I don't know how it works with the Kopengahen little mermaid, but her sister in Varsovia is real. Am not jokeing ;) 

Once upon a time two sisters swam up from the Atlantic Ocean to the Baltic sea. Two beauty half-woman, half-fish from the depht of waters!One fall in love with the straits in Denmark (nowadays this beauty is resting in Kopenhagen), the second sister took a liking for a longer swim and reached the Gdańsk, but it was not enough for her. She found interesting to discover Vistula river. Why she risked with the river water, I don't know..., but she risked her life, I think! Being tired she stoped to rest on the sandy bank. This bank belonged to Varsovians....  Then I think she had no idea about her future deadly fights, or... maybe, she was able to foresee hard days in 1944, who knows  ?!  Franckly, mermaid had some troubles already in the 16th century. One idiot imprisoned her in the wooden shed and tried to earn big money, but the fisherman's son with friends saved her quickly! Good job, boys :) The mermaid promised to help Varsovians any time when they need. But, anyway after such event with shed I am not surprised that she keeps a shield and sword ;)

Nowadys Syrenka is resting (or rather ready to fight) on the Kościuszko Riverbank Street. Must be strong if was able to survive untouched to the end of WWII.

Krystyna Krahelska, not so ordinary young Varsowian, but Warsaw poet, author of the very well known Warsaw Uprising song "Hej, chłopcy, bagnet na broń!" was the model for the Mermaid. I found what the sculptor of the figure, Ludwika Kraskowska-Nitsch, said about her:
„wyrzeźbiona przeze mnie twarz Syreny warszawskiej jest twarzą Krystyny zmonumentalizowaną, aby nie było tak łatwo rozpoznać Krysię, chodzącą ulicami, co by Ją może krępowało. Bo chodziła ulicami warszawskimi prosta, wysoka, jaśniejąca uśmiechem wewnętrznej młodzieńczej radości i siły, gotowa na wszystko, co uczciwe, sprawiedliwe i piękne”, what can be translated (more or less properly) like: sculptured by me the Varsovain Mermaid face is Krystyna's face made as monumental, in order not to recognize Krysia so easily, not to feel her shy when she is walking in Varsovia. Just because she was walking - high, straight, gleaming with smile of intermal joy and strength, ready for all what is honest, fair and beauty.
1.VIII.1944 as a nurse, Krystyna run with the uprising soldiers to help the wounded. About 6 pm she was hit with three bullets in her lung. Had to waitl till late evening to be taken to the sanitary point, died at night. But still alive in her poerty, songs written on boy's requests and of course in Syrenka's faice :)

Hej, chłopcy, bagnet na broń! http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=wgbNhNTT7zM

 Maybe there is only one line - still - but the first polish metro is pretty nice, clean, fast and its noise is the cutest one! hahahaha, kidding! i like them all! especially when the metro train is speeding up while departing from the station! I like the sound of Warszawa Metro and Berlin S-Bahn most!
Once upon the time - i got a flight to Rom from Warsaw and since i do not live in the town (just some 450km away) i was traveling by train, then i arrived as early that i could with no problems make i ride with metro to a 'just-opened-station', when i'm remembering it right, it was 'Plac Wilsona' which was opened few weeks before my visit in the town. I got in, rode the line northbound, and i noticed that there was still some time remaining and i could enjoy a ride in the opposite direction - southbound. As i thought - so did i. I have been somewhere wrong with my time calculations cuz suddenly i relized that it's been getting late (i mean real LATE). And there is another 40min. ride time to airport. I jumped into the opposite train, trying to catch the bus to the airport, but as it often is in such cases, you are fighting alone against the whole world (and the time is fighting on the world's side, there was congestion and my bus came late as i wanted it to be. Finally i've almost missed my plane and got on the board as the last passanger after 'final calling'. I have to buy me my own clock!  -  no i wouldn't never do such stupid thing! i'me better one time too late than every time stressed by the clock.

jul. 2008
Hey, this is cool! every time i came here they have just opened a new station on the line 1 so that i can always see something new:) And this is good! This fall they should open another 3 new stations, so this means i have to go to Warszawa again this year ahhaha;)

oct.2008
It's another time i rode the Warszawa Metro, but this is a special one: today (25.oct.2008) - they finished the 1. line! after 25 years of construction they made it!
There was a huge party at he last - newest station, concerts and party, officials came and talked boring things. But all in all it was fun.

