July 26 To Warsaw Poland (Day 303)
Moving on to another city in another country! From Brno, Czechia to Warszawa (Warsaw), Poland, a very early morning train required us to get up before dawn! We stopped at a small Czech town, Česká Třebová, to change trains.
A beautiful fountain in front of the train station.
We then had an almost 7 hour ride on a full train to Warsaw! When we arrived at almost 3pm we had to find the public bus to get to our Airbnb near old town.
Our first impression of Warsaw! A clean city, a very busy train station and a very efficient public transportation system!
This tall building dominating the skyline near the train station is the Palace of Culture and Science, built in 1950 as a ‘gift’ from Soviet leader Josef Stalin. Because of this it has a divided status in the city, some love it, some hate it as per the “10 Facts You Didn’t Know about …”.
We found our bus and made it to our B&B, unpacked and headed out to check out our surroundings.
Meeting the locals!
We meandered our way towards old town and came to this huge square, filled with families and tourists, with entertainers everywhere!
This is Castle Square, bounded on the right side by the red brick Royal Castle, previously the home of Poland’s monarchy, with the focal point in the square being Sigismunds Column, originally erected in 1644 to commemorate King Sigismund III Vasa. Both the original Column and the Castle were completely destroyed by the retreating Nazis in 1945 when they razed the entire city in retaliation for the (failed) Warsaw Uprising of the summer of 1944.
We penetrated deeper into the maze of old town and reached the Old Town Market Square.
The entire square was reconstructed from 1948 to 1953 due to its complete destruction by the Nazis in 1945. This entire row of town houses comprise the Muzeum Warzawy. The statue in the square is a famous landmark of the city, the Mermaid of Warsaw, found on the Warsaw coat of arms.
One way to get around the mostly carless narrow cobblestone streets!
As we headed back to our B&B we saw one more palace!
This is the “Tin Roof Palace” on the edge of old town. Actually the roof is copper with a rich patina! So much history, from its founding in the 13th century this city has been destroyed and rebuilt several times!