Warsaw Part 4
Warsaw. Well what can I? The allure of a second visit that I could not resist. Funnily, people I had met since the last visit hadn't enjoyed Warsaw, and had much proffered Krakow. But Warsaw has a rugged, concrete charm, and is damn good fun. And as it turns out, I found the more quirkier side of Warsaw this time around.
I've never been to a neon museum before, so what I was expecting, I'm not sure. But it was bloody brilliant. Shimmering neon, brightly illuminating the room, the gentle hum of the bulbs combined with the thrill and electricity in the air, meant that this goes down as one of the most interesting and memorable museums I have ever visited. It's only a small one, but it's so immersive, you really do feel yourself being transported away back to the heyday of Warsaw's neon. Take a look:
The urge to buy neon lighting has never been greater! Neon has a sort of, charm to it. Lets bring it back again!
Also on the agenda was food, and I wasn't disappointed. I've developed a soft spot for Pierogi in particular, and I've been eating rather a lot of it since I got home!
Also, that has got to be one the most incredible roast dinners I've ever eaten!
Even the second time in Warsaw, I found more to do. The ethnographic museum is well worth visiting, as well as the Warsaw uprising museum (Although make sure you get there early, as it gets very busy and you stand in a queue in the cold for a while, and the other important thing to remember is that the lockers only take a 5 Zloty coin, and the cash desk in the shop that sells the tickets doesn't always have any to give out as change, I was lucky, I got the last one!). The Warsaw uprising museum is quite moving, it contains lots of documents and testimonies about one of world war two's biggest retaliations against the Nazi's, but it can be hard to concentrate and to take everything in, due to it being very busy, and also noisy from all the different exhibits. It's worth remembering though, that Warsaw had probably the worst treatment and experience in the war, save only for possibly Leningrad. It was completely razed to the ground, people massacred on every street corner, and famine and disease rushing through the city faster that the fire bombs could fall. It's interesting, because in England, there is a general consensus that Britain had it worse than anyone else, which is a complete mistruth. If anything, Britain got off incredibly lightly.
The museum that had the biggest impression on me was the Pawiak museum. It was the history of a prison, in use both before and during the war. It's a very quiet and peaceful museum, slightly at odd's with it's traumatic history. It was blown up as the war began to close, and all thats left is the ruins of the gate. But don't let that fool you. Inside there is recreations of the cells and other objects, all of which give you a good idea of how bad it was to be inside.
It seemed only fitting, that my last view of Warsaw was actually also my first. I remember arriving in cold Febuary, and being struck at the sight of the National Palace of Culture, all lit up, welcoming me to Poland. And here I was, around 8 and a bit months later, leaving with same sight as what I arrived with, as I caught the train to Gdansk.
I've never been to a neon museum before, so what I was expecting, I'm not sure. But it was bloody brilliant. Shimmering neon, brightly illuminating the room, the gentle hum of the bulbs combined with the thrill and electricity in the air, meant that this goes down as one of the most interesting and memorable museums I have ever visited. It's only a small one, but it's so immersive, you really do feel yourself being transported away back to the heyday of Warsaw's neon. Take a look:
Also on the agenda was food, and I wasn't disappointed. I've developed a soft spot for Pierogi in particular, and I've been eating rather a lot of it since I got home!
Even the second time in Warsaw, I found more to do. The ethnographic museum is well worth visiting, as well as the Warsaw uprising museum (Although make sure you get there early, as it gets very busy and you stand in a queue in the cold for a while, and the other important thing to remember is that the lockers only take a 5 Zloty coin, and the cash desk in the shop that sells the tickets doesn't always have any to give out as change, I was lucky, I got the last one!). The Warsaw uprising museum is quite moving, it contains lots of documents and testimonies about one of world war two's biggest retaliations against the Nazi's, but it can be hard to concentrate and to take everything in, due to it being very busy, and also noisy from all the different exhibits. It's worth remembering though, that Warsaw had probably the worst treatment and experience in the war, save only for possibly Leningrad. It was completely razed to the ground, people massacred on every street corner, and famine and disease rushing through the city faster that the fire bombs could fall. It's interesting, because in England, there is a general consensus that Britain had it worse than anyone else, which is a complete mistruth. If anything, Britain got off incredibly lightly.
The museum that had the biggest impression on me was the Pawiak museum. It was the history of a prison, in use both before and during the war. It's a very quiet and peaceful museum, slightly at odd's with it's traumatic history. It was blown up as the war began to close, and all thats left is the ruins of the gate. But don't let that fool you. Inside there is recreations of the cells and other objects, all of which give you a good idea of how bad it was to be inside.
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