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Four Days in Historic Warsaw

Things to do, see and eat with 4 days in historic Warsaw, Poland. See more on The Girl Next Door is Black

When the bellhop left the hotel room after depositing our luggage, I broke into a touchdown dance.

“This room!”

I dove onto the bed, a European double, spaced at least 3-feet away from a second bed. Larger beds and no tripping over luggage, boots and each other? Minimal upgrades that seemed positively luxe when compared to our accommodations in the past 15 days.

Things to do, see and eat with 4 days in historic Warsaw, Poland. See more on The Girl Next Door is Black| Polonia Palace Lobby at Christmastime Warsaw
Polonia Palace Lobby festively decorated for the Christmas holidays.

In Copenhagen and Berlin, we stayed in hostels. in small rooms reminiscent of my college dorm days. There was the budget hotel in Prague with an Internet connection so slow it literally made me cry (I blame travel fatigue). We reveled in the amenities of the 4-star hotel we’d booked in Warsaw, the last stop on our 3-, turned 4-city, self-directed tour of European capitals. Thanks to Warsaw’s inexpensive cost, four nights at the Polonia Palace Hotel cost just a tad more than one night at the hostel in Copenhagen.

“Keisha! We have a real tub!” Z exclaimed from the bathroom. I danced some more. The queen life.

The train ride from Prague to Warsaw was a long 7.5 hours, so we took it easy that night and enjoyed dinner in our hotel’s restaurant, Strauss.

Like Prague, Warsaw has its own historic town center – the Old Town Market Place  our first sightseeing destination the next morning. Everywhere you turn in the massive square you’re treated to enchanting view after view, bordered on one side by, what else? A Royal Castle. The beautiful square had to be rebuilt in the mid-20th century after being destroyed by Germany in WWII.

 

We found a giant panda on skates.

Beyond the square, in Old Town, are shops, cathedrals, landmarks, schools, restaurants and a touch of merriment courtesy of the lingering holiday decorations.

These are no ordinary light displays!

And a McFit? Yes, it’s what it sounds like: a McDonald’s gym. McDonald’s.

Things to do, see and eat with 4 days in historic Warsaw, Poland. See more on The Girl Next Door is Black| McFit Display Ad Warsaw

It’s just as charming at night.

For dinner we chose Dwie, a Mediterranean fusion restaurant. “Fusion” restaurants bring out the skeptic in me, but I went for it.

In the end, the food presentation delighted me more than the actual meal. The dishes seemed to be trying too hard to be something.

The next day – a particularly chilly and dreary one – we visited the Warsaw Zoo. I love animals, but I’m not necessarily a fan of zoos. In the winter months, zoo admission is half off. The zoo is small, quite a few of the animals sheltered themselves from the cold in hidden places, and the big cats paced creepily. We left not feeling any better about zoos.

Things to do, see and eat with 4 days in historic Warsaw, Poland. See more on The Girl Next Door is Black | Animals at the Warsaw Zoo

Things to do, see and eat with 4 days in historic Warsaw, Poland. See more on The Girl Next Door is Black | Warsaw Pygmy Marmoset
This adorable pygmy marmoset was the highlight of the zoo for me. I imagine he’s saying, “Da hell YOU lookin’ at?”

Poland is known for pierogis, the ravioli-like dumplings served boiled or fried, with a variety of fillings that may include meat, cabbage, potatoes, or even fruit. We decided on an early dinner of pierogis at Zapiecek, which at 5pm already looked filled to capacity. Luckily we quickly snagged one of the last tables and were soon rewarded with delicious, real-deal pierogis.

Things to do, see and eat with 4 days in historic Warsaw, Poland. See more on The Girl Next Door is Black| Palace of Culture and Science at Night Warsaw
The night skyline in Warsaw includes the tallest structure in Poland: Palace of Culture and Science which we walked by on our way home.

While indulging in late night desserts at a restaurant with an extensive sweets selection, Smaki Warszawy, fresh fat snow flakes started falling from the sky coating the city with white powder in minutes, making it seem more romantic – for other people. We saw a couple engaged in a flirty snowball fight on the short stroll back to our hotel.

Łazienki Park, a gigantic park in the center or Warsaw, is one of the most visited spots in Warsaw. To visit the day after fresh snowfall was a treat. The park’s full name translates to “royal baths park” and fresh snow also meant all the water in the park sat frozen or empty. Similar to Central Park in New York, visitors to the park are a collection of tourists and locals, families and friends, and couples taken by the magnificent parkscape.

Within the park is a museum, a white-tablecloth restaurant, sculptures, statues, and a palace. One of the most famous statues of of Polish composer, Frédéric Chopin, resides in the park. We witnessed a young guy use his footsteps to draw a heart in the snow around the perimeter of the empty pool in front of the statue. His adoring girlfriend watched at the base of the monument.

We picked our lunch spot by default that day. As it turns out, January 6 is a holiday in Poland, Three King’s Day, and as such, nearly everything was closed. Happily, Być Może, an airy cafe with high ceilings, served up tasty sandwiches on freshly-baked bread.

