Warsaw Old Town (the newest old town in the world?)

We both had a good nights sleep and were ready to explore perhaps the newest old town in the world....

The old town was a 30 minute walk from the hotel so we decided to enjoy the sunshine and grab breakfast on the way. Green Cafe Nero seemed to be everywhere so we had a muffin and a latte each, which we ate as we were walking.

I had pre-booked the Orange Umbrella free walking tour the previous day so were all set to meet the guide at King Sigismunds Column at 10am. The tour took us through the most important sights within the borders of the UNESCO World Heritage area like the Royal Castle, Saint John’s Cathedral, the Old Town Market, medieval city walls and the New Town. You are probably wondering how the Old Town of Warsaw can be a UNESCO World Heritage site when it was partially destroyed by the Nazis during the war and then the remainder destroyed after the war by the Red Army? Its actually quite simple; the old town was literally rebuilt exactly the same as it was before the war. The other strange thing about Warsaw is the fact that a mermaid is its symbol; quite odd considering Warsaw is nowhere near the coast! The legend pretty much goes as you expect; she was caught in fishermen nets by the riverbank, they were going to trap her then they heard her singing and fell in love. They released her and she promised to protect the city forever. Well, apparently not...

    Marie Curie House Museum

We enjoyed the tour, but it was almost 30 degrees, and all we wanted was shade and a beer. We walked back to the square, found a restaurant that wasn't too busy and ordered two large cold beers. I'm pretty sure we had a couple of rounds and decided to have some food too. We were trying to decide what to do next, then realised the following day was "Corpus Christi", meaning most places would be closed. 

If there was one thing we had to do when in Warsaw, it was the Warsaw Uprising Museum. The Museum commemorates the largest underground combat operation in German-occupied Europe during World War II. We took the bus from the old town, back down past our hotel, to the museum. The museum was excellent, but I would suggest an audio guide as its hard to follow otherwise (there are lots of rooms, its up and down stairs, through closed curtains and doesn't particularly flow).

After a few hours exploring the museum, we were knackered and needed a bit of light relief. That was to come by way of vodka!

We figured out the metro was our best best to get to the Polish Vodka Museum; we were getting better with public transport and since it was the same ticketing system, it was easy. After leaving the metro, it was a short walk to the museum, we booked our ticket for the tour and tasting then went for a quick beer in a local bar. 

The vodka tour was interesting and quite interactive; there was even quiz at the end which each group took before being allowed the tasting. We naturally passed with flying colours! The tasting was next; we got to try 2 potato vodkas (one of which is the biggest selling vodka in Poland), a wheat and a charcoal filtered wheat too. It won't come as a surprise, that my favourite was the charcoal filtered, it was beautiful and obviously the most expensive.

We bought a bottle or two of vodka, then headed back to the hotel. It was the night of the Europa Conference League Final and West Ham were playing so we quickly changed and headed down to the the bar. For some odd reason, there was a Rangers Europa League game on from the previous season but they weren't showing the final.

If all else fails, head to a British pub.

The British Bulldog Pub was a 5 minute walk from our hotel and for some reason, pretty empty. We orders a few drinks and food, then settled down in front of a TV screen to watch the game. After a few more drinks, and a West Ham win, we decided to have a shot of vodka to celebrate (since our friend Rachel is a massive Irons fan!)

We staggered back to the hotel, planning to have a very long sleep and lie in.