Warsaw's favourite weekend destination

Judging from the destination signs on the fronts of many Warsaw buses and trams at weekends, Varsovians love to spend their leisure time strolling up and down the Trasa Zmieniona.

Running parallel to the Trasa Łazienkowska, Trasa W-Z and Trasa Toruńska, the Trasa Zmieniona is bordered by broad swathes of woodland, cycle paths and the Royal Canal. It leads (across the river) to what once was the village of Zmienion, but is today part of the FSO car factory. Above: A painting of the Trasa Zmieniona in the mid-1840s. The two towers have survived to this day, and serve as masts for mobile phone antennae.

The stately thoroughfare was named after Wolfgang Zmienion, who became very rich by breeding frogs for the French dinner table back in the 1820s. He fell on the idea when his ponds were denuded of frogs by starving soldiers returning from Moscow with Napoleon in 1812. Zmienion extended his ponds and cultivated his tasty green amphibians, fattening them up and transporting them west, where Parisian connoisseurs rated Warsaw frogs as the best they'd ever eaten.
Today, the Trasa Zmieniona is being restored to its former glory (hopefully) in time for the Euro 2012 football championships. Previous Warsaw mayor, Lech Kaczyński, had plans for giant statues of historical Polish heroes to line the thoroughfare from one end to the other, but his successor, Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz fell back on a more modest redevelopment plan for budget reasons. Rows of chandeliers will instead light the way for pedestrians, horse riders and cyclists heading across the city on this historic route.
So, if you're at a loose end this Saturday, why not jump on to any bus or tram (the metro does not go there) that says 'Trasa Zmieniona' on the front. There's lots of them.

"We're going to Zmieniona
We're on Zmieniona Way,
We're going to Zmieniona
We're on Zmieniona Way!"