Welcome to Warsaw movie!

One of the receptionists of Hostel Helvetia will be a famous director soon. Watch this short movie about Warsaw and Euro 2012 and judge by yourself.

Off to Cracow!

Yeah! I've got a day off and I've decided to go to Cracow for a little bit of sightseeing, a little bit of good food and coffee. I'm taking a 9.30 am train from Warszawa Zachodnia station (but you can go also from Warszawa Centralna station) and I'll be in Cracow at 12 o'clock. That'll give me all day of walking, eating and relaxing :) In the evening I'm going back to Warsaw.

How to make a trip like that (and better ones)? Check the train timetable on the Polish Railway's website.

Polish Teddy Bear

They say that Germany is the capital of teddy bears. But... wait a sec... Poland has got a famous teddy too! You can find it in Warsaw, standing in the middle of a tiny park called Glinianki Sznajdra. To know why does it stand there you have to know more about Polish cinema.

'Teddy Bear' is a cult Polish film directed in 1980 by Stanisław Bareja (famous Polish director making mostly comedy films). The film tells the story of Rysiek, the shrewd manager of state-sponsored sport club. He has to get to London before his ex-wife does in order to collect a big amount of money. As you can imagine, nothing was easy in a communist country which Poland was during those days. So the main character is meeting lots and lots of trouble on his way to get out of Poland. The history is hilarious and Bareja gives the audience a guided tour of the rank corruption, absurd bureaucracy, pervasive bribery and flourishing black market that pervaded socialism of the People's Republic of Poland.

In the last scene of the movie the monument of a big teddy bear appears. To commemorate the movie and to put some smile on the people's faces, the city decided to put the same teddy bear in Glinianki Sznajdra (the place of filming the last scene of the movie).

You can watch 'Teddy Bear' in our hostel! You just have to ask for the DVD at the reception desk.

How to get to the Glinianki Sznajdra? It's very easy! You have to take the bus no. 105 from the NOWY ŚWIAT bus stop, near our hostel. Then you have to get off at the TKACZY bus stop and you are just right next to the teddy bear. Take a look at the map and go :)

Rysiek - the main character of 'Teddy Bear'

Use it! Free maps for young travellers!

'Use it - Europe' names itself as a tourist information for young people.Thanks to them, in the biggest cities of each country in Europe we can find free maps, which are not only useful, but also well designed and with very detailed descriptions (of pubs, cafes, places of interest, local customs etc.). What's more, our staff took part in preparing the first edition of the map of Warsaw. So you can rely on it! :)

To have one for yourself you can: ask for it in a hostel, search for it in some cafes, museums or touristic info points. You can also download it from the website! Here you can find a map of Warsaw and Łódź. To search for other European cities click here.

SEA some street art! (part 2)

SEA more details in the city! While sightseeing Gdańsk and Gdynia you can meet many little pieces of city-art.

Anonymous in Gdańsk harbour

Smile of the streets (Gdańsk)

Dreaming about the forest... (Gdańsk)

Broken heart / 'You know what' (Gdańsk)

Past, present and future mixed together (Gdańsk)

Fly away! (Gdynia)

Fly away 2 (Gdańsk)

Old street art by NeSpoon (Gdynia)

More about seaside street art:

SEA some street art (part 1) 

The haunted house

SEA some street art (part 1)

Why 'sea'? Because Gdańsk is a lovely city at the Polish seaside (To read more about Gdańsk on our blog click here). It's famous for its Old Town, sculpture of Neptun, one of the most beautiful streets in the world (really!), Westerplatte battle and unbelievably rich history. It's a good place to exercise your eyes not only in sightseeing but also in 'streetseeing'. While walking around all the places of interest try to see something more than the old buildings :)

'Two men and the pink elephant" nearby Gdansk Oliwa train station

"Lady in colours" on the Kołodziejska street (opposite the Great Armoury)

Graffitti by Krik. Search for them near the train stations and tracks.

The pink thing and the mushroom (at the old suburbs)

Text in the cloud says: 'Respect, love and flowers everyday - not only on Mother's Day!'

Smiling little girl and the Town Hall

Love your city!