I woke up late, had breakfast with my bro and his wife, then checked my mails and headed to town. But because i was several times here and i know probably the city better than some of its residents i wanted to experience something new, like new places or so... and that was hard, so i gave up for the moment and visited the book shop. I wanted to find some tagalog diccionary but it looked like nobody in Poland seems to care about it. we dont have that at all!

All you can do is to order an english version from abroad:/// - that's crap - comon pinoy guys! Do something! You have to support your culture and your language! Then i've found a nice chinese dictionary, which was ... in the effin english as well;/

Then i was walking a bit 'the corners' and went back home for lunch. I came just in time and got the warm meal:)))

After lunch we went for a walk on the new brigde (and that was the NEW THING for me;) Then we had some coffe and i went to town again. It was already dark - and i tryed to take some night pictures, but - as RJ already said some time ago - my cam sucks, and i couldnt take real good pics. I was crossing the river on my feet - looking at the city lights (and i don't do that so often so plizzz appreciate that efford i made for you to get the pics! - i preffer a bus or even bicycle;) . This was awesome. If you come to Warszawa - yu really have to go from Praga (from the Zoo) to Old Town at night towards Royal Castle. It's really a magic view! It's probably the only one place u can see the city from the river view.

This is the BIG day - the construction end of line 1 of Metro Warszawa! Today was the opening of the last stations! Wooohoo!

I was going first to meet up with Alicja (a TBer from Warszawa) we had a coffe in Old Town. She showed me a new place there for sweets and other poisonous food hahah and then we went to see the new stations and see what's up at the party there.

Alicja was the real paparazzi! She took pictures like crazy - which was good! And she saved this blog by offering me her cam after my battery was dead (there is something wrong with my cam or with the batteries i guess - but im too lazy to check it;///) . A huge THX Ala!

On our way back we gave our baloons (which we got at the party) to the kids in metro train - they were SOOO happy!. We were THAT good i almost can't believe it haha;)

Hey, it's sunday. And fortunately the sun came back! Woohoo! [not sure about the joy-scream, but i've learnt it from my kLumpel ;) and he's rarely right - hm... that's a lie (another thing that i learnt from him) actually he've never been right so far!] Huwag kang mag-alala! Alam mo --> BIRO LANG kLumpel!

We had here the time change last night - from summer to winter time - so we slept 1 hour longer:) - i'm getting so lazy (third thing i've learnt - u know from whom;) and woke sooo late;) We went for a long walk at about 12 o'clock - to the Old Town - enjoying the last moments of my stay there. Besides i wanted my bro and his wife to get out of their place - they don't liek city life - so now they had an opportunity to go there with me - forced a bit;) Then after lunch/dinner i headed off to railway station but first i wanted to ride my lovely metro once again - i did as i thought and - guess what - as always - i've almost missed my train (fortunately i got tickets few days back) so i could just run to the platform and get in.
On the train i met my work-mate going back home as well - so i didnt have a boring journey at all. She was with few other girls so we spent the 5 hrs talking and laughing. Poor they - tomorrow they have to work hahahaha;)
I arrived in Zielona Góra 6 minutes later than it was previous - which was sheduled! - as i noticed then - they changed the arrival time after the winter time change and so i missed by 1 minute my bus from the station:///
I had to take the cab. That's all folks.

Palace-on-Water and the piano concerts near Chopin Monument seems to last eternally. But the begining was when Lubomirski, polish aristocrat built two small rest pavilions: Ermitaż and Łaźnia (the bathhouse). The bathhouse was named this way because of its bathroom. Then the name of pavilon passed on building and the whole garden. And nowadays there is Łazienki Palace in Warsaw's Łazienki Garden :)    Sometimes we named the garden Łazienki Królewskie (Royal Łazienki). Royal because in 1764 all palatio-park compex was bought by king S.A.Poniatowski.

With my co-worker Ania we went to Grycan parlour to eat something sweet from upper shelf, heheh... this is how she calls such in style places. I took espresso (4,90zł) and raspberry mousse (11,90zł). The sweetness and talk about the next year holiday and our profesional questions, the subjects about which we read last time in newspapers, events... all this occupied me so much that I almost forgot to make some photos from this cafe. I know Grycan icecream all my life and for me it is so obvious that they are tasty and brand-name that I almost not notice it. But when I want to try something in good order made I am the "sweet" customer of Grycan family :D By the way 'lody od pokoleń' means 'ice-creams from generations'.

