Discovering Warsaw

On our first evening we went for a stroll down Nowy Świat. After picking up some gelato we wandered as my daughter pointed out some favourite spots from her two years in the city - Wedel choclatier, bakeries, restaurants.

We saw the Palace of Culture and Science - a beautiful building with a negative association as it represents the Soviet era.

We stopped to appreciate Winnie the Pooh street - apparently named by children when Warsaw needed a name for this particular roadway.


This morning we embarked on a walking tour of the reconstructed Old Town, meeting our guide at the column outside the royal palace.


This area was virtually destroyed during the war, and the people of Warsaw were determined to build it back as closely to the original buildings as possible. 

The people had to fund the project themselves as the newly installed Communist puppet government claimed to be without the necessary funds. People came from the rural areas to take part in the project. They used old plans, photos and historic paintings to identify key details. The work progressed rapidly, even when historic techniques were needed to return the properties to their previous glory. They did such a good job that the area later received a UNESCO cultural heritage designation.





Walking out of the old town we passed by the barbican - what remains of the original city walls, rebuilt after the war. If you look closely you can see a black line in the mortar that shows where the surviving wall meets the reconstruction.




As we walked we talked about some of the most famous Poles - Pope John Paul (known in Poland simply as THE Pope), Lech Walęsa and the Solidarity movement, and Chopin who sent his heart home to be buried. We stopped outside of the birthplace of Marie Curie and talked about her two Nobel prizes.


Our guide also shared stories of Polish resistance - the Ghetto uprising and the Warsaw uprising.

We stopped at the border of the Warsaw ghetto. After half of the ghetto's population disappeared to Treblinka, the remaining residents knew that they were bound to death and decided to go out on their own terms. They rose up against the Nazis and died fighting back. The ghetto was completely obliterated, and many have their final resting place under modern buildings.



Rounding a corner we came to the memorial to the Warsaw uprising. In 1944, with the Soviet Army on the other side of the Vistula, the people of Warsaw - soldiers and civilians alike - rose up. They believed they would need to hold out for 3 days before the Soviets joined the fight, but they fought on for 63 while the army sat across the river and waited it out. After thousands died, the Soviets marched in to "liberate" the city and create a Communist puppet state.



It was a powerful and informative introduction to the city. Those looking for an excellent walking tour are encouraged to check out Warsaw unDiscovered.

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