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Like many of our generation we'd learnt about the horrors of World War 2 at school and especially the attempted annihilation of the Jewish people by the Nazis. Some years ago we visited Prague in the Czech Republic and took a day trip to Terezenstadt a Nazi transit camp from where Jews and other prisoners were sent to concentration camps or the gas chambers. This triggered a desire to visit Auschwitz near the city of Krakow, and thus a trip to Poland was on our bucket list.
We flew to Warsaw from Copenhagen, not really knowing what to expect of Poland. I don't think I'm alone in having an impression that Poland was and is a somewhat depressed nation following the years of communist rule. I kind of had visions of clapped out Lada motor cars, drab communist era buildings and downcast people. Wrong.
Warsaw
We stepped off the plane into a pristine modern airport terminal with Polish and English signage everywhere and helpful staff. The subway railway station and ticketing system couldn't have been easier to use and we were whisked into the centre of the city by a state of the art train complete with high speed free WiFi. Take note Melbourne! Yeah ok we got off at the wrong station but people were very willing to point us in the right direction.
To save hauling heavy bags around we put our suitcases into storage at the central station and with just the essentials in terms of clothes and stuff we headed off to find our hotel which the information guy at the airport had marked for us on a map. That's when we got our biggest and best surprise. We wound through streets and lanes lined with cafes, bars, shops and restaurants most of which would be quite at home in the hippest parts of Sydney or Melbourne. And crowds of cool people hanging out after work.
I had booked an apartment on line with little knowledge of what it'd be like other than what I had read on Trip Advisor. It was great, smack in the middle of the action. Bars cafes shops right on the doorstep. Moreover it was on what they call the Royal Route which is the route the royal families used eons ago travelling from their main palace in the old town to their garden palace a few kms away.
That first night we walked soaking up the sights. What a buzz. Beautiful shops and al fresco restaurants everywhere one of which has a Chopin concert every night. We bought a few items from a basement supermarket and laughed at the price. AUD $3 all up for shampoo, mineral water and some other things. What? We then hunkered down in a Polish restaurant for dinner. What a treat. Authentic Polish food; dumplings, beetroot soup, pork knuckles, ribs, beautiful salads and cheap! AUD$33 including drinks. Wow. And service to die for. After quaking in our boots at the prices in Copenhagen this was heaven on a stick.
The next day we headed off with tourist map in hand to find Constitutional Square where the largest communist rallies and celebrations were held. Lots of impressive soviet structures and stone reliefs. We also had a late breakfast there. Again great food and amazingly cheap. We walked over to the botanical gardens which are lovely and in full bloom. Once more I marvelled at the WiFi hotspots all around the place including in the gardens so the citizenry and visitors can hop on line. Searingly fast broadband... note to Australian government.
After that we headed to visit the huge communist era office tower that dominates the city skyline. Built in 1956. Very impressive looking. Not your normal brutal soviet architecture but very grand instead, still with unmistakable soviet overtones though. Nowadays it's the Palace of Culture and houses a cultural and education centre, and hosts concerts, theatre etc. You'll see it in my photos.
Talking of architecture, there is an amazing array of very modern, futuristic looking office buildings in the city. It was interesting to see the logos of many large multinationals on some of them.
Next we turned our attention to finding the remnants of the Jewish Ghetto wall. For those who don't know, in 1939-1940 the Nazis moved the entire Jewish population of Warsaw, about 260,000 - into a walled ghetto. Here they lived in cramped squalor until 1942, when if they hadn't already been killed or deported, they were transported by train to the death camps. Very little remains of the ghetto today. There are two small sections of the wall still standing and these are now places of pilgrimage. We visited these assisted by Google maps and some helpful locals. The sections of the wall are amongst people's apartments and it felt a bit weird wandering through their courtyards to get there, but it was fine with those who live there.
We then walked to visit Warsaw's main synagogue which miraculously survived the War. In 1942 the Nazis conceived what was euphemistically called "the final solution to the Jewish question". In effect they decided to exterminate the entire Jewish race in Europe. Thus they deported the occupants of the ghetto to the death camps and destroyed the entire area. Only one ghetto building remains from that time. We found this in our wandering. It's not featured on any tourist maps though. We learnt about it from some reading at the synagogue. Very sobering indeed.
Finally we jumped in a cab and headed to the Jewish History museum. It was incredible to learn how and when the Jews first came to Poland. They'd been there since around the 12th century. The museum is essentially a journey through time of Jewish life in Poland right up to present day. With a large focus of course on WW2 and the Holocaust. Again a very sobering experience.
The last thing we wanted to do during our short visit to Warsaw was to see the old town which was only a km or so from our hotel. With tired legs from all the walking we jumped on a bus straight up the Royal Route. This we did after putting our feet up at the apartment for an hour or so. The old town is beautiful. It remained relatively intact during the War as it was basically occupied by the Nazis and collaborating Polish authorities. A wonderful collection of baroque and neo classic architecture. And once more, gorgeous restaurants, bars, cafes and crowds of people enjoying themselves everywhere. After dinner we grabbed coffee to go and headed back to the apartment - exhausted but thrilled with our visit to Warsaw.
We had a 9.45 am train booked to Krakow so had breakfast at a wonderful French cafe downstairs. It has to be one of the best breakfasts I've had in a long time. Sitting outside watching the city come to life and magnificent croissants, eggs and freshly squeezed OJ. Plus a really cool blend of jazz in the background. Brilliant. Then off to the station where we caught the Premium Inter City fast train to Krakow. A bullet train no less. Covered the 300 km in around 2 hours.
