Warsaw, Poland—Day 146

Today started out later than normal. After finishing up a bit of business, we headed over to the Historical Museum of Warsaw to catch the English version film of the history of Warsaw from 1939-1945. The film was absolutely extraordinary—it showed Warsaw in its pre-war state and showed how Warsaw was decimated during the war and how it had to be entirely rebuilt from the rubble. Astounding.

After touring through the rest of the exhibits in the museum, we went and got lunch in New Town. We then headed back towards the Old Town area of Warsaw and visited the Royal Castle, which was once the official Royal Palace and subsequently the Presidential Palace before it was burned down by the Nazis during World War II.

We explored further the neighborhoods surrounding Old Town and ended up at the Chopin Museum which was in itself small but equally fascinating—it displays relics ranging from Chopin’s last piano to the burial clothes of his parents.

After that we went in search of the old remaining wall of the Jewish Ghetto which took quite a while and when we found where it was located, we were disappointed to find out that it was basically in an apartment building’s backyard with no access to actually view the wall.

Soon thereafter it was time for dinner so we actually ate in a Mexican restaurant near the Palace of Culture and Science and it turned out to be excellent...in fact, just as wonderful as Mexican food in Mexico. It was totally bizarre—there we were drinking margaritas and eating enchiladas de mole in the middle of Poland. It is strange sometimes how things work out.





(c) 2004 Sarah Galbraith. All Rights Reserved.