A few days in Warsaw

        It is July 29th, 2026. I am at the Czech Inn hostel in Prague to start the second part of my trip. I planned to stay two night in this hostel and take the train to Warsaw early the next morning.

            The thick brick walls of the Czech Inn Hostel made it clear that the building was old. The basement, which has a high ceiling, contains a cafe, a kitchen, and a dormitory. At 12 euros a night, the price is quite affordable considering its location and easy access to public transportation like trams or buses.

                

                  Praha Hlavní Nádraží is in the center of Prague. There are five bus stops between the Czech Inn hostel and Prague Main Station, so it is very close. If you want to walk and have enough time, you can do so.

         I bought the train ticket from RegioJet for 23,5 euros. It departs at 09:40 and arrivals at 18:04,  taking around 8,5 hours.  Prague and Warsaw are not close each other However,  RegioJet was much more comfortable than the bus option.  Even so, return  trip to Prague  with RegioJet was not good.

          Warszawa Centralna railway station is located in the center of Warsaw. When I stepped out of the station, huge buildings welcomed me. One of them looked very familiar. I had watched a documentary on TV many times about the history of this building, which was a gift from Stalin to Poland. Today, it serves as a cultural center and features an observation terrace with panoramic city views for visitors."

          I booked a bed for four nights at Hostel Oliwka. I didn't need to take a bus or a tram to get to the hostel because it is within walking distance of the train station and the Palace of Culture. My top priority was to drop off my backpack at the hostel. That way, I could get my first impression of Warsaw before sunset.

          As for Hostel Oliwka, the only good feature worth mentioning was its location. Other than that, it did not meet any quality standards. The price per night for just a bed was 15 euros. If I visit Warsaw again, I will probably look for other accommodation options, such as a different hostel, a hotel, or an apartment."

             The best time of day for wandering around city streets must be just before sunset. After dropping off my backpack at the hostel, I found myself standing in front of a huge building—the Palace of Culture, which was a gift from Stalin. Despite the Polish people's anger toward Russia, this building remains the most important landmark in Warsaw.

 

            As I mentioned, the hostel was within walking distance to one of the main streets of Warsaw. I was on the street after a few hundred meters. I will not skip this without talking about the size of the sidewalk. I measured the size of the sidewalk in a simple way, by stepping where it caught my attention. It was about 30 steps."

I saw the monument of Adam Mickiewicz the second times in Warsaw. He caught my attention again and read about him. I mentioned about him in my blog , the part of Krakow.  He is a national poet and symbol of resistance. Poland was occupied and deleted from maps when his period by Russia, Austria and Prussia. In this context, he wrote and glorified about national identy of Polish . Already, he  was died in Istanbul while trying to organisate a Polish legion againts Russia during Ottoman Russian war, in 1855. 

After the unseccesful uprising against Nazis in Warsaw, the symbolic monument  of Polish nationaity - originaly was erected in 1898 -destroyed by Nazi forces, in 1944.  After WWII, parts of bronze monument were recovered by Polish soldiers in Hamburg, Germany and it was meticulously rebuilt and re- erected at the same spot in Warsaw  in 1950.

This church belong to Carmelite order of the Roman Catholic Church. Its most distintive feature is  twin bell towers on the left  and the  right side on the facade, which are uniquely shaped like  incense burners. According to written, Fredrich Chopin played the pipe organ  here earlier his carieer

   You may not be aware of where you are while getting around the city. Firstly, this equestrian statue looked weird to me. Why was a Roman General here, in Warsaw? I learned the whole story about it while writing my blog.

He is Józef Poniatowski (1763 - 1813), a national hero and the only Polish general of the French Emperor during the Napoleonic Wars. He died fighting against Russia.

The interesting chapter of the story starts with the artist. The Polish committee ordered the statue from a Danish artist. The artist considered that such a hero statue must have a timeless historical personality, like Marcus Aurelius. You may find all the details on the internet.

In conclusion, this is what is written on the base of the monument:

KSIĄŻĘ
JÓZEF
PONIATOWSKI
1763 - 1813"

           Actually, I stopped to read what was written on the marble plate in front of the monument. In the beginning, I thought the inscription would explain the monument, but it was not related to it at all.

          The plate was placed on this spot by Polish President Andrzej Duda in memory of Lech Kaczyński, his wife, and other state officials right in front of the Presidential Palace.

         I still remember that plane disaster. The plane carrying the Polish president and state officials crashed in Smolensk, on Russian territory, in 2010. They were on their way to attend the memorial ceremony for the Katyn massacre.

       By the way, it was surprising for me to see that this modest building serves as the Presidential Palace of Poland, especially when I compared it to the grand presidential complex in my own country.

              The Syrena mermaid is a symbol found on Warsaw's coat of arms, and there are statues of her beside the Vistula River and in the Old Town. She has a sword and a shield. According to the legend, the mermaid came from the Baltic Sea to Warsaw through the Vistula River. People enjoy hearing legends like this. That is why I went to see these bronze statues.

