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Warsaw: City overview

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Warsaw is a city on the rise -- the capital of a progressive and dynamic western-orientated democracy, more comfortable with the EU than it ever was with the USSR. Destroyed during World War II and rebuilt but hardly rehabilitated after 1945, Warsaw existed in Moscow's shadow -- a metaphor set in concrete with the erection of the Russian-built Palace of Culture and Science, a brooding symbol of Poland's status as a Soviet client state. Now a new city of steel and glass office blocks and streamlined hotels is rising. Multinational brands dominate advertising hoardings. Signs of affluence -- German cars, mobile phones - are everywhere. This is a city still in the first flushes of romance with globalization. The social scene has also flourished and diversified. Hip hangouts, bohemian club nights and cosmopolitan cocktail lounges have entered the fray alongside old-fashioned vodka dens and basement dives. Amid the forest of cranes and skyscrapers, it's still possible to see glimpses of another city behind the boomtown façade. Look down instead of up and the pavements are cracked. Beyond the renovated center, many Varsovians endure tough existences in crumbling, graffiti-daubed post-war apartment blocks that were always more soulless than socialist. Illicit cigarettes and vodka and pirate DVDs are the visible tip of a shadowy underworld culture that still dominates dark corners of the city. Yet, the Polish capital is finally looking forward to a bright future, rather than dwelling on its tragic history.



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