Wandering IN WARSAW

Alice Barnes-Brown explores a criminally underrated Christmas destination: Poland’s old-meets-new capital, Warsaw

- Alice Barnes-Brown

The wind might be nipping at my nose, but I feel nothing but warm. The lights laced through the streets in the Old Town are twinkling above me, the smell of sweetness from Warsaw’s paczki (rose marmalade-filled doughnuts) bakeries fills the air, and all around me are happily chattering and doing their Christmas shopping.

I step off the train from Chopin airport – named for Poland’s virtuoso national hero – at the central station, and I’m immediately greeted by a contrasting sight. The glass skyscrapers compete for airspace with the daunting Palace of Science and Culture, a 1955-built Stalinist ‘wedding cake’ tower. Don’t be fooled by its Stalinist exterior, however – the festive fun begins on the 30th floor, where Christmas decorations adorn every doorway and corner. The star attraction is the panorama over the city.

I pass the notorious Vodka Museum on my wander into the Old Town, where you can taste-test (and learn how to make) Polish moonshine, if you’re brave enough. Soon, wide and modern boulevards give way to central European cobblestones, and I’m in the heart of Plac Zamkow (Castle Square). Sigismund’s 22-meters-tall column dominates – as you might expect, for he was the scimitarwielding King of Poland who made Warsaw his capital.

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