Digital Wanderer

We live as long as we fly

☰

Vietnam — 1, departure and arrival in Warsaw

2011-05-10

I think we took off at 6:20 AM. First, we had to get to the airport with the bike; here my friend Yura helped me out with his Audi hearse — everything fit perfectly. At 5 AM the LOT ticket counter opened and we could pay for the bike. Generally, a bike on LOT counts as sports equipment weighing over 15 kg and under 30, and carrying it costs 80 euros one way. But Anna sweet-talked the cashier, and he agreed that if we packed the bikes so they weighed under 15 kg, they’d only charge us 40 euros each, like for light sports equipment.

A night scene with two people next to large cardboard boxes and a white car. Yellow-blue bicycle bags are lying on one of the boxes. 

The bikes in boxes arrived at "Riga" airport

In a brightly lit airport hall, a woman with a backpack walks past large luggage spread out on the floor, including several backpacks, a sleeping bag, and two large cardboard boxes, presumably for bicycles. In the background, three men are sitting by a panoramic window, one of them with a bright headlamp on his chest. 

Our stuff, people are staring at us spellbound

 

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Intars and Anna are shifting things from box to box.

A group of travelers with numerous backpacks and large cardboard boxes, from which a bicycle wheel peeks out, stands in an airport terminal. 

Everyone's here

Here I should say that modern sports bikes weigh from about 10 (very expensive) to 15 kg (cheap). If the bike has touring gizmos like a rear rack, it very briskly runs over 15 and approaches 20, which is why a lot of airlines still have a 20 kg weight limit for transporting bikes.

In the end, we tossed the excess into Intars' large box, and made our boxes 15 kg each. This let us save a pretty penny — 80 euros for the three of us. On the way back we didn't get such a sweet deal, but more on that at the end.

We got the bike boxes from bike shops; they are just the cardboard boxes they're sold in. You can also put the bike in a special bike bag (expensive, and doesn't guarantee against damage), pack it in trash bags with duct tape (easy to buy anywhere, cheap, or you can even carry them with you), or in a transparent bag like this one. I keep eyeing that last option, because then the loaders see there's a bike inside and treat it more carefully. The bag is durable and reusable, and is inexpensive on its own, though you'd still have to pay for shipping to us, which makes it a bummer.

By the way, the bike panniers have to be tied together, put in a trash bag, and wrapped in duct tape so they count as a single piece of luggage.

View from inside an airport bus to the apron where AirBaltic planes are parked. Through the large windows, you can see their white fuselages and characteristic green tail stabilizers. 

The bus to the plane drove us all alone, in comfort, hehe (because we were late)

Two people in an airplane cabin. A man in a red sweater is smiling, while the person sitting in front of him holds a croissant; a red cup with a drink is on the tray table. 

The flight to Warsaw is only an hour, but even so they feed you and give you a piece of candy

As for the boxes, Intars' was absolutely huge, which caused issues during the scanner check, since it isn't designed for that size. In the end, Intars had to unpack the box so the official could inspect the contents visually.

While all this was going on, we realized our flight was departing soon, and our names were even called over the airport PA system as late passengers.

Another unpleasant incident happened at the personal belongings check: they found a 15mm wrench in my carry-on, which I had used to unscrew the pedals, and a bicycle multitool (universal tool). According to the idiotic rules of our airport, craftsman's tools! are forbidden in carry-on luggage. Never mind that the multitool is smaller than a pack of cigarettes and has nothing to do with craftsmen — they wanted to confiscate it too. Ultimately, they only took the wrench (a good Polish chrome-vanadium wrench) and gave the multitool back. I guess I should be thankful for that.

We were flying through Warsaw; what's more, we arrived early in the morning and were flying out late in the evening. Meaning we had a whole day. We used it to explore the city, especially since the weather was beautiful and sunny, except it could have been a little warmer.

An Oracle advertising poster with the text '20 of the 20 Top Consumer Goods Companies' and the slogan 'Get Better Results With Oracle'. At the bottom of the banner is the Oracle logo on a wide horizontal red stripe.

The Empire of Shmoracle is even here

Everything in Warsaw is clean and pretty, the automation is top-notch, the old town is beautiful (especially at 8 AM when no one is there yet), and they speak good English in the service industry.

A bright yellow transit card validator attached to a metal handrail inside a Solaris bus. It is equipped with a screen, a tap area for a card, and a red button at the bottom. 

A bus ticket in zone 1 costs about a dollar (2.80 zlotys).

