Day 48 - Warsaw Zoo and Podwale Piwna Kompania

We started the day by walking down Krakowskie Przedmiescie a few blocks to get to the same hot bun place we spotted yesterday. On the way we witnessed a joyous sight: not one, or two, or three, but five girls immaculately dressed in white carried trays with hot buns into the bun place from several directions. They were only one kind of buns – blueberry but they were still hot from the oven. Having a cup of coffee with a blueberry bun at 8am while watching the city wake up and go to work is a wonderful way to start a day.

Next we checked with the information office about getting to the Zoo. Apparently it is right across the bridge from the Old Town, about 20-25 minute walk away. The bridge is being repaired so it is pedestrian traffic and local buses only. Nice and quiet.

The Zoo is the best one I have ever been to in terms of the user experience. The place is immaculately maintained, the animals' living enclosures are small enough that it is possible to get around the Zoo in a half a day. But they are generally big enough for the animals to have some opportunity to stretch out. Except the tigress – it was housed in two adjacent cages slightly bigger than those in Kaunas, but it had a friend – a German Sheppard it grew up with. There are plenty of areas to sit down and grab a bite to eat. The pavilions with smaller animals like fishes, reptiles and birds are small and diverse enough to capture the interest and not appear boring. The playground is the most intelligent and interesting that I have ever seen. We spent over 2.5 hours at the Zoo, a record for Georgia and she still seemed pretty willing to continue.

Georgia fed ducklings for a little while and then sternly told us that we have to go before we get screamed at by the security for feeding the animals. She certainly had the experience getting screamed at by the various employees of museums and exhibitions.

Dan did some feeding this time. The male peacock that was in the middle of his performance of exposing all the feathers in his tail lost out to a piece of bread.

The Zoo is located in the part of Warsaw that is called Prague. It is supposed to be the new and happening area, like the meat packing district in NY. After the Zoo we tried to find the that area but failed. But I liked the working class neighborhood, bohemian or not it had an interesting and unique character. Targowa street resembled Santiago because it was very wide and filled with multiple shops, street vendors, beggars. Zabkowska street, in contrast, was barely repaired, with scenic little shops with amazing smells, narrow streets, and dilapidated courtyards. The single gallery of the area is in the former vodka factory to add special scenic element to the area.

It started to rain and we decided to go back. On the way we stopped in an eatery with a very well pronounced proletarian character. We thought it would have nice local Polish fare. But when we came in and saw the old aluminum plates, borscht with macaroni swimming inside, the little window to get your food, and old people who filled up all but a few metal tables and chair, we decided to try our luck in another place. The smell of the place also encouraged us to keep going.

A short walk after we were happily settling into the same place we went for lunch yesterday. It was great to sit down and relax with a good bite to eat. Georgia, the little trooper, ate the chicken soup for the second day in a row without complaining, while we busied with a more substantial fare of sausages and enormous ravioli covered with bacon bits and oil.

Next we took a short break at home while Dan was on a phone call from work. By 4 pm we walked out to the Nowe Miesto, or the part of the city outside the wall. We found ourselves navigating there to for the last two days. There was a little market place in the old Rynek of that part of the city. About a dozen booths featured the local beer, kvas, cheeses, meats, and handicrafts. The stuff looked pretty appealing but there were no other visitors. Mind you it is Friday and people are at work and the place is a bit out of the way, but still it was a bit of a downer to be the sole visitors. We decided to try back on the weekend or later in the evening when people come back from work.

We took a 2 story horse-driven tram around the old town. Georgia had been asking about it for some time and we finally gave in. It was nice to sit down and watch the city go by. Georgia enjoyed pointing to the frescos, carvings, and castings, which normally were hard to see from the ground, especially for her. She held my hand very tight and whenever I reached out to see something more tried to pull me back in so that I won’t fall out.

After that we walked around some more before dinner. We tried the narrow street where we found the Museum of Caricature. Dan wanted to walk into an alley that seemed interesting but some Polish woman stopped him saying that “it is zydiwsky area and no one is allowed there.” She laughed too as she said it too. Once again I would not help feeling that the obligatory lip service that is paid to the honor the memory of the Holocaust reaches very few ears indeed. And given the chance more people than not would join hands to finish the job so admirably started some 50 years ago.

We finished the day at Podwale Piwna Kompania on Podwale 25. It is absolutely the best restaurant we had been to this whole summer. An entire courtyard filled with tables, fast service, and really good food in enormous quantities and at very reasonable prices. I am going to list all the dishes, please feel free to ignore, it is mostly a message to myself to re-read and cherish in the future. For starters we had beer and grilled smoked cheese. Definitely to try at home. I had my favorite – the blood sausage. It was fried too, which is the best way to have the blood sausage. Dan had Peanut Honey BBQ ribs which filled the entire plate and rested on a bed of side dishes. Dan’s mom had a duck which was also very good. Her side was a roulette made from the old bread pieces that were somehow put together with herbs and some adhesive (maybe an egg?) into a sausage shape, and baked, and sliced. And even Georgia completely focused on her fish, and for once ignored the French Fries completely. She also offered her fish to all of us to try, which is a nice new development.

After that we could barely drag ourselves to the mermaid fountain in front of our apartment and watch Georgia run around and splash. After watching her play for a bit we decided to call it a day and went back in. It was a really good and busy day.

Tomorrow we are planning to get out of the city. I am also preparing myself for what will happen on Sunday – when Asya’s hospitality will become unleashed. But there will be a ray of sunshine in the sea of consumption – on Monday I will make my first felt hat.

Some more cute sights of the city. This is the entryway to the restaurant past the old city wall. Only the wall is Polish, restaurant is Thai, and the name is Indian.

Sculpture on the College of Drama balcony.