After my visit to Wilanów Palace I went back town to check out Muzeum Życia w PRL, aka the Museum of Life Under Communism. I'm glad I made time for it. It cost 32 PLN (~$9 USD) to enter. You can probably spend 45 minutes to an hour there. I stayed maybe 25 minutes, but I had some other things on my checklist. Otherwise I would have lingered longered and read more of the signage at each exhibit. I definitely enjoyed it, but your mileage may vary. I'm 56, so I have nostalgia for things from the 70s and 80s in general. And while the museum definitely goes into the 'life under communism' theme, it's also a broader time capsule that features familiar elements from my youth. Old school magazine ads. Retro radios. Classic fonts. Very much worthy of a visit for those with specific interest in the topic or folks maybe 50+.
(Upon arrival I noticed the KFC next door. Lunch plans confirmed.)
Historic elements presented immediately upon entry.
Loved the wall of radios. I'd be happy to have one of those Jowitas or KAMAs right now as a bluetooth speaker.
Sports section got my attention. I was unaware of the Gorski's Eagles sensation in the 70s.
The black signage under the picture explains that they won the gold medal at the '72 Olympics and placed third in the '74 World Cup. I had no idea. Pretty cool.
SIDEBAR: Found this little 2012 clip on YouTube about Gorski's Eagles
(Eye catching sports page, with 3 boxers in the exact same press shot + some water polo action.)
Household hygiene display got my attention. I would feel compelled to buy "For You" bar soap.
Don't know who this guy is and it doesn't matter. Whatever else he did in life, he spectacularly captured this moment of sensuous 70s shaving.
The museum balances the fun with the serious (which I suppose was also the daily challenge for the people of the time living under communism). Some of the exhibits underlined the modest living conditions.
But then you can turn the corner and hop into the front seat of an vintage banana-yellow Fiat.
Done with my visit I did indeed walk over to the neighboring KFC for lunch.
(These multilingual ordering kiosks are game changers.)
Tried some kind of Asian chicken and rice thing. Not terrible. Bubble tea also kind of refreshing. All in all an decent variation of my fast food chicken theme during my first 5 days in Poland.
UPDATE: In tracking down links to the Museum's website for this post I learned they also have a retro vehicle rental business. Wild. Missed opportunity for me to tool around Warsaw on a Jelcz 'Cucumber'. Next time, Poland.
Monday April 13th was my last full day in Warsaw before I would continue on to Lublin. I had already visited multiple museums, done a couple of guided tours, independently explored multiple neighborhoods, and spent a full day on a side trip to Łodz. I was covering some ground. This left me time to check out a secondary sight of interest on the south side of the city, Wilanów Palace.
I had seen the nickname 'Poland's Versailles' and figured if I had a few hours I should put in the effort to see it. Wikipedia says it was visited by 3,000,000 people in 2019. That's an average 8,219 per day, assuming it's open 365 days of the year, which probably isn't the case. Seems high based on the traffic I saw. But I was there on a Monday morning in April, which I'm sure is not prime time. I did see dozens of school kids, though. I'm willing to bet 50% + of the 3,000,000 annual visitors are students passing through involuntarily.
My journey started at my new favorite bus stop, Ordynacka 01, which had universal Monday morning bus stop vibes a little after 9am.
The trip took around 40 minutes. It's a pretty straight shot south. As you move through the city the surroundings become increasingly suburban-like. This stretch of tidy rectangular compounds with well kept bike lanes caught my eye.
Also liked seeing one of the universal signs of spring, which is OOH ads for lawncare products.
Hopped off the bus at Wilanów 02. If you come by public transportation like I did you need to get across a pretty major intersection. Below is a maps screengrab followed by a little video clip for some area flavor.
It wasn't 100% clear how or where to enter. And there weren't too many other people around. But I followed one group in hopes they knew where they were going and ultimately wound up at the entrance.
(View looking back out to the main road)
(View toward the next entrance into the property)
Started working my way around the south side perimeter, taking pictures as I went. Understandably the gardens were not yet in full bloom. Still pleasant nonetheless.
Around back I spotted a school group and sort of followed them at a distance in case they would lead me to the building entrance.
We curved around the west side / back of the buildings, around to the north, and finally to the east / front side. Nice piece of property.
Once I got inside I did an accelerated lap of everything, taking pictures as I went. Looking back through the photoroll I see a few themes that I'll illustrate below:
* Kids on a field trip
* Fancy rooms with art on the walls
* Collections of stuff
* Fireplace mantels used to display bird knicknacks
* Sassy / quirky statues
The schoolkids I encountered were pretty well behaved. But it was early.
The rooms were fancy. I'm partial to the darker, wood paneled decor myself.
Collections that caught my eye had an Asian theme.
Birds on the mantel is a choice that works for me. I prefer the rooster to the falcon, personally.
As for the statues, there is probably an explanation for what's happening but I didn't look it up.
My verdict on the visit? It was fine. Marcin, my guide on Sunday, had suggested it wouldn't be his strongest recommendation. As he put it, if you want to see Baroque palaces there are better options in Europe. Fair enough. I did enjoy the journey back and forth on the bus / tram and the opportunity to see more of the city. Plus, it's userful to have the perspective of first hand experience to make my own recommendations down the line.
On my way back to the bus stop I passed by a couple of food outlets that must be gold mines if the palace really receives 3,000,000 visitors per year.
Pulled out Jakodjade to confirm the ride back downtown.
Was happy to see the reco to connect from the bus to a tram. I do like a tram ride.
Took a few more vibe shots on the way north.
I saw a few of these billboards during my time in Warsaw. Regrettably I did not find time to get myself a 'Hot Dog Amerykanski'. Next time, Poland.
