After yesterday's non-stop fulfilling day, we decided to take it a little easy today and just explore and enjoy the sights before the big night of our trip, the Ballet at the National Opera House in Warsaw.
First things first, we found a great cafe called Green Caffe Zero ( it's a chain) right near our hotel and decided this would be our ground zero go-to cafe that we'll use instead of the huge hotel breakfast buffet. It's charming, and love is everywhere...
As we left, we immediately ran into the Warsaw Marathon...a beautiful sight since they were all wearing the same event t-shirt...it was a happening.
Some fashion...
We walked along the main street to the Old Town, ambling on side streets as well, where we hadn't yet been, looking into shops and cafes, some very high-end, and of course people-watching as we walk. The city's buildings built after the war are simply designed, the city is clean, except for some graffiti, and the people are nicely dressed, some stunningly beautiful, some are very tall Poles.
We really didn't catch on to the language yet...there are a lot of sounds like shush and ski and daubra and toc, but almost everyone speaks pretty good English or is so willing to help...it's a very friendly atmosphere. Whatever stereotypes we may have had, or heard of, or joked about, have all been dispelled by this trip. Poles are warm, intelligent, friendly people.
At 4pm we had a reservation for an early dinner before the ballet which starts at 6pm. We went to Dawne Smaki, in the heart of the main walk street.
As the sun was setting it was starting to get a little chilly, but the outside tables were so inviting we wanted to sit there so we could do some more people-watching. The dinner was OK, polish style, but nothing to write home about, and we didn't want to eat too much before the theatre. A nice touch is providing blankets at outdoor dining establishments.
Then it was off to Opera Naradowska, the national opera theatre, for the performance of Romeo and Juliet. We wanted to go to an Opera, especially in Vienna, but they were either booked when we were available, or the tickets were prohibitively expensive, so we decided on the ballet, not a bad second choice...we haven't been to the ballet in decades.
Some local sights along the way in this classy neighborhood...
The Bristol Hotel, the classiest place in town.
Upon arriving at the Opera Narodowa theatre, it is of course spectacular!
And it was thrilling to be inside.
The performance was modern and mesmerizing...even Marty was totally captivated, not only because it was beautiful but because they are amazing dancers and athletes. His eyes didn't close once...now that's amazing!
It was a magical evening!
No comments:
Post a Comment