Poland: The Treasures

It's completely true that Warsaw doesn't offer travelers much that can't be found in more generally appealing European cities, and there really is a big difference in cultures that many optimistic Polish youth tend to ignore, these are all facts that I thought were worth mentioning from the point of view of someone native to a very different world and has travelled a bit.  Now, when I say much, I mean that Warsaw has a few things that western Europe definitely does not have, besides the historical presence in the city. I think it's really okay to have foreigner rage once in a while, but honestly, there are a lot of reasons why I think Warsaw is a really fucking cool city.

1. Bars and Cafes can be really fuckin' weird.

Warsaw is a city that is packed with bars, nightclubs and restaurants of all types and themes that are normally nestled in alleyways and courtyards. The further east you travel in the city, the weirder it gets. W Oparach Absurdu (in the fumes of the absurd) is a noteworthy one, decorated like a 1970's polish grandmother's dream.

Photo Via Yelp

Many of the bars and cafes you can find it warsaw have embraced the unique stalinesque buildings or even some pre-war architecture and use it to enhance the atmosphere of their establishment. Many times basement bunkers have been turned into nightclubs, along with places like Club 70 where a brick detachment to an old church which now stands in ruins has been turned into a 1970's discotek.

image club70.pl

But the best part of Warsaw and the thing that I will miss the most when I leave, is Pawilony. I have to write a blog post just about this wonderful place.
The Secret Garden. A maze of hole-in-the-wall clubs with cheap drinks, couches, basements, and crude wall art. All with their unique themes, including 1 with a communist pub decor where you can order a traditional vodka and cucumber shot with pickled herring (wow) and 1 with dildos in place of bar taps. Pawilony is magical. It's also the only place in the city where you can open carry liquor, from bar to bar freely, since all the bars are in such proximity the police turn a blind eye.

natemat.pl

But you can't go to the club until you've met up with your friends at a local cafe/bar, where you can grab a snack and a few beers. Beers between 7-10 pln, then when 11:00 or 12:00 rolls around, you make your way to the club. On the way, duck into any alley along the street on which you are travelling, shot bars big enough to fit a dinner-table sized bar and 5 standing people will offer shots of vodka for 1 zloty each. that's 25 euro cents.

Once you're done with your shots, head to the club, pay the entrance fee if there is one, and if you think it's too high, see if you can talk the doorman down because you and your friends promise to buy a ton of drinks inside. Enjoy partying until 6am.  On average I spend about 70 pln every time I go out, never more than 100. THAT'S 25 EUROS OKAY? It's not surprise that Warsaw, Krakow, Budapest and Prague are some of the top party destinations for Europeans.

2. Restaurants

So bars and clubs aren't your thing but everyone has to eat right? What do you want? Japanese, German, french, Italian, middle eastern, american? You can get all that here. Seemingly the reason is that especially for western business owners, it's rather inexpensive in Poland to open a business compared to other countries. I'd like to especially mention two American food places that are top notch, Beef n' Roll, which began as a food truck that exploded in success after parking in the CD Projekt Red parking lot during their lunch hours, and then soon opened a store front on the busiest street in Warsaw:

image streetfoodpolska.pl

 and The Pink Flamingo 1950's style diner/american car rental. 

image pinkflamingo.pl

Get a burger or eggs benedict and a milk shake, then rent a muscle car for the day. The first and only place in Warsaw where you can.

3. Transit

GOOD LORD THE TRANSIT SYSTEM. OH MY GOD.

I can't contain myself. First of all, driving in Europe for me as a North American is fucking terrifying. Now picture driving in a congested city where most drivers are only focused on where they need to go with zero patience in the slightest,  (it's fucking shocking how many idiots get bulldozed by trams because they try to race over the tracks into traffic before it comes around) with a driving style that makes me wonder if they use mario kart on Polish driving tests. (Which, is one of the hardest and most complicated driving tests in europe, and now I know why, because I don't see crashes between cars very often, just dummies on train tracks.)

The Polish transit system in theory is outstanding. Busses, tram system, and metro line, all cooperate in a way where you're rarely stranded and can always find some way home. Though it;s nowhere near as extensive as some other metro cities, it's detailed in the places where people need to go, instead of the entire city. IT is also fairly simple, with just 2 zones and 2 types of paper tickets to buy. Warsaw also uses a clever smartphone app that's free to anyone with an android phone and can be used to calculate the quickest, most direct, or most convenient route to one's disabilities/special needs (bikes, strollers, etc) from your location. There is also an extensive night bus system, if you're leaving in the middle of the night you won't have to wait longer than a half an hour for a bus home. The ticket inspector policies however are insane, so if there's a broken machine on your bus/tram and you think, oh well, that's not my fault, you're wrong. It is. Get off the vehicle and find a ticket somehow, unless you want a fine.

