Warsaw In Your Pocket - Euro 2012 Fan Guide

We are going to do a little Euro 2012 guide for you today. We are going to take you around the city and show you some of the places that you need to know about. We will show you where the stadium is. Where we are now? We are right in the middle of the city. Wherever you come from in Europe, whether you arrive at the airport or at the train station you will end up in the centre at some point and this is the most central place. You've got the central station here, the Marriot building just across the road, the Palace of Culture to our left and about 3km straight down Aleja Jerozolimskie, across the Vistula River is the National Stadium where the matches are being played. But before we look at those, let's get ourselves kitted out in the shopping centre behind us here. Here we are, what do we need? I'll take a cap. White or red? Let's take a home shirt. I am kitted out, come on. Ok, I am ready. This is the Palace of Culture. This is THE building that you can see from all over Warsaw. Legend has it that you can see it from 30km away. This is famously Stalin's present to the Polish people. Built in the 1950s, it contains over 3000 rooms. And you need to know about this building because it's the centre of Warsaw, it's your landmark. It's where you can orientate yourself from. This is Warsaw's fanzone. There is room here for 100.000 football supporters. There are grandstands, large screens relaying the matches. There is a McDonald's, there are local food stalls, there are Carlsberg bars... There's a passion meter where you can measure and demonstrate that you are the loudest supporter at the fanzone. There are beer fountains, there's everything. This is ‘Ground Zero’ in Warsaw for the duration of Euro 2012. Running through the tournament in the Palace of Culture is an exhibition about international and Polish football. And on top of that you can take a lift to the 30th floor which costs 20 zlotys and from there you can see all around Warsaw and across the Vistula Valley. Let's go and take a look. It is worth remembering that Poland has a rich football heritage. Probably the greatest team in Polish history was during the 70s & 80s. Famously the 70s team were known as Gorski's Eagles. This team is immortalized in Poland. They are honoured and Poland dreams of the day it can have another team as good as this one. So 20 zlotys brings you up in the lift to the 30th floor here on the Palace of Culture where there is a viewing terrace from where you can see right across Warsaw. You can see the Old Town. Across on the other side of the Vistula River you can see the National Stadium decked out in the red and white colours of Poland. Let's go and take a trip over there now. There are 3 main ways you can get to the stadium. N°1 By train: there is a train station in the shadow of the Palace of Culture. Not the main train station but the city centre station (Śródmieście) where you will be directed down onto the platforms. N°2 On foot: the road will be closed on match days and you can walk the 2.5km to the stadium. Or N°3 By tram, and this is the option we're taking, the city tram which goes straight down and will get you there in about 5 minutes. Here we are at the National Stadium. There's room for 58.000 supporters here and nearly 1000 journalists. It's been built specifically for Euro 2012 on the site of what used to be the 10th Anniversary Stadium. That stadium was built in the 50s. The only thing remaining from those days is the relay statue over there. In 1968 a Pole called Ryszard Siwiec burnt himself alive to protest at the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia. That's probably one of the saddest moments in modern Polish history. And this stadium represents a whole new start for this place and a whole new start for Warsaw and this country. This is a real 'landmark moment' in Poland's history. If you are not lucky enough to have one of the tickets to come and see a game here, we recommend you go and watch it in the fanzone back there in the centre of Warsaw. But quite frankly, you'll be finding the game everywhere. Every bar, garden, restaurant, café are going to have screens up and this country is going to go football mad for 30 days. 4, 3, 2, 1 - Polskaaaaaaaaaaaa!