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Ignacy Karpowicz
Writer, winner of the 2010 Polityka Passport Award in the literature category
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with two bars, a dance hall and lounge area. Rynek Antiquarian Bookseller Rynek Kościuszki 13, mon – fri: 10 am – 6 pm The bookshop offers a journey to the East through its extensive offer of Central and Eastern European literature from Belarus, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, Russia and Serbia. Additionally, the shop boasts an impressive selection of vinyl records.
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When visiting Białystok it is worth getting to know three tourist routes. The first is the wooden architecture trail. I recommend a walk to the district of Bojary >4, with beautiful old wooden houses. Here you can see and feel the pre-war climate of an Eastern Polish borderland town. It also becomes evident that brick or concrete is not necessarily better or more beautiful than wood. The next is the Esperanto and Zamenhof trail. It is worth starting from the newly-opened Ludwik Zamenhof Centre >5 (ul. Warszawska 19), which, as a new institution, is vibrant and not yet fossilized. It’s a good place to see and understand the place in which Esperanto was born.
Although an artificial language, Esperanto had noble intentions and a very interesting history. I would take my guests to the Cehowa Café (ul. Warszawska 4/6). Firstly, because they serve kiszka ziemniaczana (potato sausage) – a regional delicacy based on potatoes, and secondly, because you can still sense the old communist era. Though unattractive, Cechowa is not pretentious. Such establishments are already a rarity with the world flooded with restaurant chains and smart restaurants with sophisticated cuisine. Eating excellent food in a flashy restaurant for a lot of money has become so easy that it’s not worth recommending. But Cechowa is different.