Palace has got so many nicknames that hard to find the different skyscraper witch has them more.  So, these which I know or about which I found out are seven and it follows:
-sen szalonego cukiernika (mad confectioner's dream),
-Russian Wedding Cake,
-Pajac (clown)
-strzykawa (Stalin's syringe)
-rakieta (rocket)
-Pekin (Beijing in Polish, it's because of its abbreviation PKiN)

Lew Rudniew, who was its architect wanted it to be the office built in the polish style. I found information that his visit to Poland was his first trip to the "west" of the Soviet Union; besides Cracow, his research for the design took him to such other Polish "occidental" cities as Sandomierz, Torun, Chelmno, Kielce and Kazimierz nad Wisla.
Well, am afraid it didn't help Mr Rudniew to discover our style, or had no time to study it properly, because Palace has nothing common with polish style. There are no other even a little similar building in whole Poland, as wide and long country is,  hehe... it seems Rudniew failed. But I have to admit that he had to be the talented engineer. Building is very solid. But our Palace isn't the best Rudniew masterwork. It is said that the best one is Moscow State University. I think it is the true. I was trying to find some more information about the architect, because I think this person is much more interesting to know then Big Brother (Stalin is out of my interest right now). So I found the russia web and the Rudniew quotation about his masterwork what seems to be interesting to read (I copied it and tried to translate more or less properly) : 

«Если бы меня спросили, - писал мастер, - что лежит в основе архитектурного творчества, как нужно приступить к созданию того или иного образа, я бы ответил: забудь, что ты «архитектор»; постарайся не думать о твоем архитектурном багаже (а он у тебя должен быть немалый), забудь свою привязанность к любимым тобою мотивам и архитектурным формам, к наследию прошлого или к достижению сегодняшнего дня. Не будь рабом любимого мотива, не смотри на него, как на канон, продумай поставленную перед тобой задачу как человек посторонний, не «специалист». Раньше всего найди идею сооружения, его душу, его характер, его образ...» http://www.tonnel.ru/?l=gzl&uid=563

"If they would ask me,-master wrote-what it lies at bases of architect's works, how approaches to such or different work, I would answer: forget that you are architect, try to does not think about your architectural baggage (and it should be large), forget about your attachment to favourite motives and architectural forms, to heritage of past and the achievements of today's day. Be not the slave of favourite motive, do not hold on him how canon, think over put before you task, how outside man, not a master. First of all find the idea of building, its soul, its charakter, its picture..." 

Well,  it's pity that Rudniew proposed to forget about heritage in architecture, but wanted discover its soul and charakter because it just don't work.  I really can't find the logician of his thinking, but maybe I still didn't read enough about our Palace and his work to understand master. ............................................

Russia sent 3500 workers to do it, well...maybe they really want us to love this gift. And no one need permission when there is the deadly hot friendship ;/
The construction of Big Brother Palace was an expensive gift. It took three years and claimed human lives.

During the New Year Eve in 2000 the clock tower was added - the world's second-tallest (the tollest is in Japan-NTT Docomo Yoyogi Building. They installed their clock in 2002. Our tower clock is ten meters shorter, hehehe. But maybe we will add some more floors and will be the first one again :P  But then the architects must find any smart idea to make it visible for people.  Anyway, now four clock shields have six metres diameter, each of them and is visible when there is no fog or rain. I like the cloks, so this idea seems to be ok :)

I came in the early morning. My train had some 20minutes delay but it was even better, cuz i had those 20min. less to wait for my flight. I had my breakfast and my morning coffe (don't buy coffe at '7heavens coffe' or something at the Centralny/central station in Warszawa - or u want to  dring ur most expensive one in ur life - and it's not that good at all:PPPP ).
Since i already was in the town i couldn't miss the oppportunity to say 'halo' to the metro:))))
I left my backpack at the station and rode the whole metro/subway line from one end to another and ... almost missed my plane hahahaha (it's becoming a tradition :/// ) i'm too addicted to metros i guess LOL
Fortunately i managed it (hooo, salamat sa Dyios! there was not that much traffic and the bus arrived at the airport just in time for me).