More about street art at the seaside:

SEA some street art (part 2)
The haunted house

Velentine's Day in Warsaw

During the Valentine's Day the Palace of Culture and Science said 'I love you' to everybody in Warsaw. Sweet, isn't it?

NeSpoon - a little bit different street-art.

Poland has its own unique street art and NeSpoon is an artist who certainly deserves attention. Why? Because of the pretty little things she makes. She is decorating Warsaw with so called “jewellery of the public space”. You can find them on walls, pavements, dustbins or even trees and baroque sculptures. NeSpoon prefers to call her work “outdoor art”, not “street art”. That’s because most of it is not strictly on the streets, but also in parks etc. Also the technique is pretty unusual. It’s ceramics. NeSpoon's typical and favourite pattern is Polish traditional lace imprinted in clay. 

The purpose of NeSpoon's work is to make public places look better, more interesting, prettier. She says that she would like to save the world and make it a better place. But she perceives it is impossible to do it all by herself. So she is doing her best by adding her bit of positive energy into Warsaws streets and other spaces. She would like to bring a smile to people’s faces every time they discover one of her small applications.

NeSpoon is also the first artists I know who makes so called “children street art”. Ceramics made by her in shapes of colourful ladybirds and lovely dragons have a specific purpose. They are made to teach kids how to find something charming in walls and in the nooks, and that sometimes small things are also very important things.

The art of NeSpoon proves that you don’t need anything big and well exposed to make the city look happy and interesting. Searching for tiny details can bring you great fun and satisfaction. So, while having a walk around Warsaw (but not only!), keep your eyes wide open and maybe you will find pieces of urban jewellery! 

NeSpoon in Łódź - in cafe Owoce i Warzywa (Fruits and Vegetables)

PS. Visit NeSpoon's blog. And here is a little tip where to find some of NeSpoon's works in Warsaw.

Read more about Polish street art:
Adidas defeated 
Chopin from the block

Adidas defeated

Three demonstrations, the 6th anniversary of the Pope's death and a Graffiti Jam against Adidas - that is how the Varsovians spent last sunny weekend.
"Did you have fun?", you might ask and I would answer: "A lot of it".
There are two types of fun in Poland.
The first one is a kind of Ibiza-party-style, internationally recognized, transplanted into Polish soil from the West and treated as a holy cow. Having fun is obligatory if you want to be a cool part of a global village.
The second one is our traditional way of having a great time. We call it "zadyma", which literally means "a heavy whiteout", but is used to describe a state of chaos, fight (also a hooligan, but not only) and a demonstration of solidarity.
Spontanous gathering seems to be our national sport and it delivers us lots of fun.
Last weekend, in Zamkowy Square three groups of demonstrators met. There were: animals' rights' defenders, people commemorating the WWII masacre and Yael Bartana with her artistic project of bringing Jewish people back to Poland.
Can you imagine it? Vegetarians,combatants and the Jews - all at the same time and place.
A few quarters away (and a day earlier) there was a crowd of people praying and singing John Paul the Second's favourite song but I think our Pope would be delighted if he joined the Graffiti Jam in Służew.
There is a cult wall of streetart there. A couple of days ago Adidas blurred it to put their advert on it. It was the worst marketing move I have ever seen. 27 thousand people joined "Adisucks" group on Facebook afterwards. A great number of them gathered in reality to protest against this brand. "Money is not a king", they declared and on the the wall they sprayed a portrait of the Pope. He was a big fan of "zadyma" too.

Read more about Polish street-art:
NeSpoon - a little bit different street art 
Chopin from the block

Time for walking!

Last autumn our incredible Helvetia Team explored Warsaw to find the best places for you to visit.
Today we are presenting Powiśle (a riverside area) and surroundings of Nowy Świat St - all nearby Helvetia Hostel.

Feel an atmosphere of a student life in a beautiful garden on the top of the University Library.
Visit the maginificent Copernicus Science Centre or the Chopin's Museum.

Have a cup of coffee and meet some of Polish writers and poets at Mariusz Szczygieł's "Wrzenie Świata" cafe.

Travel to the past watching photos in sepia in Fotoplastykon.

Pokaż Helvetia Hostel presents: Promener autour de Varsovie na większej mapie