Day 5 - Warsaw

Our second 'rest' day of the trip, so we took the decision to have a late start. It gave me a chance to get the blog right up to date as well as posting some of Bob and Kenny's photos.

As Wendy and I were in Warsaw just over a year ago, we decided not to do the guided tour which the rest of the group were doing in the afternoon. We joined them at around noon at the Palace of Culture and Science. The Palace was a 'gift' from the Soviet People to the Poles in the early fifties and commissioned by Stalin. It took three years to build and, at 231 metres in height, is the tallest and largest structure in Poland.

In front of the building are two giant, stark looking statues with, in contrast, some very colourful pansies planted at the base of each statue.

We took the elevator to the viewing gallery on the 30th floor from where you have the most wonderful 360 degree panoramic view over the city. Here are some of the photos we took. The first is looking down on our hotel, the Polonia Palace, which is one of the very few buildings to have survived intact in the whole of Warsaw, after the destruction during the Second World War.

Views looking south, north and east.

 

 

Looking towards the Old City on the banks of the Vistula River just beyond the modern buildings in the foreground.

From above, two symmetrical flower displays which were located near to our hotel.

We spent about half an hour in the Palace and then returned to the hotel before walking to the Old City. It took us about 45 minutes, walking in brilliant sunshine.

I had left my video camera at the hotel, so all the following photos of the Old City are courtesy of Wendy and her new Panasonic Lumix camera.

As it was Sunday the streets were crowded with people, which was in marked contrast to the cold day we spent here in 2009.

We walked past the statue of Copernicus holding an astronomical globe. Marked on the pavement surrounding the statue were the orbits of the planets.

Not far away is the Presidential Palace.

We went past one church, with a giant picture of Pope John Paul II, where afternoon Mass was being held and the congregation had spilled out on to the street. What a contrast to the attendances at British churches!

We reached the city walls, which have been wonderfully restored and looked outside to some fine fortified buildings.

We stopped and had coffee and tea and then walked back to our hotel. We met up with the others, had a drink in the hotel bar and then went round the corner to a very good Polish restaurant. We were all very amused to read this note at the bottom of the menu: 'In the other part of the restaurant the colourful selection of tidbits is waiting for you'!!!

We leave in the morning for the drive to Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania and the start of the long drive north that ends at the North Cape in Norway, the most northerly tarmac road in the world. Let the adventure continue!