Warszawa – Old Town

OK, I think I am getting this now….most European cities and towns have the concept of an “Old Town” and a “Market Square”. Still, I do not seem to tire of seeing another variation of this theme. My apologies for those visiting the Hachie Gal’s blog who have had their fill of discussions and photos of “old towns”. It always seems that old towns combine three of my favorite things: a sense of history and architecture, a place to people watch and shop, and of course, food.



What is most amazing to me about the Old Town in Warsaw is that the city was annihilated during WWII. When I write about this destruction, for most of the city including Old Town, almost 100% lay in ruins at the end of the war. Looking at these pictures included here, it is amazing that these buildings have been reconstructed within the last 40-50 years using nothing but old plans and photographs. That this level of reconstruction could have been achieved during the Soviet period of governance is even more amazing.





Today, the Old Town on Warsaw is the center of wonderful shopping, sightseeing, food, and entertainment.



One of the highlights of the Old Town area for me was the Royal Castle, which was rebuilt in 1977. Of course, I am a HUGE sucker for a good old-fashioned castle; so please go the link on the right hand side entitled “Passport Photos” to see photos of the interior of the palace. A feast for the eyes.



And then, there is the discussion of food. I would not have thought that Polish food could have been that delicious! My limited understanding of the Polish cuisine would have started and ended with Polish Kielbasa sausage and potatoes. Yet, there is a whole Polish cuisine that is making resurgence; and I can understand why. Here is a sample of our dining experiences:

1. A big part of the Polish dining experience centers around soups. Apparently, there are a few Polish standards that everyone says one must taste: (1) Hot and sour cream soup (which is a hot cream soup with a garlic flavor), (2) hot beet soup (red soup made from beets that have a taste of wine flavoring in it, along with little beef dumplings, (3) Borscht, a Polish specialty, and (4) Flaki (tripe soup – and no, I did not try that one).

2. Anything with mushrooms: mushroom garnishes, mushroom soups, mushrooms as vegetable sides, mushroom dumplings…being a gal who loves mushrooms, I was heaven!

3. Polish dumplings – this is where Buddy and I made absolute gluttons of ourselves. We had read that everyone needed to savor Polish dumplings that are made with everything from cheese, vegetables, beef, fish, pork, chicken as well as dessert dumplings. Having stumbled on a restaurant serving nothing but dumplings, we ate there not once but twice. Additionally, I had two meals of mushroom dumplings before Buddy even arrived. Suffice to say, if I had continued to eat nothing but dumplings, I would be the size of one big dumpling. The chocolate dumplings were to die for!

All in all, we found ourselves lured back again and again to this delightful corner of Warsaw…..