We were greeted by bright morning sunshine in Warsaw, a marked difference from yesterday's rainy Berlin day. We headed down for the hotel's complimentary breakfast, which consisted of a surprising amount of fresh fruit, a meat-and-cheese platter, as well as the staples of bread, oatmeal, eggs, and juice. We both ate up, not knowing when we might eat again. After checking out of the hotel, we headed north, opposite the direction we had wandered the night before, on our way to our first stop of the morning - TKMaxx.
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| A small part of the hotel's breakfast spread. |
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| When they say bread - they mean bread! |
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| Warsaw's own "Stalin's Birthday Cake" |
This was not a shopping day, however; this was more to gauge how the real citizens of Warsaw spent their Saturdays. We were not dissapointed, as it seemed all of Warsaw was alive and outside, enjoying the beautiful weather. After this display of Warsaw shopping prowess, we headed to Warsaw's central market to see the city's original "shopping mall." Here, we saw numerous flower vendors, quite a few discount stalls, and some very specific stalls - ranging from types of mushrooms to cleaning supplies.
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| A subway vendor with snacks priced at around 10 cents. |
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| Some nuns were also out enjoying the flowermarket. |
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| Some of the stalls between the two main market buildings |
After we left the market, we headed east towards Warsaw's
Stare Miasto or "Old Town," the original center of Warsaw. On our way, we saw the first of several memorials to the Jews of Warsaw, who were decimated during the second World War by the Nazis:
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| A sign demarkin the boundary of the Jewish Ghetto in Warsaw. |
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| A nearby sign gives some history to the Ghetto's role in Warsaw's history. |
The Old Town was established in the 13th century, but did not survive the 20th. Therefore, all of the beautiful castles and intricate stonework we saw on display was done post-WWII, after Warsaw began to rebuild from its invasion by the Nazis. We enjoyed still more beautiful weather on the town's ramparts, and even Tabitha got in on the action:
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| Erin and James before one of the reconstructed castles in Warsaw's Old Town. |
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| Tabitha enjoys her perch high above the Old Town center. |
After leaving Old Town, we went south, passing numerous musicians and advertisements relating to music. Warsaw was the birthplace of Frederick Chopin, and this was evidenced everywhere, from museums on the topic to a large monument we visited later in the day. First, however, we stopped for a quick lunch outside the campus of the University of Warsaw and then walked down to the river to see the statue of the "Symbol of Warsaw:" the Warsaw mermaid. While the sculpture dates from 1855, the mermaid has been the symbol of Warsaw since the very early 1600's.
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| Warsaw's "Fighting Mermaid." |
Post-statue, we headed further south, climbing up to Warsaw's largest bridge and continuing on to Wilanów Palace Park. We were there to see the Chopin memorial, and in that we were successful, finding the enormous statue nestled in a garden of roses:
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| The monument to Chopin, surrounded by roses. |
We were also looking for the royal place, but after walking for what seemed like hours through the park, over several highways and numerous winding, climbing paths, we arrived instead at Belvedere Palace, one of the President of Poland's two homes:
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| Belvedere Palace, close to sundown. |
Our castle-interest satiated, we turned back to our hotel and (eventually) the train station. On our way, we hit the last of our Warsaw monuments, the "Palm Tree" on Jerozolimskie Avenue by Joanna Rajkowska, which was renovated in 2007:
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| Don't be fooled - this palm tree is all fiberglass. |
The Warsaw exploration had finished, and we picked up our bags from our hotel and made our way to the station. Our second overnight train in Europe was about to begin, but we had opted for the
couchette route this time around, a reserved sleeping bed in a shared rail car. Our travel to Warsaw really was lucky, and it turned out that we had the entire 6-bed car all to ourselves:
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| James prepares for a long night's train ride. |
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| Erin preps as well. |
We tucked in for the long trip to Prague, and even Tabitha got in on the act, wishing everyone sweet dreams:
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| We think Tabitha was the most comfortable, but as she was sleeping, we had no answer. |
