Dates: April 16-22, 2012
Exchange: 100 USD= 311 PLN
Expense Summary:
- Transport in Warsaw (1.80x2=3.60)
- Polski bus ticket to Lublin (21)
- Transport in Lublin (1.40x5= 7)
- Sunglasses (42.90)
- Earrings (11.18)
- Subway 6” Turkey (9.40)
- Hot salami and cheese sandwich (7)
- Ice Cream (4.50)
- Museum of Religious Art (5)
- Night Club Entrance (10)
- Taxi (total 19, 23= 42, my part=14)
- Groceries, incl. alcohol (173.44)
What I did: Compared the “Old Town” in two Polish cities, took some sacrilegious photos at Lublin’s Museum of Religious Art, danced the night away… twice, stocked up on goodies to take back to Ukraine.
I decided to travel through Poland on my way home from
France and Switzerland to visit a friend and check out a few more cities in a
country that is fast becoming one of my favorites. I landed at Warsaw’s Chopin
Airport in the early evening, and caught a bus from the arrivals level to the
town center. Something I love about Polish city transport that I really wish Seattle
Metro would adopt is that you can buy tickets in convenience stores all over
town, and if you have small bills, you can buy tickets on the bus without exact
change.
I stayed at Oki Doki hostel, located not far from the Palace
of Culture. I appreciated that they e-mailed my very specific directions from
the airport when I made my booking, otherwise I might have been wandering
around for a while. While thinly staffed at the time, the facility is
great and has its own bar, which serves breakfast in the morning. All the dorms
have a different theme, and wouldn’t you know it, I was in the Communist Room.
Unfortunately, this is where I spent most of my time in Warsaw, as I had caught
a cold in France, and I was not up for doing much more than blowing my nose.
In the morning, I powered up on free breakfast (I make this
a priority when booking hostels) and went to check out Warsaw’s Old Town. It
was not a far walk from the hostel, and I got to see the Tomb of the Unknown
Soldier on the way. Honestly, Warsaw’s Old Town is a lot like other old towns
in this part of the world. It is not worth its own special trip to the city. While I was there, I changed a little money, which was a huge mistake. “Kantor”
desks in Old town were buying dollars in the 2.3-2.4 range (did not see a bank
there). In Lublin, however, they were all buying for over three.
I did not spend as much time in Warsaw as I would have liked, as Lublin was my true destination this trip. To get to there, I booked with PolskiBus. The trip was
quick, comfortable, and the bus even had Wi-Fi connectivity, which was awesome.
Less awesome though, was that I drained my cell phone battery using Facebook.
This combined with the uselessness of card activated public phones caused me to
have some trouble getting a hold of the Ukrainian friend with whom I planned to stay. I
took a city bus to the place she had told me, but could not find her building.
Eventually, I just asked a girl at the bus stop if she could call my friend and
have her meet me.
I still was not feeling well, and neither was my friend (the
reason she did not meet me at the bus station), so we mostly did not go
anywhere that first day or the next, except to forage for food (49.09) and get
a little fresh air. I stayed with her and one of her roommates in their dorm
room, as their third roommate was kind enough to sleep elsewhere for the week.
They snuck me in and out every day so I could stay without paying. It was all
very thrilling and rebellious. The room was much bigger than mine was, back in the day, and overall
very comfortable. However, not being a teenager anymore, a few days of late bedtimes, smokers
in the halls and bathrooms, plus the constant pulse of music were enough for
me.
When we were finally well enough to get out and about, it
was an unfortunately gloomy day. So, we did what all (pseudo) teenagers do. We,
like, went to the mall. I bought some sunny new sunglasses (42.90) and some H&M
earrings (11.18). I also got a chance to do some fine people watching when we
stopped at the food court Subway for lunch (9.40). Generally, I advise travelers
to avoid familiar American chains in Eastern Europe, as they are significantly
more expensive than local alternatives. I got a comparably tasty grilled
sandwich a few days later for seven złoty. On the other hand, sometimes it’s just
nice to get something you know.
On Friday, we got down to the real sightseeing. It was
beautiful weather, and we were on our way to Old Town, when we spotted some
walking cupcakes. I was obliged to chase them down and request a photo (“Excuse
me, cakes…”). With that out of the way, we picked up some Lody (ice cream, 4.50), and wandered down
the winding cobblestone streets to Lublin Castle.
Lublin is one of the biggest cities in eastern Poland (it even sort of got to be the capital for a while at the beginning of the 20th century), so naturally it has a big old castle. We just took some photos, but if you're interested, there is a museum there as well.
For me, the highlight of exploring Old Town was visiting the Museum of
Religious Art. It was a bit hard to find, as we only had a vague idea where we
were going, but it was well worth the trouble. Laid out over several levels in an old bell tower, this museum has some of the coolest woodcarvings I
have seen. There were also paintings and even some old musical instruments.
Even if you hate museums, you need to visit this one to see the amazing city
views from the top. There was no one else there when we were, so my friend and
I sat on the sunny roof for a quite a while just taking in the pastel buildings and busy people below.
After a rest and some dinner back at the dorm, we prepared
to go out for the night. I guess on Fridays, if you get to this club Fashion Time before
10pm, entry is free. There is also an open bar until 11pm. Most ridiculous deal I've heard of. We took turns going to the bar and grabbing a fresh drink until we had several glasses a piece. There were two rooms with slightly different sounds, and even though the crowd was pretty young, I had a great time dancing.
Next night, we went to Shine (10). According to my friends, it's the best spot in Lublin, and I believe them. I had never been to a club with such awesome lights before! The music was also great, and the main level had two DJs. We happened to meet a friend of my friends who is also Ukrainian and he got us into the VIP lounge upstairs. He also bought us drinks all night, so way to save money there. The DJ in VIP played a little more retro stuff so I was really digging it. We didn't make it home until 5am.
My last day in Lublin, I went back to the megastore LeClerc near the dorm and picked up a bunch of treats to bring home. For whatever reason (European trade connections, magic?) Poland has acceptable prices for all the good things like peanut butter and maple syrup that are difficult or impossible to find in Ukraine. I spent a whopping 110.19 that afternoon making my food dreams come true. Probably the best item I bought was a bag of taco-flavored corn chips.
I went back to Ukraine that night on a minibus straight to Zhytomyr, which was a little cramped, but mighty convenient. The border crossing was mercifully uneventful, and as soon as we'd gone 400 meters or so into Ukraine, we made a midnight money-changing stop. It felt good to be going home.
Things to consider:
- Exchange rates vary wildly, and banks are usually your best bet. Looking at the difference between the buying and selling price of a currency gives an idea of how much the service is pocketing.
- I spent over a third of my budget on treats to bring home to Ukraine. That money definately could have been spent at restaraunts, on activities, or on visiting another city. On the other hand, if you are planning to go to Ukraine after Poland... bring treats.
- The Lublin Jazz Festival was going on while I was there. If you'll be in Poland in April, consider checking it out.
- Ukrainian friends are the best kind to have. They let you stay with them, they cook for you, and they buy you drinks.
