Monday, March 9, 2015

Exploring Warsaw's New Metro Line

I set out to see the newly opened second metro line going east-west across Warsaw. The end of the line on the west side was only a six minute bus ride from my apartment in Wola, and began on Plac Daszyńskiego. The new line opened to the public on March 8th after a long delay. Originally said to be opened at the onset of the December holidays, mysterious reasons kept pushing the opening back. Recently though there was a stronger push to get it up and running, because one of the bridges crossing the Wisła caught fire, diverting and clogging a lot of central traffic. At the time of this incident I was staying in Wesoła in the far east of the city, and was unaffected by this sudden change. I took the suburban train which brought me straight to the center over a different bridge, but a friend of mine living much closer in Saska Kępa, one bus stop away from the bridge, said that after the bridge caught fire her commute skyrocketed from 30 minutes to two hours, because she had to circumvent the old route during high traffic. Initially officials were horrifyingly saying that the bridge wouldn't be reopened for a few years, maybe in 2017 or 2018, but more recently the Warsaw municipality has said that they hope to reopen it by fall of this year. That's a welcome relief for a lot of residents from the districts surrounding Łazienkowski Bridge.

With this backdrop the second metro line was to be hurriedly opened to ease the stress in the pressurizing center. The bus dropped me off at Plac Daszyńskiego and I peered around. From here I could see the skyscrapers of the city center. The ones that stood out were the imposing Złota 44 apartment complex, and Stalin's gift to Warsaw, the Palace of Culture and Science. Towering nearby was the Warsaw Spire currently under construction and revealing its skeletal insides. In order to soften this eyesore the tower is adorned with neon lights that spell out "Kocham Warszawę" (I love Warsaw). A few meters away was the entrance to the metro line, a strong red glass frame in the shape of an "M." I walked towards it and entered the first station.

The new metro line has a color theme, and at this first station I tried to think of the possible decisions for each color. Plac Daszyńskiego was red, but nothing was jumping to mind what that might symbolize. I already knew from pictures that Nowy Świat-Uniwersytet was purple, and I felt that was a good choice for a university stop, because purple was inherently a creative color, but the red remained a mystery. Later I realized that Plac Daszyńskiego was the stop for the Warsaw Uprising museum, and that the red could possibly be connected to this as a patriotic symbol, or even a color of the blood spilled by Warsaw's most praised heroes.

Waiting for the train to come I noted the cleanliness of the station, and the 90's pop-art style that reminded me a little of Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing." I also got a vague impression that I was standing in a contemporary art museum, and that next I would be looking at a Keith Haring exhibit. There was no time of arrival and I kept peeking up the tracks looking for the lights of the next train. Suddenly all the lights of the station flickered then went off for a brief moment, then back on, then off again. This happened five times, and a few people laughed, amused by the apparent ineptitude. The train finally arrived, and everyone boarded. I wondered if there would be any more shortcomings at the other stations.

...

Next was Rondo ONZ, the business center of Warsaw. The station is a calming and slick white, and I think the real connection with the color is the chic looking entrances around the roundabout. The colors here have a connection to modernity, technology, capitalism's love of glass, and the sleek and minimalist tastes of the nouveau riche. The entrances are airy and give off a sense of speed, and they really complement the business buildings surrounding them. Before this area was a little bit tedious to get to, like most of the stops on the new line, but now it's impressively easy, and it's not hard to imagine that this will have a profound effect on the businesses that operate along the line.

I went down again and took the train to the next stop, Świętokrzyska, which means Holy Cross in Polish. The station is yellow with hues of orange, and it's the station where you can switch to the first metro line, "conveniently," according to the recorded English voice with a slight Polish accent that played on the train before arriving to the station. The change was definitely convenient, and this new found convenience made me giddy. Although, the first line looks like a washed-up relic compared to the new line, and going through the lackluster purple and yellow frames into the old line is somewhat of a buzzkill.

I stepped outside for a look around, and immediately felt pity for the ugly first line. The entrance ways are grossly unattractive and have the look of an abandoned project. From afar they look more like entrances to gritty underground bazaars you could find in Central Asia or the Caucasus (Station Square in Tbilisi comes to mind). Compared to the thick and jagged highlighter-yellow "Ms", these ghost-white and faded-blue ancient arcs looked unfortunate and out of place. Luckily, I only found two of them at this intersecting station, while there were at least four new entrances.