 

          I saw these words on the huge TV panels of a massive building: 'We remember 01.08.1944.' I hadn't planned to be there for the anniversary of the Polish revolt against the Nazis in Warsaw on August 1st, 1944. It was a complete coincidence. Because of that, I decided to read about the history of the Warsaw Uprising once again, even though I had already watched documentaries about it several times. According to what I read on the internet, the rebel leaders thought the USSR army would help them because the Red Army was stationed on the east side of the Vistula River. However, they were mistaken. Stalin did not order his army to help the rebels. By the end of the uprising, 16 thousand rebels and 150–200 thousand Polish civilians had been murdered by the Nazi forces.

I saw many Polish families buying colorful national armbands, crowns, and flags on many street corners in Warsaw. They were proud of their national resistance.

                 I thought I would see a panoramic view of Warsaw when I went up to the 30th-floor terrace of the Palace of Culture. However, you had to look at the city of Warsaw section by section through a protective wire cage. Honestly, looking at Warsaw from the top of this tower was not impressive. But what can I say, at least I was there...

                One of the most important destinations is the Old Town in Warsaw. All old towns in European countries are very similar to each other. However, as for the importance of Warsaw's Old Town, it was completely rebuilt after WWII. One of the Syrena statues is located in the Old Town as well.

             During this travel, it was impossible not to remember the other Barbikan in Krakow as soon as I saw this Barbakan. It is a small, fortified military checkpoint dating back to the medieval period. There is only a slight spelling difference between Barbikan and Barbakan. Both of them come from the same root, the Arabic 'bâb-i-khan', which means 'the gate of the inn'. Although Arabs never entered Polish territory in history, the architect of this building was Italian, and Italians were deeply influenced by Arab art and culture

A pear tree is growing on the right, right next to the historic brick wall

      I couldn't see the pears that had fallen on the wall until I actually reached the tree. I don't know why nobody picked them up and tasted them. This situation is probably related to cultural codes. I think western people feel they will be judged by others for doing so. As for me, as a Turk, I know that this kind of organic fruit is much tastier than what you find in supermarkets. So, I collected them and stuffed them into my cargo pants pockets.

              The Field Cathedral of the Polish Army with twin towers stands right across from the Warsaw Uprising Monument.

           The Warsaw Uprising Monument. Probably the most remarkable element of this monument is the manhole cover placed in front of the stairs. The manhole cover is a symbol . The rebels used the canalisation system to ran from the Old Town during the Warsaw uprising 

I saw this car on a display stand at the entrance of Łazienki Park and took a photo of it. I thought it held great historical value. On the other hand, why was it placed there? 

The car is a 1934 Cadillac Fleetwood Special that was used by Polish stateman Jozef Pilsudski.

        According to the internet, Józef Piłsudski was a founder and national hero of the modern Polish state. He founded the Second Polish Republic after WWI, in 1918. Not only that, but under his leadership, the Polish army defeated the Soviet Red Army in 1920, which had advanced near the Vistula River.

     As for its importance to the Turkish state, Atatürk and Piłsudski belonged to the same generation and respected each other.  In fact, Poland was the first European state to recognize the independence of the Turkish Republic.

         The omphalos stone which is beside the white,small temple was very interesting , at least to me. I thought why  these objects and  construction here that reflect ancien Greek and Roman periods. Both of them were an installation objects. The original omphalos was a stone  that was put on the navel of the world, in Delphi.   You may read the details of myth  in internet.

  The words of the seven wises of antigue are carved on this egg form by a Greek artist.  The list of the wise words are written on the plate beside it as well. I browsed the list of wise words with the help of google translator.  I laughed while reading one of them , " Delay the marriage" By the way, a couple came this spot and especially the woman that was   pregnant laughed as she read the same words and woman and her husband looked at each other.  

This is an original omphalos in Delphi.

            Franz Liszt was a Hungarian artist and a good friend of Frederic Chopin. Polish keep alive their friendsip to place  their bust and monument in  Lazienky park .

The Frédéric Chopin Monument in Łazienki Park

         It was time to head back. I was out early in the morning and took a photo of Hostel Oliwka. Then, I stopped by Luca Bakery for breakfast. The yogurt strudel they offered was warm and delicious.

RegioJet was very bad during the return to Prague. There was no internet connection for hours during the 9-hour journey. That wasn't all, the cooling system didn't work in August. But, the train was passing through very beautiful plains. I took this video while the train stopped in a place for no reason

            I didn't need to rush to reach the Vaclav Havel Airport in Prague. Pegasus was going to take off at 12.00 to go to Sabiha Gökçen Airport in Istanbul. I arrived at the airport by transferring between three buses. The most pleasant situation was that I took advantage of being an old person by not buying any ticket for public transportation, as it is completely free in Czechia.

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