Warsaw: not what I expected
My trip to Warsaw was as unplanned as could be imagined. It’s not a place I had ever wanted to visit, but in the end I am glad that I did. Even if I was quite miserable for most of my time there.
You see, I was headed to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia and was only ever meant to catch the bus in Warsaw. But, flying from Cologne in Germany, I had neglected to check the name of the airport I was flying to (but in my defence, how many cities have two airports?!). So, when I inevitably ended up at the wrong airport, with an invalid bus transfer ticket, I quickly needed to think of Plan B. So I bought a new bus transfer ticket (to go to the main bus station in the city) knowing that, even if I made it to the bus station, I’d be cutting it very close with only minutes to spare before the long distance bus was set to depart for Vilnius. There was no time to get disheartened and I stayed hopeful that I would make it - there was really nothing else to be done. And so it was on a very wet, foggy night that I ended up at the main bus terminal in Warsaw looking for the right bus as my backpack swayed on my back, my glasses becoming useless in the humidity and the last bit of my optimism drained away with the slap of my sneakers through the puddles. Ten minutes after my bus would have departed, I gave up looking for it and leaned against a low wall to catch my breath and reassess the situation I was in.
All the photos in this post were shot on my iPhone, except for the photo on the main page which was shot on my trusty Pentax.
It was well after midnight and I was soaked through. My phone battery was on the low end and I made peace with the fact that I would now be stuck in Warsaw instead of seeing the Baltics. Sometimes it can’t be helped. The best laid plans and all that; but it was time to suck it up, stop crying (literally – I was so angry at myself for getting the airport wrong!) and find somewhere to sleep. To this day, I am so grateful to my friend in Cologne who had given me her old SIM card with data on it because without it, I would well and truly have been up a creek with no paddle. As it was, I found a hostel that would let me check in at 1AM and headed over. Usually I don’t like to bother my parents with speed bumps on my travels but that night, as I changed into my dry pyjamas in the hostel bathroom, I called my dad and told him everything that had happened. Fortunately, all he said was that he was glad I was safe and dry – I said I’d call him again in the morning when I’d had some rest but I was really glad to have someone to relay the awful travel experience to.
In the bright light of the morning, I felt even more annoyed with myself and with Warsaw in general. Which is a shame because it’s not such a bad city. Just very grey. The whole city felt like it lacked colour and life. But, considering everything it had been through in the last half a century, it’s really no wonder!
It is one of the very few cities I have ever decided to take a hop-on, hop-off bus and just as well because I managed to see quite a few beautiful sights. After breakfast at a popular bakery called Galeria Wypieków Lubaszka, I walked around and ended up at a few different galleries and museums. I coincidentally managed to see an exhibition of film photographer Robert Capa’s work throughout his lifetime – it was here that he became one of my photography icons. Something in his style of photos drew me in and made the images come to life (even though a majority of his most famous photos are quite blurry from being haphazardly taken in the midst of flying bullets). After a few hours of staring at black and white photos, I headed to the red bus stop and rode around the city for a while. I got off at the UNESCO listed Old Town and heard the Hejnał mariacki (Mary’s Trumpet Call – a five note Polish anthem, played every hour on the hour) ringing through Castle Square. In the late afternoon, when the sun wasn’t so harsh and I’d had a gelato or two, I visited Łazienki Park (Royal Baths Park) and saw the bust of Ferenc Liszt and the Chopin statue. The park wasn’t as memorable to me as the music I was listening to whilst wandering through the walkways and people watching. To this day, when I hear Last Shot by Kip Moore, I can feel that summer breeze and smell the earthy aroma of humid forest air.
After seeing all this, I still wasn’t satisfied that staying in Warsaw would make up for missing out on Estonia’s beautiful architecture so I decided to head to a new destination. Seeing as I couldn’t make it to the coast for a dip in the Baltic Sea, the next best thing would have to do – the baths of Budapest. And, as I firmly believe that everything happens for a reason, in hindsight I could see that I was meant to end up in Budapest. It’s still one of the most memorable cities I’ve ever visited!
