Warsaw

Warsaw at night
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We didn't really have any prior expectations of Warsaw as we've never heard anyone say anything particulalry nice about it. However, we were surprised to find that it's a very wealthy looking city with lots of very smart bars, restaurants and shops. The negative side of this was that it was much more expensive to stay there than we had anticipated from our previous visit to Poland six years ago. Eastern European fashion has also changed a lot since we were last here and, feeling a bit unglamorous in our 'practical' clothing, we visited one of Warsaw's huge new shopping complexes to buy a couple of new tops.

Old town in the rain
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One thing we had heard about Warsaw was that it had few interesting sights and mainly consisted of grey Soviet style buildings. Apparently the  picturesque old town was almost completely destroyed in the Second World War and for a long time there were few attractive buildings and areas in the city. The old town has now been completely reconstructed though and is a very nice place to wander round and enjoy a few drinks in the pavement bars and cafes, even in the rain.

Western delights in Eastern Europe

All in all, we had a very enjoyable couple of days enjoying western delights again, although after abstaining from eating meat in India and Nepal, Pete is now suffering from sausage overload.