Tuesday, July 26, 2011

WARSAW

BARS & NIGHTCLUBS
Cinnamon – 1 Plac Pilsudskiego; 011-48-22-323-7600; on glassy office building’s ground floor.
Hydrozagadka – 11 Ulica 22 Listopada (Praga); 011-48-504-111-059; hydrozagadka.waw.pl; alternative club in rundown courtyard.
Klub 55 – 1 Plac Defilad; klub55.pl; smoky, debauched club in Palace of Culture; gets started at 3 a.m.
Klub Saturator – 11 Ulica 22 Listopada (Praga); 011-48-504-353-772; saturator.art.pl; alternative club in rundown courtyard.
Platinium Club & Restaurant – 6 Ulica Fredry; 011-48-22-596-4666; platiniumclub.pl.
Przekaski Zakaski – 13 Krakowskie Przedmiescie Street (at Hotel Europejski); 011-48-22-826-9959; hotel-europejski.com; in hotel that dates back to 1850s but almost completely destroyed in WWII; bar has gray marble floor (cracked) and flaking varnish on walls; still, can get vodka, beer & hot sausage for $5; cultural landmark.



HOTELS
Intercontinental Warsaw – 49 Ulica Emilii Plater; 011-48-22-328-8888; Warszawa.intercontinental.com; 3-legged skyscraper with 404 rooms; sparkling pool on 43rd floor; several good restaurants.
Hotel Le Regina – 12 Koscielna; 011-48-22-531-6000; leregina.com; boutique elegance at Old Town’s edge; 61 rooms in Gothic palace; Roman style pool and French restaurant; book on-line.
Le Royal Meridien Bristol – 42/44 Krakowskie Przedmiescie; 011-48-22-551-1000; starwoodhotels.com; beautiful building with Art Nouveau façade; next to Presidential Palace.



RESTAURANTS
A. Blikle – 35 Nowy Swiat; 011-48-22-828-6325; blikle.pl; specializes in doughnuts (ponczkis).
Bar Bambino – 21 Ulica Krucza; 011-48-22-625-1676; barbambino.pl; “milk bar” dressed up like Starbucks.
Bar Zabkowski – 2 Ulica Zabkowska (Praga); 011-48-22-619-1388; yellow and blue, time capsule of “milk bar” that serves cabbage soup and pirogues; English menu at register; dreary in appearance.
Café Literatka – 87/89 Krakowskie Przedmiescie; 011-48-22-827-3054; literatka.com.pl; sidewalk café overlooking Castle Square; hearty bacon, egg, and sausage soup.
Cwaniak Warszawski – 9 Ulica Walicow (New Town); 011-48-22-654-7141; walicow9.pl; traditional Polish dumplings; duck and pork dishes; caters to locals; loud music.
KOM – 37 Ulica Zielna; 011-48-22-328-6353; komunikat.net; fusion restaurant housed in pre-war telephone exchange; worldly cocktails.
Lody – 7/9 Ulica Nowomiejska; 011-48-22-635-7346; lody-warszawa.pl; popular ice cream parlor.
U Fukiera – 27 Old Town Square; 011-48-22-831-1013; ufukiera.pl; eccentric grotto filled with flickering candle light and brothel-red lamp shades; traditional Polish peasant cuisine; try veal dumplings sprinkled with pig cracklings.
U Kucharzy – 7 Ossolinskich Street (at Europejski Hotel); 011-48-22-826-79-36; gessler.pl; view kitchen and cooking process while eat from most tables; pianist plays throughout evening; famous for steak tartare; try also duck with cranberry sauce and red cabbage, and lane kuski (Polish egg noodle similar to German spatzle), and rabbit with cream sauce.



