I had an airbnb set up for Warsaw. When I reached the place I was a bit put off by the condition of the building. Then when I went inside the bldg and saw all the stairs…easy enough for me to do the stairs but my suitcase – you know about my suitcase. The owner of the room had told me that there was only one flight of stairs – there were 2-1/2 flights of very steep stairs. When I finally get up the stairs I cannot figure out how to get in to the apartment. Her instructions didn’t seem clear to me. So by now I am done with this place. I spent well over an hour trying to get an authorized taxi. Felt like crying buy I did not! Got downstairs and was able to get a hotel room that was reasonable. Much happier at the hotel. The bad airbnb is hosted by Agnieszka’s Place. While she has some good reviews, for me her lying about the stairs was a big issue, no ac and not so centrally located. There was a Motel One here too and since I had a good experience with them in Berlin, I was able to get a room there.
Warsaw is a very pretty, walkable city. Of course, sunny weather helps. Has been high 70s and low 80s! My first night here I took a Pierogi making class. This is listed as Experience in Warsaw, Pierogi class, Dominic, place is in Ochota. I remember when my son was a baby (he is almost 50, geez) and we lived in San Francisco, we were in the Sunset District and there were ethnic restaurants that made pierogis. So yummy. So it was fun to learn how to make them. There were four of us – two women from Finland and a guy from the UK. Very nice people. We make the pierogis in our teacher’s apartment when was very nice with an upstairs outdoor space with a view of the city. And we did a lot of vodka tasting.
There was a lot of damage from WWII but clearly a commitment to rebuild. Several famous people from here – Chopin, Capernicus, Marie Curie. Marie Curie was the first woman to win a noble prize and the first person to win two and in two scientific fields!! Part of Chopin is buried in the church below. The French wouldn’t give up all of him for burial in Poland. I didn’t realize that Poland has most often been a strong friend of the US. While I have been here it was their Labour Day (May 1) and Constitution Day (May 3).
