2022 in Poland (stopover in Warsaw)
On the morning of October 1, 2022, I took a flight from my home airport in Toronto (YYZ) to Chopin International Airport (WAW, Polish: Lotnisko Chopina Warszawa) in Warsaw, Poland as a brief stopover en route to Sofia, Bulgaria (SOF) for a tour of the Balkans. The plane landed on the tarmac and gave us the opportunity to step on firm Polish ground. Thus, Poland became my 20th unique country visited, although I would not actually do any sightseeing here.
This made it my:
- 1st time in Poland
- 1st time in a Slavic-speaking country
- 1st time in a former Eastern Bloc country
- furthest east destination (aside from China and Japan) to date
With the little time I spent at this airport, and this being late 2022, I did see Ukraine flags everywhere. It occurred to me then that I set foot on a country bordering both Russia and Ukraine.
Reflection
I did not actually go outside the airport and visit Warsaw, as I felt I would save Poland for a future visit. The country deserves a separate trip (or trips) altogether!
(I would also briefly stopover at the same airport on October 10, 2022, from my flight from Sofia, Bulgaria, to go back to my home in Toronto, Canada.)