Warsaw and The Invasion of Swifties
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The summer months in Sicily can be hot with most days ranging between the high 20’s to mid-30’s C. Even with the breeze blowing in off the sea and living up on the mountain around 550 m above sea level, the days are hot, and the nights don’t offer too much relief. So, we decided our summer vacation should be in a more northern location, such as Poland. Tickets to see Taylor Swift in Warsaw were also a big contributor to choosing Poland as our first trip off island and we all came away pleased with all that Poland and Warsaw had to offer.
Learning To Fly
The secret to traveling as much as we plan on doing, we are going to need to be conscious of the flight cost since it can add up quick. We use Google Flights to search for the cheapest airline tickets or airlines. Ryanair is one of the main airlines that fly in and out of Catania, which benefits us because they are also a budget friendly airline. They offer flights to Warsaw for less than 100 Euros per person if you just have a small bag that will fit under a seat or for an extra 25, they have a family plus plan which gets us each a small bag and a 10 kg checked bag plus one extra 20 kg checked bag. One bonus to Ryanair is that on the family plus package kids under 12 fly free. Like some of the discount airlines in the states that offer low prices, there is a steeper price for the extras or not following the rules like we found out on our return trip. Ryanair offers online check-in for up to 22 hours before your flight. If you wait until the final 2 hours before your flight to check-in the online option isn’t available, and they will hit you with a $250 in person check-in fee.
This is my first trip on a plane since landing in Sicily and one of the nice things about it is that they allow you to board from the front and the back of the plane. This speeds up the boarding process, however, if your seats are in the rear of the plane and you load from the front entrance or vice versa, it can create a slight traffic jam. The seats don’t offer much cushion but to me, there felt like a lot of leg room. Even with my backpack under the seat, I didn’t feel cramped. When everyone was seated the flight attendants gave the usual safety briefings and pre-takeoff info which were in both English and Italian, it was finally wheels-up. One of the cool things about our flight was that the flight path took us over Mt. Etna. If you want to get a bird’s eye view of the volcano, be sure to book your seats on the left-hand side of the plane.
First Impressions
Similar to hunting for the best airline prices, we are going to need to seek out the best hotel deals as well. Despite being in the EU, Poland still uses its own currency, the zloty, which 1 zloty is the equivalent of $0.25 USD, meaning our dollar goes a little further than it would in a country that uses the euro. Fortunately, most hotels in Europe are reasonably priced compared to the states, but we were there on Taylor Swift weekend, so we unfortunately had to pay the Taylor Swift surcharge. By the time we got around to booking our hotels, most were booked up or too expensive. We ended up booking 3 nights at the Novotel Warszawa Centrum which is centrally located near most of the attractions we wanted to see. I am writing this on August 10th and 2 weeks from now, I can book a similar room to the one we had, a double with sofa bed for 2,644 zl ($668). The price we paid was 152% higher than that for the equivalent period.
In addition, if you want to stretch your dollar a little further you can help yourself by paying in the local currency. In Poland, I was offered a choice of choosing to lock in the exchange rate fee to US dollars or pay in the zloty and roll the dice that my bank’s exchange fee won’t be more than what the merchant offers when they process the payment. After some brief internet research, I found that you are often better off paying in the polish currency. The exchange rate changes daily, so you do risk paying slightly more when your bank processes the exchange fee but most of the merchants charge 9 to 10% exchange rate fees.
After a 2 hour and 45-minute flight from Catania to Warsaw we landed and Modlin airport which is about a 40-minute drive outside of the city. My first thought after stepping off the plane was WOW!! The cool fresh air was such a departure to what I have grown accustomed to in Sicily, it was a shock to the system. I was aware that it was going to be cooler there given its location further north, but even so, I don’t know that I was quite ready for it. Besides the difference in air quality between Warsaw and Sicily, visually there was a stark contrast. In Warsaw, I felt like I saw nothing but green compared to the sandy color that encompasses the Catania metropolitan area in summer. It was almost like stepping into an oasis after 3 months roaming the desert.
Taylor Swift Wasn’t The Sole Highlight
After we checked in to the hotel and dropped our bags off, everyone was starving so we headed over to Sphinx, a restaurant across the street to get food in our bellies and our bearings for the rest of the day. It was Day 1 of a 3-day Taylor Swift residency at PGE stadium, so the restaurant and the surrounding streets were swarmed with Swifties, which made Vanessa very happy. In addition to the all the Taylor merch and fans dressed in their “Era’s Tour” outfits, we noticed a lot of people walking around dressed in military garb, carrying flags, wearing arm bands, and red and white flower headbands. After some quick internet research, we found out that August 1st is the day of observance for Warsaw Uprising, which commemorates the Polish resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation.
