Kiran MehtaPoland, February 25, 2012
First Published: 14:53 IST(25/2/2012)
Last Updated: 14:53 IST(25/2/2012)
Flip through any
guidebook on
Poland and the
terms 'destruction'
or 'razed to
the ground' are
bound to appear more times
than you can count on your
fingers. While this might add
up to a lot of brownie points
from historians, vacationers
would probably give the destination
a miss based on
What
Main Market Square Krakow's Historic Centre Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum
When
May to September
Where
Cracowdays Apartments The Blue Beetroot Crystal Suites Wentzl
Map
such
depressing literature alone.
But having visited Poland, I
assure you that once there,
you'll discover a Poland that
is usually edited out of travel
stories; one that has an intoxicating
nightlife, wacky
museums, beautiful
coastlines and warm people.
Warsaw: My Warsaw
guidebook opens on the
Uprising of 1944 which saw
85 per cent of the city
destroyed. But the determination
of the people saw
Warsaw pieced back together
to its historic form. Little
wonder then that the city is
on the UNESCO heritage list.
As I mulled over the
magnitude of destruction the
city has seen at the hands of
other nationals, I expected
the Poles to be suspicious of
foreigners. But the first Pole I
interacted with, my
Varsovian guide Grazyna,
broke through this clichéd
image as she greeted me with
not two, but three pecks on
the cheek in what is a typical
Polish custom.
Grazyna starts the tour in
the heart of the city -- the
Old Town. The city centre is
buzzing with activity cafés
inviting with the lure of a
warm cuppa; bars beckoning
with upbeat tunes etc. The
scene is no different from any
modern city-centre, except
for the backdrop -- red brick
roofs, quaint houses with
multi-coloured facades, and
cobbled pathways. It's like
being in two different time
periods, at once!
Some must-see sites in the
Old Town include the market
place where merchants gathered;
here fairs too were celebrated,
and the odd public
execution also took place
here! Yet another dominant
feature is the Zygmunt's
Column, one of the oldest secular
monuments in Europe.
Twenty-two metres in height,
this column holds a statue of
King Zygmunt III Wazy. It
was King Wazy, who in the
16th century moved Poland's
capital to Warsaw.
Even if you've checked out
all the historic sites, no tour
of Warsaw is complete without
a glimpse of the nightlife.
The city with a tragic history,
today offers many hedonistic
options -- theatres performances,
cabarets and operas,
or simply hitting the bars. I
opt for the latter and Grazyna
guides me to an upmarket
club which, unlike Mumbai,
has no curfew. I was hit by
techno beats, blinking lights
and one too many flavours of
vodka. Having danced to
catchy Polish tunes, downed
cherry, raspberry and the
smooth, unflavoured variety
of vodka, I called it a night.
Gdansk and Sopot: If it's
serene beaches you're looking
for, then head to the port
city of Gdansk which is a road
trip away from the capital. Its
fantastic location off the
Baltic is mesmerising with
blue waters that merge into
the sky. Here you can sit back
and enjoy a romantic cruise,
opt for a café with sumptuous
seafood. Or if you're a history
buff, check out the many
plaques that point to the fact
that Gdansk is where World
War II began.
I chose to head to the
famed Oliwa Cathedral in the
suburbs. Deceptively simple
on the outside, the cathedral
holds within a magnificent inbuilt
organ. The organ consists
of 5,000 odd pipes, decorated
with statues of gods
and angels. The musical pipes
are manually operated by
keyboards and a foot board.
And the melodies they create
reverberate through the
cathedral. It's impossible to
fathom how this intricate
instrument was crafted in the
18th century.
Neighbouring Gdansk is
the resort town of Sopot,
which, like Warsaw, is famous
for its nightlife. My guide
describes Sopot, 'as the hipper
cousin of Gdansk.' Sopot
also boasts of the longest
wooden pier in Europe. At
515 metres long, it seems to
stretch right into the middle
of the sea.
Torun: Two hours by road
from Gdansk is Torun, the
birthplace of Nicholas
Copernicus. Or as my local
guide described him, 'A man
who stopped the sun!'
Because centuries ago,
Copernicus proved that the
Earth moved around the sun
and not vice-versa.
Apart from teaching
visitors about space, Torun
also teaches a lot about
gingerbread, a local speciality
that has an entire museum in
its honour. In fact, the Live
Gingerbread Museum is
Europe's only fully operating
gingerbread factory to
be established in the
16th century.
I walked into the museum
to the sweet-spicy aroma of
cardamom mixed with ginger.
Next, I participated in a
demonstration where an
instructor dressed in
medieval attire showed
me how to make 'Torun
gingerbread'. And now I have
an ancient recipe that I replicate
in my own desi kitchen.
As my trip comes to an
end, I'm glad I discovered a
Poland that rarely makes it to
print -- one that takes pride
in her past, yet has cast away
the gloomy image for a
vibrant vibe.
Fact file
Getting there: Fly Lufthansa
from Mumbai to Warsaw with
a break of journey/stopover in
Frankfurt. As Germany too
falls under the Schengen visa
limit, you will not need an
additional visa to enter the
country.
Best time to visit: May to
September
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