Warsaw: Warsaw Uprising Museum and City Tour

This morning I visit the Warsaw Uprising Museum. The uprising museum is about the uprising of the people of Poland against the Germans at the end of WWII. The beginning of the exhibit talks about the start of WWII and German occupation but the museum is mostly about how the Polish resistance organized and fought the Germans.

We learn in history that Germany invades Poland at the start of WWII. When they invade Warsaw the Polish do a pretty good job initially at holding them off. However the excessive bombing of residential areas by Germans lead the Polish to capitulate to the Germans pretty quickly to lessen the amount of death to civilians. I am not sure they had any idea how bad it could get after that.

I learn how the uprising comes to form and how they get in bed with the enemy, the red army (Soviet Union), in order to fight off the Germans. The red army had promised to help them remove the nazis from Warsaw but instead they leave them hanging until the last minute and then finally join the fight.

The people of Warsaw believed the red army was going to help them and continue on through to fight the Germans. But instead of letting Poland have its independence they disarm the polish underground soldiers, installed a puppet government and started communist rule of Poland for 40 years. They replaced one form of occupation with another.

In the museum there are historical artifacts with explanations, documented footage of the time, and a powerful 3D movie to show an aerial view of how Warsaw was bombed to hell during this war. What wasn’t destroyed at the beginning of WW2 was completely decimated during the end of WW2. It is said that before WW2 Warsaw had 1.3 million people but after the last uprising they were left with less than 300,000. Many were moved, killed, or sent to camps during the occupation. There was some information on the Warsaw Ghetto and how Germany made propaganda videos to show back home about how great life was in the ghetto so every day Germans would have no idea how bad like was for the Jewish people in Poland.

Sewer tunnels were often used as an escape and communication route

After the museum I want to grab a quick lunch before the old town tour I have scheduled this afternoon. While on the bus to Old town I pass a Georgian restaurant I’ve been thinking about trying. I hop off at the next stop and get a delicious Georgian meal. There are so many good things to order but I am only one person and this is already too much food. I order an appetizer of cold eggplant rolled over some sort of nut stuffing (I think cashews) and khachapuri with egg. Khachapuri is what we call in US a cheese boat. It is boat shaped bread filled with delicious cheese. There can be different toppings like a pizza but I order the traditional way with a raw egg on top. The egg is mixed in table-side where the egg “cooks” with the hot melty cheese. I think the egg gives it a more rich flavor, plus it adds protein (gotta get in my protein even if I am eating garbage). I am sure the cheese is going to mess up my stomach for the afternoon but I don’t care. (Luckily it doesn’t). It’s good I am walking for most of the afternoon because I am eating a days worth of calories here, or more.

I arrive to the royal route early and explore. The royal route is the long road lined with restaurants and stores that leads down to the presidential palace and old town.

We meet at the Copernicus monument in front of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Copernicus is a famous Polish scientist who first modeled the Sun as being stationary and the planets orbiting it, among other things. He is commemorated all over the country.

Our guide, a spunky polish native, uses facts, humor and sarcasm to tell us all about old town. I love a good sarcasm banter.

The most important thing to know that most of the old town has been completely rebuilt since WWII. It was bombed during the start of WW2 and bombed to hell when Poland tried to claim their independence during the Warsaw Uprising.

As terrible as the Soviets were to Poland, much of the old town was able to be rebuilt during the reign. Our guide tells is that many of the buildings are built from the original rubble of the original construction. And if they did not have enough material they tried to source the original.

We spend a large amount of time talking about the buildings all over the start of old town.

We visit the town square and learn all the lore behind the courtyard mermaid.

Our guide shows us important churches and notes places to visit around town. She points out parks on the must see list.

After the tour I go backwards and visit all the churches she mentions during the tour.

In Archcathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist there is a reproduction of the famous Black Madonna painting like the famous one that exists in the Jasna Gora, a polish pilgrimage site. The church also has a Jesus statue that uses human hair as Jesus’ hair. There is a story that it used to grow and required haircuts on a regular basis. There is a story to explain why it no longer grows, of course.

I visit St Anna’s church which is a must see inside.

She also fills us in with more detail of the history like how a king ends up on a big column in the beginning of old town.

