Warsaw travel diary: day 2

As we may or may not have had one too many vodkas on the Tuesday night, Wednesday got off to a *bit* of a slow start - but we managed to be showered and ready to go out by around midday. We decided to just wander for a bit, get our bearings, see what was around us. Our apartment was in the business area of Warsaw, surrounded by skyscrapers and glass buildings and insurance companies; not the picturesque colourful townhouses people often associate with Polish cities, but modern and bright and bustling.

So we wandered down the city streets, popped into a little market which was no different to the ones we have back home (only without the smell of fish) and found a ghetto wall monument in a park full of birds. Not really sure where to go from there, we decided to walk to the old town which is around a 35 minute walk from the area we stayed in. I'm not a lover of walking but when you're somewhere new, walking from A to B can be a great way to spot different things and see some of the sights. We found a mausoleum which was beautiful and really interesting, and we also got to walk past some beautiful buildings. It's not that far, really, so it's definitely worth walking instead of just jumping in a taxi!

It was still Christmas in Warsaw, so we got to see all the decorations and the ice rink in the square, and everything looked properly beautiful. There's not particularly loads to do in the old town, but it's just so lovely to wander around it. We did want to go to the Museum of Warsaw but we genuinely couldn't figure out how to get in - we followed the arrows but it made no sense, and there wasn't really anyone around to ask, so that's something to bear in mind. We popped into a lovely restaurant called 12 Freta for our lunch (again, I won't go into massive detail because I'm doing a 'where we ate' post but this place was incredible value and definitely one to look out for).

After lunch we decided to head back to the apartment because we were both knackered (part walking, part food coma) so we did the long walk in reverse, through a beautiful park with a little bandstand. We also kept spotting these little scooters everywhere, which are basically Warsaw's answer to the Boris Bikes they have in London - people were whizzing up and down the streets on them, and we also kept seeing them abandoned on the pavements and in the parks etc. Weird but pretty cool if you want something fun to get you around the city.

I sat and read my book when we got back to the apartment, with some pizza monster munch and orange Tymbark juice at my side - these are my top 2 Polish 'snacks', by the way, and very easy to get your hands on in the local supermarkets. And then I fell asleep. In my defence the sofa in the apartment was sooooooooooo comfy!

When I woke up, we decided we'd stay in for dinner as we had an oven and we'd bought some frozen pizzas; it was around 7pm and I decided to head back over the shops beforehand, so I could go to Tiger again and also to Rossmann, the pharmacy, to see if I could get my favourite Catrice foundation. Disappointingly I couldn't get my hands on the foundation but I did find some version of the Hollywood Walk of Fame behind the shops, so that was cool. I also want to note that it was dark and almost 9 when I was walking back, under the subway and through the park, and I felt incredibly safe on my own. So if you're thinking of doing some solo travel in Warsaw, do it.

We ate pizza, drank vodka and watched some science documentaries on the sofa and it was such a lovely night - exactly what we needed I think, ready for day 3 in Warsaw...

Thanks for reading day 2 of my Warsaw travel diary, the next instalment is coming soon!

 Did you miss day one of my Warsaw travel diary? CLICK HERE