21 AUG 2010 - Warsaw, Poland

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Day 4 - Warsaw, Poland

After getting in late Friday night, both Mom and I slept great! As usual Mom woke up with the sunrise and got ready and went down to breakfast before I even awoke. I got up at 8am and got showered and ready for the day. I stopped by the breakfast buffet and then met my Mom at the orientation meeting we were having in the hotel discussing the rest of the tour. Helina talked about where we were going on what days and the optional tours we could sign up for were also discussed. I'm taking 3 optional tours and Mom is only taking 2. The one Mom is not doing is the Salt Mine tour outside of Krakow...they said there is alot of walking down stairs and Mom thinks it would be too much for her. After the orientation we got a little break to go back up to the room and get our things for the upcoming city tour of Warsaw.

Most of us needed to get zlotys (the currency in Poland) since we just arrived in the country late the night before. So a few of us ventured to find an ATM and some people had luck and some people did not get any money. The I found another ATM and told some tour people to come down the street. After helping a few people and then running to the market for water I barely made it onto the bus in time. The market was packed...alot of people doing their weekly shopping. At 11am we boarded the bus out front of our Radisson hotel and met our local guide for the day, Sophie. She talked alot about the destruction of WWII during the day and pointed out that more than 75%!o(MISSING)f the cities buildings were destroyed during WWII. Sometimes she would point out if the buildings were authentic or were they reproductions in order to look like the original based on photos and drawings which were saved. The first stop we made was at the Royal Lazienski Royal Palace and Gardens. We went into the gardens to see a statue dedicated to Frederic Chopin.

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