SHOPPING
Fabryka Trzciny – 14 Ulica Otwocka (Praga); 011-48-22-619-0513; fabrykatrzciny.pl; former factory where artists and musicians mingle, though more in evening.
Foksal Gallery Foundation – 1A Gorskiego; 011-48-22-826-5081; fgf.com.pl; art gallery.
Galeria Luksfera – 27/31 Ulica Zabkowska (Praga); 011-48-22-619-9163; luksfera.pl; aspiring photographers’ works.
Green Establishment – 13 Ulica Wilenska (Praga); 011-48-22-670-4132; gestablihsment.com; makes own line playful dresses and t-shirts.
Magazyn Praga – 27/31 Ulica Zabkowska (Praga); 011-48-22-670-1185; magazynpraga.pl; attached to Galeria Luksfera; raw space that blurs line between gallery and store; showcases product designs.
Raster Gallery – 42/8 Ulica Hoza; 011-48-609-842874; raster.art.pl; ragged and unimpressive space on 4th floor of crumbling apartment house that, nevertheless, nurtures rising photographers and other artists.



SIGHTS & SITES
Bazar na Kole – 99 Ulica Obozowa; outdoor flea market on Warsaw’s east side; get there early.
Center for Contemporary Art – 2 Ulica Jazdow; 011-48-22-628-1271; csw.art.pl; housed in reconstructed Ujazdowski Castle; international collection acquired over 20 years.
Lazienki Royal Gardens – Aleje Ujazdowskie; lazienki-krolewskie.pl; Chopin statue and peacocks; on island in lake in middle, Palace on Isle, Myslewicki Palace, and White House.
Myslewicki Palace – 1 Agrykoli, 011-48-22-842-8101 or 011-48-22-842-4809; lazienki-krolewskie.pl; named after Myslewice village; little palace built for King Stanislaw August Poniatowski in 1775-1779 to early-classicist design by Domenico Merlini; palace’s main, 3-story body features central entry niche and flanked by quarter-circle wings; facade is adorned by enormous shell with Flora and Zephyr statues by Giacomo Monaldi; recurved rooflines reflect then-popular Chinese designs; initially housed royal courtiers; later it taken over by Prince Jozef Poniatowski, whose initials appear in cartouche over entrance; survived WWII.
Otwock Wielki Palace – 49 Ulica Zamkowa (Karczew, 16 miles from Warsaw); 011-48-22-769-4306 or 011-48-661-606-361; otwock.mnw.art.pl; visually arresting.
Palace on Isle – Aleje Ujazdowskie; lazienki-krolewskie.pl; built in 17th Century by Tylman van Gameren for Stanislaw Herakliusz Lubomirski; between 1772-1793 remodeled by Domenico Merlini for King Stanislaw August Poniatowski, who made it his residence; beautiful mixture architectural styles, graced with reliefs and painted Dutch tiles; Classicist furniture and paintings; lower picture gallery contains minor works by Rembrandt and Rubens, and chapel; rebuilt after WWII.
Royal Castle (Zamek Krolewski) – 4 Plac Zamkowy (Castle Square, at Old Town’s entrance); 011-48-22-355-5170; zamek-krolewski.pl; castle residency and Polish monarchs’ official residence from 16th Century until Poland’s partitions; repeatedly devastated and plundered by Brandenburgian, German, Russian, and Swedish armies; after Nazi devastation during Warsaw Uprising, rebuilt and reconstructed; in 1980, Royal Castle, together with Old Town became UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Stare Miasto – Old Town; most of Warsaw flattened in WWII; not much, besides this, left and lots has Disney-type feel.
White House – Aleje Ujazdowskie; lazienki-krolewskie.pl; garden villa built in 1774-76 by Domenico Merlini; housed King Stanislaw August Poniatowski’s mistress and, for time, Louis XVIII (1801-1805 during his exile from France); interiors decorated by Polish painters Jan Scislo and Jan Bogumil Plersch; devastated by Germans during WWII, but many of its interior furnishings survived; most interesting include grotesque paintings in dining room, 18th Century Chinese wallpaper in parlor, king’s bed in bedchamber, and cabinet in form of arbor with trompe-l’oeil paintings by Plersch.
Wilanow Palace – 10/16 Stanislawa Kostki Potockiego; 011-48-22-842-0795; wilanow-palac.pl/palace.html; survived Poland’s partitions and both World Wars and has preserved its authentic historical qualities; palace and park not only priceless testimony to splendid past, but also concert and cultural event venue.

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