Our sightseeing adventures ended earlier than planned due to the holiday closures, which gave us more time to enjoy the comforts of our hotel and watch music videos on Eska tv, a Polish music channel. Their video lineup included the usual Top 40 suspects interspersed with local artists, like a rapper who looked and kinda sounded like a Polish Eminem. I couldn’t understand a word of what he said, but the beat and flow worked; I liked it. Notably, every commercial break contained at least one pharmaceutical commercial.

The next morning, I arose at a bleary hour, way before the birds, first to depart back to the United States. Bittersweet best describes what leaving felt like. For three weeks, Z and I were lucky enough to travel around Europe soaking in cultures, learning history, trying new foods, meeting interesting people and forming unforgettable memories. What a trip! Nevertheless, back in San Francisco awaited the comforts that only a place called “home” can provide.

Things to do, see and eat with 4 days in historic Warsaw, Poland. See more on The Girl Next Door is Black

Christmas in Copenhagen

Nisse elf for sale Det Gamle Apotek CopenhagenChristmas is kind of a big deal in Denmark. In Copenhagen giant wreaths adorn formidable wooden doors, twinkly lights border shop and restaurant facades and add sparkle to trees and foliage; wishes of “God jul” (Merry Christmas) in ornamental fonts cover storefront windows, and the requisite Christmas fir trees dot the town. On Strøget, a man with an accordion plays melodies that would make the perfect musical backdrop to a romantic comedy.

Every Christmas season, Tivoli, the second oldest amusement park in the world, transform their grounds into a majestic Christmas wonderland making it a perfect destination for families, friends, dates and tourists alike.

Copenhagen begins to quiet down during the week of Christmas. We took advantage of the calm and boarded a train for a 45-minute ride to the city of Helsingør. The city’s most famous attraction is Kronberg Palace, known also as the setting for Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The expansive grounds are magnificent and the atmosphere serene (aside from the occasional piped-in recorded sounds of incoming Calvary). The surrounding town offered its own bright charm.

Keisha on train to Helsingør

Had we done a bit more advanced planning we might have joined the ranks of the Danish and tourists filling the city’s restaurants for Christmas Eve dinner. Every restaurant we contacted was booked for the evening.

We stumbled around the nearly soulless streets of Indre By looking for signs of restaurant life. We found our oasis in the form of Sultan Palace and soon other hungry, reservation-less diners joined us for the Turkish buffet.

Christmas morning we awoke to a super gift: snow! A fun treat on our last full day in Copenhagen, especially after endless rain.

This city and its people showed us a great time and we’ll miss the more relaxed pace of life and sense of calm. Now it’s on to the next country’s adventures!
Friends in snow Kongsten Have Copenhagen

Friday Five: Weekly Twitter Roundup 11/21/14

Here are five things you may have missed on Twitter this week.

Friday Five Weekly Twitter Roundup | The Girl Next Door is Black
1. I missed the “controversial” Aaliyah biopic on Lifetime, but based on the stream of tweets flowing during the film, I didn’t miss much more than a hot mess. #AaliyahMovie

 

2. Beyonce’s little sister, Solange Knowles, slayed the internet with fierce photos of her New Orleans wedding and put Twitter in a tizzy. #SolangeWedding

 

3. In holidays the US doesn’t need: November 16th was National Fast Food Day, some saw it as cause for celebratory gorging, others a sign of a bleak feature. #NationalFastFoodDay 

 

4. CNN Anchor Don Lemon stuck his foot all the way in his mouth (again) this week. When he asked one of the Bill Cosby rape accusers why she didn’t take a bite out of his tallywacker to fend him off,  he garnered a hashtag of his very own, #DonLemonReporting.

 

5. #Snowvember continues as upstate New York got slammed by snow storms this week. The frozen residents shared scenes of the aftermath. Stay safe! #Snowvember

 

Have a great weekend!

Friday Five: Weekly Twitter Roundup 11/14/14

Here are five things you may have missed on Twitter this week.

Apologies that there wasn’t a Friday Five last week. I was eating my way around New York.

Friday Five Weekly Twitter Roundup | The Girl Next Door is Black

 

1. When the reality star with a big derriere and a child named after compass points released yet another photo of her naked body parts with the hashtag #breaktheinternet, Twitter responded with it’s own trending topic: #fixtheinternet.

 

  2. The Nation’s favorite weatherman, Al Roker, bested the Guinness World Record for longest weather report by staying up for 34 hours straight.  Here’s Twitter with your commentary. #rokerthon

 

3. This week, for the first time in history, a human landed on a comet. Twitter used to occasion to point out the less than stellar progress of humanity with the hashtag #WeCanLandOnACometButWeCant:

 

4. People in some parts of the world reported seeing white flurries falling from the sky. I believe they call this snow. Twitter saw lots of snow chatter this week.
#snowing.

 

5. Because there is a holiday for everything, today is National Pickle Day. Twitter loves a good pickle. #NationalPickleDay.

 

Have a great weekend! Maybe have a pickle!