Warsaw from above

From up high, the view of Warsaw stretches out like a history book thrown open mid-sentence. The five-star hotel InterContinental Warsaw offers a good look at the city. It’s the tallest hotel in Poland, but it’s overshadowed by another nearby building. The Palac Kultury is the tallest building in Poland and one of the most controversial since many consider it to be a symbol of Soviet domination.

Palac Kultury as seen from my room at InterContinental.

The Palace of Culture and Science is Stalin’s unwanted gift, wrapped in stone. Built at the peak of Stalinism, it’s still highly controversial and locals seem to a love-hate relationship with this place, nicknaming it “Stalin’s dick” and other vulgar terms. Some groups even call for its demolition. Meanwhile, the 42nd floor is a nesting place for falcons and there are even cats living on the second floor.

Warsaw has come a long way from the bleak image painted in the haunting song “Warszawa” from 1977, written by David Bowie and Brian Eno. The year before, Bowie traveled by train together with Iggy Pop and a few more from Zürich to Moscow, as a detour on the way to his next gig to be held in Helsinki. But the journey through Poland became increasingly bleak as they passed by buildings still riddled with bullet holes and excessive bomb damage.

Barbican in the old town.

These days Poland has seen an increase in tourists. Warsaw has become a vibrant city, stealing more visitors from the ever popular Krakow. Even though most of the old town was destroyed in 1944, the buildings have been rebuilt and looks just like in the old photos. I sit down for a coffee at the main square, Rynek Starego Miastra, and look up at the meticulously restored facades.