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Published: August 6th 2014
The six and a half hour train trip from Berlin to Warsaw was an easy way to travel between the two cities. Our hotel was near a lovely street full of outside eating restaurants that seemed to be busy well into the evening. We arrived on the 1st of August when the people of Warsaw pay hommage to the fallen heroes that fought for freedom in 1944 during the Warsaw Uprising. The rebellion against German Nazi occupation during WWII cost over 200,000 lives and destruction of the capital. We were walking in the city when at 5pm the sirens blasted for one minute's silence, everything stopped moving including people walking in the streets, the buses and cars. We noticed people on the buses stood during the minute silence to pay their respect, it was very moving to be there to witness this event.
Ron and I also walked to the Palace of Culture and Science, the tallest building in Poland and the eighth tallest building in the European Union. The building was conceived as a "gift from the Soviet people to the Polish nation", and was completed in 1955. Our guide had explained most of the people of Warsaw hated
the building due to it being built by the Russians but had decided not to pull it down as it served a good purpose housing lots of cinemas, theatres and sports clubs. We took the old elevator, that shuddered at each floor, to the top where we had a great view of Warsaw.
The next day we enjoyed a walking tour of the amazing old town which is UNESCO listed. During the Warsaw Uprising in August 1944, more than 85% of the Old Town was destroyed by Nazi troops. After the war, a five-year reconstruction campaign restored the Old Town, with its churches, palaces and market-place. We had lunch in the marketplace and thought we would only order two starters as we were not very hungry. We ended up with two huge meals for a very small price, we found this again and again in the Baltic States, the food and beer was very good and reasonably priced. We also visited the Jewish Ghetto and the Chopin Memorial as well as a trip out to the Wilanow Palace, know as Poland's Versailles.
On our last evening in Warsaw we had a fantastic night out with the tour group,
we travelled out to the countryside to attend a concert and dinner at a restored country manor house. After some vodka cocktails in the gardens we were taken through to the music room for a private Chopin concert, the pianist was brilliant and played for an hour. We had a dinner of delicious polish food and lots of wine and vodka. Everyone was quiet merry on the bus back and sang a few songs including waltzing maltida, a little surreal driving through the Polish countryside. We only had two nights in Warsaw but managed to see a lot and get a feel for the city, we agreed considering the damage the city had suffered during the war it had been well restored and felt vibrant.
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