After our delicious Polish dinner and some rest, we woke the next morning to a beautiful day!! Finally..some sun and blue sky! Of course, I was returning to the "real world" and heading back to Ostrava, but not until the evening. M & D and I had the whole day to explore more of Warsaw.
We really lucked out with the location of our hotel as it was pretty close to the old town area of the city. Walking along, we saw several plaques on buildings. These are part of the 'ghetto' trail that was developed by the Jewish Historical Institute. They outline the areas that were part of the ghetto and highlight places of significance.
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| On the building across from our hotel |
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| A series of significant battles during the Jewish Ghetto Uprising occurred here |
We passed the justice building and the main library as we walked towards the old town area.
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| Main library...complete with winged horses |
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| Justice Building |
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| Remnant of the Ghetto Wall |
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| Map showing the big and small ghettos |
We, also, passed a small remnant of the Ghetto Wall. This wall was part of the northern wall of the ghetto. Approximately 450,000 Jews were herded into a 759 acre area (actually, the area was significantly reduced over time). 100,000 died of hunger. 300,000 were eventually sent to nearby Treblinka and the awaiting gas chambers.
Why, you might ask, do I include all these facts? I don't know...I guess because I still can't wrap my head around the enormity of the brutality of the Holocaust. Maybe I never will. Maybe I shouldn't.
After a few blocks, we finally made it to Rynek Nowego Miasto, or New Town. This little area just outside the walls of the Old Town was just beginning to buzz with Sunday morning life. People were out walking their dogs, sitting at cafes with their coffees, heading to or coming back from church, and, of course, eating ice cream. Ice cream....in Europe, it's not just for dessert!!!
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| It's a bear! |
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| St. Casimir. Church |
St. Casimir's Church was founded by Mary Sobieski, wife of King Jan III Sobieski, to commemorate his victory over the Turks at the Gates of Vienna. It is baroque in style and completed in 1692. As with most buildings in Warsaw, WWII and the Nazis were not kind to the building. In 1944, the church served as a Polish field hospital. It was hit directly by a German bomb, killing over 1000 civilians, nuns, priests and soldiers who were inside. It was rebuilt after the war, and has the remains of a charred cross as a tribute to those lost.
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| St. Casimir Church |
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| Madame Curie's Museum |
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| Look close...this guy's got a nice mustache |
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| Add caption |
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| Looking towards the walls surrounding the Old Town |
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| Wait...um, what? Did we pass through some wormhole and end up in the 1940's? |
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| No, seriously, what's going on? |
So, as we walked around town, we kept seeing these soldiers walking around. In uniforms from WWII. Mostly the Polish National Army. It was quite odd. As it turns out, there was a military exhibition going on that weekend, and these 'soldiers' were passing out flyers. But it was so surreal to see...they were meeting up for a smoke, drinking water from their canteens, etc. It almost felt like being back in '40s Warsaw...you know, without all the terror, oppression, and fear.
After a stop for a rest and a beer, we entered the Old Town area. Some background first:
The Old Town (Stare Miasto) was reduced to absolute rubble by the Nazis after the Uprising. The area was completely rebuilt with buildings spanning the 13th to 20th centuries. The reconstruction was planned in a 5 year program after the war. Paintings by the Italian artist, Canaletto, are believed to have been used as examples. The architectural styles range from Gothic to Baroque and are an example of late 20th century restoration techniques. This is why, in 1980, the area was designated as a UNESCO site. (pg. 89, World Heritage Sites)
Remember Wroclaw? And how I said the city was almost completely destroyed and the remaining bricks were shipped to Warsaw? Well, this was the beneficiary of those shipments.
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| A bit of a weed-centric city, no? |
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| New and Old |
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| Cat on a ledge...cat on a ledge! |
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| Me...looking a little blurry |
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| Sryena, the mermaid |
Sryena, or the mermaid, is the symbol of Warsaw. The legend goes that Prince Kazimierz got lost on a hunting expedition in Warsaw. Rising from the marshland, a mermaid showed him the way by firing burning arrows in the direction he needed to go. Now, the mermaid is every where. The sculpture was created by Ludwika Nitschowa, who modeled the figure on the actress Krystyna Krahelska. Tragically, Krystyna was working as a field nurse on the first day of the Uprising and was mortally wounded.
