A Little Taste of Warsaw

It's only going to be a little taste since we didn't get to spend much time in this fabulous capital.  We arrived around 3:30 on Monday.  PolkiBus is efficient but not overly comfortable, it gets you where you want to go although it's not exactly fast.  There doesn't seem to be huge stretches of super highways in Poland.  There are little stretches here and there and then you're off on secondary roads with lots of trucks and two way traffic, like I said...slow but cheap we therefore have to settle in for the ride and not be in too much of a hurry.
Warsaw is a very modern capital.  A lot of shiny new buildings in the downtown core which we had to visit in order to deal with the computer connection issue.  Everybody is very wired,nothing unusual about that.  It's a world wide phenomenon, the IPhone is definitely king of the roost.  We took a cab which overcharged us.  It cost more for the ride to the old town than for the PolskiBus from Gdansk to Warsaw.  OK it was a considerable distance and we did hit a lot of traffic but when we did the same direction in reverse, it cost about 30 zlotes less, live and learn.  It was a metered fare not much we could do about the price.
Our apartment was in the old section of Warsaw.  The instructions to get in were a little complicated but we managed.  Seriously we could not have found a better, cuter location and right in the heart of everything.  Only problem it was on the third floor up rickety stairs thus a little difficult to handle with the heavy suitcases.  The apartment consisted of one open area, living room, dining room, kitchen, with a fold out couch.  There was a separate bedroom and a big bathroom with shower and bath, very well appointed.  The apt. cost about $75.00 a day, pretty reasonable considering what we got.
The old town is not very big but was entirely rebuilt.  If you've seen The Pianist you must know that the Germans left nothing but rubble behind them as they were busy decamping.  It's pretty amazing that the Polish government decided to rebuild the area as it was, they could have erected crappy, newer buildings instead.  It turned out to have been a wise investment since it appears to be a favorite tourist magnet.  There is a great big plaza, the Presidential Palace is not far away.  There is a museum which details the Warsaw uprising, lots of little shops, plenty of restaurants which serve traditional Polish food.  We finally got to eat pierogies, twice.  Still haven't eaten bigos but it's on the menu for this evening in Krakow.  Somehow hard to find on the Warsaw menu.
We mostly walked around and took in the sights.  We took a ride on a tramway. They have a very efficient public transit system, the cars all look shiny and new. We never got to take the subway.  You have to buy your ticket via a machine prior to boarding.  Each regular fare costs about $2,00 per person and is valid for 75 minutes.  You compost your ticket on the bus.  It appears to be based on some kind of honor system.  Some people get on with no apparent ticket maybe they know something we don't know.
We noticed a lot of Asian tourists, Japan and China otherwise there was still a distinct lack of visible minorities.  Warsaw is resolutely white in color with the odd splash of brown here and there.  The gypsies are still around begging.  They're a common site in most European big cities.
Warsaw is very clean with huge boulevards.  It feels wealthy and cosmopolitan.  It's no longer a Soviet backwater.  We enjoyed our brief time there.  I would definitely recommend a visit.