Poland looks to economic heights in a country transformed since Soviet days
Source: The Guardian ·
In the final part of our series on the country, Poles tell how wages have soared – along with the cost of livingAbove the rain-soaked streets of Warsaw, the observation deck of the Varso tower overlooks Joseph Stalin’s gift to Poland that has divided opinion for decades.For some, the Soviet-era Palace of Culture and Science is a drunk confectioner’s nightmare; standing as a relic of oppression…
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Above the rain-soaked streets of Warsaw, the observation deck of the Varso tower overlooks Joseph Stalin’s gift to Poland that has divided opinion for decades. For some, the Soviet-era Palace of Culture and Science is a drunk confectioner’s nightmare; standing as a relic of oppression that should have been demolished. For others, it is an icon on the skyline and a monumental warning from history. For the managers of the Varso – completed four years ago, as the tallest building in the EU – with its 310m-high spire rising symbolically above its Stalinist neighbour, it is a waypoint on Poland’s rapid path to economic prosperity. “We look down on it,” says Cezary Błaszczyk, the managing director of HB Reavis in Poland, which owns the tower, gesturing at the palace opposite. A few months ago a slackline walker traversed the 500m gap between the buildings. “It was a symbolic walk from the past to the future,” says his colleague Natalia Kasperska. “Since we are higher and taller than the…