The ‘Castle’

​It seems so long ago since we arrived in Warsaw, that I cannot remember if I mentioned Stalin‘s Palace. A funny story…last night, while we were trying to figure out our precise meeting point for the food tour, I sent a text to our guide, Kuba, asking if we were supposed to meet at ‘the empty fountain in front of the castle.’

He sent back a rather frazzled reply, or so I thought, saying we were entirely in the wrong area, and we needed to be over on the other end of Warsaw. (The ancient POLISH castle is in old town). So to clarify, I said…’We are near Stalin Castle, not in old town. I forget there is more than one castle in Warsaw.’ 😂😂

So his relieved reply assured me we were in the right spot, and that he would be there before too long. Once we met up, he explained that Stalin‘s Palace was a gift from Stalin, but it was neither wanted, nor appreciated. Just another reminder of the communist regime in Poland. He said even its location was an affront to the Polish people, as it takes up so much space. So they’ve put in restaurants, a museum, an art gallery and offices, since they cannot simply remove it. He said the only castle in Warsaw is the castle of the ruling monarch back in the day. Stalin‘s Palace, is as simple as that…never to be referred to as a castle. 😏 

On the night we arrived by train, it was lit up in a bright green color. The color changes seasonally, and I’ve seen it red as well. Last night, it was just in its natural state, but lit up nonetheless. And I do recall now that our taxi driver mentioned this during the drive to the hometel. With equal distain.  And yes, we were overcharged.😂😂 I was unable to find our Bolt driver, as the taxis took up the entire space for picking up passengers. My mistake! But not to the tune of Plus Two, thank the Lord 🙏.