Bus 175 to the center takes maybe 20-30 minutes. How to get there and what to buy were explained to us at the airport info center. Tickets can be single-use or multi-use, and they are sold in vending machines (which take cards) and shops (where you can only pay for them with cash)

A bright multi-story building with a facade painted in segments of pastel colors: pink, light blue, brown, and yellow. A glass dome is visible on the roof, and at the base is a city street with trees and cars under a clear blue sky.

A cutely painted building

A smiling man in a blue jacket and red t-shirt stands on a city street, holding several cups of yogurt. Storefronts and light-colored buildings are visible behind him. 

They are giving away yogurt on the streets, Intars grabbed a bunch

A checkered piece of paper with a drawn red circle symbolizing the flag of Japan and the inscription '# SING IT FOR JAPAN!' is taped to a black pole on a city street. 

I checked why "sing" — found a song by the pop-punk band My Chemical Romance, and a charity with that name

An outdoor flower stall with bright tulips, pussy willows, and other spring flowers, as well as a decorative straw hare, is located on a paved street. A man seen from behind is examining the assortment against the backdrop of city shops.

Looks like he's answering the call of nature in the bushes

A gray round street planter with bright orange and yellow pansies stands on a paved sidewalk by the road, next to a part of another similar planter.

In Warsaw there are flowers in planters everywhere. Very cute

 A metal street lantern with a large house number 79 on the glass, mounted on the light facade of a building.

House numbers are old-school style, but backlit with an energy-saving bulb

A dark information panel pointing to Łazienki Park, with the word 'PLAY' and two QR codes for downloading multimedia, located on the sidewalk. 

In the old town there are high-tech benches. They have text about Chopin, a map of the streets where he lived and relaxed, they play music if you press a button, and on top of that they are plastered with QR codes

A vertically oriented dark gray map of Warsaw with white street lines and contours of landmarks, including Piłsudski Square and Castle Square. One object on the map is highlighted in orange. 

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Also a cute decorative element

A close-up of a weathered stone sculpture of a male head with a thick curly mustache and beard. The man's mouth is open in a wide smile, showing his teeth.

The facial expressions on the bas-reliefs are curious

 A shaped flowerbed with yellow and blue flowers on a manicured lawn, surrounded by green shrubs. In the background, a park alley with trees and city buildings.

Besides the flower planters, there are lots of flowerbeds too

A group of Polish military personnel in various types of uniforms, including dress and camouflage, stands on a city square. In the center of the frame, two soldiers in camouflage gear and berets are passing an assault rifle to each other. 

There are military guys

A person in a red t-shirt and a helmet rides a blue-and-silver bicycle with a bag across a pedestrian crossing. In the background, a large paved square with a white arch and trees stretches out. 

Brother cyclists

A spacious paved city square, framed on the right by a modern building with a glass facade and a curved roof, and on the left by a row of classical buildings, all under a clear blue sky. 

Squares and modern architecture

A starling with speckled plumage stands on green grass with patches of bare earth under the bright sun. A person's shadow is visible below. 

Parks and their wildlife

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Trees and grass

A woman on a jog moves along a path in a sunny park past a stone statue on a pedestal. 

Healthy lifestyle enthusiasts

A 'Saxon Garden' information stand with a map and description is located in the foreground, and behind it, under a blue sky, rises a large classical building with columns. 

Signs and info boards in English

A monumental neoclassical theater building with columns on the facade and a large poster for the opera 'Turandot'. In front of the building, a green lawn, sidewalk, and passersby are visible against a clear blue sky. 

Ads masquerading as the Bodies Revealed exhibition

Two bronze Buddha heads on pedestals in front of an entrance decorated as a tent with bright red curtains, in the courtyard of a classical building with columns. 

Fake bits of Asia

A light blue fire hydrant with peeling paint and stickers, including "HAWLE AUSTRIA", stands in the foreground. In the background, a flowerbed with young green sprouts and bushes is visible. 

Hydrants (Lebedev-style)

In the foreground is a city street with green bushes and parked cars. On the left is a gray multi-story building, in the center is a unique building with a geometric pattern of triangles on its facade, and on the right is a white classical building with columns. 

Interestingly painted buildings again

A black metal parking bollard with a yellow spherical top covered in scuffs of black paint, against a tiled sidewalk. 

And interestingly painted bollards

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Stylized eateries

A narrow paved street built up with old colorful houses with many windows and satellite dishes. In the foreground, a person is washing a window, and parked cars are visible in the distance. 

And old houses plastered with satellite dishes

A view of a street with a high brick wall, behind which the historical buildings of the Old Town can be seen, including a yellow church with a green dome. In the foreground is a road with a red taxi and flower planters under a clear blue sky.

There's also a huge, gorgeous Old Town, but photos of it are in the next part

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