WanderBellies

Breakfast / brunch is my most favourite meal of the day. Arriving early on Saturday morning, I made sure to visit Aromat Bakery which is touted for its French artisan baking techniques, before checking into the hotel and heading into the Old Town for a walking tour.

A quick breakfast bite at Aromat Bakery.

Following a really positive experience with the “Free Walking Tour” in Krakow’s Jewish Quarter, I signed up for their “Old Town Walking Tour” in Warsaw. The free walking tour took about two hours and was conducted in English by a certified local guide. The tour began with a comparison of Warsaw vs Krakow, and how both cities do not get along. Krakow used to be the capital of Poland before the decision was made to shift the capital to Warsaw due to its more centralised location for decision making purposes. With ~90% of Old Town destroyed in World War II, most of the existing structures seen have undergone reconstruction, hence making Warsaw’s Old Town the youngest in Europe.

Bird's eye view of Warsaw's Old Town from St Anne's Bell Tower.

Beyond the facts, my favourite sights and stories from this walking tour include:
1. Royal Castle Square
Reconstructed after World War II, the square was beautiful, full of European-style flavour and was bustling with activity.

2. “Wishing Bell”
It was shared that if you want a simple wish to come true, hop on one leg around the bell for a single round. For a larger wish, you will need to make three rounds. Note, that you are only limited to one wish a day!

Everyone wants a go at the Wishing Bell.

3. Story about the poor wise man
There was a beggar who was bestowed with some cash to build a home. He was however, faced with a longer term issue of paying taxes. Taxes back in the day were calculated based on an estimation of how big one’s house was. To circumvent that, he built a house with the narrowest entrance, but the house expanded backwards like a trapezium. This way, he achieved the biggest house and yet paid the smallest amount of tax as the tax estimates were calculated based on the size of his front door, which was a lot smaller than his neighbours!.

If you are keen for an enriching travel experience in Warsaw, do sign up here. The organisation also provides other walking tours in Warsaw (e.g. Jewish Ghetto, Warsaw in War etc.) and also provides free walking tours in other major cities in Poland, including, Krakow, Wroclaw and Poznan!

As the weather appeared slightly positive after the walking tour, I decided to head up to St Anne’s Bell Tower for a panoramic view of Old Town. I would recommend a visit, which comes at a small price of 5 zloty!

A hearty lunch of baked potato with toppings galore. A pitstop that led to a prize find!

Two museums are highly recommended for a visit here. The first of the two is the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, which received the accolade for European Museum of the Year. The museum is split into eight galleries, with each depicting a different chapter of Polish Jews through images and artifacts. It is also situated in an area converted by the Nazis into the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II, and commemorates the thousand year history of the Polish Jews. Entrance to the museum is free on Thursday, but if not, it only costs 25 zlotys to enter and 10 zlotys to add on an English audio guide, which I would highly recommend!

An illustration of the Polish Jews' newspapers.

An illustration of how the interiors of a synagogue looks like. A synagogue is a place where the Jewish prayed.

A mock-up of how the streets looked like back in the day.

Chopin was born in Warsaw and part of my recent interest to learn the piano was due to the strong music education available here in Poland. Despite my short weekend stay in Warsaw, I managed to attend Time for Chopin, a one hour piano concert, which showcased a selection of Chopin’s famous pieces, held on the grounds of the Royal Castle. A great inspiration and motivation to keep going with my piano classes!

Time for Chopin.