1936 On the Continent

very different from the English one. George Bernard Shaw is the other English dramatist popular in Poland—in fact, some of his recent plays have had their world premières in Warsaw. With all due respect to Polish drama and your intelligent interest in it, I would not suggest that it could fill more than about two evenings if you have only a week to spare. The opera is quite good—especially the ballet, which has much in common with the famous Russian Ballet of pre-War days; light musical comedies are also performed at the opera, and in one or two other houses.
    The cinemas might offer an easy and not too tedious way of learning some Polish words. By comparing the Polish captions with the words spoken by the actors in American—for even American is more intelligible than Polish—and putting two and two together, some people have arrived at extraordinary results. Sometimes films are dubbed into Polish—and nothing could be more amusing than a familiar English actor speaking strange sounds and phrases with the greatest ease; try to imagine Jack Hulbert talking glibly about “piçkne dziewczçta i chiscy bandyci” (beautiful girls and Chinese bandits).
Smart Locales
    There are also many night cafés with dancing, such as the Adria, the Café Club, the Paradis, the pink room of the Hotel Bristol, and others. The ones named here are used to black and white ties, the difference between the two being sometimes overlooked, but they generally also tolerate lounge suits. This is only natural, as it is usual for the Poles to go there on the spur of a moment, and they might change their minds if they had to change before going.
    It is the firm belief of most people in Poland that no Londoner would dare to turn out after six otherwise than in tails, and that if he did so he would be severely reprimanded by the policeman (himself in a boiled Trenchardshirt). Besides, he would hardly be likely to do such a thing, considering that he is probably a peer or a millionaire, the two occupations most favoured by the inhabitants of London, according to current Polish opinion.
    It is fairly obvious that such ideas can only result in materially increasing the respect in which English visitors are held, so they are really all to the good. The appearance of an Englishman on the dance floor in a mere lounge suit would be as disappointing as that of a French dancer in anything at all. He would still enjoy the sympathy earned by the traditions of a long lineage of dandies; perhaps it might be better after all to keep them up in face of an audience so willing to be enthusiastic about it?
    There are also some cabarets of a different style, where the presence of a white tie might be regarded as something like a direct challenge. They are very gay places and not particularly formal.
The Seamy Side
    Generally speaking, Warsaw hardly deserves to be called a puritan city, which does not mean that it is exactly the contrary. If I have not made myself sufficiently clear, there is nothing left for you to do but to go and see for yourself what it is like. There is the Colombina, and near it, also in Jasna Street, the Caucasian Cave—a very softly furnished, not to say padded, place of amusement. Even though the Caucasian Cave is underground, the Narcyz is reputed to be “lower.” It is not advisable to invite ladies to either of these establishments, if only because the feminine element is already quite well represented in them.
    On the other hand, there is nothing in any of the last three-named night cafés to shock a woman who has had the nerve to become your wife, I don’t know whether as much can be said of the Hairych, favoured by a certain Jewish underworld element and possessed of a quite peculiar atmosphere. A good guide would inform you how to get there.
    Besides these better known places there are numbers of the so-called “dancings” all over Warsaw. The word “dancing” has become a noun and designates almost anything connected with that act. Students and youngpeople crowd them out night after night, and a visit to one of these smaller cafés might not be unpleasant at all.
    The women of Warsaw in most cases surpass their men-folk both in vestimentary and facial perfection. Statistics prove that there are more people under twenty-five in Poland than in almost any other country, and this fact could be easily confirmed by just looking round without consulting any reference books. Many young faces are seen about—most of all in the