#1 Warsaw June 19, 2008 Back to Poland

I can’t believe how crazy the last weeks were. It’s been a mad rush of getting grades done, packing the house, moving to a storage place, trip planning (that one suffered) applying for loans for the new place, applying for jobs, going to interviews.
So, needless to say, we have spent the last 3 days here in Warsaw sleeping a lot. Yesterday we had about 10 hours sleep at night, then during the day I took 2 long naps.
But in between all that sleep it’s been an interesting place.

My first impression was a low rise, spread-out city, lots of wide roads and modern buildings, some of the Eastern block look still in evidence. Then we discovered the old town, which remarkably, has been all rebuilt after WW2 when the ENTIRE city was demolished. We went to a museum yesterday and saw old films of the destruction. So the Poles went about to meticulously rebuild the old part of the city, as it was before. They were so successful, that it has been listed under World Cultural and Natural Heritage.
There’s an interesting exhibition in the town square, with bear statues from the countries of the world, each one done by an artist from that country. I’ve attached the Aussie, Dutch and German ones.

We’re staying in a nice roomy 1 bedroom apartment in the centre of town. You look out of the window and see the café dwellers drinking their coffee an enjoying the mild weather. Today we’re off to see the Chopin Museum . Yesterday’s museum was about the Jewish population, ghetto etc, which was also destroyed, along with it’s inhabitants. Pretty shocking stuff! The subway system is also remarkable, so clean and modern ( New York , take note!) though up until now we’ve been riding the trolley cars….that way we see more.

Warszawa (Warsaw) Polska (Poland) Video Day One (day 2, day 3)
Photos Day 1, 2, 3
Blog 1, 2

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