The Varso tower

The tallest and most prominent building in Warsaw is the Palace of Culture and Science. Around the 237 meters tall communist building have been popping up skyscrapers in record tempo. In a few years even more will be finalized, it just does not stop.

One of the building sites we regularly pass when driving to city center. There workers are busy completing a very ambitious project of a new skyscraper, Varso Tower. With a stunning 310 meters a new record will be set once completed.

Varso Tower
Nearly 10,000 cubic meters of concrete and 2.5 thousand tons of reinforcement will be used to solidify the Varso Tower, the highest office building in the European Union. Together with the mast, it will be 310 meters high. The foundation slab is being built on the site of the future complex next to the Central Railway Station in Warsaw.

The Varso complex (the name comes from the Latin name of the capital - Varsovia) is created at the intersection of Al. Jana Pawła II and ul. Chmielna, next to the Central Railway Station in Warsaw. There will be a total of three buildings with heights of 81, 90 and 230 meters. The latter, named Varso Tower, together with an 80-meter mast, will measure a total of 310 meters, making it the highest building in the European Union. It will even dethrone The Shard in London, which is 309,6 m high and it is currently the highest facility in the EU.

The construction of the Varso Tower and the rest of the complex started officially in 2016 and this is how it will look like once completed:

There will be one of the highest viewing terraces in Europe (twice higher than the one in Pkin, the Palace of Culture and Science). In addition, it is to be available to everyone, both during the day and at night. On the 46th and 47th floor of the building there will also be a restaurant with a beautiful view of the capital.

The Varso complex is not just a "tower" itself. In addition, it will be created by two smaller buildings, 81 and 90 meters high. They were designed by the Polish architectural studio Hermanowicz Rewski Architekci. On their lively lowest floors there will be more restaurants and cafes, as well as small shops and service outlets, such as a pharmacy, laundry, drugstore, florist, newsagent or post office. In addition, public passages under the roof will serve Varsovians throughout the year.

All-in-all a very exciting project, I cannot wait to pay a visit to the viewing terrace!


Photos: HB Reavis
Source: onet.pl

The 1st of November (All Saints)

Today is All Saints day ('Wszystkich Świętych), a bank holiday here.

What I remember from my first experience were tons of flowers and even more colorful lights on graves. I made some photos back then, which I will show you here.

 All Saints’ Day is a Polish Catholic tradition where Poles from all over the country travel to their home cities to visit the graves of their deceased relatives and loved ones.
I knew the day in the Netherlands as well, but it is not a bank holiday there and it comes nowhere near the things taking place in Poland.

It is also quite common to hear people refer to this day as 'Dzień Zmarłych' or 'Święto Zmarłych' (Day of the Dead) – names that had been adopted during the socialism period in Poland as they did not contain any reference to religion.

So, in general All Saints is celebrated by the Catholics, plus some Protestants and in Eastern Orthodox churches. It dates back to the early fourth century.

All Saints’ Day is taken very seriously in Poland. No matter the weather conditions are like, you will see many people go to the cemeteries even a few days before cleaning up the graves.

Today, after the visiting the cemetery, people will usually get together with their families to have a meal and spend time together.

This is how it looks from above:

One of our friends once flew to Warsaw on the 1st of November. It was evening and he explained how magical this looked while descending to land on Chopin Airport. The city was just lit by all the candles on the cemeteries.

A very special tradition!

Zebra crossings in Warsaw

Zebra crossings, in the Netherlands I learned to always stop for pedestrians who want to cross the road. The only exclusion to the rule I made was when people were visibly doubting and not clearly on the verge of crossing the road. Make up your mind and I will stop I always thought.

I was brought up close to the German border. My parents learned me to stop for anything even close to the zebra crossing. Germans are ultra polite when it comes to stopping for zebra crossings, I also found out as a pedestrian myself when walking on the German streets.

Now Poland, or in my case my experiences in Warsaw. I found out quickly after arriving in this city that a pedestrian should be highly alert when crossing the road. I can remember a couple of close calls, looking into a pair of headlights like Bambi.

I thought it were just a couple of jerks, but later found out that the average driver barely stops for pedestrians wanting to cross the road. It depends a bit of the area though, close to our home the chance is a bit higher that a car will stop at zebra crossings without traffic lights.

This was raising questions to me. Are the rules different here? Are people just less polite in traffic?

At a first glance, the answer to that is pretty simple I found out. Germany and the Netherlands have similar traffic laws concerning zebra crossings. Poland has different rules, way different.

In Poland pedestrians at zebra crossings do not have priority to vehicles driving the road!

The pedestrian only has this priority when already walking on the zebra crossing. And you can only start crossing the road when no cars are nearby. This in combination with a friendly driver who clearly shows behavior of letting the pedestrian cross.

This raised more questions to me because every single person interprets the term 'nearby' differently. The opposition parties in Poland are already fighting for a change of this law since three years, but one of the bigger opposition parties voted against it a few years ago and the proposal was declined with one vote difference.

The opposition party in question is now the leading party by the way (PiS). To make the matter even more confusing, they are working on dusting off the proposal and make this change in the near future...

Clearly a fine. And time for traffic lights there. 

So the verdict is: just be careful out there.

Rondo Tybetu

The Tibetan Gallery at the Tibet Roundabout in the Wola district of Warsaw is a fine example of what a little bit of colour can do to an otherwise dull urban area.

Started in 2009, following the Dalai Lama's visit to Warsaw, street art depicting the Tibetan struggle for autonomy from Beijing was painted here on the pillars of a flyover (the Chinese government didn't quite like the idea!).

The initiative coincided with Warsaw City Council's decision to award the Dalai Lama honorary citizenship of the city! Along with various pieces of art depicting the Tibetan struggle, there is a commemorative plaque dedicated to the heroes of the Tibetan national uprising of 1959.

I passed this place a couple of times when I took the bus, but never saw more than just a quick glimpse. It is not far from my work, so I went to have a proper look at it after work. 

A stunning place it is. More than a hundred works of street art in one place.

With many pillars still left to fill, it's likely this artistic oasis will continue to grow and inspire. Above all, the Tibetan Gallery is a reminder that we are responsible not only for what we do in our home country, but that we have the power to create a dialogue with the whole world.

Let that sink in. Good evening :)

Hammer time

That it is pretty normal in German speaking countries to hammer the f*ck out of their 'schnitzels" was known to me. They like their pork shaped like a friggin' doormat don't they?

It did not take very long for me to find out that Poles also smash theirs like their lives depend on it. Their version, "kotlet schabowy" is part of the classic Polish kitchen.

If you live in an apartment, you should not be surprised to wake up from a hammering sound on a Sunday morning. It is not an SOS signal using Morse code, but it will be one of neighbours in the block battering their "schab".

The huge ones they do call 'sznycel', which obviously derives from the 'schnitzel' being popular in German speaking countries and also in the Netherlands. Although I do believe that it is not the same meat, but who gives a toss 😋

Sznycel in Warsaw's Old Town

It seems to be the same principle as making a veal schnitzel, but then with a double slice of pork meat, delicately cut until the end is almost reached. And then...Hammer Time 😎

Let me show you... turn on volume. Recorded in Polish, inclusive of white socks in fake leather sliders. Integration is hard work, but a man"s got to do what a man's got to do.

Later folks!