Warsaw Sightseeing

Statue of the Father of Poland
see all photos »

Today it was an early start to another full day of activities. Our first stop was to wazienki Park and the Chopin Memorial garden. On our way in we saw the memorial statue of Pilsudski, largely seen as the Father of Poland.

Inside the park, we entered the Chopin garden, which was full of red roses, a pond, and the statue of Chopin, sitting under a willow tree, which wraps around him and he appears to be playing the piano. While here, the tour director had organised for a photographer to take a group photo of all the tour members, to be made available to us to purchase at the bus the following morning. The photographer was a real character.

Warsaw Follies on stage...

The Chopin Monument
see all photos »

After this we were taken on a tour around the streets of Warsaw and told the sad story of how the Germans invaded the city and by the end of the war, had terminated more than 800,000 Polish jews and destroyed over 85% of buildings by blowing them up with dynamite then setting them on fire. It is amazing to think of the strength of the people who survived, and how this city had to be rebuilt from the ground up. We were taken to the middle of the original Ghetto and shown the memorial that stands where the ghetto buildings used to be, housing polish jews in abonimable conditions, before they were razed to the ground. We also passed a memorial to those jews in the Ghetto that were sent off to termination camps on trains, showing a burned out train carriage full of crosses, followed by a long line of train tracks.

The garden was full of these roses
see all photos »

After this we were dropped off close to the old town, which was rebuilt as close as possible to the original buidlings. These tall skinny buildings with extra floors added on top are painted in different colours and surround a large square which has a mermaid sculpture at its centre. Here the group were taken into a small theatre where we were shown a short film showing the history of Warsaw, before the war, and then what happened during the war by the germans, and then the beginning of the rebuilding afterwards. It is  hard to believe until you see it how a city with over a million people can just be wiped out, and then rebuilt.

Street entering Old Town Warsaw
see all photos »

We now had an hour for lunch, so a group of 10 of us found a small retaurant and enjoyed the polish favorite of piroghi. The ones that we had were steamed and filled with potato, onion and cheese. We had a brief look at the small number of market shops before having to head back to the bus. It was time for an optional afternoon tour of Vilanov Palace - the baroque summer palace of Polish King John III Sobieski. On the short walk from the bus, in the palace grounds, we passed a burial monument, but were told it was a statue only, with the remains actually held in the church in the backgroud.

The Ghetto Monument
see all photos »

Once at the palace we were told "No Photos" to be taken while inside. Here we saw the collection of Royal furniture, portraits and china that forms part of the the National Museum. By this time most people have had their fill of palaces and we all agree we might have better used our time elsewhere.

We were taken back to the hotel and now had 3 hrs of free time. In the morning I had hoped to use this time to walk up the main Royal Street to look at the buildings and many statues and memorials that line the street. My head-cold however had other plans, and by this time of the day, all I wanted to do was put my head on a pillow for a couple of hours.

Jewish Monument
see all photos »

At 6:45pm we joined most of the members of our tour group for an optional Polish dinner. Here we enjoyed pan fried meat piroghi, followed by chicken and much welcomed vegetables and a lovely chocolate crumble cake for dessert. Then the fun started. Tonight it was our turn to entertain the tour director and tour driver. Each country was to provide some sort of act - poetry, song etc. The Canadians were up first and sang their tailored song, with an encore of the canadian National Anthem. Then it was time for us Aussies. We had spent time the previous night putting new words to Slim Dusty's "I'd Love To Have a Beer with Duncan" song, changing the names and rhymes in the song to our tour director, driver and a couple of the other identities on our tour. Although this rendition was badly off key and we were not in time with each other, it was well received by all. Last up were the Americans, of which there was only one couple. Vern had written a nice poem that his wife read out that brought many laughs to everyone.

Vilanov Palace
see all photos »

We all enjoyed the evening, and once back at the hotel, some headed to the bar for another drink, while those of us that were still not well, headed off to bed.