Today we had a lazy morning watching the news and the historic final landing of a solar powered plane that had circumnavigated the world. We unpacked our old bag into our new bag, went across the road to the shopping mall for brunch before doing a smattering of sight seeing before setting off for the airport for the next leg of our journey. Off to South America.

We walked over to see the Palace of Culture and Science. It was built in 1955 as a gift from the Soviet Union to the people of Poland. At 237 metres, it is the tallest building in Poland and the eighth tallest building in the European Union. Apparently, many Poles initially hated the building because they considered it to be a symbol of Soviet domination. Across the road there is a new modern skyscraper which towers over a hideous rectangular housing block sitting between the old and the new. This contrast in buildings seems to reflect the nature of this city.

I had originally wanted to visit the Museum of the Uprising, but typically, it was closed on Tuesday's. I don't understand why museums world wide are closed on various mid week days. We've missed a few on the trip being in various cities on the "wrong" days.

The history of Warsaw spans over 1400 years and has had a particularly tumultuous history. It experienced numerous plagues, invasions, and devastating fires. The most destructive events include the Deluge, the Great Northern War (1702, 1704, 1705), War of the Polish Succession, Warsaw Uprising (1794), Battle of Praga and the Massacre of Praga inhabitants, November Uprising, January Uprising, World War I, Siege of Warsaw (1939) with aerial bombardment—and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

Warsaw is quite a modern city now because the Germans razed 85% of the buildings after the Warsaw Uprising in 1944 and up until this time about 200,000 Poles had died in gas chambers during WWII.

The Warsaw Uprising was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance Home Army to liberate Warsaw from Nazi Germany. The Uprising was timed to coincide with the Soviet Union's Red Army approaching the eastern suburbs of the city and the retreat of German forces. However, the Soviet advance stopped short (probably a tactical ploy) enabling the Germans to regroup and demolish the city while defeating the Polish resistance, which fought for 63 days with little outside support. The Uprising was the largest single military effort taken by any European resistance movement during WW II.

In January 1945, the Soviet troops entered the left part of Warsaw and in February proclaimed the Polish People's Republic. No wonder they didn't help!

After political transformation, the Sejm passed an act, which reinstated the Warsaw city government (18 May 1990).