Signs of Spring:
Urban Greens & Gastro Parks Marconi’s fountain at the centre of Saxon Garden.
The Poles have a rather corny turn of phrase that always comes to mind this time of year: Wiosna, ach to ty! (Spring, ahh, it’s you!). Immortalised in song by popular tunesmith Marek Grechuta, despite being an absolutely ridiculous exclamation, this saying aptly captures the collective ecstasy all Poles feel when the long, gloomy winter gives way to spring’s natural rebirth and cultural awakening. After a sort of societal hibernation, and none more protracted than the last two years thanks to COVID-19, suddenly (ach!) flowers and beer garden umbrellas are in bloom, temperatures and hemlines are on the rise, merchants, musicians and melodies fill the public squares, couples are caterwauling along the boulevards, events are back on, the capital is bursting with energy and simultaneously basking in its release. It’s certainly a great time to travel, but why visit an urban centre full of glass and concrete when you could choose one of the greenest cities on the European continent instead? Warsaw, ach to ty! 10
Urban Parks & Greenery The 2018 Travelbird Green Cities Index ranked Warsaw as the 12th greenest city in the world, while the Husqvarna Urban Green Space Index ranks Warsaw 18th out of 171 European cities; the only cities of over 1 million inhabitants that did better were Prague, Hamburg and Munich. With 51% of the city covered in greenery for an average of 134.4m2 of green space per resident, Warsaw well exceeds the likes of New York City (19m2) or Paris (a pathetic 9.8m2), despite the two metropolises having iconic urban parks. Though they may not be as famous, Warsaw is home to its share of iconic parks as well, so let’s take a look at the best places in the capital to celebrate spring, and do some sightseeing while we’re at it.