4. The cost of living and abundance of fully furnished apartments

It's low. The cost of living is super low. Food is cheap, bus pass is cheap, rent is cheap. Comparatively, your wage is less if you work here, but it's still wonderfully cheap. Need a new washer/dryer?  100 euros or less. Need to take your pets to the vet for a checkup? 15 euros. Need to go to the doctor but don't have insurance? Get ready for this:

You can go to one of the private medical centers, enel med, medicover, luxmed etc, and BUY A PUNCH PASS FOR DOCTOR'S VISITS.

600 zloty, (150ish euros) 5 visits to the doctor. any doctor. ANY DOCTOR. WAT. In a place where your basic coverage allows you to see perpetually irritated robots posing as doctors who have a blase attitude towards using anesthetic for stitches, paying a bit for a punch pass that allows you to see a multitude of doctors in the same building is a pretty cool idea. 

Going to the hospital is a whole separate monster that should be avoided, same with the dentist, but if you need a doctor for anything that doesn't require a hospital visit, you simply go to any of these institutes' website, search for a doctor to suit your needs, including ones who speak english/german/russian, and you can make your appointments online. Then they will text you with a reminder of your appointment the day before, in english and polish.  This is a great example of a super advanced part of society next to a rather old fashioned one, hospitals and dentists are hit and miss in terms of cooperation and comfortable atmosphere (for example, sedation dentists or dentists for stress patients do not exist) but general care centers are pretty great. Though if you need anything specialist or specific, spring for a private doctor.

Apartments! Apartment hunting is a giant pain in the ass because they get rented SO FAST, I've been called on my way to a viewing to say it's cancelled because someone has taken it, 3 different times. ugh! But the quality of apartments for price is just wonderful. Almost all apartments are owned privately and rented out by the landlord, sometimes they will hire agencies to rent it for them in which case you pay a commission to the renter. Not a problem. The agency handles your paperwork, shows you the place, provides the lease, and are professional and friendly despite often having offices in buildings that look like soviet prisons, but whatever. Rent for a one bedroom (two room) apartment is around 550 euros plus internet/electricity, so about 575 euros or 600. comission for the agency is normally half rent, and damage deposit is normally one months rent. The best part? Apartments are normally 100% furnished! appliances, washers, couches/beds whatever, and if they don't have everything you need the landlord will often offer to purchase one if you need it, to use for the time you are there. Also, there are very few places that do not allow pets, and there is no "pet" damage deposit either. Despite hunting for an apartment being annoying, getting an apartment was a very pleasant experience.

5. "i know a guy for that."
I love how you can always "find a guy" for things you need instead of going through official businesses/agencies, like if you need movers for relocating, a plumber, need to install a shelf/build furniture, or a ride. There just always seems to be a "guy" for things. When you go to ikea, there are these dudes that just hang outside of the loading bay that you can approach to transport your goods. Sure it sounds dodgey, but lots of things in Poland seem dodgey, but they aren't! These are just genuine people that don't want to rip you off, just want to make some extra money. I've used a "guy" for car service, because a taxi was too expensive to drive outside of the city. We saved almost 100pln because a friend of mine called "a guy" to drive us to our destination, he was incredibly nice and no one was murdered. This is something that is part of the culture in Poland, people knowing other people who can do jobs for each other, for a cheaper price than what you'd normally pay. The difference between here and wherever you are from that makes you super suspicious and hesitant of this practice, is that they won't rip you off. Now, that being said, when you need a "guy" to help you out, ask a friend, or post in a forum for a recommendation. If you google for "guys", you get the sketchy dudes who want to run away with the contents of your apartment in their truck. "Guys" are always recommended by someone you know, or recommended on an expat service like movers for example, and it's there that they recommend talking to the guys hanging outside of Ikea as a great idea.

I think Warsaw is so great. I love all the hole-in-the-wall bars and secret treasures this city seems to hold, it's just got so much character and so much life that I can't find good enough excuses to refuse exploring the nightlife every weekend. If Warsaw's atmosphere and excitement was the same everywhere in the city as it is at night in the centre, I think a lot more people would be interested in seeing the city. It's where the highest concentration of interesting venues, cheap fun and high-energy fun-loving people reside.