kocha, Bulke przez Bibulke and Byc Moze as they are all within walking distance from my apartment. Once I get my omelet and can sit down and just flip through the pages of some magazines I really feel the weekend has begun. After learning what kind of mascara I absolutely need in my makeup bag, I realize I’ll have time to catch the free Chopin concert in the Lazienki Park. To me, this is the essence of Warsaw: ignoring the signs, crowds gather at the lawn in front of the famous Chopin statue to listen to various pianists performing his work. It’s magical.

A few years back, as part of the 200^th Anniversary of Chopin’s birthday, the city opened a new walking route which guides visitors through Chopin’s Warsaw with multimedia benches. It’s a nice homage and a pleasant pastime.

I have the music still ringing in my ears as I walk around the park for a bit. No matter the season, it is a beautiful place to take a deep breath and I love that peacocks are running freely around the Lazienki Palace. Also called the “Palace on the Water,” it was once the summer residence of King Stanislaw II Augustus and today it is a museum. I chill in one of the deck chairs close to the New Orangerie and watch the children who can’t decide whether to chase peacocks or squirrels.

Suddenly I think about checking out the news at my favorite wine store, Ale Wino. The wine drinking culture in Poland is still very much developing and this is one of the few places where the staff is really skilled. I always walk in determined to just look and usually walk out with at least three bottles.

On my way there, I stop by my favorite store-café combo Kyosk, where the owner brings back pieces she picks up during her travels. Even when I don’t buy anything, I love coming here for inspiration. Since I am at Koszykowa St. I pop into Kyosk’s neighboring stores (Wonders is another favorite) for both international and local fashion. The boutiques continue all the way up Mokotowska St. which is home to great Polish designers such as BohoBoco and Robert Kupisz. In the same street, there is Między Ustami, a place I like a lot for a casual lunch or drinks in the evening. 

AleWino has received a batch of my all-time favorite red wine, so of course I buy some bottles and ask the ladies to put them on hold for me as they are too heavy to carry around. I then head to Mokobelle, where I get a lot of my jewelry.

Mokobelle started their business the same year I moved to Warsaw so one can say we grew up together. The pieces are beautiful and I always find something I “need.” I really like Mokotowska and the surrounding areas, not only for the great shopping but also for the architecture. The street is home to some beautiful restored old buildings and gives you an idea of what Warsaw looked like before it was destroyed in the Second World War. Having been rebuilt, the city is an eclectic mix of modern skyscrapers, the housing projects of the 50s and pre-war modernism, so it’s hard to say it’s pretty. But the soul of Warsaw lies within these old buildings and, having being renovated, they finally get the attention they deserve.

I continue to stroll over to another jewelry favorite, Minty Dot, and past the restaurant/bar Concept 13, which has probably one of the best views of Warsaw. A friend calls because she has run out of ideas of where to send some of her visitors to. They’ve just been to the panorama terrace of the Palace of Culture  and so I send them to the Warsaw Rising Museum and then to the Copernicus Science Center for some more cheerful entertainment.

We then make plans to meet up for an outdoor movie at Saska Kepa later and I carry on walking to see the newly opened Vistula boulevards. The river has been such an unused space on the city’s urban map and now more and more investors are beginning to see its potential. The boulevards and numerous beach clubs here are just a few good examples of this.

I duck into Foksal St. to avoid the worst crowds of people and take a shortcut to Café Stor. I drink a Sandra (ice coffee) and take a break at one of their outdoor benches as a famous Polish director is interviewed for a magazine inside. I try to eavesdrop, but to no avail, and so I continue on to the boulevards.

It’s a beautiful and much needed space on the map of Warsaw. People jogging, strolling, riding their bikes and their longboards. The banks of Vistula have been unused for so long and are now becoming a canvas for talented architects, much to the gratitude of the inhabitants. I am really impressed and proud to see how the city is changing and developing, but the heat is starting to get to me and I call for an Uber to take me home. On the way I ask the driver to stop by Blikle to buy an éclair as a pre-dinner snack and call my friend to convince her we should ditch the movie in favor of dinner. We haven’t been to Warszawa Wschodnia in a while and since it’s close to her apartment we decide to meet there.

Praga, the part of Warsaw where the restaurant is located, has an undeservedly bad reputation. True, some areas of old Warsaw are still not the safest places to be walking around, especially during nighttime, but if you want to feel the vibe beyond what traditional tour guides have to offer I’d recommend a visit. You can run along bazaars, old school craftsman shops and the by now infamous milk bars where you can have lunch for 10 pln. Also the rundown backyards with the very well-maintained shrines (an homage to the country’s strong religious devotion) are some of the most original impressions you can take back home.

We pass some shrines on our way to the restaurant and its location could hardly be a more literal depiction of “old meets new.” Suddenly the old houses stop and are replaced by brand new residential areas and SohoFactory, where Warszawa Wschodnia is located. Our seats have a good view of the kitchen and the owner Mateusz Gessler comes over to say hello and asks if we want dinner, wine or shots of ice-cold vodka. The latter is accompanied by a perfectly seasoned steak tartare, followed by wine and tournedos and we sit for a few hours, immersed in good conversation. When my friend makes a not-too-discrete comment about the plastic surgery of the actress that has just walked in, we decide it’s time to go.

We head back to our side of the river for an after-dinner glass of prosecco at Cuda na Kiju, situated in the old communist party’s headquarters. It is packed with people so we park ourselves on the ground and listen to the sounds of the big city while striking up fun conversations with strangers. As the night progresses, everybody is talking to everybody else, no matter who they came with. Everyone seems to be friends from the get-go, which is something I just love! Our new friends want to go to Pawilony for an after-party but we head to Plac Zbawiciela, which despite the late hour is ubercrowded. We organize a little impromptu dance party outside Plan B and are stared down by the hipsters. As I walk home I figure I’ll buy some cookies from LaVanille tomorrow. And pick up the wine, which is still at the store.