Eight have a blast in Warsaw, Feb half term 2019. Day 2, Jewish walking tour and Polish cuisine

[roxie2001]

Sunday 17th Feb.

I woke at 7.30, the bed was comfortable but I couldn’t get back to sleep. Martin was still sound asleep so I crept around getting dressed. I messaged everyone in our group chat and asked if anyone fancied a walk to the shop. Sandy and Tracy said they would so I went downstairs to meet them. Martin opened his eyes and I asked if he wanted anything from the shop then left him snoozing.
It was a bright day, chilly but not freezing.
Just outside getting ready to explore.

We chose to walk straight ahead instead of turning right like last night. I’m glad we did as we passed stunning buildings.

We took our time while Sandy took photos, I was happy to wait as I knew she would share them.
We passed a couple of shops but as it was Sunday they were closed and we ended up back to the 24 hour shop next to the karaoke bar. I got some pasties, water and coke for our room while Sandy and Tracy brought some bits for theirs. It’s a good job we had Sandy with us as Tracy and I were a little confused where we were even though it was very easy to get back to the apartment.

Everyone was awake when we got back and getting ready for our free walking tour. I had booked it, but could only book for 7 people. The plan was for us all just to turn up but I forgot to tell Martin so he booked another tour, Best of Warsaw. He decided to stick with his tour as it started later and was closer as he had some work to do.
Our tour started at All Saints Church at 10.30 and was a half hour walk away. I did mention getting an Uber but everyone was happy to walk. We set off just after 10am and followed google maps. This was great as it was in the opposite direction and not really central.
Some views on the way.

Time was getting on, it was 10.30 and we still had 10 minutes to walk. We sped up and luckily got there in time. The guide was talking but hadn’t left the church.
I forgot to take notes, so this is from memory. I can remember stopping at a nursery and the synagogue and being told how the Jewish population has now fell to under 1% and about famous people from Warsaw. Roman Polanski is one of them.

This building housed Jews after they were separated and 17 people had to share a room.

She spoke about a man that would keep bits of paper and documents and then hid them in 4 containers in the ghetto, 3 of which have been found.

We were then taken to where the wall was built around the ghetto. It was separated into the large and small ghetto.
These markings shows where the wall was built.

And this is where the bridge from the small to large ghetto was.

She said that no one liked to cross the bridge as Germans would shoot at you if they got bored.
We then walked to where the main building was located, this was where Irene Sendler would sneak children out of the ghetto and place them with families. She had a jar of their Jewish names and new names buried in her garden.

This is all in Yiddish.

Final stop was the Uprising monument. It represents everyone fighting.

It is opposite the museum

The tour was brilliant and I would recommend it if you visit Warsaw.
We tipped our guide and hen headed back to the old town. We walked through a park on the way back.
The lake was frozen.

We wanted to eat at a restaurant chain called Zapiecek as we had heard good things about it.
Sandy took us the long way round and we passed through a lovely square which was full of people.

The restaurant had queues so we headed back to one where a man had tried to get us to come in called z garipieca.
It was well themed with drawings and was like being in Alice in Wonderland.

We ordered beers and we all had the dumplings, baked rather than steamed.

I had cheese, ham and peppers. They were like Cornish pasties and really filling. I was the only person that managed to finish, but I did miss last nights meal.
Martin met us, he ordered a tea and finished off some dumplings. The rest were taken back to the apartment but no one actually finished them. Martin had enjoyed his tour as well.
A few people popped back to the apartment to change shoes while we pottered about the square. We had ice cream which looked nicer than it tasted.

We met the others in an Irish bar, had one drink there before walking opposite our apartments. Martin had gone this way on his tour and pointed out the Chopin benches that play his music.

It was a fair walk especially after all the walking so we stopped for cocktail at Bollywood lounge.

It was getting late and we debated walking further or heading back. We found out the next day we were actually close to lots of bars and restaurants.

On the way back a church service was just ending so we had a look inside, it was also boiling hot in here.

We still wanted to try Zapiecek so we walked back to the one near our apartment.
I had the nicest Sangria.

I did think I would just have a soup but the menu was huge and so Steph and I decided to have the potato cakes and share, I ordered a creamy sauce and and Steph ordered the Goulash. We also ordered fried onions. Martin had the potato cakes but shared with Debbie who had a polish sausage with fried onions.

It was all delicious but so rich, plus it was boiling in there. It was so hot in every bar and restaurant but this was unbearable. We paid the bill, some went to the shop to buy wine and beer and we all headed back. I had a quick drink in Steph’s apartment before falling into bed.
I think the step count was 25000.