Warsaw

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We took yet another train from Krakow to Warsaw. The fare was relatively cheap, the train relatively modern and it only took a couple of hours.

We were staying with Apartments Apart in Warsaw. Our apartment was one of the cheaper apartments called “Piwna Yellow.” It was a modern apartment with all facilities and located in the heart of the Old Town. Not as luxurious as the apartment in Krakow but certainly provided bang for your buck.
My first port of call was checking the news at the internet café, whereby I quickly learnt that the Polish President and several high ranking military and government officials were killed in a plane crash that morning. We were about to have an interesting day…

We only had 1 ½ days to explore Warsaw so we decided to go to the Warsaw Rising Museum. This Museum was a little difficult to find, if I ever come back to Warsaw I recommend taking the hop on hop off tours. The Museum was quite possibly the best curated museum I have ever been in, it put every other museum I have been into to shame. The museum spans 4 floors with interesting ‘hands on’ exhibitions, free take away materials to read, and movies. I knew exceptionally little about the rising before entering, but after leaving I was so inspired to learn more that I bought a book on the subject. This museum is a must for all visitors to Warsaw, it really lays the framework for the history of Warsaw and the Polish people.

After leaving the Museum we were met my traffic chaos due to the death of the President. Whilst travelling on the bus, an official of some sort yelled something in Polish, and almost everyone got off…and we stayed on. After sometime we realised this was possibly not a good thing, but the hospitality and friendliness of the Poles came through for us. An elderly couple noticed our confusion and asked the remainants of the passengers for a translator. The translator told us that the streets were all closed and then gave us instructions on how to get back to our apartment. Never have I experienced people so helpful and courteous, we didn’t even have to ask for help.

We finally made it back to our hotel, which was conveniently located about 200m from the Presidental Palace and a large church. There were literally hundreds of thousands of people outside our doorstep carrying flowers and candles. This continued late into the night. Again I was amazed at the generosity of the Poles, who frequently offered me flowers or a candle to hold. The chaos was also very well managed by the Polish police.

The next day the state declared a 2 minute silence at noon....this was by no means silent. The buses stopped, the cars stopped, and little dogs were made to sit....but then the sirens sounded, horns were pushed and anything the could make the most distracting noise was implemented. Just. plain. odd.

Overall I loved Warsaw, I wished I could have explored the city more. Even though this city was destroyed in the war it still has plenty of history and character.

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Photos

Warsaw Tower
A gift from Stalin