Monday, November 30, 2009

We saw Warsaw!

Poland has really had it hard, ya know? Even just in the past hundred years, they've been trampled on first by the Nazis and then by the Soviets. They've only really been independent again for the past 20 years. I thought Warsaw was really interesting-- especially with Newel & Karolina to show us around. And it was great to meet our littlest nephew- Jack. :)

This is what I imagined Warsaw would look like... and this also happens to be the view from our hotel room.

One of the first places that we went was Lazienki Park. The grounds were beautiful and scattered with buildings from past rulers. (Rebuilt post-bombing, as is most of Warsaw.)

Toby & I in front of the Palace on the Water.

The Warsaw Andersons- Karolina, Newel, and Jack.

Scary playground equipment is not just a German thing.

Charlotte and Toby both loved scattering the pigeons.

Frederic Chopin was from Warsaw- did ya know that? They really, really like him there. Here is his statue in the park. The airport is also named after him, among other things. (Also, FYI, Marie Curie was from Warsaw.)

Mamas don't let your babies grow up to be freedom fighters.

The Warsaw Rising Museum was our one museum stop on this trip and it was a good one! They have a "Little Insurgents Room" where we let the kids play while the grown-ups took turns learning about two months in 1944 when the Varsovians fought back against the Nazis. (Sadly they ultimately lost and then the Soviets moved in.) The displays were really interesting and movingly presented. Their website is good too- http://www.1944.pl.


Charlotte poking the Hitler puppet's eyes. ;)

This is the Palace of Culture and Science, an infamous "gift" from Stalin that the Poles have a love-hate relationship with. Mostly now it just has office space.

We happened to be at the Grave of the Unknown Soldier just as the guard changed. No band or fanfare, but it was very precisely done.

THIS is what I didn't expect to see in Warsaw, but was happy to! The Old Town has been restructured and was colorful and busy and they even had the Christmas Market up and running. :)


Christmas tree, shopping kiosks, live music, and crowds.

Sadly, this was the food we got at the Christmas market. This is Polish for pizza-- carrots, green beans, corn, and onions on a crust and covered in KETCHUP! Ugh. We did have some good food in Poland though- I liked the Pierogorie- a restaurant totally devoted to pierogies- awesome. And our last meal in Warsaw was at The Sphinx- which had yummy middle-eastern-ish food. But, mostly the food was not thrilling and we ate from both Pizza Hut and McDonalds on this trip.

4 comments:

Aubrey said...

Loved hearing about your trip to Poland! I would love to go someday. That so-called "pizza" photo almost made me barf. Please don't tell me someone in your family actually ate that...

Becca Anderson said...

Oh I miss the ketchup pizza sauce. I love Eastern Europe!

Mandy said...

Looks like you had an awesome trip! It definitely looked cold though, and the food looks nasty, but I do agree that pierogies are delish! thanks for sharing your trip with us.

Harmony said...

That pizza looks sickening!