I descended back inside the pristine new line and headed towards the station I had seen most in pictures, the university stop. I got off and found that the purple was not overwhelming, and thought that this was evidence of good planning. Nowy Świat-Uniwersytet, is also a portal to Warsaw's past, being situated at one of the most historic streets in the city. It wasn't overly difficult to get to before, but now the psychological effect that exiting the metro into this beautiful area has is lovely. After being destroyed in 1944, Warsaw had to build itself from scratch. The planners wanted to retain some of its original identity, but for the most part the city on the west bank of the Wisła lacked an old European look, that is until you reach Nowy Świat, where they worked meticulously to recreate its 19th century charm (although I would have loved to see it restored to its early 20th century art nouveau style). Suddenly you're among the neoclassical and baroque style architecture you find all across Europe, and exiting the confident purple frames onto the street, you get a real sense that you're really in Europe. Standing on the corner of Nowy Świat and Świętokrzyska streets, I felt a seismic shift in Warsaw. Suddenly the focus was taken away from its old communist center, and brought to balance between its contemporary progress and its proud historic past.

The next station was the Centrum Nauki Kopernik (Copernicus Science Center). As I exited the train I noticed a slight difference in style. The ceiling had changed from perforated plastic to solid sky blue. They were still doing some maintenance on the escalator. There was an old woman who couldn't speak, but wanted her picture taken. She made a beeping noise, much like beaker from sesame street, to people who passed by, and showed them at what angle she wanted the picture taken, pointing wildly and beeping at the same time. After she stopped two or three people she decided to leave, and I could hear her beeping all the way up the working escalator. I followed her and was drenched in light. The station kind of reminded me of the Pacific Science Center in Seattle. Parts of the escalator were exposed and you could examine its insides, and the sky-blue atmosphere gave the sensation of the altruism of science. Its situated near not only the Copernicus Science Center, but also five minutes by walking to one of the nicest academic institutions in the city, the BUW, or Warsaw University Library.

Two of the entrances don't have the thick glass "Ms" overhead, and I felt this a nice thought, in order to keep the feeling of openness at the station. I believe it's also probably because one of the exits brings you right to the bank of the Wisła, and a big glass structure would look out of place and ugly next to the slow moving grey calm of the river. I was ecstatic about this location, and started pondering my future excursions to the riverside.

At this point I sat down in the station and thought about the 930 meter long passage underneath the Wisła. Just above me would be the slow moving water of Poland's beating heart. Just two days before only the handful of construction workers had been able to pass underneath the historic river. Now for the first time in history everyone who bought a ticket would be able to do it.

We reached the other side of the river and exited into the largest of the seven stations. Stadion Narodowy was spacious and grass-field green. Its open space and tall ceilings were a welcome sight after the cramped enclosing space of the rest of the underground. The large pillars between the platforms are curious blossoms of concrete, and across the tracks you can see the preparation for additional metro lines still in their rudimentary stages. The exit emerged onto a desolate looking spot just on the other side of the train tracks that separate it from the main parking lot for the stadium. I thought that maybe it wasn't a good stop to get off if you feel like getting a bite to eat, but on the contrary I realized that just around the corner began one of the main roads in Praga Północ, Targowa street. Two minutes of walking and you could find almost anything you were looking for, be it a cafe or some kebab, a clothes store or some furniture.

I descended back into the green cavern, and boarded the train to the last stop on the line. The Polish accented English speaker made it clear that this was the terminus, and that everybody should leave the train. Dworzec Wileński station drops you off in the heart of Praga Północ, and next to one of my favorite buildings in Warsaw, the Polish Orthodox Cathedral of St. Mary Magdalene. It's a building that shows the beauty of Russian religious architecture, and you can admire it without having to go to Russia.

Praga is a different city in itself, historically somewhat disconnected from the more traditional center. It was the least destroyed part of the city during the war and it has an authenticity about it that makes it quite endearing. One of the best features about the district are little icons that populate many of the courtyards, many festooned with bright flowers. Finished with the line, I decided to take the rest of the day walking around the district, and I found at least five beautiful courtyard icons. Nearby was the famous Ząbkowska street, the heart of Praga Północ. A street that used to be a synonym for crime and destitution, but is now one of the trendiest places in Warsaw. It's said by many that hipster artist have been flocking to this area for the past few years, especially since its cleanup and renovation at the turn of the millennium.

On this street I found a cafe and bistro named Galeria Sztuki (Gallery of Art). I ate an excellent turkey dish with boiled potatoes, an artisan salad, and cream of leek soup for 18 PLN. As I was drinking my coffee in the rustic feeling cafe I looked out the window and marveled at how simple it was for me to get to this point. The seven stations take about 12 minutes to traverse, add another six minutes for a bus ride from my apartment, and I could be at a spot, that traditionally took me 40 plus minutes to get to, in less than 20 minutes. Warsaw is opening up now, and the possibilities are multiplying. This is an exciting time to be a Varsovian.