Warsaw from above

As I am writing this, I’m currently sitting at a window some hundred meters above the streets of Warsaw, the capital of Poland.

The location is the five-star hotel InterContinental Warsaw, which offers a good view of the city. Even though it’s only the 55th tallest building in Europe, it’s the tallest hotel in Poland and the third tallest in Europe. At the 44th floor we found the highest indoor pool in Europe with large windows and a spectacular view. It’s not the pool of Park Hyatt in Tokyo, but it will suffice.

Palac Kultury as seen from my room.

But despite all this, the impressive hotel building is completely shadowed by another nearby building. Visible from most parts of the city, 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.

Inside the Palac Kultury.

Warsaw has come a long way from the bleak image painted by 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 in general and the capital in particular has seen an increase in tourists. Warsaw has become a vibrant city, stealing visitors from the ever popular Krakow. Even though almost all of the old town was destroyed in 1944, the buildings have been rebuilt and looks just like in the old photos. I sat down for a coffee at the main square, Rynek Starego Miastra, and looked up at the meticulously restored facades.