Europe
London layover complete, next stop: Warsaw.
Well, not quite. Had a bit of time before my flight, so a visit to the Lufthansa lounge at Terminal 2 was in order. Food is nothing special, but the hot food selection was just expansive enough to be satisifying for breakfast, and the vibe is modern in the restrained, business-like German fashion. Busy but not too crowded either, especially in the more private back room area that they apparently reserve for some airline status holders; food isn't any different but the vibe was more restrained and quiet.
LOT Polish is decidedly no-frills, at least in economy, but they do have in-seat power in their rather uniquely styled seats. Legroom was pretty meh on their 737 MAX 8 at at the industry-standard 30 inches of pitch, but at least it was a short flight, and public transit from Warsaw Chopin Airport to the city center is modern, clean, and efficient. The Hotel Bristol is very stylish as well, both in terms of its imposing appearance and old-world charm, yet somehow it manages to fit in perfectly, with the university to one side and the presidential palace to the other. Ended up with a super nice upgrade as well, although the typical European bathrooms that still leave a mess due to the shower half-doors still confound me.
The afternoon tour of old town and new town (new town is still 600+ years old!) was quite good, nothing too earth-shattering or quirky in terms of what you got to see, but given how much damage Poland sustained in two world wars, what you saw made complete sense. The guide of the free walking tour I did did a great job explaining everything we saw, including why certain buildings were rebuilt a certain way, many markings on how they related to the old city walls, and a good sense of the geography. The actual area we explored was not that large at all, and the nerd in me was quite excited by the fact that the second-to-last stop was at the Marie Curie museum.
Dinner was at a popular restaurant chain that the guide said was actually pretty good, the beef tripe soup and bread were both excellent, felt a bit too old for apple juice and lime (I think it was lime?) drink that I got-- tasty as it was, too much sugar, the pan-fried beef perogies were okay. Skins were nice in the European way but the filling felt a tad too bland. Still a pleasant experience, especially on the outdoor patio, and it was quite convenient to the hotel; I had gotten some more recommendations for restaurants, convenience and atmopshere won out in the end.