At 5 o’clock, the city observes a moment of silence, followed by air sirens which I’m glad we were alerted to beforehand because it would probably have been a little scary otherwise. With all the extra tourists in town for Taylor, Cassandra noticed that a message was sent to people in attendance of the concert to please respect the moment of silence and the warning not to panic over the air sirens. We ended up walking down Nowy Swiat toward Old Town, past restaurants, bars, shops, the presidential palace, and tons of people celebrating what is the equivalent of the US 4th of July. We stopped to listen to a family band sing what sounded like Polish folk songs in a park. As 5 o’clock neared, we found everyone congregating around the plaza in front of Sigismund’s Column, a tall monument of King Sigismund III, then the noise on the street subsided and the air sirens began. After the air sirens, and young boy led the plaza in the Polish national anthem and flares began popping up all around.
Afterwards, we roamed around the streets of Warsaw, past the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and into the Saxon Gardens. By this time, Naomi had fallen asleep, everyone was tired of walking and travel, so we decided to head back to the hotel and call it for Day 1.
The next morning, we decided to head out in search of the Palace of the Isle. Unfortunately, that was closed but it wasn’t a completely wasted trip since we came across some amazing parks and the statue of Frederic Chopin, a famous 19th century Polish composer. After a day of sitting in the stroller and confined to an airplane ride, we decided to stop off at one of the parks we found and let Naomi run around. The playground was within Ujazdowski Park and was by far one of the best playgrounds I’ve ever come across. It had artificial mounds with tunnels to crawl through, slides, rope bridges, and even a sand pit where you had to scale across and down a web of rope.
After we felt Naomi should have sufficiently gotten all her energy out, we headed out to lunch where we could sample some Polish pierogis and Polish beer before making our way to the Copernicus Science Centre. The pierogis were ok, the beer was good, but it was here that we first encountered a trend that would follow us throughout our outside Polish dining experience, the bees. As soon as the food and drinks arrived, the bees began swarming, so much so, that other patrons decided that they would rather eat inside. Avoiding being stung, yet still enjoying our meal, Naomi watching some combination of Elsa, Mickey, or Bluey, it was time to continue on and experience what else Warsaw had to offer.
Since Nicolaus Copernicus was a mathematician and astronomer who put the sun at the center of our solar system and derived that the Earth circles it instead of the other way around, I thought the Copernicus Science Centre would mostly focus on astronomy. Unfortunately, none of the films at the planetarium fit our schedule and I didn’t see many astronomical exhibits, so we just walked around the museum exploring the various interactive exhibits they had. I think mine and Vanessa’s favorite exhibits were the ones focused on AI, where they had a robot who you could talk to, and it would respond with varying answers. In my opinion this is a good kid friendly activity if you are visiting Warsaw but not sure it offers too much that would keep adults entertained for too long.
Finally, day 3 in Warsaw arrived, the crowning jewel of the trip, at least in Vanessa’s opinion. The day of the Taylor Swift concert had arrived. This was going to be the day we devoted to all the things that she wanted to do, so we began our day by going and standing in line at Starbucks. You can’t find any Starbucks in Sicily, at least I haven’t, nor do I really want to, and it’s one of Vanessa’s favorite places to go so it was the first agenda item to be checked off. Unfortunately, with all the Swifties in town, I believe it was busier than it usually would have been. We got our drinks and headed toward the bus terminal where we would catch a ride to the Be Happy Museum.
I was somewhat nervous about taking public transportation in another country just because even in the states, it can be confusing. However, I found it to be simple and straightforward. We got on, bought our tickets on the bus and there are only two options, a ticket that is good for 20 minutes or 60 minutes. This ticketing method allows you to get on and off as many times as you want to if you are within the designated period. A 20-minute ticket would suffice to get us to the Be Happy Museum, which was in a nearby mall.
The Happy Museum is not really a museum but more something out of the Barbie movie. There are various stations throughout where you can pose for the camera in a ball pit, swinging on a watermelon or doughnut, or in a mirror room with hanging lights. It’s not something I would have normally chosen to do but I threw caution to the wind and had some fun like everyone else and ended up really enjoying it.
At last, it was time to get ready for the Taylor concert and it was when they headed off, that I stayed behind and hung out with Naomi. The two of us did some more people watching walking around the various parks and streets near the hotel, but I will have to let Vanessa tell you more about the Taylor concert. Check back later when she’ll eventually giver her perspective, thoughts, and feelings soon. I’ve heard there were lots of tears of joy.
Stay updated as we concluded our visit to Warsaw and boarded the train for Krakow.
