I spent a week in Warszaw on the short mobility Design for Climate. Since I decided to opt for a Green travel option, I started my way into Warszaw on a night-bus arriving early in the morning. Despite my tiredness, some local coffee and the course quickly got me on my feet again!
The course was not traditional in the sense of classes. We spent the first day roaming around Wartszaw, looking for local examples of green city planning and climate-friendly initiatives (what we really did: tourist around town, eat good food and take pics). In our “classes” we mostly spent them on iterative design of a chosen solution (what we really did: joke around, try out exercises, pick good post-it colors). For me it ended up being a great way to absorb knowledge about both Warszaw, the places my classmates were from and about the methods for local green initiatives. The teachers were very knowledgeable, engaged and helpful throughout.
Time ran fast, and after a full day of classes I often needed to chill for a bit. Sometimes I spent that time just chilling in my hostel close to campus but Warzaw was also a great place for some running, second-hand shopping and roaming about. It was easy to get around, especially with the trams running throughout the city. Watch out though: for some buses you need to wave them down for them to stop! I made that mistake:.)
I would highly recommend doing the short mobility to anyone!
Almost every night I eventually met up with some classmates to explore Warszaw! Highlights of Warszaw were varied: everything from Jazdow eco-village (part of the course!), the Theatre Tower overlooking the city, Old Town (re-built after the second world war), a roller-coaster down a hill, Milk bars providing filling Polish food for cheap, the bar street (with one pub serving over 60 different beers!) and the modern skyscraper district.
I would highly recommend doing the short mobility to anyone! For me it was a perfect start of the autumn semester and way to explore a country I had not been in before. It also easily fit into my life as it was so short and relatively easy to plan for.