One of the three “nests” of volunteers is Gocław – a subdistrict in Praga-Połudie, in south-east Warsaw. I would like to tell you little about it.
Warsaw, like other Polish cities, has many sightseeing places, but Gocław is not of them. It’s pretty far from the city center and the old town. You won’t found there night clubs and fancy pubs, crowds of tourists, but it makes you feel like a local in Warsaw. That’s why I like Gocław.
I live in osiedle (neighborhood) Wilga. It’s a nice area with a good public transport system:
If you would like to go to Centrum you can take buses 520 and 525 from CH Promenada 01 bus stop. By the way, 525 bus goes to Warszawa Centralna railway station.
If you need a subway, the closest subway station is Politechnika. You can reach it by 502, 514, 520 and 525 buses from CH Promenada 01 bus stop or by 151 bus from Rechniewskiego 01 bus stop. It’s the closest bus stop to my house.
If you want to go to the old town you should take a 111 bus from Osiedle Wilga 02 bus stop.
If you want to see bohemian Warsaw, you should go to Praga-Północ buy 509 bus from Osiedle Wilga 02 or 3 tram from Gocławek 07 tram stop. 3 tram also goes directly to Annopol outlet center.
If you are found of reading you must go to Zygmunta Jana Rumla’s library (Biblioteka Publiczna im. Zygmunta Jana Rumla). There is the Foreign Languages Library (Wypożyczalnia Zbiorów Obcojęzycznych) where you can find some books in different languages and also some books for studing Polish. you could reach there by 123 bus from Osiedle Wilga 01 to Osiedle Jantar 01, by 213 bus from Osiedle Wilga 02 to Meissnera 01, by 168 bus from CH Promenada 01 to Meissnera 01 as well.
Wilga has a lot of places for shopping. There are Biedronka and Lidl markets, Auchan, Tesco and Decathlone supermarkets, Promenada shopping mall and others.
The main sight of Gocław is park Nad Balatonem. There are playgrounds, bandstand, terraces by the water, beach volleyball court, stream with a fountain, bridges, garden arbor, different alleys and many other things.
The main sight of the park is a sculpture of the Independent Cat Cyril (rzeźba Kota Niezależnego Cyryla). This monument is a symbol of human respect and love for animals, and it’s intended to symbolize homeless cats.
So Gocław is a nice place to live and spend free time. Serdecznie zapraszam do Gocławia!