Getting here Part I
We travelled here via Marijampolė, or at least via a nice little lakeside campsite not far from this Lithuanian town; a nice relaxing farewell the Lithuania and, I guess, the Baltic countries. It's been an education, it really has.
Getting here Part II
So, its on to the Polish capital, Warsaw, which, as you might imagine, is quite big, has lots of cars and lorries and lots of busy roads and wierd Polish junctions.
I put in the GPS coordinates for our chosen (well, there's only one) city campsite and off we go. I always try and envision the junctions near to our destination and it usually works when combined with our two satnavs.. but this time we have to go round again, doing a U-turn on a city dual carriageway (which is an OK thing here - it's just the 13m length that makes it really interesting). I give a shrug and smile to the occupants of a police van as we zig-zagg through the traffic and get a big smile in return.. So, round again, I begin to disbelieve the satnavs then Sue spots the faded sign...Phew!
Anyway, we're here... and chilled.
Would you believe that this is near the city centre?
Ready for the city tomorrow!
Here's a clue as to why we might have missed the right slot..
We're here!
Day 2
Into the City..
REALLY useful city transport LINK
Find the right bus (it's No.127), find the stop, get the ticket from the machine, hop on and we're here, in the city centre (centrum). Crikey, it's really impressive here. Big new skyscrapers and a totally rebuilt 'old town' after it was destroyed by the Nazis in WWII.
We have a couple of days here so we head for the old town. There's a lot to see here - lots more to do... come back for more later......
It's later now 🤔 so here's a summary:
Towards the old town
The old town
Lots of street cafés here
Marie Curie Museum
She was from here, of course. I found this inexplicably moving. The museum outlines her life, education and achievements, including her two Nobel Prizes and multiple doctorates. She died of Leukaemia as a result of here pioneering work on radioactivity, much of it with her husband, Pierre, before his death.
Some family tree. Now tell me types of intellectual ability aren't inherited....
On that note, we head back to base, only to bump into Sabine, our wonderful tour leader with her new group of 20 German units, which now occupy the site. It's great to see her and we have a long chat.
Day 3
We're off into the city again with a new agenda.
First on our list is the commanding Palace of Culture and Science (More) - the tallest building in Poland, now containing theatres, a cinema and museums. Although the 'socialist-realist' style building is a city icon, it's not without controversy. Some see it as a reminder of Stalin's Soviet regime and the suppression of those times. To maintain and renovate or pull down.... That's an ongoing debate.
These contrasting cityscapes are from the viewing gallery on the 30th floor.
Moving from Soviet suppression, we see the location of the ghetto wall from the preceding Nazi occupation.
..and visit the Synagogue. It's sad that such high security measures are required for the visiting public.
We visit the excellent Warsaw Rising Museum - detailing the horrendous events of the transition from Nazi to Soviet rule and suppression of the Polish nation.
We do other stuff, not least eating excellent lunches - but you've had enough and so have we for now. We'd highly recommend Warsaw for a city break, though.
We've decided to head for Lublin tomorrow - if we can get out of the city that is....
See you there, fingers crossed.
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