Duval Serviced Apartments in Poland

My husband and I went to Warsaw, POLAND, in March ’07 and were pleasantly surprised.

We stayed in Warsaw’s Old Town and were able to walk everywhere. English appeared to be the common second language, at least in the major cities, and we did not experience any language problems. The Polish people with whom we had contact were very helpful and friendly.

We rented a holiday apartment with Duval Serviced Apartments (Ul. Nowomiejska 10, 00-271 Warszawa, Polska; phone +48 22 849 70 24, fax 22 831 91 04, www.duval.net.pl). Only a block from the Old Town square, it was in an old building that had been completely refurbished. They made arrangements to pick us up at the airport.

There were four apartments, each with a private, modern bathroom. There was an Italian restaurant on the ground floor, a tea-and-snack restaurant on the fi rst floor, a bar in the basement and a secure door leading to the apartments above. It was very quiet because everything closed by 11 p.m.

We paid an off-season daily rate of €82 (near $110), including breakfast, which was served at the guests’ convenience in the Italian restaurant.

The apartment owner, Agnieszka, was very knowledgeable and gave us many suggestions. There were many small supermarkets throughout the area, and ATMs were plentiful. There was no shortage of excellent restaurants and coffee shops to satisfy almost anyone.

Only a 5-minute walk from the apartment we discovered the excellent restaurant Podwales. It appeared to be one of the places that the locals liked, since it was full every time we were there. They served traditional Polish food in huge portions at very reasonable prices. Both of us were able to eat for about $15 to $20, including wine or beer. All was good.

I specifically remember the Wienerschnitzel. It was the size of a pizza and took two people to eat it! They gave us free sauerkraut and pickles as an appetizer. I also liked the stuffed dumplings.

We used public transportation to visit most of the city’s museums or ordered taxis, which met us outside the city walls, a 2-minute walk away.

We also took a train to Kraków, which cost less than $100 round trip for two. Warsaw has many interesting museums in addition to some of the royal palaces that are open for viewing. If you plan to visit some of these, be sure to check their opening schedules before going since they all have different schedules and may be closed on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. Most of the museums had their displays in both English and Polish.

If anyone has a specific question, please e-mail me c/o ITN.

PETRA LUCHESA

Spice-wood, TX