This place is for those looking for oriental atmosphere. I went there with a bunch of friends and we had a crazy night dancing and smoking Sheesha:)...with hoeny flavour, was it;). The Sheesha is prepared by the very Shaggy Man:) and is said to be the best in all of the country. The music is...oriental...the vibes make their way from India...but you can hear some hip hop and house too. On ocassion you can see there a belly dancer hypnotizing the male part (and not only) of the crowd. If you get hungry you can order a traditional Arab dish. The menu contains soups, main dishes, sandwiches amd desserts.

I got the best place to sleep - i've chosen the terrace and had ethe excellent view hahaha [i guess the neighbour had better one ;) LOL ]
In the morning my bro and his wife had to go tho see the doctor and so i went with them - i brought them (by metro of course!) to the place and left them there. Then i was shopping a bit (they have nice prices while sales hahaha), walking through my fave places in the capital and i was just chilling out there. In my opinion the center and the Old Town in Warszawa are really nice (the rest sucks maybe more than in other cities hahahah) but all in all i like many places there. I was riding my lovely metro as well, visiting the Park Saski with the 'Grave of the unknown soldier" (my own free translation of a soldier memorial ;)) [and there were a lot of polish unknown soldiers, cuz - if u know a bit european history - Poles were fighting in every war here]
After some 2hrs i met again my Piotrek and Magda and we went to a 'secret' place of magda for eating some kebab (döner). They had to buy some gifts for friends so we visited a funny shop as well before we went back home for lunch (more like 'obiad' hahaah - RJ - explain them,plz!)
My mom, who was staying at home cooked something. We ate it and went to the mall just at the corner - for some shopping (JeAr i should have taken pics for u of the mall hahaha).
In the evening we went to the Old Town - walked a bit, and decided to sit in a pub - but since we were waiting like 34523hrs for the waiter we went out of this place and choosed another - a more friendly one - where the waiter was there waiting for our orders;) So we drank a beer and talked my mom complained about everything as usual. We were just sitting there and looking at the people then we could hear the woman at the neighbour table talking on the phone to her little boy who was in some camp or so - she called him 'little angel' and the angel called her 4 times within 2 minutes to say 'good night' hahahaha. It was probably his first vacation without his mom:))) (lucky he!)

The night in Old Town is a wonderful time - it seems like the whole city would come there for enjoy the warm summer outside; there are not only tourists but it's also a meeting point for every kind of ppl who's resident in Warszawa (on thepics u can see even a group of motobikers - cool bikes!, runner who's absolving his evening jogging or the bicycle-bikers (LoL) enjoying the car-free space).

After we came back home - we watched a movie 'K-19' (i'm not sure if this is the original title as well but never mind) u might have seen it, Harrison Ford is starring - and the whole movie is about the u-boat.

When I approached the door of Club Hotl I noticed that the door man was giving some nice Japanese people a hard time. They couldn't understand his broken English, so he was being very rude to them. Also, noticed that he had two black eyes... Guess he still had a chip on his shoulder after getting beat up recently. Glad that someone was able to give him what he deserves. Hope when he travels to Japan he gets a warm Yakuza reception like he gave these nice Japanese people.

Incredible and very "fashion" place. Very nice and calm. This place is not crowed yet, as it is quite new. But belive me, you'll enjoy it a lot, either to have a rest after visiting the mall or just to made a cool afternoon, it's a blast They made the best mojito in town, I can assure. And the Vanilla Mojito is a must. Happy hour from 17 to 19h, best time to get there with some friends New electronic music move the speaker's membranes of the place.

If you love electronic music, then you have to visit this place. It's a cool place for first hour drinks and you'll be able to contact some beautiful people. The bartenders are cool, but all male. Anyway, DJ's play very good tunes and the place has a nice terrace to take some air after dancing for a while. Don't be afraid of polish dancegirls, they're cool!

Don't miss the place, it's one of the spots not to be missed in the Warszawa's weekends nightlife. Beautiful people, quite posh, dancing to death cool rithms. You'll be able to chose the beat you prefer, as there are three different rooms, each one beautiest than he former. The place is crowed, but the good vibes are worth it! Check it out if you're going to show up in Warszawa