Poland & Berlin: Part 4 - Day 4: Gdansk to Warsaw

Here is a summary of what is spent on Day 4.

24/7 Day 4: Train from Gdansk to Warsaw. Departed at 11.10am and arrived at 2.01pm. Checked into Airbnb and explored town.

Costs
(A) Food
(1) Breakfast at milk bar Turstyczny - 2 vegetables PLN12, meatball PLN8, pancake PLN6, kompot PLN6. Total PLN32 / SEK83,56

(2) Coffee at Pellowski cafe - Cappucino PLN17 / SEK44,39

(3) Snack on the train - Coffee PLN8, Peanuts shared with 3 PLN8,50. Total PLN10,83 / SEK20,89 

(4) Late lunch at milk bar Petna Micha, Warsaw - Meal set with duck PLN30, meal set with chicken PLN33, meal set with pierogi PLN25, meal set with potato pancake PLN25. 1 kompot PLN3,50. Shared with 3 persons. Total PLN116,50 / SEK304,19

(5) Ice-cream 2 scoops -  PLN16 / SEK41,78

(B) Transport and accommodation
(6) Train ticket from Gdansk to Warsaw - SEK139,62

(7) 1 tram ticket from Airbnb (in Gdansk) to town - PLN4,80 / SEK12,53

(8) 1 train ticket from town to Airbnb (in Warsaw) - PLN3,40 / SEK8.87

(9) 1 night at Airbnb Slawinska 6 for 3 persons - SEK874,73 including service fee SEK131,22 . SEK291,58 per person. 

The Story

24072023: Today, our destination continues from Gdansk to Warsaw. We took the tram to town as we were carrying our backpacks with us. I did not mention that the path to our Airbnb was a slight uphill and it was tiring with all the steps! Downhill is fine but not uphill. 

There was a tram station about 5 minutes walk from our Airbnb. It was very convenient plus tram tickets are not expensive here, compared to Stockholm. 

When we arrived in town, we had breakfast at the famous milk bar that my travel companion suggested when we arrived but there was a queue then. Today, it was empty. Well, maybe because it was 9am! I tried my first kompot here. Kompot is a famous fruit drink in Eastern Europe and Balkan countries and a method to preserve fruits as sugar is added inside. 

As our train departs at 11.10am, we had lots of time to kill. We walked around town. Passed by a morning market. I enjoy checking out the fruits and vegetables and love comparing the prices as well as the size. Look at the giant tomatoes and fat carrots!

Polish blueberries - PLN45 per kg / SEK115. The local frozen blueberries in Sweden cost SEK84 per kg. I am not sure how much does fresh blueberries cost. Well, I pluck my blueberries during summer so it is free. :) 

 

Final food stop before heading towards the train station. Coffee and a bun treated by my boyfriend. It was here we realised that we miss out on another monument. Luckily, it was located close to the train station so we hurried to the monument. 

This is the Monument of Fallen Shipyard Workers 1970. 

It commemorates the 42 or more people killed during the Coastal cities events in December 1970. Source from Wikipedia.

The 1970 Polish protests occurred in northern Poland during 14–19 December 1970. The protests were sparked by a sudden increase in the prices of food and other everyday items. Strikes were put down by the Polish People's Army and the Citizen's Militia, resulting in at least 44 people killed and more than 1,000 wounded. Source from Wikipedia. 

We found our train and went to the designated Platform 1. The train tickets were released 1 month in advance from the departure date. 

I booked tickets for 3 persons and we were allocated the seats. I chose 2nd class and we got a compartment. So, it was not too bad. We shared the compartment with 3 other passengers. 

During the train ride, a train attendant came with a trolley of snacks and drinks. Gosh, coffee was so expensive on the train. Well, I should not be surprised. 

There are wall outlets on the train so we could charge our electronic devices.

We arrived at Warsaw station right on time and it was 29 degrees. We walked to the Airbnb and it was so hot. We tried not to complain of the heat. 

The Airbnb apartment is very clean. I was very surprised to see the washing machine hidden in a cabinet. There is a sofa bed which could be drawn out easily from the sofa. A downside is the very thin toilet door. My travel companions could hear me in the toilet... and I told them to play a song the next time I was in the toilet. 

This is how the sofa bed looked like when we drew out the bed at night.

For our late lunch, we ate at a milk bar again. Today, we had too much food as we were so hungry. Big mistake! We could not finish the food and I packed the last few pierogi to have them in the evening. The food looked so appetising with the fried chicken, duck and potato pancakes. 

After lunch, we took the tram into town. We went to reconstructed Old Town. Warsaw was completely destroyed during World War 2 and everything was reconstructed based on archived documents. We found a cafe that has outdoor seating with giant umbrellas so we sat there while we watched the crowd moving around. My travel companions had beer and I had a juice. 

And we cannot resist ice-cream on a hot day!

I was very curious when I saw this giant building in town. I found out that it was built by the communists. Here is a short history of the building - The Palace of Culture and Science.

An agreement on the construction of the building was signed between the governments of the Polish People's Republic and the Soviet Union on 5 April 1952. The tower was an imposed and unwanted "gift" to the people of Poland. It was erected with great propagandist fanfare and named after Joseph Stalin upon its completion in 1955. In the wake of destalinization, the dedication to Stalin was revoked. The Palace of Culture and Science is a notable high-rise building in central Warsaw, Poland. With a total height of 237 metres (778 ft), it is the second tallest building in both Warsaw and Poland (after the Varso Tower), the sixth tallest building in the European Union and one of the tallest in Europe. Source from Wikiwand. 

We found lockers in the main train station to store our backpacks tomorrow when we check out. Our train will depart at night to our next destination to Zakopane so we needed a place to store our backpacks while we explore town. 

I needed to take a photo with the giant brown building. Modern architecture in 2020 on the left versus 1950s architecture on the right.

Now, to walk back to our Airbnb.