A weekend in Warsaw

With absolutely no research done beforehand

Usually when I go abroad, a lot of research goes into where I stay, where I’ll visit, eat, drink, shop… but for this trip to Warsaw, myself and my pal Dawn landed and both confessed we had done zero research. We were visiting Poland to attend a wedding of James, a dear old college friend of ours - viva DCU’s BA in Journalism!! - and his beautiful bride Beata. The wedding was the focus, as well as deciding what to wear at a hot wedding in Poland and considering getting underarm botox to prevent sweating. With all of that on my mind, I forgot that we also had to be tourists.

Almost as soon as we got to our hotel, we learned that deep research wasn’t necessary. Not only is Warsaw the most perfect city, it’s pretty easy to navigate as a tourist and as a wheelchair user. Thanks to its layout, many of its free amenities and its blatant, blatant history recalled on every corner, Warsaw serves locals and visitors alike without feeling garish.

When Dublin seems to be one expanding Carroll’s gift shop, it was refreshing to explore the supposedly tourist areas like Old Town and discover that you weren’t been shilled some postcard version of the city. People actually live here. Not every shop sells novelty t-shirts. The great food was fairly priced. And while we did visit Uniqlo with great intentions, we were very happy to wander the streets aimlessly to see where they would lead us.