Friday, October 30
Catastrophe averted! John had left his phone charging overnight, something he doesn't usually do. It was so hot and wouldn't open up when we got up. I was so worried it would spontaneously combust!! So I moved all the other electronics away from it and left a bottle of water beside it. We got ready (my phone has all the same apps so we were good for the day). He took it with us to breakfast and used mine to find a solution. The technical term for a phone or battery overheating and catching fire on its own is thermal runaway.
It said that it turns itself off to protect the battery, it a few hours it had cooled down and functioned correctly!
After breakfast we took our time heading out. We wanted to go back to the Old Town, dressed warmly and took a Bolt.
We stepped into the courtyard.
Kamienica Mansjonaria (Mansjonaria Tenement House), situated at the edge of Castle Square in Warsaw’s Old Town. Originally built in the 15th century for the mansionist priests of the nearby St. John's Cathedral, the structure underwent significant Baroque and neo-Baroque transformations over the subsequent centuries. It is most famous for its miraculous survival during World War II; while nearly the entire surrounding district was flattened in 1944, this building's structural walls and internal vaults remained standing, making it a rare and authentic witness to old Warsaw. Today, following careful post-war restorations, its historic walls house the Castle Inn, a whimsical 3-star boutique hotel featuring 22 distinct rooms individually styled by local artists.
Plac Kanonia (Canon Square), a historic, triangular square nestled behind St. John's Archcathedral in the Old Town of Warsaw, Poland. The square is surrounded by beautifully restored 17th- and 18th-century tenement houses, heavily rebuilt after the destruction of World War II to preserve their signature Baroque and Renaissance architectural styles. In the center of the square stands the famous Wishing Bell (Dzwon na Kanonii), a 1646 bronze monument that locals and tourists walk around for good luck. The corner of the square also features one of the narrowest residential townhouses in Europe, cleverly designed centuries ago to avoid high property taxes based on front-facade width.
Down an alleyway.
Gnojna GĂłra (a scenic terrace) overlooking the Vistula River.
The building on the immediate left forms the corner of Brzozowa Street and the historic Kamienne Schodki (Stone Steps) passageway, featuring a massive, tapering concrete buttress at its base engineered to steady the structure against the steep Vistula riverbank escarpment. Right next to it across the lane is ul. Brzozowa 11/13, a meticulously reconstructed post-war tenement that currently houses the Heritage Interpretation Centre (a branch of the Museum of Warsaw). This center-right building uniquely exposes fragments of Warsaw's medieval defensive walls along its flank, serving as a primary symbol of the architectural resilience and strict conservation efforts that earned the Old Town its UNESCO World Heritage site designation.
Back in Market Square.
This would be our dining choice later in the day.
Checking menus.
Warsaw Barbican (Barbakan Warszawski) and its surrounding medieval city walls.
The SzelÄ
gowska Tenement House stands as a striking example of historic reconstruction in Warsaw's Old Town. Located at 17 Nowomiejska Street just steps from the Barbican, its distinctive corner facade features intricate sgraffito artwork depicting historical motifs alongside bold, geometric triangular patterns on the lower level. While its roots date back to a wooden house built around 1505, the structure was completely destroyed during World War II and meticulously rebuilt between 1954 and 1955.
Look what we found!
Sipping mulled wine on the walls of the Barbican. John wants this at Christmas.
A barbican is a fortified defensive outpost or gateway. In medieval and Renaissance military architecture, it was typically constructed as a semicircular, multi-level brick or stone bastion projecting outward from the main city walls to protect an entry chokepoint, like a gate or a bridge.
The Warsaw Barbican is a monumental 16th-century red-brick fortification that serves as a historic gateway between Warsaw's Old Town and New Town. Designed in 1540 by Italian architect Jan Baptist the Venetian, the semicircular, multi-level bastion was built to safeguard the city's northern entrance, though it quickly became militarily obsolete due to the rapid advancement of artillery. Almost entirely destroyed during World War II, the landmark was meticulously reconstructed between 1952 and 1954 using historic bricks salvaged from buildings in Lower Silesia. Today, it stands as one of Warsaw's most recognizable tourist attractions and a striking monument to the city's postwar rebirth.
Later we walked around to find an outside photo and I am adding them here.
The House under the Lion (Kamienica Pod Lwem), located at No. 13 on the Old Town Market Square in Warsaw, originated around 1428 as a classic Gothic residential structure. Over the centuries, it passed through the hands of prominent merchant families and underwent multiple renovations that blended various architectural styles. Its most defining permanent feature—the iconic stone bas-relief of a lion—was added to the corner wall in 1750 by AmbroĆŒy Tomasz CzempiĆski to display his family's official coat of arms. In 1928, the building's facade was enriched with vibrant, modern frescoes painted by the celebrated Polish artist Zofia StryjeĆska, depicting stylized figures carrying goods. Although the building was severely damaged during the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, its thick structural facade managed to survive the explosions. Between 1952 and 1953, the entire house was meticulously reconstructed according to pre-war documentation, successfully preserving its historic exterior, StryjeĆska's iconic artwork, and the legendary stone lion for future generations.
When is a pub not just a pub?
The building housing the bar at Nowomiejska 10 is the historic Kamienica GÄbiĆska, a multi-century tenement house rooted in late-Gothic architecture prior to 1558. Expanded into a proper residence by the GÄbicz family in the late 16th century, it underwent extensive layout restructuring in 1646 following a collapse caused by a neighboring building, which established the cross-barrel vaults still visible today.
