Day 36 – Warsaw Poland

Day 36

Warsaw Poland

Well I woke up feeling a little better than the previous day but sill not quite normal(ha) just to find gray rainy skies. Knowing how well my riding gear works at keeping me dry I decided that the capital of a country that gave us Copernicus and Chopin had to have more to offer then just a really nice view of a shower and decided to stay another day.

So I popped a couple pills from the local dispensary and checked out some tourist brochures to see what there was to see. Tourist attractions in Warsaw fall under three broad categories : Nazi Atrocities, Soviet Atrocities, stuff that isn’t quite so depressing. The fist two categories far outnumber the third category. Nonetheless I chose from the third category and went to visit the small bit of Warsaw which wasn’t destroyed by the Nazis or rebuilt by the Soviets.

Even if you aren’t trying to visit the sites of various atrocities you can’t but help from running across them as you walk from the city center to the what’s left of old Warsaw. There are plaques all over town listing the number of executed at a certain spot and I passed by the location of the southern wall of the Warsaw ghetto. This August is also the 70th anniversary of the disastrous Warsaw uprising so there are plenty of posters to add to the festive atmosphere.

I’m not sure why the Germans and Russians have such a hard-on for Poland. Probably has something to do with the Polish Cavalry fighting on the side of Freedom, Beauty, (etc) back on that fateful day in June of 1815. Oh well, it’s just rivers of blood under the bridge of time at this point.

That being said the old part of Warsaw is pleasant and a Spanish tourist I spoke with said it was her favorite place in Poland even preferring it to Krakow which is usually considered the place to go when visiting Poland.

 

 

 

 

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