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Published: June 25th 2009
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Day 12-13 (May 14-15)
A really long travel day was next, leaving at 8.15 and arriving after 8pm in Warsaw, travelling on 3 trains. With such a late arrival we didn’t venture far (next door) for a late dinner of Lebanese food. Not really a Polish meal, but delicious all the same.
The next morning we walked across the bridge over the Vistula River, which was undergoing repairs and reinstalling the tram lines. We navigated across eventually, and saw the first escalators that had been brought to the area and a display showing how people greeted the event. Then it was on to the old town, which was different again to the others we had seen in the Baltic countries.
We learned that Warsaw had actually been flattened during WWII and the old had been completely rebuilt/restored to original using materials taken from a nearby town (which meant that that town lost their historic buildings). A hilight was seeing a house that Marie Curie had lived in before moving to France, and which was now a museum.
We heard about the uprising that the Polish people made toward the end of the war as they could see
that German defeat was imminent and the Russians were not far away, and they wanted to make a bid for freedom for their country. This struggle saw the death of many Polish people, and to their surprise and great disappointment neither the Russians or the Western allies made any attempt to help them. So after 80 odd days they surrendered.
Many who fought were sent off to death camps and so this memory of being abandoned lives strongly on in the Polish mindset even now. We saw the memorial which was donated by Germany and was the scene of the German official apology in the 90’s and then went on to the Uprising Museum. As a museum it was outstanding in the use of interactive techniques to give you a feel for the time of the second world war and the events that happened here. The sound of exploding armaments made the experience even more real.
I headed back to the hotel, as I had yet to organise my stay for the 3 days between trips. It really makes you appreciate the benefits of travelling with Intrepid when you have to spend time looking for your own accommodations.
You need to work out locations in a city you’ve never seen so you don’t find yourself totally out of the way, as well as checking out the hotels themselves (Trip Advisor site is great for this as you can read the reviews etc). Eventually, decisions were made and hotel booked for two nights.
I headed back into the old town hoping I’d be able to return to Marie Curies Museum but got there 5 minutes before it closed. So I decided to head into the new town area for a change, and saw an art deco building built by the Soviets. It was really impressive but it is not loved by the Polish because it was Russian built, so as it was not such a welcoming place I wandered back through some beautiful parklands.
I reached the monument of to the unknown soldier right on the changing of the guards which was interesting, but a little off putting as the replaced guards followed me for several blocks. I tried to find a path to the river, encountering interesting roads along the way, but a freeway stood between me and the riverside, so I headed back over the
bridge to meet the group for dinner, which tonight was in a jazz restaurant.
I liked the feel of Warsaw and again it is such a pity to leave without spending more time. I am calling my trip now an orientation tour, as I’d really like to come back and spend much more time in all the places I have visited so far.
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tezzakezza
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What a sad history and yet such a beautiful place.