Advertisement
So true
:
“Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things - air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky - all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.” - Cesare Pavese
We are in Riga Latvia . we are at a great campground with WIFI so we will get caught up
May 3, 2009, Sunday and we are off by tram to Warsaw Centrum, the capital of Poland and the seat for legislation and parliament. Today there is a big celebration in Poland; it is Constitution Day. There are parades, bands, soldiers and horses, of course, politicians giving speeches…just wish we could understand the words. Historically Poland was the second country in the world to declare a democratic constitution, soon after the US.
Warsaw was devastated in WWII and over 80%!o(MISSING)f the city was destroyed, then some areas were carefully rebuilt. There are “1944” photos next to the “Today” photos all around town. There was one photo with Eisenhower and the troops entering a completely destroyed Warsaw…literally in rubble. Poland has a long memory- the US are its friends, Germans and Russians are NOT!
We wandered through the town on the Westside of the Vistula River, it is a nice sunny day and families, kids, soldiers, and tourists abound.
Poland is very Roman Catholic, we see priests and
nuns everywhere. Some look to be about 13 (maybe we are just getting old). There was a street bazaar with all kinds of goodies.
Back on the tram, it is another beautiful day. This can’t be typical weather for spring, in 26 days we have had one cool day and 2 nights with drizzle. I’m sure the farmers don’t like it.
May 4, 2009, Monday, Warsaw PL. Today was our biking day into Warsaw. Yesterday we notices bike trails…cars, bikes and pedestrians each with a designated lane. However, the trails (like the roads in PL) end abruptly and it is scramble where and how to go. Polish drivers must be related to the Italian drivers, maybe in a former life. Warsaw has some underground street crossings, so hauling our bikes up and down the stairs at busy intersections was getting old. We were glad to see the familiar streets of the Old Town.
We toured the Royal Palace, which goes back to the 14th century. It was the royal residence and the place where parliamentary sessions were held. In September 1944 it was completely destroyed by the German army. The rebuilding began in 1971 and opened to
the public in 1984.
In our research, we heard of Polish Milk Bars…an old restaurant/cafeteria used by workers and families for a cheap Polish meal, originally subsidized by the government. Well, we found one today… but one needs to read the menu board, order and pay…all requiring knowledge of the Polish language!? Looking helpless, we soon had new Polish friends, they explained the menu ordered for us and made suggestions. After paying we went to the self-service counter and got our food. What a hoot! We enjoyed tomato soup with pasta, chicken, potatoes and mixed veggies, all for about $3.00 each.
We biked along the trail on the Vistula River, for a while, until, oops… it ended. Following the city map and workday traffic was a challenge, but we made it.
The next challenge is laundry, there seems to be no Laundromats in Czech or Poland. We are into the hand-wash, hang your laundry mode, what fun!!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.091s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 6; qc: 26; dbt: 0.0571s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 2;
; mem: 1.1mb
Gary fME
non-member comment
Mixted photos
Your shots are so well mixed. Scenes we expect but character shots and menus add to the joy of following the journey. Enjoy it, a lot.