Warsaw has risen from the ashes of WW2. It could be called a Phoenix
FREE WALKING TOUR Things to Do in Warsaw
Poland is my 60th country and once again I am starting out in Warsaw with a Free Walking Tour of the city. My readers know that the walking tour is my favorite way to orient myself to a new city. I went online to find a tour that would suit my interests. We met in the heart of the Old Town at Sigismund’s Column (1644) where King Sigismund III moved the Polish capital from Krakow to Warsaw in 1596. Sigismund’s Column stands 22m and leads us to the Royal Castle (1619/ rebuilt 1984) in Castle Square. I found it quite remarkable that an old-looking building is certainly quite new. Voluntary contributions from Poland together with those from abroad in fact accomplished this. Warsaw has risen from the ashes of WW2 also like the legendary Phoenix bird.
Next, we strolled through the Old Town along with its narrow streets and remaining town walls over to the nearby 13th-century Market Square. This traditional area of course contained many lively restaurants and shops. Poland completely rebuilt this after the war as close to the original as possible.
We finished up our tour at the Warsaw Uprising Monument (1989) which commemorates that event where Polish fighters revolted against their German oppressors by fighting bravely against superior numbers for two months in 1944.
CHOPIN MUSEUM A Top Tourist Attraction
I am a big fan of Chopin. The Fryderyk Chopin Museum https://muzeum.nifc.pl/en//which of course honors one of Poland’s greatest sons. This splendid building contains many moments, manuscripts, and other memorabilia of one of the world’s favorite composers in addition there is a special room where you and sit and listen with headphones to much of his music…mazurkas, impromptu, scherzos, polanaises, etc.
MODERN WARSAW
One striking feature of Warsaw is its Manhattan-style downtown skyline where indeed our 40-story Marriott hotel is quite representative of that style.
AUSCHWITZ, A Day Trip from Warsaw
We took a side trip to the infamous Auschwitz Death Camp which is 205 miles from our location in Warsaw. This is not a pleasant sight to see however it is a trip that I had to make. We used the Viator Tour Company to provide us with a driver to take us to the camp.
We had an official Auschwitz tour guide who took us through the process where you would have Jews arriving on crowded trains and subsequently going through the selection process where families were separated, only healthy individuals spared and the rest including all young children herded into gas chambers for immediate execution. Those healthy ones were worked to death with many not surviving. We saw many heartbreaking displays that included shoes and suitcases brought by victims who thought that they would only be taking showers and would retrieve them afterward.
I felt very numb after seeing this process in person while saying a silent prayer for all those who perished. I hope that we will never witness anything like this again.
A Word from Steve
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