Warsaw

Having put myself to bed at 8 last night and had a reasonably good sleep, I'm feeling a whole lot better than I did yesterday, but not quite 100%. However I haven't come all thus way to be unwell so am determined to be a brave little soldier and make the most of my time here in Poland. After breakfast we meet Marta who is our local guide for the day. We have been really spoils by the wuslity of local guides to date, and Marta proves to be no exception. Weather forecast is 10 and sunny but as it is cold I'm also packing the umbrella. Our first stop in the coach is a very short drive from the hotel to Lazienki Park which is what I was trying to remember in yesterday's blog. The Park occupies some 76 hectares of the city. Entire and us beautifully laid out and maintained. It is the largest in Warsaw. At state erected in honour of Frederick Chopin has been erected in a park surrounded by rose gardens where concerts are held during the summer months to perform Chopin's music. Dotted throughout the park and city centre are seating benches that when you push a button, play different Chopin concertos. Marta takes us through part of the park where we see red squirrels under a lot of trees. They are clearly used to people as they make no effort to run away as we approach. There is a beautiful Orangery which now houses sculptures. The water tank has been built to resemble a Roman pillared round house. We are told that the lovely old 3 storey white house is where the last king brought his mistresses. Can't think of his name (may be he was Lazienki?) but at one stage he had an affair with Catherine the Great (I remember learning about her from high school days). He never married and ended up being forced to abdicate when Poland was once again divided up into smaller States. In the mean time though, he was very much a forward thinker (even if he couldn't keep it in his pants) and brought a lot of favourable change to the country. His palace in the park is set on an artificial island that has parts of it looking like a little Venice. It even has its own Roman inspired amphitheatre. Back on the coach and Marta points out many more buildings and statues of historic significance until we go through the Jewish Ghetto where we stop at the Jewish museum for a short refreshment break. Back on the coach, more sigh seeing and the stop for a walking tour of the Old Town. Warsaw was practically decimated by the end of WWII and the Yanks announced that they would provide funding to help rebuild the city, but Stalin refused to let the Polish access any American money so the total rebuild came from within... And what a tremendous job they did. Based on photos and 'old' paintings of what the city centre had looked like, everything was built to replicate what had been standing before the war. Some buildings just needed new roofing but most needed the whole front facade, walls and rooves rebuilt. UNESCO has Warsaw's Old Town world heritage listed, and it is the only 'fake' old city so listed. We stop by the famous Mermaid statue in the centre of the square and it is time to farewell Marta and get ourselves some lunch. Both Marta and Matej have recommend we try the local piorogis which are like potato ravioli which can be filled with meats, vegetables or cheeses and boiled or fried. You can also get sweet ones. My meat and champignons ones were really good, but I just couldn't eat them all. The smallest serve was 9 of them but I could only manage 7 and really shouldn't have stuffed the last one in! We then have time to wander about until it is time to get the bus back to the hotel. The sky has been getting darker and just before we get on the coach it has started raining. Just as well I had my brolly. There were quite a few caught short in the wet. Back at the hotel and time for a much needed cuppa and feet up until we head back to the lobby at 6 pm where we are going to be treated to a short piano recital to be given by one of our fellow travellers, Mark from NZ, who is a professional musician. I wonder if he can play Abba???