Poland

Warsaw might not impress at first sight. Though the tourist-haunted old town is UNESCO enlisted, most buildings needed to be rebuilt after WWII. Outside the old town, Warsaw is an odd mix of imposing 19th centuries mansions, Soviet-era 'masterpieces', tired workers' apartment blocks and sparkling new glass'n'steel business towers. Nowhere is this more evident than around the 'Palace of Culture and Science' which was a hard-to-decline present from the USSR. Its 231 m still make it the tallest building in Poland, but the modern skyscrapers around it are getting higher and higher every year. The amount of black luxury SUVs in the streets indicate that many are surfing the capitalism wave, leaving solidarity to the past. But Warsaw is still raw and full of lovely places with cheap beers, vodka and hearty food served through a hole in the wall.