We are incredibly lucky: we have two whole weeks off of school for an Easter break! We have decided to use the time to travel around to a few parts of Europe we have been dying to see since we moved here: Warsaw, Krakow, and Copenhagen. Our first stop on this trip was Warsaw.
We arrived about three days ago in Warsaw, and immediately we could tell it was beautiful! Just the taxi ride from the airport to our Airbnb was beautiful. Warsaw is FULL of beautiful gardens and parks. It seems as though you can't go more than a few blocks before walking into an expansive park. It was just the start to spring break that we needed, and we couldn't have been more lucky weather. It has been in the mid 60's the whole time.
Before I get into what we did in Warsaw, here is a brief history of this amazing and old city. Warsaw is over 1,400 years old! During this expansive history, the city has evolved from a group of villages into one of Europe's super power cities. Warsaw's history hasn't been smooth sailing. The city has faced plagues, invasions, and devastating fires. It is probably most known in modern history for its role in WWII through the siege of Warsaw and the Warsaw Uprising, after which Nazi Germany razed the city. Today, however, it is known as a multicultural capital that is an important part of commercial and cultural Central Europe. And...it is just beautiful!!!
We started our tour of Warsaw by walking around Old Town. I am going to include the pictures I have with the details below:
This was our first stop: the statue of Sigismund III Vasa. He really enjoyed having power and was not only King of Poland, but was also the Grand Duke of Lithuania (at the same time as being King of Poland), and the King of Sweden throughout his life (although the Swedish led a war to unseat him). He is a controversial person in Poland. He is one of Poland's most recognizable monarchs and his reign coincides with the Golden Age of Poland. However, the decline that occurred in Poland following the Golden Age was caused by him and there was extensive religious persecution during his reign. This statue was commissioned by his son (who was also his successor).
This is the Royal Castle. This is actually the second royal castle in Poland. We will visit the first, (Wawel Castle) in a few days in Krakow. This castle in Warsaw was built to be the royal residence after the capital was moved from Krakow to Warsaw in 1596 (although it wasn't officially stated the capital until 1918).
The inner courtyard of the Royal Castle.
This statue of Syrenka, a mermaid brandishing a sword (the symbol of Warsaw), is found in the Old Town Market Square. This was a super interesting part of Warsaw to see, as practically every building was rebuilt after being reduced to rubble by the bombings in WWII. Jan Zachwatowicz (an architect) cleverly hid the original blueprints for almost all the buildings in that area of town in canisters behind a bricked up wall in the basement of one of the buildings. Almost all the buildings were a total loss after the war. When Jan Zachwatowicz showed everyone the plans he had hidden, he was tasked with rebuilding that part of the city to look as it did before the war. It is so cool to see, because you can see the bases of the buildings that were left after the war and the newer parts added on top. However, all of it looks like authentic pre-1900's buildings thanks to Jan Zachwatowicz and his crew in the late 1940's.
This is a mosaic done in socialist realist style is done on the side of a building on Nowy Swiat Street. It was a reminder to us as we looked everywhere and saw all the WWI and WWII history that for 51 years Russia occupied Poland after the war.
This is the front of the Barbican. It was built in 1540 and was a fortification that once encircled all of Warsaw.
A bit of the wall that still stands with the Barbican.
The Little Insurgent Monument commemorates all the child soldiers who fought and died during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. Miller found this statue particularly interesting as we told him children as young as eight fought in combat to defend the city of Warsaw.
Our final activity on the first day was to visit the POLIN Museum. It documents over 1000 years of Jewish history in Poland. My Poland book said it was a lot to digest in one visit, and they were not lying! It went from the accounts of the earliest traders in Poland, to mass migration, to pogroms, WWII, and the present situation of Jews in Poland. The phrase I most took away from the museum is one I think resonates a lot in today's climate as well: "Thou shalt not be indifferent." It is considered the eleventh commandment and was used by Marian Turski during his speech in Auschwitz that he called his final warning to the human race.
To start day two, we took another walk, but this time in the northern part of the city. We were able to see a few cool monuments. Then, we walked all the way to the southern part of the city to see Lazienki Park, where we spent most of our afternoon. Check out our day below:
This is the monument to Mikoaj Copernick (known to everyone who isn't Polish as Nicolaus Copernicus). He was the man who proved conclusively that the Earth revolves around the Sun, not the other way around.
Most of our day was spent in Lazienki Park. It is HUGE (76 hectares). It has 2 palaces, a lake, an amphitheater, a botanical garden you have to pay to get into, a few museums, and three separate free gardens on the property. This is where we spent most of the afternoon, wandering around and checking out all the flowers (as you can see above).
A picture of one of the palaces in Lazienki Park. Do you see the little floating houses on the river? Those are resting rafts for ducks!
This is a monument to Fryderyk Chopin. He is obviously known around the world for his composing and piano playing. He is especially important to Warsaw, because he was born in Warsaw, raised, went to college in Warsaw, and spent over half his life in Warsaw!
This plaque was on the college Chopin went to in Warsaw.
A selfie by the lake in Lazienki Park.
Today was our last day here in Warsaw, and we only had one thing planned: the Warsaw Zoo. It was created in 1928 and has over 3000 animals. The zoo is presented as part zoo, part gardens, and we easily spent the day there. We really wanted to tour Zabinskis' Villa, the home of zoo director Jan Zabinski and his wife Antonia (the couple featured for the heroism in The Zookeeper's Wife), but we couldn't find a tour. So, we just admired the very average looking building from the outside. The basement of Zabinskis' Villa was used as a hiding place for Jews trying to escape capture in WWII. The villa also held many priceless entomological collections of Dr. Szymon Tenebaum that he gave to Jan Zabinski before he had to relocate to the Warsaw ghetto in 1941.
Zoo selfie!
Me inside the crate that transported the baby elephant (now a full-grow adult female) to the zoo in 2004. It is crazy to think that an elephant fit in that at one time!
Miller enjoyed the two hippos at the zoo.
This cat was enjoying tearing its lunch apart when we saw it. It was gross and cool to see.
Zabinskis' Villa. It is just a plain, average looking Polish house in the middle of the zoo.
The plaque on the outside of the house stating that it was Zabinskis' Villa and the heroism exhibited there.
Tomorrow we leave to head to Krakow, our second stop on our three stop adventure for spring break!
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