Warsaw Here we Come!

Time to say farewell to Berlin we headed for the train station and our train to Warsaw. We've appreciated being able to get trains with no changes - luggage on & off is challenging for sure. The bags may be small but heavy.

We boarded the train and found our seats. We had some lovely seatmates - two ladies from Arizona one of which was originally from Poland. The other was Chaplin - a chief Chaplin for the German military although he was a civilian. One part of his position is to help form military policy regarding theological and moralistic views. He attends many conferences around the world that deal with issues of biological weapons, nuclear weapons, and other such dilemmas - very interesting work. He was also a history enthusiast and was pointing out different places in Berlin as we were passing through.

Eventually we ended up in the restaurant car and enjoyed our first of many perogies!

Traveling across Poland the land was filled with small farm after small farm and was very green.

We arrived in Warsaw, our hotel was a quick walk through a shopping mall and Shai had a new window!

We got settled in and headed to the hotel bar for our free welcome drink. The food looked pretty good so we decided to just stay there for dinner. We had a wonderful antipasto plate with a fantastic olive tapenade and then a chicken breast with herbs, tomatoes, ravioli, and Grana Padano cheese - mmmmm...not to forget a lovely wine to wash it all down.

Biking Warsaw

Warsaw has a fantastic bike sharing program - I downloaded the app and off we went.

Warsaw has many monuments

Part of Warsaw Uprising Monument

Statue of Nicolaus Copernicus

Stefan Wyszyński - first Bishop of Poland

Presidential Palace

It became clear we were heading into the Old Town.

We dropped the bikes at the nearest station and walked to Castle Square

Of course it was time for a beverage & snack!

Refreshed & fortified we headed for the castle. The Royal Castle was first built in the 14th century with alterations in the 16th, 17th, & 18th centuries. It was heavily damaged and looted during the 2nd world war but reconstruction began shortly after the war ended.

Some marble stairway!

One of three throne rooms in the castle

Great Assembly Hall

This was the main throne room

The Kings bed

This fireplace is in the Old Audience Chamber - love the carvings

The Senatorial Hall with the third throne

The Marble Room - this room had been moved to Russia in 1832 and returned to the castle in 1923. When WWII started this room had not been restored so all of the original elements were safe from the destruction of the war.

The Yellow Room where the King would host intimate dinners .

After our Royal visit we wandered around the old town.

The old town square

The Mermaid of Warsaw

There are various legends about the Warsaw mermaid. The main one used in the City's literature and by tour guides says that the mermaid was swimming in the river when she stopped on a riverbank near the Old Town to rest. Liking it, she decided to stay. Local fishermen noticed that something was creating waves, tangling nets, and releasing their fish. They planned to trap the offender, but fell in love with her upon hearing her singing. Later, a rich merchant trapped the mermaid and imprisoned her. Hearing her cries, the fishermen rescued her, and ever since, the mermaid, armed with a sword and a shield, has been ready to help protect the city and its residents

The Barbican - part of the original city walls

That evening we had a lovely dinner with this wonderful fresh fruit with zabaglione for dessert.

Biking Warsaw - Part Deux

The bikes worked out so well yesterday we decided to go again. It is really a great program - the first 20 minutes are free then just 1 zloty (28 cents) for the rest of the hour, 3 zloty for the 2nd hour. We set off trying to ride through the many parks around Warsaw.

Temple of the West - originally a water tower.

Beautiful gardens and pond

Marconi Fountain - part of the city's first water system

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

We headed down to the river

Not much to see...

We headed home and rested a bit before heading back out for dinner. We found this little place that served wonderful Polish food. - Sour Soup in the bread bowl, Golabki - cabbage rolls in a yummy tomato sauce, and of course perogi - washed down with a lovely mulled wine to take the chill off.

The restaurant was in the old town across from the barbican and the statue of the Little Insurrectionist.

Mały Powstaniec (the "Little Insurrectionist") is a statue in commemoration of the child soldiers who fought and died during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. It is located on Podwale Street, next to the ramparts of Warsaw’s Old Town.

The statue is of a young boy wearing a helmet too large for his head and holding a submachine gun. It is reputed to be of a fighter who went by the pseudonym of "Antek", and was killed on 8 August 1944 at the age of 13. The helmet and submachine gun are stylized after German equipment, which was captured during the uprising and used by the resistance fighters against the occupying forces.

On the way home we passed the rest of the Warsaw Uprising Monument

You can zoom in on this photo here

The monument is made of bronze and is about 10 metres (33 ft) tall.[1] It has of two parts near each other. The larger, elevated element shows a group of insurgents actively engaged in combat, running from the artistic vision of a collapsing building, represented by a more abstract composition. The smaller element shows insurgents descending into a manhole, a reference to the use of Warsaw's sewer system by the insurgents to move across German-held territory during the uprising and specifically to the evacuation of 5300 resistance fighters from Warsaw's Old Town to the city centre at the beginning of September 1944, a five-hour journey which started from Krasiński Square (there is a small plaque across the road from the monument at the intersection of Długa and Miodowa Streets above the two manholes that were actually used).

We got back to our hotel that night to a lobby full of people from a bus tour all in line for the elevator - we opted to have a glass of wine & wait for the crowd to disperse. This group from Minnesota was sitting in the lounge laughing and drinking so naturally I was drawn to them! We all chatted and laughed for an hour or so before calling it a night.

Warsaw is a wonderful city with friendly people - we would happily return here. Tomorrow - to Krakow!