In the Church of the Holy Cross you can visit a memorial to Chopin. Frédéric Chopin’s sister put his heart in brandy after his death to preserve it. There is a fantastic story about how she smuggles it under her dress to cross the border so his heart could be buried in Warsaw, in his home country.

We stop by the University of Warsaw. We learn that all the public universities in Poland are free if you have the grades to be admitted. We see one building that made it through the war. It is supposed to be a beautiful campus, especially at night. I plan to return later.

We stop by the beautiful Bristol hotel, a luxury hotel built in 1901. The Cafe Bristol is visited by many famous people over the years. There are little knobs on the wall that commemorate each famous visitor to the hotel.

We finish the tour at the other side of old town at the Warsaw Barbican. After stopping by all the churches I missed I take the metro to down to the Palace of Culture and Science to have spectacular views of the city.

I read somewhere that the metro isn’t that interesting in Warsaw but I disagree.

View from the Palace of Culture and Science

More museums tomorrow……

Arrived in Warsaw

It’s a long train ride from Wroclaw to Warsaw but somehow it doesn’t seem too bad.

On the way to the train station I detour to see the art installation “The Passage” or Monument of the Anonymous Passersby. It is to represent the shrinking of life under martial law when communism took root in Poland.

The train ride to Warsaw is comfortable but it appears we are behind schedule but I don’t realize it at the time. I do the thing I thought I did in Krakow – I actually get off at the wrong station. Basically I got off at a station too early because I was concerned more with time versus where I actually was. When my phone said 55 minute walk I didn’t believe it at first because it was wrong before. Eventually I discover that I am indeed a 55 minute walk from my lodging and instead of trying to find a train that will take me one more stop (and possibly pay again) I start the 15 minute walk to the nearest bus station. From there it is another 10 minutes or so by bus. I ride by the correct train station. Finally it another 10-15 minutes walk to my cute studio apartment that I have rented for the next few days. I have a balcony but I fear it might be too cold to actually use it. I am not complaining about the cooler weather (yet) because I get hot easily with all the walking I do.

Oh look. My actual stop as I pass by on bus

I unload and do a trip to the grocery store to self cater so I can eat out slightly less these next few days. I can’t do much because the kitchen supplies I have are limited but I can do a girl dinner/breakfast here and there with some fancy meats and cheeses and fresh bread. Also I don’t have to wait for coffee shops to open in the morning for my morning coffee.

After shopping I walk down to the food hall nearby and walk by lots of cute eateries in the area, a good number of them vegan (vegan sushi or whatever else you like).

Hala Koszyki is a food hall in a historic building and has many different food choices. Since I am doing another polish food tour in a couple days I decide to do something different and get some oysters and mussels. Most food is cheaper here but oysters are still about the same I would pay in the USA.

After dinner I wander down to the Palace of Culture and Science. It is closed for the day but I may attend later in the week, there is supposed to be a great view from the top. There is construction around the building as it appears they are tearing up the walkways around to make nice sitting areas. I like how the building lights up at night.

After a bit more exploring of the neighborhood I head back. Travel days always exhaust me and I want to unwind for the evening. I have another busy day planned tomorrow with museums and an afternoon walking tour.

Wroclaw: last day

In the morning I have a timed entry for the Battle of Racławice, a panorama depicting a battle during the uprising against Russia in 1794. It is good thing I bought my ticket in advance because it is 9:00 AM and they are completely sold out for the day….just another example how there is no more go with the flow when it comes to traveling.

Things along the way to the panorama:

This panorama is a bit different than the others I have seen in Germany. This one is more stationary (if that is the right word). There are some sound effects and commentary (through an english audio guide) but for the most part you just are looking at a panoramic painting. Some of the others I’ve seen use light and sound to make it seem living. It is still cool to see though.

My ticket includes admission to three other museums but I am burned out today so I just walk 20 minutes to see one of them.The Ethnographic museum is small but informative. There are displays of old artifacts and a great history lesson of the Lower Silesian area of Poland. There is information of immigration coming in and out of this area from many different countries in the region. One interesting group of things in the museum were the figurative hives. They are carved out wooden figures meant as beehives.

It’s about to rain so I am officially done with sightseeing for now. I am going to hibernate for a couple hours. Hopefully it will stop right after dark because there is just one more stop I want to make tonight.

Some stops around town when the weather was nice.