In 1659, ownership passed to the Pauline Monks of the adjacent Holy Spirit Church, who added a striking Baroque facade and left their order's crest carved into the stone portal above the entrance. Though the building was burned during the 1944 Warsaw Uprising in World War II, its resilient ground-floor vaults and historic portal survived, allowing meticulous reconstruction architects to faithfully restore it to its 18th-century appearance by 1950.
Kamienica Smockich, located at Nowomiejska 6, dates back to around the mid-16th century when a narrow brick house was first constructed on the plot. By the late 16th and early 17th centuries, the property belonged to a prominent goldsmith named Jan Smocki (from whom the building takes its name) and his family. Over the subsequent centuries, the building underwent various ownership changes, including a period in the 18th century when it was merged with the adjacent Market Square property. Tragically, during the destruction of Warsaw in 1944, most of the building was reduced to ruins, though portions of the original facade and medieval cellars managed to survive. The tenement house was meticulously rebuilt between 1953 and 1954 under the architectural direction of StanisĆaw Ć»aryn. Its signature Renaissance-style sgraffito ornamentation, designed by artists Zofia and Roman Artymowski, was added during this post-war reconstruction to restore the historic, artistic character of the Old Town.
Jan KiliĆski Monument (Pomnik Jana KiliĆskiego)
Jan KiliĆski was a Warsaw shoemaker and one of the leaders of the 1794 KoĆciuszko Uprising against Russian forces.
Stopped into a souvenir store, no, we didn't buy anything!
Cute wind up musical boxes.
St. Martin's Church (KoĆciĂłĆ Ćw. Marcina), a historic Roman Catholic Augustinian church located on Piwna Street.
Founded in the 14th century (around 1353) by Siemowit III, Duke of Masovia, alongside an Augustinian monastery.
Its distinctive curved yellow facade reflects later Baroque and Rococo redesigns. The original structure was heavily damaged/destroyed during World War II and later rebuilt.
We decide to walk around the outer walls.
Jan Zachwatowicz, a prominent Polish architect and historical monument conservator, (1900–1983), who led the post-WWII reconstruction of Warsaw's historic Old Town and the Royal Castle.
Mounted on the wall of a building at Piekarska 20 in the Old Town of Warsaw, near Sigismund's Column (Kolumna Zygmunta).
The artistic relief features a sunburst shape, four moon-phase discs, relief-sculpted signs of the zodiac arranged in a circle, and Roman numerals marking the hours.
The building houses the Museum of Decorative and Precision Crafts, informally known as the Clock Museum.
The saddest statue I've ever seen. A young child soldier wearing an oversized military helmet and holding a submachine gun, symbolizing the youngest participants who fought and died during the 1944 Warsaw Uprising against Nazi occupation.
It honors the thousands of children and scouts who served as messengers, scouts, and fighters during the 63-day uprising.
Szeroki Dunaj (which translates to "Wide Danube") is a charming, winding street located right in the heart of Warsaw's medieval core, known for its restored 17th- and 18th-century architecture and pedestrian-friendly cobblestone paths.
Dom Kata (the Hangman's House), now a restaurant.
The historic tenement at Ulica Szeroki Dunaj 13 in Warsaw's Old Town, traditionally known as Dom Kata (the Hangman's House), carries a dark legacy balanced by a remarkable story of modern survival. Dating back to the 1500s and 1600s, this site served as the official residence of Warsaw's crown executioner. The open, unusually wide street layout of Szeroki Dunaj directly in front of the house wasn't just a fish market—it was used as a public square where prisoners faced public whippings or beheadings. Because being the executioner was a deeply stigmatized, unpleasant job, the city compensated the hangman by granting him a legal monopoly to operate the town's local brothel, which was traditionally located right next to the square.
Over the centuries, the original layout changed, and by the early 20th century, the site was absorbed into a dense block of multi-story residential tenements. Like nearly 90% of Warsaw's historic center, the structures were completely pulverized by Nazi forces during World War II. The building standing today is a mid-1950s reconstruction. Instead of rebuilding the dense 19th-century tenements, architectural restorers chose to resurrect it as a standalone mansion resembling an elite doctor's residence from the 1740s. While the upper levels are a recreation, the deep, vaulted brick cellars underneath survived the war completely intact.
This tenement facade showcases a brilliant blend of meticulous mid-century reconstruction and medieval heritage [muzeumwarszawy.pl].
Named after a vanished local stream that once fed the city's castle moat rather than Europe's famous river, the pocket square historically served as a bustling hub for Warsaw's guild of shoemakers and traders.
The beautiful sgraffito patterns and figurative friezes detailing historical craft trades were etched onto the rebuilt plaster in 1954 by artist Krystyna KozĆowska. KozĆowska was a heroic frontline combatant in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising who miraculously survived execution, escaped captivity by being smuggled out of a hospital in empty milk cans, and later returned to heal her broken city by cloaking its ruins in vibrant, lasting art.
Finally, we sit down for lupper (lunch/supper).
We both had pork knuckle as our last dish of the trip.
We decide we "need" dessert and coffee.
We thought we'd be smart and get our Bolt from where we had gotten dropped off. No luck, driver cancelled pick up. So we moved further along, still no luck. Finally we had an address that worked.
It seems:
Because the majority of Warsaw's Old Town is a designated pedestrian zone, standard passenger cars—including Bolt and Uber vehicles—are strictly forbidden from entering most inner streets, regardless of the time of day. This restriction is heavily enforced by city authorities and municipal guards.
If you drop a pin inside the forbidden zone, the Bolt app will automatically prevent the driver from accepting it or will shift your pickup location to the nearest accessible perimeter street. To avoid confusion, cancelations, or making your driver wait, walk to one of these major edge-of-the-zone boundaries before ordering:
