Wonderful, Wonderful Warsaw!

Apologies to Walt Disney and Danny Kaye!  Copenhagen isn't the only wonderful city...or wonder filled!

Warsaw, the largest and most important city, in Poland is its capital proudly standing along the Vistula River.  But V in Polish is pronounced as W.....so the locals tell you its name or refer to it with a wink and a grin.  Although more than 85% of the elegant city was flattened, destroyed, wiped off the face of the map during World War II, it currently looks as though it had never seen the ravages of war at all.  This is thanks to the careful restoration according to original plans and photographs and the use of rescued bricks and salvaged elements left in the wreckage.  The entire Old Town, which in reality is younger than I am, restored in the 1950's, is a UNESCO World heritage Site.  I often mention these sites so in case you do not know what this means, let me explain.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization designates and supports financially and with expertise places it deems to be remarkable in their contribution to mankind.  Once a site is identified and helped to be preserved it then has the obligation to become and remain authentic to the reason it is so named.  It can be complicated but the financial support makes all the hoops that have to be jumped through worthwhile!

Warsaw as a UNESCO World Heritage Site - you can find more information and pictures here.  Let me just say that it is beautiful and such a pleasure to visit.

Remembrances of World War II are everywhere!

 This marks the train depot used to deport the Jews from the Ghetto.

A hero.

The day we arrived our friends Traci and Ross and we walked the short distance from our Hotel Sofitel to the junction where the Old Town meets the New Town.  It was also razed during the Warsaw Uprising of  1944.  It now is the home of the University, the Copernicus Center, the Chopin Museum and many shops and restaurants, as would be any university town.  The Old Town stretched out to our left and we headed that direction on the advice of the Concierge.  Actually, not the best choice for us as far as finding dinner but a beautiful walk down as far as the old castle.

We found ourselves in Castle Square.  Like all things in Old Town, it was rebuilt based on paintings, drawings, and unearthed original architectural plans.  The Sigismund's column is the oldest and tallest monument having been erected in 1644.  The notable reason celebrated is the moving of the capital from Krakow to Warsaw. 

At the Gothic Bridge we looked out over the lights of the lower city and across the river.  Little did we know we would later be seeing all that up close and personal.  The futbal stadium glimmered and shone  in the near distance as a game was being played. This bridge was only rediscovered in 1977 when the castle and the square were being dug out and reconstructed after WWII.  We could see the remains of the Krakow gate in the cobbles.

Ladies praying for something.  Not sure if it was happy or angry!  

This is outside the Presidential Palace. 

This church was empty at night but the next morning was crowded with Palm Sunday Mass attendees.  The statue is of the now St. John Paul.  

The building reminds me so much of a music box I had as a child that played the Ave Maria!

The next day as we toured with our Viking guide we discovered around the corner and sort of behind the Castle the enormous Market Square.  Dating back to the 13th century is is still used as a market place but also with restaurants and artists. The centerpiece of the square is the Mermaid Fountain.  And yes, much like Copenhagen, a Mermaid is the folklore heroine of this riverside city!

The Old Town has so many churches and all were very busy this weekend as we wandered around.  It was the start of Holy Week and instead of palms being carried in procession to and from the church everyone from the smallest child to the oldest Dziadziu (Grandfather - pronounced 'jah-deck') had small, colorful, bouquets of dried flowers.  Most had just a sprig of palm in them and a little wheat stalk.

There are lots of underground passages that are preserved.  You can follow a route that leads from house, to store, to church and all along the way.  Once they served as cellars and storerooms.  Most importantly the hidden treasures of Poland survived the devastation of the War.  In some cases the insurgents were able to hide those the Nazi's most sought after.

A sweet portrayal in bronze of The Little Insurgent  remembers the youngest fighters of the Rising of 1944.  In 2004 the Warsaw Rising Museum opened on the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the fighting to save Warsaw from the not only the Germans but the impending arrival of the Soviets.  The resistance was timed to hasten the German retreat and to free themselves before the Soviets could arrive to do it.  They wanted to prove their sovereignty and not be dependent on the rescuers. They feared the Russian domination, and as it proved to be, justifiably so!

 The Littlest Insurgent.

Although the Red Army was just outside the city on that hot August 1, they held up their advance against the Germans to let the Poles battle it out for themselves.  By the end of 63 days of hand to hand combat and dying in the streets, the Germans totally razed the city and retreated.  The Soviet Army 'came to the rescue' of the ruined lives of the Polish People and kept them under their Red thumbs until 1989!  More than 40 years of virtual slavery.  Although President Roosevelt tried to quell the battle in 1944 the Allies failed dramatically in Poland.

The museum was interactive and most amazing and moving.  Our guide gave us so much information and as we spent a couple of hours in the darkened confines of the old warehouse we learned so much and even had a feeling of what the people of Warsaw must have experienced.  When you are in Warsaw, do not miss it!  I knew little of this history but have added to my knowledge since my return with this website.  Warsaw Uprising

After all our new friends from Viking left on Sunday morning for the airport and their return flights home Elva and I still had two more full days to explore further.  We missed them all after such a long time together but knew that we were combining the best of both worlds.  Two nights in Warsaw before a short flight to Paris and one night there before joining European Journey Part Two, which you have already read about.

The New Town met the Old Town exactly where the street our hotel was on met the them both!  A half block walk and then the decision had to be made: go left to the Old and right to the New!  The Sofitel is in a wonderful location.  With a very good and inexpensive restaurant, perfect for people watching right there at the juncture.

The New Town dates back to the 14th century!  It was also totally destroyed by the Germans and was reconstructed in the same manner.  As might be expected of a 'new town' recognized in 1408 it is the cultural and learning center of Warsaw.  The University takes much of the square footage of the city here.  The classical buildings are typical of European colleges everywhere.  Here also is the Copernicus Institute with the solar system honored by a scale representation in the pavement outside the doors.  Madame Curie is honored with her own museum recognizing the contributions of this petite Polish born scientist at a time when most women were not educated beyond the needs of home-making.  Down the street and around the corner is the Chopin Museum.  This was so interesting.

Frederic Francisco Chopin is truly Warsaw's favorite son.  His life took him into the salons and parlors of the wealthy and aristocratic as early as the young age of  seven after giving his first public concert!  His home lies outside of the city and had we researched better before leaving home we would have know that we could have visited it by public transportation.  As it was the museum filled us in on his life and shared with us and the many students there glimpses of his greatness.

 Franz Listz piano.

 Chopin was not a very large man as his coat demonstrated.

 The museum was housed in one of the mansions he once frequented.

 Chopin's piano in a setting reminiscent of a salon where he would have performed.

The hallway of the mansion as we exited. 

All throughout Warsaw there are marble benches at places that Chopin was known to visit or to perform.  These benches mark the Chopin trail and have buttons that you push to here his music play.  So neat an idea and fun to try to find and examine as many as you can.  In the Lazienski Royal Park there is a beautiful fountain and a statue dedicated to his music.  The statue appears to be Chopin under a lost in the music that a rustling willow tree would make.

By the age of 21 Chopin had settled in Paris to be with his lover and companion Georges Sand.  She was a prolific French novelist.  His good friend Franz Liszt was also represented in the museum as the favored pianos of both men are on display here and salon-like settings.  Many students and music lovers were listening through headphones to Chopin's music and using silent keyboards to practice.  The museum of the life of this musical genius who died at the early age of barely 39 is quite worth your time when you visit.  Know more about Chopin here.


We stayed pretty close to our home base since, as I said, I had not done my research.  And because there was still so much to see and do.  The square across from the hotel featured the tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  The changing of the guard was interesting but even more so was the induction of the third year military school into the position of Officers of the Polish Army.  Proud families gathered to watch the military band lead the procession of the some hundred and fifty new officers into the square.  Many mothers were happy to keep us apprised of what was going on in the ceremony.

Another interesting happening right across the street on another corner was the memorial commemorating the death of the President of Poland, his family, and 94 members of the government.  All of their pictures were on display on the government offices and we watched them erect a new statue in honor of the dead.  The Polish people blame the Russian government and Soviet air Force for the fatal crash of the Presidential jet.  Others think it was a suicide flight for the pilot.  Some say the President over-rode the pilot's decision to not land in a heavy fog which led to the tragic demise of an entire government in 2010.  At the dedication of the statue there were bands, speeches, and counter protesters and the waving banners of Solidarity on the fringes of both groups.  Mystery of the Polish government plane crash.

 The banner with the blue stripe on it is the one for Solidarity!

 You can see the photos along the top of the government office of the lost members. 

 Just like here someone will sell you a way to participate.

As we tried to go around the demonstration at the square we stumbled into one after another in the surrounding streets.  Many had giant screens also showing what was going on at the other sites.

The anniversary is memorialized every year.  But in some ways it was like a celebration although people we talked with were clear that it was a sad day.  We did see the current President and First Lady dressed in mourning and leaving their residence for the evening speeches.  Remarkably we were walking down the sidewalk and cut behind the photographers and were in  arms reach of the dignitaries and no one questioned our presence.

All we were trying to do was go to the Old Town for dinner at the place that Traci and Ross said had the best apple pancakes.  As we tried to bypass the various news trucks and alternate demonstrations and giant screens showing all the proceedings we were almost run down by a guy who thought he had lucked into a parking space.  He threw the car in reverse and hit the gas!  As he roared backwards down the street and careened onto the edge of the sidewalk before landing in the space, the local cop casually sauntered toward him and handed him a souvenir of the expensive ticket kind!

Meanwhile, we thought that since the city is pretty much laid out in a grid we could navigate to the far side of the crowds.  Nope!  We ended up though on a beautiful walk high above the lower city and on a narrow woodsy path behind the university.   When we came out we were far into New town and right where my favorite patisserie is!  But, alas and alack, they were out of the plum cake I had dreamt about since first knowing we would be in Warsaw again.

 Found ourselves overlooking another part of the city, more modern.

 Left behind by the homeless perhaps or partying college students.

 Graffiti behind the university buildings.

It was warming up so lawn chairs and drinks were in order at this intersection!

Our dinner plans were thwarted in both directions and as we walked back to the hotel we stopped in the Bier Hall at the corner of our hotel street.  A booth by the window provided a view of the passing parade, so to speak.   Elva ordered Goulash, really just a very thick and chunky giant bowl of stew,  and wine while I had a plate sized Schnitzel and potatoes and a cold Coke Light.  The total bill with tip translated to $13 and some odd cents!

Back at the hotel I swam in the most beautiful pool ever.  The setting was like something from a grace Kelly movie.  Dim lights, banana shaped rattan lounges, candle light, softly changing water colors, and I, were all reflected in the mirrored ceiling!

The next day we started at the Palace of Culture and Science which was Joseph Stalin's 'gift' to Warsaw and identical or very similar to the one in Moscow and in so many of the cities the Russians 'liberated.'  In reality it was Stalin's way over thumbing his nose at the peoples subjugated.  At the end of the war the people's first instinct was to take the building to the ground as the Germans had done to their city.  But cooler heads prevailed.  The building houses theaters, auditoriums, libraries, sports clubs, and classrooms.  All of these in the plural!  It is known as the Eighth Sister as there are seven others around Europe.  The building towers over the landscape and is the tallest building on the continent of Europe. "It is 237 metres (778 ft) tall, including the structural 43-metre high spire."  Read about it here.

The view of the Palace of Culture and Science at night!

We followed these remarkable views from the viewing platform with a bus trip to the National Museum.  Elva loves museums and  has endless patience for them.  I am more of a breeze through and stop at what might catch my eye kind of museum-goer.  This museum, however, was stunning.  Elva was surprised beyond belief as she had no idea that it would hold such treasures.  The medieval and renaissance art alone was stunning.  But it turned out to have a piece that Elva was particularly interest in.  We almost saw it the first time we were in the wing that housed the Battle of Grunwald.  The wall sized painting was at the end of a space we were in just as we decided to take a lunch break.  We trekked through the museum and backtracked through some of the galleries before again finding it.  I am definitely a better person for traveling with Elva!  You can have an audio/visual tour of the museum here. 

 A Rodin self portrait.

 Rodin's very famous THE KISS!

Read about the Polish Hamlet here!

 

We wanted to go to the outlying areas of Warsaw across the Vistula and took our bus from the front of the museum on our next day.  We rode the bus and weren't sure where to get off it and overshot our goal.  but we worked our way back and down some lovely residential streets to the big park where we ate our picnic lunch.  The place was filled with kids on skateboards, old men on bicycles, and ladies chattering away like anywhere else in the world.  Before we returned to the hotel by catching a bus near the futbal stadium we commented to each other, once again, how fortunate we are to be able to see all these wonderful places while we are still young enough to enjoy them.  Certainly said with tongue firmly in cheek but so appreciative of good travel companions and our personal stamina!

Walking back to the hotel from the bus stop made us appreciate this whole journey!

Our last morning in Warsaw dawned blustery, cloudy, and cold.  We set out to once again have apple pancakes.  And once again - no success!  The place didn't open until ten and we were hungry and after walking back to Old Town we were quite cold.  We tried a few places but apparently in Warsaw breakfast in a restaurant is not something you are expected to do.  We stopped in a Starbucks like coffee shop.  Elva had coffee and quiche while I had my usual tea served in a nicely large pot and a quite good muffin. We soon set out back to the hotel to gather our things and after fiddling around awhile were ready early for our ordered cab to collect us for the airport.
 

We walked to the far end of Old Town before settling on a coffee shop for breakfast.  

Nothing was open.

We went into the castle courtyard to get out of the wind for a bit.  Large and stark.  We decided not to pay the fee to visit the interior as we were leaving for Paris soon.

As we waited in the lobby for the doorman to call us and carry our bags we noticed a great many, maybe 20 or so, well dressed men and women also preparing to leave.  We recognized that they had been at the commemorative ceremonies and the dedication of the new statue.  Feeling quite under dressed and a bit slovenly we made our escape.  On the way to the airport we passed the hotel near there that we had stayed in our first time in Warsaw.  We had had only an overnight in order to fly from Odessa to Bucharest a few years ago.  Warsaw holds many good memories for us both and I think we would not hesitate to go there again.  Next time we will widen our horizons and go to the outlying points of interest.   I hope some day that you all will also be able to visit the Varsovians - the people of Warsaw!

Guess we will be escorted out of town!