I am in love with Dubai Chocolate ice cream

Neon Side

The one place left I had on my agenda is to visit the street with all the old neon signs at night. Called Neon Side the street has some bars and nightclubs. Luckily the rain stopped long enough for me to walk down there to snap some photos.

After Neon Side I grab a late night snack of cheese and there’s a dwarf staring at me.

One the way to the train station in the morning I stop by the statues called the passage. The figurines look like they are disappearing into the ground but then appear again on the other side of the street.

Now off to Warsaw for the next stop of my trip.

Wrocław fun

Since tomorrow is a holiday and many things will be closed there is a rush to do things today. I have an early morning at at University of Wrocław where they have a couple impressive things to see.

First is the beautiful doors of the college.

And the fun dwarves hanging out at the college.

At the University of Wrocław there are up to four museums to see and I buy a combo ticket that includes all four.

Aula Leopoldina

Aula Leopoldina is a late baroque hall that is adorned with many scholars by the windows. It is a very beautiful auditorium.

Next is the mathematical tower that houses many historic sundials and compasses and there is a tower that offers a view of the city.

Next is the Oratorio Marianum another beautiful hall.

And finally a college museum that houses discoveries and studies.

For lunch I planned to go Hala Targowa, a market, since it is the only day it is open while I am here (because my visit contains two holidays). I walk around the market and pick up some fruit for snacking but I actually end up eating at the restaurant outside the market. The meal I order there is just ok. I wanted some fish and vegetables. The vegetables hit the spot but the fish was not too exciting.

Communism and Dwarves Tour

Back in the time of communism times dwarves began to appear on walls as a form of protest. Krasnale or dwarves in Polish sounds and looks like the color red in Russian – krasnyi. Red also represents the red army of the Soviet Union, the occupiers of Poland at the time. Eventually communism failed in Poland and it became an independent nation again but they lived under Soviet communist life almost 40 years after the end of world war 2.

Papa Smurf, represents a middle finger to communism

Dwarves became the official symbol of Wroclaw in 2005 (like dragon is symbol of Krakow). Now there are like over a thousand dwarves in town. Some are public purchase by the city and some are private by businesses. Some even have gps installed in case they are stolen. I feel like many of them are just advertisements for nearby businesses. They are charming though. A great activity to do with kids (or kids at heart) is to get a dwarf map and find them all. There is a place in the main square to get a map and play the game.

During our tour we hear lots of stories about the Orange Alternative, a student group protesting communism in a non-violent way. They come up with very clever ways to protest while simultaneously pretending they weren’t protesting. The more I learn about Poland the more I learn how effective they were in protesting communism and union forming (later in Gdansk).

I meet a nice USA expat during my tour who is living in Germany but drove to Poland for the long weekend. I wish I wasn’t in such a hurry to get to my evening plans since I rarely meet solo travelers in my age range. They are usually way younger than I or way older than I.

After my tour I take a few minutes to rest in my room before heading to Centennial Hall a couple miles away. Google is not giving me public transportation options but I remember there is a tram from down the street that is supposed to head there so I go hoping for the best. I see a tram 4 going to the zoo and I know the zoo is next door so I hop on. Luckily I am correct. I take this same tram back later in the evening.

Centennial Hall is on my itinerary to see because it is on the UNESCO list but it is closed for viewing the whole time I am in town. But now I am actually here for a musical festival where I can see shows in the hall. The festival 3-Majówce is a three day music festival that happens every year around Constitution Day which is May 3. I learned about this festival when I was researching parades or street events that may be happening this weekend. I look at the list of performances and most of them are unfamiliar to me but one jumps out on the second day DUBIOZA KOLEKTIV. Dubioza Kolektiv is a Balkan ska band that I first learned about a couple years ago when I visited Bosnia and Herzegovina. I subsequently heard them mentioned in other Balkan countries when I was touring the region. Even though many of their songs have a political message they are fun to listen to and they make you want to dance. When I saw them on the schedule I knew I had to go – who knows if I’d ever have a chance again. I think they’ve only rarely played shows in the USA. I am very glad I made myself go. The band is incredibly fun and has so much energy. I am tired but I am determined to stay to the end of their show.

I am in the festival without a wrist band like everyone else has. I had in advance purchased a ticket but I can’t read polish so I missed a sign at the entrance I think. No one stopped me from entering, in fact I even had a bag check. Also no one kicks me out so I am not going to stress about it unless anyone approaches me.

