Remembering My First Warsaw Trip

Dear friends,

More than a year ago - in the beginning of June 2012 - I went for the first time in Warsaw :) Well... actually not the first time, if you count the times that I spent in the Warsaw Airport waiting to get the connection to Krakow (YES! There is no direct flight from Romania to Poland). So it was more like "seeing Warsaw for the first time out of the Airport area" :)

Me and my fiancee and my flatmate and friend took a one day trip to Warsaw with the main intention to meet one of our friends and see the Warsaw Uprising Museum - we managed to check both of them off the list and we got to do much more than that ;) We were fast and efficient and we had a great guide - my fiancee - who even though he never visited Warsaw, printed some maps and took us everywhere! :) Yes, I know, my fiancee is amazing ;)

1)The first picture I took in Warsaw... look at that huge Adon the Novotel :o
2)Nice advertisement for the movie "Snow Queen and the Huntsmen"

3 & 4) Just  look at that awesome morning sky that was greeting us! It was before 7 AM and it was an awesome warm July day with my fiancee and my friend - what would I want more?!

5) Gaudi like mall entrance - the lines of the building were absolutely lovely and it took me back in time to my trip in Spain where I learned more about Gaudis work :)
6) Old and new combined :) You can see that everywhere ;)

  
7) Et Voila! Only a few kilometers away :) - in the city center, near the mall area you have this pole with all the 4 directions and all the main capitals in that direction.

 8 & 9) And here you have my 2 companions - happy that they reached Warsaw after the long trip :)

10) Happy and tired and excited and waiting for the food @ KFC. After the long bus trip - we took a bus to Warsaw immediately after we all 3 finished our night shifts. We traveled over 5 hours by bus. We reached Warsaw before 7 AM and we were famished! Unfortunately the shops in the city center would open around 8 AM. Only KFC was opening at around 7 AM. So we patiently waited and we were one of the first customers :) Tell you the truth a big bucket split for 3 persons was not enough :))))))))))

 

  11) Of course, after eating we had so much energy that we could push cars ;)

12 & 13) We got to Copernicus Statue ( in the University area) and we started fooling around this awesome statue of him surrounded by the planets. It made me remember of Sailor Moon :p And the picture with all our feet should say " 3 ET Landed on Earth" :))))

14 until 18) Fooling around and having a blast in the University area with our friend Copernicus and the lady mermaid Wars-Sawa (P.S. You need to check out her story HERE ;) Trust me!)

19) Just Shadows on the Warsaw streets...
20) Chopins heart is buried home, where it belongs ;) although his body is in a cemetery in Paris (just FYI)
21) Exiting Chopins Hearts Home
22) Wonderful architecture everywhere - the towers of the church where Chopin is buried (the church is in the University Area, right next to the Copernicus Statue)

23) Random church we entered but I immediately fell in love with it due to its naval touches :) Just have a look ;) It is quite close to the church where Chopins heart is ;) It is quite small and intimate.

24 & 25) The Monument for all the Unknown Heroes - each hour the guard changes and we managed to be on time and see that! :) I was really glad! You have written down all the battles in Polands history and there are 2 soldiers guarding day and night - hot or cold weather :) Never moving!

 
26) A solar clock in the park next to The Monument for all the Unknown Heroes 
27) Happy People in the Park :)

28) The ticket to the Warsaw Uprising Museum :)
29) Weird pictures in the bathroom :p yes... they are a must :) they were with dedication to a friend ;)
30) The first thing I saw when I entered the museum was this statue and this huuuuuuuuuuuuge plane! They have a real plane inside! A real plane used in the Second World War :o
31) The bell outside, in the garden of the museum... It was so tempting to ring it!!!
32) One of my fav movies about Second World War is The Pianist :) Where Adrien Brody plays a Polish Jewish musician Wladyslaw Szpilman. Well... HE was real and HE survived all this :) And inside the museum there is a picture of him - I HAD to take a shot!
Here is a quote from the movie
Wladyslaw Szpilman: Its an official decree, no Jews allowed in the parks.

Dorota: What, are you joking? Wladyslaw Szpilman: No, Im not. I would suggest we sit down on a bench, but thats also an official decree, no Jews allowed on benches. Dorota: This is absurd. Wladyslaw Szpilman: So, we should just stand here and talk, I dont think were not allowed to do that.

P.S.S. I have also read his book, when he tells all the things he has been through... Better read it before seeing the movie ;)

33) In the museum, to get from one place to another at some point you had to pass through a remake of the sewers (ingenious, is it not?!). Through those kind of sewers (although not that clean, but rather dirty and full of human feces) the people were trying to escape and messages were sent...

34) National fans trying to warm up the statues with the Euro 2012 spirit ;)
35) The new Stadium for the Euro 2012 (it lights up in the national colors: red and white) 
36) And yet another smart ad ;) connected to Euro 2012 ;)

37) The Awesome Mermaid :) Please read the story of Warsaw connected to the mermaid ;) The link is put above, in picture 14 till 18 ;)
38) Me and the famous Polish Mermaid :)
39) Meeting with our friend in the city center and checking out the inner court of the redone palace :) You may think that the city center is as old as the city center in Krakow but you are wrong! During the Second World War the whole Warsaw was taken down by the bombing and they had to rebuild it from scratch. But they rebuild it in style so it would look old ;) and they used the old blueprints to make everything as it was before ;) SMART!!!

40 & 41) Pictures of the Ghetto Wall - there is just one singular piece of the Ghetto Wall standing (we saw it on out way to the Warsaw Uprising Museum) but it is so small you would miss it. There is a plus though to the rebuilding and preserving the old Warsaw at the same time. On the perimeter of the Ghetto Wall you have this traces where the Wall really was (as seen above).

42) This is a picture of the Court House where each column has a quote in Latin and in Polish. 

Oh! Well... I loved Warsaw but it is too me very similar to Bucharest and as much as I like it I could not live there... But you never know how the wind blows so we should never say never :p Either way I have my friend there and I miss her terribly so I need to get there again. And fast! :* the kiss is for you Kasia :*

P.S.S.S. As much as I love Krakow I must admit that you need to visit Warsaw too ;)

**I didnt receive anything for this review, just wanted to share the love!** 

Yours truly,
The LadyBug

download
alternative link download