Like many of our generation we'd learnt about the horrors of World War 2 at school and especially the attempted annihilation of the Jewish people by the Nazis. Some years ago we visited Prague in the Czech Republic and took a day trip to Terezenstadt a Nazi transit camp from where Jews and other prisoners were sent to concentration camps or the gas chambers. This triggered a desire to visit Auschwitz near the city of Krakow, and thus a trip to Poland was on our bucket list.
We flew to Warsaw from Copenhagen, not really knowing what to expect of Poland. I don't think I'm alone in having an impression that Poland was and is a somewhat depressed nation following the years of communist rule. I kind of had visions of clapped out Lada motor cars, drab communist era buildings and downcast people. Wrong.
Warsaw
We stepped off the plane into a pristine modern airport terminal with Polish and English signage everywhere and helpful staff. The subway railway station and ticketing system couldn't have been easier to use and we were whisked into the centre of the city by a state of the art train complete with high speed free WiFi. Take note Melbourne! Yeah ok we got off at the wrong station but people were very willing to point us in the right direction.
To save hauling heavy bags around we put our suitcases into storage at the central station and with just the essentials in terms of clothes and stuff we headed off to find our hotel which the information guy at the airport had marked for us on a map. That's when we got our biggest and best surprise. We wound through streets and lanes lined with cafes, bars, shops and restaurants most of which would be quite at home in the hippest parts of Sydney or Melbourne. And crowds of cool people hanging out after work.
I had booked an apartment on line with little knowledge of what it'd be like other than what I had read on Trip Advisor. It was great, smack in the middle of the action. Bars cafes shops right on the doorstep. Moreover it was on what they call the Royal Route which is the route the royal families used eons ago travelling from their main palace in the old town to their garden palace a few kms away.
That first night we walked soaking up the sights. What a buzz. Beautiful shops and al fresco restaurants everywhere one of which has a Chopin concert every night. We bought a few items from a basement supermarket and laughed at the price. AUD $3 all up for shampoo, mineral water and some other things. What? We then hunkered down in a Polish restaurant for dinner. What a treat. Authentic Polish food; dumplings, beetroot soup, pork knuckles, ribs, beautiful salads and cheap! AUD$33 including drinks. Wow. And service to die for. After quaking in our boots at the prices in Copenhagen this was heaven on a stick.
The next day we headed off with tourist map in hand to find Constitutional Square where the largest communist rallies and celebrations were held. Lots of impressive soviet structures and stone reliefs. We also had a late breakfast there. Again great food and amazingly cheap. We walked over to the botanical gardens which are lovely and in full bloom. Once more I marvelled at the WiFi hotspots all around the place including in the gardens so the citizenry and visitors can hop on line. Searingly fast broadband... note to Australian government.
After that we headed to visit the huge communist era office tower that dominates the city skyline. Built in 1956. Very impressive looking. Not your normal brutal soviet architecture but very grand instead, still with unmistakable soviet overtones though. Nowadays it's the Palace of Culture and houses a cultural and education centre, and hosts concerts, theatre etc. You'll see it in my photos.
Talking of architecture, there is an amazing array of very modern, futuristic looking office buildings in the city. It was interesting to see the logos of many large multinationals on some of them.
Next we turned our attention to finding the remnants of the Jewish Ghetto wall. For those who don't know, in 1939-1940 the Nazis moved the entire Jewish population of Warsaw, about 260,000 - into a walled ghetto. Here they lived in cramped squalor until 1942, when if they hadn't already been killed or deported, they were transported by train to the death camps. Very little remains of the ghetto today. There are two small sections of the wall still standing and these are now places of pilgrimage. We visited these assisted by Google maps and some helpful locals. The sections of the wall are amongst people's apartments and it felt a bit weird wandering through their courtyards to get there, but it was fine with those who live there.
We then walked to visit Warsaw's main synagogue which miraculously survived the War. In 1942 the Nazis conceived what was euphemistically called "the final solution to the Jewish question". In effect they decided to exterminate the entire Jewish race in Europe. Thus they deported the occupants of the ghetto to the death camps and destroyed the entire area. Only one ghetto building remains from that time. We found this in our wandering. It's not featured on any tourist maps though. We learnt about it from some reading at the synagogue. Very sobering indeed.
Finally we jumped in a cab and headed to the Jewish History museum. It was incredible to learn how and when the Jews first came to Poland. They'd been there since around the 12th century. The museum is essentially a journey through time of Jewish life in Poland right up to present day. With a large focus of course on WW2 and the Holocaust. Again a very sobering experience.
The last thing we wanted to do during our short visit to Warsaw was to see the old town which was only a km or so from our hotel. With tired legs from all the walking we jumped on a bus straight up the Royal Route. This we did after putting our feet up at the apartment for an hour or so. The old town is beautiful. It remained relatively intact during the War as it was basically occupied by the Nazis and collaborating Polish authorities. A wonderful collection of baroque and neo classic architecture. And once more, gorgeous restaurants, bars, cafes and crowds of people enjoying themselves everywhere. After dinner we grabbed coffee to go and headed back to the apartment - exhausted but thrilled with our visit to Warsaw.
We had a 9.45 am train booked to Krakow so had breakfast at a wonderful French cafe downstairs. It has to be one of the best breakfasts I've had in a long time. Sitting outside watching the city come to life and magnificent croissants, eggs and freshly squeezed OJ. Plus a really cool blend of jazz in the background. Brilliant. Then off to the station where we caught the Premium Inter City fast train to Krakow. A bullet train no less. Covered the 300 km in around 2 hours.
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