Warsaw

I arrived in Warsaw late and I was exhausted after that awful day.  So I went to bed and read my book.  And then the next day, I didn't stray too far from home.  Just out around the neighbourhood to get some food.  I had booked a walking tour but I changed it to the next day. 

Day two in Warsaw, I had to make up for lost time.  Starting with a 10 am walking tour of old town. 

A lovely walk to the meeting place. 

Meeting place, Sigismund's column.  Past king.  He was Swedish.  European royalty is complicated.

Unlike Krakow, the heart of Warsaw was completely destroyed during WWII. All of the cool old buildings there now are rebuilds.  But there was an architect in charge who made it his mission to recreate as much as he could despite being under soviet rule after the war. 

Some remnants of the City walls still exist.  The Soviets
Used a lot of the bricks for rebuilding.  

Our man, Sigismund.  This statue survived the war,
but not the column.  He was found in a ditch.

Here is the column.  Riddled with bullet holes.

So, remember I mentioned the pigeon thing in Krakow.
Apparently it's a Polish thing.  And it isn't about
The number of pigeons.  Before the war,  there was a 
Crazy pigeon lady.  She was one of the very first 
People to return to the city once the war ended.
She was a symbol of the rebirth of the City and 
Country as people came back to rebuild their lives 

Our guide in front of Madam Curie's house 
Where she grew up.

After the tour, I just wandered around until I found a perogy place (so, i wandered for like 30 seconds).  I had discovered that potato filled perogies are not the only option like they are in North America.   Some smart Polish immigrant needs to fill that hole in the market.  But I digress. 

I had to order a minimum of nine so I got nine different non-potato perogies!  What a time to be alive!!!

I forgot to take a picture until after
I had already eaten three of them

Look at that hideous dress!  
Yellow and covered in perogies 

I started heading back to my apartment along the river.  But first, since I was passing it aneay, I popped into the royal gardens behind the royal palace (rebuilt completely with donations from Polish citizens because the Soviets would not pay for the reminder of the pre-occupation).

To the river.  

The guide had mentioned that across the river was Praga.  A previously scary, now cool district of Warsaw that had escaped some of the destruction during the war.   We could see the steeples of the church was was apparently worth a visit.  I was walking past the bridge anyway...

Praga, as it turns out,  is not that interesting.   But the church is nice.  I couldn't get a full photo without the sideways view so here it is in bits.  

Sorry, you're getting sideways anyway. 

That was a lot of walking that day.  Back to my apartment and my book. 

The next day I had an early afternoon train so I Ubered to the train station early ish and stared my backpack in a locker with the intention of heading into old town to explore a bit more.  I had some Polish zloty to spend or it was going to waste.  

But, once my bag was stored, I went outside and it was pouring again.  The weather has been so unpredictable.   It had been roasting hot on one day, and cold and raining on the next.  Or even hot, then rain turning within a minute.  Anyway, by the time it stopped raing, it was too late to do anything but sit outside and eat my leftover perogies.

Oh, and the station was attached to a mall.  So i used my zloty to buy some pajama pants.  My Iceland roommate will appreciate it, I'm sure.  I forgot to pack some. I spent a bit more but I can't remember on what??

And that was that.  Off to Vilnius in Lithuania.   And the next post. (I am writing and posting this on my phone on the train so my editing may be haphazard.