Day 30 - Warsaw, Poland - Bud Returning to his Grandparents Homeland

Joan's View

Bud has grandparents that lived just outside of Warsaw so for him it was a special tour. Our day started with a Bolt ride to the airport for our flight to Warsaw.  We waited a tad at the Warsaw airport for our guide, Sebastian, to pick us up. He picked us up at 12:26pm and dropped us off at our place for the night at 8:30. We are all tired.

Warsaw was about 80 percent destroyed by the Germans in World War II. There was so much rubble that it was piled into mounds around the city. Those mounds were turned into parks.

The top of the Mount of the Warsaw Uprising

The base of the Warsaw Uprising Mount

In the nearby park to that mount, there is a musical bench that plays an excerpt from a Chopin piece when you press a button on the bench. Chopin was born and grew up in Warsaw. He left Warsaw for Paris when he was 21 to escape war in Warsaw. He was never allowed to return to Warsaw. He is buried in Paris, but his heart was in Warsaw. After he died, his sister smuggled his heart under a large dress back into Warsaw.

The king's palace modeled after Versailles.

Lunch, which was more like dinner for us, was at a Polish restaurant. Lots of pirogies at the table.

Traditional Polish artwork

Traditional Polish artwork

Thanks Bud for these pictures!

After eating, Tony got a "Drunk Cherry" drink from the Ukrainian bar next to the restaurant. 

The drunk cherries are added to the liqueur. 

From there we went to the tomb of the unknown soldier and watched the changing of the guards. The tomb rests under a small section of what is left of large building of what was once Saxon Palace. 

The captain escorting the next guards

The large square called Victory Square next to it was where Pope John Paul II held mass for about a million people when he came to Poland as his first papal visit. It was a pivotal point that helped pave the way for the fall of communism. The large cross marks the spot of the altar where Pope John Paul II said mass.

We passed some vintage "cucumbers" taking people around the city. These are old buses were made in Poland during the communist control. Sebastian said that they are loud and hard to drive, but they sure look fun.

I forgot the name of this church but loved the choir loft.

We also made a quick stop for some traditional Polish pastry.

At another square, traditional says that if you walk around touching the bell 3 times, your dreams will come true. Somebody had to do it.

Mermaids are the symbol of Warsaw. This mermaid is a sister to the one in Copenhagen.

Marie Curie's childhood home.

Support for Ukraine is widespread here.