We began our day at 9am this morning. Our first stop was Lazienki Park. This is a very large and beautiful park in the city. Within the park is a wonderful rose garden with hundreds of red rose bushes and in front of the roses is a heart-shaped pond and an enormous bronze sculpture of Frederic Chopin. Polish people are very proud to be able to claim Chopin as one of their own.
Our many stops today included the tomb of the unknown soldier, and the monument of the heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto. Each stop provided a difficult history lesson and a glimpse into the horror of World War II. I know that when I think of that war, I think of Germany and what happened to all the Jewish people there. I really was not aware of all the atrocities that happened in Poland.
Poland was invaded by Germany on September 1, 1939. Warsaw suffered the most damage of any city in Poland. By the end of the war, only 15% of the cities buildings survived. Over six million Polish people lost their lives during the war and out of over three million Polish Jews, only 80,000 survived.
Our bus took us through a neighborhood that was very beautiful and well preserved. Our guide explained that this neighborhood has survived because it is where the Nazi's lived during their occupation of Warsaw. The rest of the city is very interesting because almost the entire city was rebuilt by the Russians who took over Poland shortly after the war ended. The architecture is not very ornate, but rather stark and efficient. Then in the middle of a block, you will see a beautiful building that happened to survive.
We visited Old Town and spent time there having lunch and just checking out the many shops and museums. If you saw this place you would think it was one of the most picturesque places, complete with a beautiful center square and very quaint buildings that surround it. Everything you see in Old Town is an exact replica of what it had been. The entire area was destroyed by the Germans during the war.
After World War II the Old Town was meticulously rebuilt. Many of the original bricks were reused and the rubble was sifted for reusable decorative elements, which were then reinserted into their original places. Pre-World War II architecture students' drawings, were used as essential sources in the reconstruction effort. This whole area is really an amazing testimony to the unstoppable pride the Polish people have for there country.
We ended our afternoon back at Lazienki Park for a Chopin concert by his statue and all the beautiful red roses.. The entire area was filled with people and it was a magical experience.
Tonight we are having dinner at a very quaint little restaurant that happens to have a whole page of vegetarian entrees. We tried to make a reservation for twelve people and the girl just kept smiling and saying "yes, sure". I am quite sure that is secret code for "I don't have any idea what you are saying, but you look like nice people, so I will just smile and say yes!" I will report back tomorrow.
Can't wait to see some pictures!
Posted by: Jobin Hume | 09/13/2009 at 07:34 PM