2010 Trip to Eastern Europe and the Baltics
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The Hendersons Two Days in Warsaw |
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2010 Trip to Eastern Europe and the Baltics |
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July 27 I woke with a very strange rash on my face, arms, legs and chest. No amount of hydrocortisone cream was effective. I have no idea what brought this on. Time to leave Krakow and drive to Warsaw. Generally, the drive was uneventful and a bit boring. The traffic in Warsaw was pretty bad – mostly because the streets aren’t well marked. We had reservations at the Ibis Warsawa Stare Miasto. Frankly, it wasn’t a very satisfactory hotel. The internet connection didn’t work in the rooms at all (the management blamed it on our computers) and worked only sporadically in the lobby area. Tom was tired after the long drive, so I walked into the old town. It has been totally reconstructed from the rubble left after WWII and the Soviet occupation – it is beautiful and completely unexpected. We figured out how to use the bus system and took a bus into the old town for dinner, which was actually quite good. July 28 Only one full day to explore Warsaw – we walked around the old town quite a bit.
We came across some workmen laying cobbles. I can't imagine this being done in the U.S.
We then headed for the Warsaw Uprising Museum – it was rather a hike and we had a lot of problems figuring out the tram system, but eventually we got there.
It was stark, dark and very disturbing. It documented in detail the courageous people who tried to overturn the Nazis from their country – and the brutal reprisals as a result. We also saw the architectural monstrosity that is known as Lenin’s Penis. I don’t remember what the building is used for, but it is truly ugly.
A few weeks before our trip the President of Poland and several of his cabinet members were killed in a plane crash in Russia. There was a large memorial to the victims, with hundreds of flowers. Poland has seen so many troubles.
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