Warsaw, Poland

The final stop on my tour was Warsaw in Poland.  Here, for the first time I actually had to contend with a bit of rain, having been lucky to just have a couple of showers and a very little snow to content with previously.  However, it wasn’t too bad and certainly did not stop me from getting out and about.

Like many of the places I have visited on this tour, Poland and Warsaw suffered in the Second World War.  From starting the war being divided between Germany and the Soviet Union, to full-Nazi occupation, the most dramatic times were towards the end of the war at the time of the Warsaw Uprising.  The resistance movement in August and September 1944 fought a major battle against the Nazis, expecting support from the Red Army.  However, this never came (at that time) and it was ultimately unsuccessful.  This led to 85% of the city being destroyed, either through the fighting or through a systematic process of destruction.  Therefore, again many of the historic buildings seen in Warsaw are in fact reconstructions with relatively little original parts. 

I visited a couple of relatively new museums that focused on this time in Warsaw.  The Warsaw Uprising museum tells the story of those two months.  The day I went there it had free entry and was packed with people, many of which locals.  I also visited POLIN - the Museum of the History of Polish Jews.  Whilst this also told the story of the war it also went back over 1000 years of history of Jewish people in Poland, and how their position had changed over that time.  There was a lot of content there (much more than I expected) and also an art exhibition of the work of Frank Stella which was abstract art based on Polish Synagogues.  Both museums were good, but possibly fall slightly into the modern disease of focusing on the story of individuals which means that the broader narrative can get lost.

Rebuilt or not, the Royal Castle is one of the highlights of Warsaw.  You go on a tour through many of the palace rooms, and also its collection of art works.  (It also had free entry on a Sunday).  It is located in the old town which itself is a Unesco world heritage site with lots of interesting  buildings, churches, streets etc and some of the old city walls. 

Slightly further south was the Royal Lazienki palace and parkland.  This former bathhouse had been extended by King August and partially survived the destruction of the war.  The odd thing was that you were made to put elasticated plastic bags over your shoes to walk around (I presume because it was wet outside).  This meant you ended up walking very cautiously so as not to slip on these bags!  The parkland around it would (I am sure) be lovely in summer (rather than a damp February day) with its lakes and trees, although I did get to see red squirrels and peacocks within it.

I also (as ever) visited a number of art galleries in the city.  Unfortunately most of them were closed in some part for rehanging of exhibitions!  However, I did get to see what I could at the National Museum, The Zacheta National Gallery of Art, the Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle and the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw.  Of these, it was probably the latter that was the most interesting, made up of modern pieces relating to recent events.

My final stop in Warsaw was the Palace of Culture and Science.  This was a 30+ story cultural complex built in the 1950’s by the Soviets as a “gift” to the people of Warsaw, an impressive building including a number of museums, theatres etc.  It is also a very ornate building inside and out, and now sits on the historic buildings register in Warsaw along with the more “traditional” attractions.  My main reason for going there was the viewing deck on the 30^th floor.  This wasn’t the first viewing tower I had been to in Warsaw, having also been to the Taras Widokowy which overlooks the Old Town on my first day.  However, it was the highest and gave great views across the whole city.  This showed some of the development of the city, from the historic old town core, to the more “communist” building and very modern skyscrapers now built.  Interestingly you also see that there are modern buildings right next door to some very run down areas, showing a city in transition. 

Before going I had wondered how much there would be to see in Warsaw – compared to other equivalent cities (such as Prague) there were no guide books available.  I needn’t have worried – there was plenty to keep me occupied and plenty more I didn’t get to see.  The guidebook gap is also plugged very neatly by a number of leaflets from the Tourist Office which bring together useful information on both general themes (such as top 10 attractions in Warsaw) but also in more detail on areas such as museums or the uprising.  I would also note that the food there is very good too, particularly if you can find a proper Polish restaurant.  So, I am very glad I extended my trip to visit Warsaw and indeed pleased with the trip as a whole.  Seen lots, walked lots (205km over the trip as a whole, climbing 475 stories according to my phone!) and had a very good time.