We decided to stop and have lunch on the square as it was such a gorgeous day out. We picked a place outside, ordered, and proceeded to wait....wait.....wait....wait. After about an hour, we finally got our food. We continued to walk around the square, stopped for ice cream, and eventually started on the way back to the hotel as it was getting late in the afternoon.
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| A cracked cathedral bell..if you touch the top and circle it...you will have good luck! |
Ul. Kanonia is a small square that used to be a graveyard. One of the highlights of the little square is the old cathedral bell that will give you some good luck if you decide to look like an idiot circling it while hopping and touching the top. Which of course I did! And the second highlight is the house at 20/20. It is the narrowest house in the world (although there are several that are currently being built in various cities).
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| The narrowest house in the world ?! |
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| Children skipping for good luck |
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| Noo, it's not a murder...just a movie being filmed |
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| Hello Kitty is always with me.... |
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| These chaps were escaping a communion lunch |
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| Supposedly one of the most picturesque sites in Warsaw...I beg to differ |
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| Now THAT's a picturesque site!!! |
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| Part of the castle |
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| Meeting under the statue is a Warsaw tradition |
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| Zygmunt |
This statue was erected by Zygmunt's son, Zygmunt III, in 1644. It is the second oldest monument in Poland. Legend says that Zygmunt will rattle his saber if Warsaw is ever in trouble. And supposedly he did so during the 1794 Kosciuszko Uprising and during WWII. During the Uprising, Zygmunt suffered a direct hit by a bomb...and crashed off his perch. But he survived intact, only losing his sword!!
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| Mom & Dad |
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| Haha...what a Polak!! |
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| Back near the hotel |
After arriving back at the hotel, I quickly packed and had a quick bite to eat with Mom & Dad before heading off to the main train station. It was not such a sad goodbye because in a few weeks, I would be seeing M & D again.
It was a great little weekend away with my parents and, again, I'm so blessed to have parents that love to travel as I get to spend time with them and explore such wonderful places.
I find that every time I visit Poland, I find more and more things to love about it.
The train ride back to Ostrava was pretty non-eventful. I had a direct connection and it took about 6 hours. Oh, actually, one interesting note:
Initially, my cabin was full and everyone pretty much kept themselves busy reading or listening to music or sleeping. Eventually, there came a point when it was just myself and one other guy, who was in his late 20s perhaps. At one point, he took down his bag and rifled around a bit. He pulled out a rug of sorts. Rolled it out on the seat/ bench, took off his shoes....and proceeded to pray! This was a first for me. I've seen a lot of things happen on the train, but never this. After he finished, he rolled up his prayer rug, put on his shoes, and pulled out a Milka chocolate bar and offered me a piece. Nice!
This is the kind of thing that I absolutely LOVE about living abroad. It was so amazing to see such a mundane task (prayer) happen in such a mundane way. I don't want to generalize, but I feel fairly safe in saying that if this were to happen back in the States, it would be some sort of incident. People would be offended or afraid even. But here....no biggie. And I was offered some lovely chocolate!!!
Whew!!! I finished one trip. I hope I remembered everything, but I probably didn't. I've included as many pictures as I can, but not too many to bore you. I'm afraid I won't get to the second trip my parents and I took until after I return in late August. I'll try to post a few things on my trip, but let's be honest...probably not!!!
The summer is melting away....where has it gone???
We decided to stop and have lunch on the square as it was such a gorgeous day out. We picked a place outside, ordered, and proceeded to wait....wait.....wait....wait. After about an hour, we finally got our food. We continued to walk around the square, stopped for ice cream, and eventually started on the way back to the hotel as it was getting late in the afternoon. 
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