Warsaw, Poland

I like Warsaw, Poland. It was our first city in our 8 day backpacking trip through Eastern Europe.

The first thing I noticed when we arrived was how clean and orderly it was.

No, wait. The first thing I noticed was that everyone was waiting for the walk sign at the crosswalk. Whoops, let me get back on the sidewalk. We aren’t in Kansas (Italy) anymore. We wait patiently for the green light.

The buildings are high and there are skyscrapers. But it is so clean. Even the bushes are trimmed with 90 degree angles to make perfect squares. All hedges are sharp here.

We are chilled to the bone and starting to realize the need for the fur hats we see. They are practical as well as stylish. And yes, people are stylish here.

It’s trendy and hip. So many cute shops and boutiques along the main road. I want to try them all. We see so many young people heading out to dinner or drinks. But it’s a calm town. Quiet but lively.

We learned so much during our time in the city. I’m beginning to realize how much I love learning about a place while I’m there. I want to know the back story to what I’m experiencing on the surface. Our time at the Polish Jewish Museum and Auschwitz gave us the history lesson for context.

The city is new because it was demolished to the ground during the bombings in WWII. It looks like a modern city, more than in the US because it is. It was rebuilt from the ground up in the 1950s.

We learned about the history of Polish Jews and the influence of Germany when they were designing the city. Which explains the orderly neat layout.

We learned how much we love Polish food. And the kind people.

We came, we saw. No, Warsaw.