The first week of February is a time for us to celebrate and remember our arrival in Poland.
Our 1 year anniversary (2012) was spent touring the "Polish Uprising Museum" and eating at a traditional Polish restaurant….Folk Gospoda.
February 2012 (1 year anniversary)
Ready for some Polish cuisine...
It was a bitter cold February day!
February 2013 (2 year anniversary)…. a weekend at the 100 year old Polonia Palace Hotel….
just across the street from the Palace of Culture and Science in the Centrum area of Warsaw.
A beautiful historical hotel…that was unscathed during the bombings of World War II.
Anniversary #3…..Hotel Bristol (near Stare Miasto - Old Town)
Mark and I spent this first week of February celebrating our 3rd Anniversary of living and working in Poland. We spent one night at the historic Hotel Bristol! We have passed by this hotel countless times….but this weekend we were going to stay here!
The Hotel Bristol is in the heart of Warsaw on the famous Royal Route (Krakowskie Przedmiecse) . It was built in 1901and is designated as an historic landmark.
After checking into the hotel and before finding our room, we crossed this beautiful lobby….interesting that we were the only ones there at the time.
The hallways throughout the hotel were beautiful!
The rooms were spacious and elegant.
Our room had a small sitting area in addition to the sleeping area.
Not a street side view, but a look down into the courtyard.
We dropped our bags off in the room, then we were ready to walk the streets of Old Town….
Beautiful stairs and a glass elevator.
The main founder and first owner of the hotel was the famous Polish pianist/composer Ignacy Jan Paderewski.
We saw a few sculptures and busts of him throughout the hotel.
We spent a good part of our evening walking on the beautiful street Krakowskie Przedmiescie (The Royal Route). This was interesting but not the typical object of interest in Old Town….
It was dusk when we took this beautiful photo of the Royal Palace and Stare Miasto.
Below is the Rynek - market square - in Stare Miasto (Old Town). Christmas decorations and lights are still displayed here.
Here we found a beautiful Polish art shop ….. featuring products made only in Poland.
Though there was a lot of Polish pottery here…I had my eye on a beautiful Polish linen cloth.
As I would say in Polish….piękny (beautiful, pretty, lovely)!
We will treasure using this Polish linen cloth!
A few doors down from the art shop, we found one of the restaurants recommended to us by the concierge at the hotel….
There were no other customers in the restaurant…for the entire time we were there! We thought this most interesting. Though quiet, we loved the atmosphere and the food was very delicious!
We split our entree….yet Mark and I each ordered desserts!
First Mark enjoyed his Polish zurek (sour rye) soup served in a bread bowl….
We accidentally ordered two desserts! Mark asked the waiter a question…and though the waiter spoke English, he interpreted the question as an order. A Polish cheesecake and ice cream with a raspberry sauce. Such a tragic mistake….not!
The evening was early when we finished our meal so we enjoyed walking the streets in this beautiful area of Warsaw...
The Royal Palace later in the evening.
The building below is for the Scientific Society of Warsaw.…a statue of Copernicus sits in front.
The University of Warsaw
At the entry of the university gates are two different addresses markers…a modern version on the right and a much older version on the left.
The Presidential Palace….the working office of the president of Poland.…
….next door to the Hotel Bristol.
Saturday morning we enjoyed working out in the gym and pool before our great breakfast.
Then it was more walking on Krakowskie Przedmiescie…next door at the Presidential Palace there was a changing of the guard ceremony.
Beautiful churches and colorful buildings
in Stare Miasto (Old Town)
We never tire of walking in this area….
Though we had just been here the night before…it was still a lovely morning walk.
Walking toward the Bristol…during WWII many high ranking German officers stayed at the Bristol. Being the home to German officers is probably what saved it from destruction in 1944 when Hitler gave the order for the city of Warsaw to be destroyed. It became "an island in a sea of ruins".
A quick 24 hours at the Bristol and walking in and around the streets of Warsaw's Old Town.
Mark was in the mood for a hamburger for lunch…so before going home, we took a bus down the same street from to hotel, to "Brooklyn Burger". I ordered a mini burger since Mark didn't want to split one with me…my mini was perfect…tasty and just the right size.
We had a lovely, relaxing weekend … one that Mark and I will treasure and remember as we celebrated our 3rd anniversary in Warsaw.
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