Warsaw: Part I

This past weekend, the husband and I went to visit his good friend from high school and her husband in Warsaw. They came to visit us in the states a couple of years ago and have been insisting that we visit them in Warsaw. So, after 8 1/2 hours on a Polish train we finally fulfilled our promise to visit. Oh, and an important fact: they both speak English very well!

Over the course of the weekend, we were treated to wonderful Polish hospitality, delicious food, knowledgable tour guides, new games and lots of fun! On Saturday, Natalia and Wojtek took us to a local mall where we could rent bicycles for free. The line was really long and we were lucky to secure the last few bikes! The bikes advertised the local mall and I borrowed a hat from our hosts advertising something in German, so I was just a biking advertisement all day Saturday.

Despite the incredibly hot temperatures (approx. 95 degrees) we ventured out for a 5 hour bike ride and tour of Warsaw. I had so much fun! Warsaw is a really neat city and it's really big! Touring the city by bike was such a great experience; it allowed us to see different parts of the city that we could not see by car and allowed us to enjoy all sorts of sights up close and personal. There were bike paths all over the city and we really didn't have to ride in the road at all. We also rode through several beautiful parks and stopped at some fountains to cool ourselves down and a little tiny drink stand on the side of a path to drink something refreshing and cool. Warsaw has a lot of diversity which is something I've missed being in Koszalin all summer. There is also so much history there (more to come on that).

That evening we dined in the Old Town [I had some really great food: grilled chicken with mozzarella, tomatoes and pesto, a delicious salad and roasted potatoes - yum!] and listened to a jazz concert from the outside eating area. Later we took a walking tour of Warsaw by night. It was really beautiful. My favorite part of the evening occurred as we were strolling through the Old Town. Wojtek wanted to point out where "Lovers' Lane" is located and when he showed us the street, it was a dead end with two drunk men pissing against a building wall. Turns out that Lovers' Lane was actually the next street on the left :)