Yesterday morning, after eating an egg sandwich that I bought from Żabka, a popular Polish convenience store, I got ready to head out.
The ride was only about 21 miles to Warsaw so I had plenty of time to get to my Warmshowers host Mikołaj’s place. The first half of my ride was on a bike path next to the main road, then the route changed to a dirt path on a levee before becoming paved again.
Since I arrived early in Warsaw at around 11:30 AM, I waited for Mikołaj near a restaurant in Park Sady Żoliborskie for about an hour.
Mikołaj arrived on his bike after his work was finished. He works as an urban architect and a professor. After dropping off my panniers in his apartment, we went to eat lunch at a cantine. I had the most amazing soup. It’s pink and made from yogurt and beets. It felt more like a dessert soup rather than a regular soup because it’s served cold. I also ate some pierogies and marinated vegetables.
After lunch, I wanted to buy some new shoes and a merino wool T-shirt from Decathlon. Mikołaj went back to the apartment while I headed to the nearby Westfield Arkadia mall.
I bought a new pair of canvas shoes and ordered a white merino T-shirt from Decathlon since they didn’t have it in stock. I will pick it up when it arrives.
When I came back to the apartment, Mikołaj and I had some Vietnamese black tea. We chatted about bike touring and Mikołaj recommended me a route along the Vistula River as an alternate way to get to Kraków.
After the tea, Mikołaj and I rode our bikes around the area and visited a few places, such as a fort around the citadel and the old citadel itself. We went to the Polish Army Museum and the Muzeum Historii Polski, the history museum of Poland, but both were closed for the day. We also visited the New Town before going to a public beach on our way back home.
When we came back, I met Mikołaj’s girlfriend, Martyna. She works as an architect and is also a professor. I’m so fortunate to meet architects since I always find architecture to be so interesting. But it’s a hard profession for me even though I studied architecture for a summer.
Mikołaj made some Greek pasta for dinner and it was delicious. I helped clean the dishes before going to sleep.
This morning, I woke up at 7. I will meet with a Warmshowers host named Dorota for coffee around 10 AM. She couldn’t host me, but would like to chat with me and know my story. I will then meet Mikołaj in the afternoon in downtown.
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| Glad there's a bike path by the road. |
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| Riding on the levee |
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| The paved part of the levee |
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| Crossing the river to Warsaw |
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| Lunch at the cantine |
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| Modern architecture |
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| Part of the fort |
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| Many tanks at the Polish Army Museum |
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| Polish Army Museum |
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| Muzeum Historii Polski, or the history museum of Poland |
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| Church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the oldest church in Warsaw |
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| Sculpture of Marie Curie |
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| The public beach by the river |
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