Warsaw

The monstorous Palace of Science and Culture towers over the centre of Warsaw as Piotr and I leave the station. Done in the style of Stalin's Seven Sisters in Moscow, it is a masterpiece in architechtural dominance. Now, capitalism is gradually eroding the building's influence on the skyline, as hotels and banks topped by words of bright colours and flashes rise beside it. Even so, from the windows of the apartment where Piotr and his brother Jacek live the heavily ornamented spire still sticks out, like a sore thumb on a big spiky hand. Piotr, who I went to school with, now works for an American consulting firm, after graduating from Harvard. The hours are fairly tough and after seeing me safely installed at the apartment he must head back into the city to work on a banking project.

After the hectic dash across Europe it is nice to slow down a little in Poland. Piotr's hours are long so we are walking through the city very late in the evening. 85% of Warsaw was destroyed during the war after Hitler was incensed by the Uprising in August 1944. Some of the Old Town has been rebuilt to a predictably mixed reaction. After the Royal Castle, the reconstructed column King Sigismund (Who moved the capital from Krakow to Warsaw), the thinnest house in the city (Very slim) and Winnie-the-Pooh Street (Ulica Kubusia Puchatka) we reached the River Vistula which splits the city in two. None of the house face the water, unlike other European cities. A couple gaze dreamily at the brightly lit St. Florian's Church, which dominates the Praga district on the far bank. This too was a casualty of 1944 but was rebuilt 28 years later.

In the nearby Old Town Market Square there is a statue of a vicious looking mermaid, brandishing sword and sheild. Legend has it that Sawa was captured by a greedy merchant but then rescued by a handsome fisherman called Wars and then vowed to protect his town. Or the handsome fisherman captured her then fell in love with her. Or she didn't exist but the handsome fisherman, this time called Piotr, had twins who the king named Wars and Sawa. However it happened the name has stuck and the mermaid appears all over the city, even on the coat of arms.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier sits under the last remaining fragment of the once magnificent Saxon Palace in Pilsudski Square. In the cold of the night the honour guard stand rigidly to attention, then without warning they begin their slow march around the monument. They are not allowed to bend their knees when they march, giving them an odd gait that can apparently lead to knee troubles in later life.

On my last night Piotr and I eat in Chlopskie Jadlo, or Peasant Food in English. Their menu offers Electrically Shocking, Delicious Fare including Tender Loins of a Farmer's Wife. The food is delicious without, thankfully, being electrically shocking and very, very filling. That night, to talk with his girlfriend Sue in America, Piotr has to stay up until the very early hours, compensating for the time difference. I stay up most of the night too writing before grabbing an hour or so of rest before my train leaves at 7.20.