I could do this every Sunday

We also started very slow on this wonderful Sunday morning. The sun was shining like the two prior days and like the day before I let my hosts take easy and take their time. They slowly woke up and we had a great breakfast and discussed the plan for the day. Our first goal was to attend the free Chopin concert in Lazienki Park. Since 1959 there had every Sunday from April to September been arranged free Frederic Chopin concerts next to his monument. The monument was made by Waclaw Szymanowski in 1908 and portraying Chopin sitting a willow seeking inspiration from nature, and it is quite large I found out. There was usually a large crowd so we planned to be there a bit before noon.

It was not so hard to find a parking next to the park and we arrived 20 min before the concert which was okay.

All the benches were taken by elderly listeners who had arrived much earlier, some of them looked like they had been glued to seat 30 years ago. We sat down on the grass that surrounded the pond in front of the statue. Next to the Statue there was a little summer tent that covered the podium where the female pianist where going to play. We were the first to sit down on the beautiful lawn but hundreds of fast followers joined us rapidly. It was just like when you park your car in a place you are not allowed to and five minutes later you can hardly find your car! Someone had to be the first on the grass and that was us this Sunday.

There was a presenter introducing the female pianist in both Polish and English; my hosts were dissapointed that it was not the usual one, but we had seen him on a bar the night before, so he probably had a Sunday off! or had to take the Sunday off!.

The concert was very good, calm and relaxing, I enjoyed it a lot more than the young snoring Canadian guy behind me, but I guess he had a rough long night. After the concert we went for a walk in the park, which was quite full of people with the same idea as us; walking around in the nice park.

The park was really wonderful to stroll in; we passed the White house which was the first building in the Park and from 1774, and used as a place for romantic rendezvous for the Polish king, which probably made some of his days really fun.

We also briefly went to the Old Orangerie; we decided not to enter because the weather was so nice and we had a large park to do. Not far from there we enjoyed the Palace on the Water; the palace was completed in 1793 and it was standing beautifully in the park until the Nazi's burned it down when they left in a rush in WWII.

Luckily for us all today it was rebuilt in 1965; it is situated in the middle of the park and it looks like it was built in the middle of the park lake.

Next to the Palace there is the Theater on the Island where there was an Opera performance. There was also a huge crowd at this place and they had started teir performance at the same time as the Chopin concert we just had attended. I was amazed by the magnetude and the quality of the entertaiment on a normal Sunday. We didn't manage to listen to more than two numbers before they called it a day, but they knew their stuff.

We walked the length of the park along the lake of the Palace on the Water and at the Sobieski Monument we crossed to yet another castle that was situated on top of a little hill which gave another possibility for a great view.

The castle hosted also restaurant where we had a great lunch. The restaurant was named Qchnia Artystyczna. After the lunch, where we all got full again, we walked back to our car and went for the University Library.

The University Library was a brilliant experience. Situated close to the canal behind both the Cultural Palace and the Royal Castle, it provided with a great view. It is a green building in all meanings. The steel construction which has cathedral-like proportions is painted green but the green does not stop there; there is also a botanical garden located on the roof. The facade represents a series of open books, and it is really worthwhile visiting. Much of the exterior is also covered with glass which gives it an open atmosphere. The basement contains bowling alleys and all kind different activities; there are also several bars.

What I found the most striking about the building was the roof garden. It was possible to walk along steel bridges over the glass roof and cobble stone paths between the different green arrangements.