Fun in the park! (Pole Mokotowskie (Warsaw, Poland))

Member Name: dangaroo

Product:	Pole Mokotowskie (Warsaw, Poland)
Date:	22/04/09 (31 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: All sorts to do

Disadvantages: Gets too packed on the weekend

Pole Mokotowskie is a recreational park within walking distance from the centre of Warsaw, for the lazy ones or anyone worried about making it back after testing out the nightlife the park has to offer - fear not, it has its own metro stop which is just 2 stops from the centre and is also serviced regularly by night buses.

Translated to "Mokotow Fields" and regularly called its plural Pola Mokotowskie, it is a park with a bit of history. First of all it contains the National Library but before Warsaw Okecie airport was built it was the city's airport (pre 1934), another part was the racecourse (until 1939) and the part nearest what is now Metro Politechnika was the Polytechnic Aircraft Works.

The park is made up of two parts, the "little" part officially known as Jozef Pilsudskiego because of a large statue dedicated to the prominent Polish figure, here you can also find an aeroplane. This is a relatively leafy section with benches and not too much going on, passing the pub "Park" there is then a bridge which crosses over a main road and comes to the National Library and another pub, there is then a relatively marshy area of the park - with lillies and stepping stones. This is a fun part for children but calamatous for a blind Golden Retriever (or anything blind I imagine)!

You then get to the centre piece which is a man-made lake/pond (kind of in between really), let's call it a water feature! Here you can find dogs jumping in and out and the occasional child in the summer but it's dried out during the winter. There are 3 more pubs surrounding it, as well as a playground and it's common that various fairs and concerts take place there. It is really packed on weekends, particularly because the police have a relaxed attitude towards drinking in this park, although there are plenty about on the look out for trouble makers so it still retains a nice family atmosphere. Cyclists and roller bladers are probably the most dangerous things there though!

Behind the water feature is a hill, where it is common for the city organisers to put together free foreign films on screens. There's normally some pretty classy films here, obviously the subtitles are in Polish though..so it's a bit tricky if you understand neither that nor the language it is made in.

Summary: A fun place to visit