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| In the Bristol Hotel lobby |
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| Peaceful gathering in Old Town Square |
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| Yummy |
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| Mulled wine stand in Old Town |
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| Old Town Walls |
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| A phono actually owned by Chopin |
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| Venue for concert in Chopin Mussum |
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| Duck Confit with dumplings and braised cabbage |
Mr. Gym was astonished to learn that Poland and Canada have an almost identical size, in terms of population. In 2023 each had just under 39 million inhabitants. How do they compare in other respects? Well, Canada has much more space but they are similar in climate, both are situated above 49 degrees of latitude and they each have similar demographics. Economically, Poland has a slightly lower GDP but both countries are at the relatively well-off end of the scale. Both Canada and Poland are democratic countries. In terms of neighbours, Poland has the dictatorships of Belarus and Russia to the east and north and democracies of Germany, Ukraine, Lithuania, Czechia and Slovakia mainly to the west and south. Canada has just one land border with another country and that is the new dictatorship of the United States of America. Yes, it may be scary being so close to Putin but Gym would argue being next to Trump is not ideal either.
Warsaw, the capital of Poland is very impressive. It has a well developed infrastructure with wide sidewalks, many pedestrian-only zones and less cars than Calgary. Everyone uses the lovely and efficient mass transit system and the modern train network is clean, comfortable and on-time. The people are very friendly and it feels very safe in Warsaw. Most of the Poles speak excellent English.
To go along with the assertion that Poland is a real democracy, there was a protest in the Old Town Square yesterday. The gathering was addressing Educational Reform. It was peaceful but it was hard to move around down there and get to the Christmas Market. Gym and his companions persisted though and they perused most of the Christmas Market stalls in Old Town. Later they holed-out in an Irish Pub to wait for the crowds to disperse before going to the Chopin Museum not far from their hotel. As a bonus they experienced a Chopin Concert in the museum before going for dinner. Dinner was a celebration of Roland's birthday. The restaurant was the U Wienlawy and it served up some excellent Polish fair in a very eclectic and unique setting. Gym highly recommends this establishment.
Gym and his cohort left the capital for Krakow on December 1. They will be traveling by train from the Central Station. They are already quite familiar with Polish rail travel because they went on a day trip to Gdansk on November 30th, the details of which will be covered in the next post.
Stay tuned!
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