Pretty Lazienki Park
We started the day with a bus ride through the city with our Warsaw tour guide. First stop was Lazienki Park where a statue of Fryderyk Chopin sits at the top of a heart-shaped pool. The pool symbolizes his heart being in Poland. After his body was buried in France, Sister Ludwika took Chopin's heart to Poland, where it was placed inside a pillar of the Holy Cross Church where it still remains. I've never seen so many roses in one place before. There must be thousands!
One of the most unique parts of Warsaw is the plastic palm tree sitting in the middle of the city where all can see.
Chopin statue in the distance beyond the roses. There is a heart-shaped pool beneath Chopin.
It is apparently there to spark conversation, first about a palm tree in Warsaw, and then hopefully about the city itself. Clever, eh?
There are several war memorials in Warsaw. It's interesting to see how war is still such a huge part of their lives and still sits in the front of their minds.
During WWII, Warsaw came under Nazi rule. All higher education institutions were immediately closed and Warsaw's entire Jewish population - several hundred thousand (30% of the city) - were herded into the Warsaw Ghetto. When Hitler ordered the Warsaw Ghetto to be annihilated as part of his "final solution", Jewish fighters launched the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The Ghetto held out for almost a month.
Chopin Statue
In the end, almost all survivors were massacred.
Hitler ordered the entire city to be razed to the ground, and the library and museum collections taken to Germany or burned. About 85% of the city had been destroyed, including the historic Old Town and the Royal Castle.
After the Soviets seized the city in 1945 and the war was over, Warsaw become the capital of the communist People's Republic of Poland and the city was resettled and rebuilt. Many of the historic streets, buildings, and churches were restored to their original form. Today, the buildings in Royal Castle Square look genuinely historic.
So many red roses!
It is a stark contrast to other parts of the city that are very modern glass skyscraper-type buildings.
That afternoon after the tour, we were set free to do our own exploring. Katie and I were on our own today with a mission to find authentic Polish Pierogi. We stumbled upon a cute little restaurant called Zapiecek. It felt like eating at grandma's house. The atmosphere was comfortable and warm and the food was delicious! We ordered a plate of dinner pierogis and a plate of dessert pierogis to share. They misunderstood us and only brought dessert pierogis...but it was for the best. Along with the pierogis we ordered a meal. I've attached a photo of my meal...Borsch, a Polish sausage and a boiled egg. It was all really wonderful.
There was no shortage of restrooms (aka water closets or "WC"). As Katie and I strolled through the city, there were signs every few yards for a WC this way and a WC that way.
Heart-shaped pool and roses...how beautiful!
The arrows went in circles and pointed down most alleys. Quite funny. Just as a side note, you have to pay to use the toilet in most of the Eastern European countries we visited. It's not much, but it pays for a bathroom attendant and results in much cleaner public restrooms.
That evening, after returning to the hotel to clean up and change clothes, we hopped on the bus and headed for the Palace on the Water to see a private Chopin concert. The Palace sat on the edge of Lazienki Park near a lake. It's very lush and beautiful and there are actually peacocks living there! I recorded one of the songs on my camera and have attached it here. Although I wasn't nearly as sleepy as I was during the Mozart concert, I had a hard time staying awake again. I think the music triggers the sleep switch in my brain. It was only an hour long, so not too bad.
Finally, after the concert, a big group of us sat down for a dinner on a restaurant patio in the city.
Nice...
To my absolute pleasure, I saw the menu served beef stroganoff - a meal I had been craving and searching for the entire trip so far. It took a little longer than everyone else's meals, but well worth it. I liked it so much, I wanted to share it with Katie...and Katie's white jacket. Oops. Travel tip: Always bring stain remover (i.e. Tide sink size detergent).