Oh look that where I get my wrist band as I leave for the night.

I see the inside of Centennial Hall but it is all closed up on the top for the music festival.

I check out a couple of other bands while I am there but I missed most of the other headliners because I don’t have it in me to stay for a late night. I do get to see the inside of the centennial hall but it is dark inside and all the windows at the top were covered so it isn’t exactly the same as if I came as just a tourist. It’s still an interesting concert hall though.

The highlight for me is definitely Dubioza Kolektiv.

It’s a good night. I even try a raspberry syrup beer because it impossible to get anything else alcohol related unless you are in this one fenced in area. I am digging the syrup beer but I don’t finish it because I am afraid it will make me sick. I am pressing my luck too much lately with these beers. My tram 4 takes me back to my hotel tonight and I sleep well after the fun day.

Wrocław

The train here is packed. I am glad I have a reserved seat in first class. As I walk to my hotel there are tour groups with rolling luggage and many people carrying guitar cases. I am confused at first then I remember there is a big punk festival this weekend for the holidays.

I catch a protest of some sort as I walk to my hotel. It is constitution day so it doesn’t seem out of the ordinary. “Workers united are invincible” is on their sign. It appears to be a labor protest on constitution day.

I walk into the city center there are more guitars and artsy people. I hear music playing at a stage near my hotel. My goal is to check in quickly and check out the music.

I drop my things off and turn the corner to find a band playing a cover of “Sweet child of mine” it is busy in the courtyard but not as busy as it will be in a hour or so. The crowd slowly fills with people carrying guitars and bystanders like me. I am here in time for the annual Guitar World Record in Wrocław. People come from all over the world with their guitar to play “Hey Joe” in unison to reach a world record. If I read the news correctly I think they beat the record this year.

About the holidays this weekend, I had only scheduled 2 1/2 days to enjoy Wrocław and I later discovered that two of these days are during national holidays: May 1 Labor Day and May 3 constitution day. Not everything is closed on these days but a good number of things are and if they aren’t they close early. This means I won’t get to see all the things I want to see in town because I really only have one full day of sightseeing and part of that day is going to a festival to see some polish and international punk-ish bands (when in Rome).

I escape from the crowd temporarily to get a snack and climb the tower to see Bridge of Penitents or Witches Bridge. This is famous for its little witch dwarves overlooking the town. The view is nice but there is way too many people on the bridge at one time so I don’t stay up there too long. They really should do some crowd control at the top to make the experience better for everyone.

Georgian food to go. I love cheese so much

After the bridge I find an antique market I explore for a bit before I brave the guitar crowds once more.

While the crowd gathers a woman who used to perform with Michael Jackson is on stage. I can’t get close enough at this point to take any pictures. The crowd is a sea of guitars getting ready to play.

Finally they play their “Hey Joe” for the record recording. I walk out to beat the crowds but I hear the crowd cheering in the distance.

Some of the many dwarves in town playing little guitars for the day. Dwarves are important to Wroclaw but more on that later.

I walk down to one of the many “islands” that are connected by pedestrian bridges. The goal this afternoon is to stalk the gas lamplighter on Cathedral Island but I am way too early for that so I explore other islands and surroundings.

On one island there is a huge park with many groups picnicking, many with small foil pan metal grills. The smell of grilled sausages permeates the air and makes me really hungry. I’m waiting to eat until I get back closer to my hotel but does it smell good. I take a break to have a happy hour by the water. I watch the boats go by while I finally get a moment off my feet. Today has already been a long day.

I get to cathedral island to explore and even though most things are closed except a few restaurants there are still many people strolling around. Lines are consistently outside the college botanical garden that should be closed right now so I am not sure what is going on over there. Finally I spot the lamplighter and he moves quickly. He’s got an entourage of kids following him. He is not an official tourist attraction he’s just one of the few actually gas lamplighters left in the world. He (or someone else) lights at sundown and then they extinguish in the morning. I think I saw another in Zagreb, Croatia a couple years ago. This is not the only one but they are rare these days with electrical power.

I walk back toward the main market square where I have my eye on a Soviet communism theme restaurant that has a private room (not so private tonight since it is being used for diners). There is a long wait for food and it is just ok but I love the theming of the place so I explore the secret room quickly before I head back to my room to sleep. It’s late and I am tired after this long day.