Warseeing Poland

Tori’s European Escapade

Summer 2012

July

5/7 – 7/7

Warsaw - Poland

Generally…

Warsaw was devastated during WWII with 85% of the city destroyed by the Nazi’s or during the Warsaw Uprising in 1943. As a result a lot of the buildings have been rebuilt based on paintings by Venetian artist Canaletto, who studied the architecture of the city. They have done a fabulous job, and it is very nearly impossible to decipher which buildings are original and which are new.

The rebuilt statue and park dedicated to Chopin

Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Monument

Arriving in the capital…

On arriving at the Wasaw Chopin train) Station we caught a severely overpriced taxi to the Sheraton Hotel, and after checking in I was seized my a massive desire to steal the pen in our room to prove that I had stayed at a Sheraton, as I am sure it will be a unique experience in my lifetime. I however was not light fingered with the stationery. Upon going for a drink at twilight I discovered my new drink of choice – Finlandia Mango with lemonade. Yes please.

Meeting our tour that night, I was extraordinarily relieved to see I was not the youngest on the trip. There was a young Singaporean family with a girl in high school and a young boy, and to appease my natural animosity of the younger generation they are exceptionally well behaved and interesting to talk to.

Training Linda…

So far on this trip I have been increasingly successful in the training of my mother to wake me up gently with a strong cup of coffee. I am not quite sure how I managed this, but it might be one of the greatest achievements of mine. Having only discovered instant coffee recently, it is fairly alarming in how rapidly I have become addicted to the stuff. For years I was a true coffee snob, and would only touch a well-made espresso, going out of my way in the mornings to guarantee my extra-large, triple-shot latte from a good café for a high price. Lately I have gathered my mistake had been putting milk into the coffee and diluting that life-saving and imperative brew with the disgusting white stuff from cows. Rectifying my problem, I have invested in over 4 plungers in the last 6 months alone and have those devil eyes that warn people off before I take my first drought in the mornings.

Coffee pulsing through my system, we headed down to the reception to drive down the Royal Way and then walk through the Old (yet rebuilt) Town. We saw the house Madame Curie lived in and the original statue of the armed mermaid which is the symbol of Warsaw.

Entrance to the Old Town of Warsaw

The Town Square

Wilanów Palace…

In the afternoon, we went to see Wilanów Palace (Pronounced Vilanov) that is an incredibly baroque palace built by one of the most successful kings of Poland King John III Sobieski for his wife Marie. It survived the war as it was used as a barracks for the German soldiers, which offends greatly as the palace has the most incredible hand stitched tapestries and unique stone and wooden floors that were ruined by the occupation during that time.

The centre is the original palace, with the two wings added by it's second owner Elżbieta who was considered the most powerful woman in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. 

Oooo *snicker* A naughty painting!

Leaving…

We had dinner that night in a lovely restaurant down the back of a side street with the best service yet in Poland. Generally, once the waiter has sat you, they don’t make another appearance without persistent prompting and that gets father incredibly frustrated, especially when attempting to settle the bill.

Moving on early in the morning we headed out of Poland towards Lithuania, stopping at a charming wee market town called Augustow, where I bought a cute pair of earrings and we ate lunch.

I enjoyed the juxtaposition here of the elite clothing brand and the peep show at the beginning of the Royal Way.

A happy Daddy