I was definitely too excited to share about my trip in Russia that I've put Poland on the back burner for some time. Now that I have a bit more free time, it's back to blogging about my travel adventures!
Prior to my trip in Russia, I had a layover in Poland where I visited 2 cities. The first was Warsaw, the capital city of Poland. When I was doing my research about this place, I must say there were tons of museums. For a person who isn't really a museum fan, I started to look for attractions (including museums), that were more interesting and fun. Below are my top 3 finds.
1. Fryderyk Chopin Museum
Having to learn piano during my school days, visiting the Fryderyk Chopin Museum was a must. Brought back old piano practicing days when I struggled over his pieces with the tempo rubato. Honestly, I much more preferred Bach or Mozart. But since I'm in Chopin's home town... it was probably a good idea to visit this iconic place after learning piano for 10 years.
Though I'm not a student anymore, I just love going to European museums because with a student card, I still am able to get student discounts. What I really liked about this museum would be the interactive component found throughout. My favourite, in particular, was sitting at the desks with the digital music book opened where I got to see and listen the different nocturnes that Chopin composed. There were other ones too, like his waltzes, sonatas, etc.
2. Warsaw Old Town
I think when you travel to Warsaw, the place where everything is at would be at the Warsaw Old Town. Whether it is for food, music, or just merely embracing the city, go to the Old Town. My first impression of Warsaw Old Town was at the huge courtyard right in front of the Royal Castle (outside the castle).
There were people selling balloons, food and folks performing talent on the streets. It was at the Old Town that I got to try some of the Polish cuisine. This included the famous pork knuckle and some fine seafood.
What I also got to try in the Old Town of Warsaw was the delicious street food. My favourite were the baguette pizza and the sour cream ice cream - a must when in Warsaw!
Last but not least, found in the streets of Warsaw (in Old Town) was this particular mermaid statue. The mermaid is known as the Mermaid of Warsaw, a symbol of Warsaw, represented on the city's coat of arms as well as in a number of statues and other imagery. Exactly when the mermaid was added to the Warsaw's coat of arms is unknown, but it was already in place in 1390.
There were also various legends about the Mermaid of Warsaw. The most popular legend says that the mermaid was swimming in the river when she stopped on a riverbank near the Old Town to rest. Liking it, she decided to stay. Local fisherman saw something particular creating waves, tangling nets and releasing their fish, therefore, they planned to trap this offender. However they fell in love with the mermaid's singing and was unable to do so. Later on, a rich merchant trapped the mermaid and imprisoned her. Hearing the Mermaid's cries, the fishermen rescue her and ever since, the mermaid was armed with a sword and a shield, and was ready to protect the city where the fishermen lived.
This legend was also expanded to say that it was related to the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen, i.e. they are sisters and parted ways from the Baltic Sea. Whichever legend you believed, I still am not sure which is true... but truly, the Mermaid of Warsaw was a beautiful statue found in the heart of the Warsaw's Old Town.
3. Royal Castle, Warsaw
Finally, to the highlight of the trip was the visit to the Royal Castle of Warsaw. Note: did you know that this castle has free admission on Sundays?! My friends and I somehow miraculously decided to go on Sunday and found free admission as we were about to purchase the ticket! Free things are the best things! :)
The Royal Castle in Warsaw is a castle residency that formerly served throughout the centuries as the official residence of the Polish monarchs. It is located in the Castle Square, at the entrance to the Warsaw Old Town. The monarchs stayed here from the 16th century until the Partitions of Poland.
This Royal History has a long standing history but was repeatedly destroyed by the Swedish, Brandenburgian, Prussians and the Tsarist armies. Many passing hands of this building and it was burned down and looted by the Nazi Germans following the Invasion of Poland in 1939 and it was completely destroyed in 1944 after the failed Warsaw Uprising. The castle that stood here today was reconstructed between 1971 - 1984.
Therefore most of what was seen today in this museum was part of the reconstruction, and the original artifacts was probably burned down or stolen... Here are some of the main rooms and artifacts that I found pretty and interesting.
The first would be the chandelier of this entrance hall/ball room. I always had a thing for really pretty lights. I recall when I was studying interior design in high school, I would collect a lot of pictures of light fixtures. So seeing this stunning fixture in this grand ball room.... yeah I was wow-ed.
So what's so special about this old gloomy old man with a globe on his back? If I recall my facts correctly, this is actually a clock. The band around the globe stopped at 11:14, which marks a significant time of when the castle was invaded by the Nazi Germans. I was trying to validate this on Google, but I couldn't find it anywhere! So please correct me if I am wrong! But according to what I've heard from the audio guide, this was a significant time that was found with all the clocks that were stopped in this castle.
Found this in one of the rooms of the castle. Look at that map though, this was Poland!
This was the only picture I got on my camera and phone where no one was in it. This was the Royal Bedroom. The bed is soooo tiny! People back then was tiny!
Always intrigue with where all these castle hallways led. This was one of them. No one is in this picture either because this area was zoned off :P
This was found near the end of the tour, this was probably an alter of some sort. I love the details here though. The mixture of colors and materials to build this, you don't see this in modern interior design nowadays.
And of course... there is a Throne Room in this castle! Did you think I was going to forget?
The Royal Castle in Warsaw is a castle residency that formerly served throughout the centuries as the official residence of the Polish monarchs. It is located in the Castle Square, at the entrance to the Warsaw Old Town. The monarchs stayed here from the 16th century until the Partitions of Poland.
This Royal History has a long standing history but was repeatedly destroyed by the Swedish, Brandenburgian, Prussians and the Tsarist armies. Many passing hands of this building and it was burned down and looted by the Nazi Germans following the Invasion of Poland in 1939 and it was completely destroyed in 1944 after the failed Warsaw Uprising. The castle that stood here today was reconstructed between 1971 - 1984.
Therefore most of what was seen today in this museum was part of the reconstruction, and the original artifacts was probably burned down or stolen... Here are some of the main rooms and artifacts that I found pretty and interesting.
The first would be the chandelier of this entrance hall/ball room. I always had a thing for really pretty lights. I recall when I was studying interior design in high school, I would collect a lot of pictures of light fixtures. So seeing this stunning fixture in this grand ball room.... yeah I was wow-ed.
So what's so special about this old gloomy old man with a globe on his back? If I recall my facts correctly, this is actually a clock. The band around the globe stopped at 11:14, which marks a significant time of when the castle was invaded by the Nazi Germans. I was trying to validate this on Google, but I couldn't find it anywhere! So please correct me if I am wrong! But according to what I've heard from the audio guide, this was a significant time that was found with all the clocks that were stopped in this castle.
Found this in one of the rooms of the castle. Look at that map though, this was Poland!
This was the only picture I got on my camera and phone where no one was in it. This was the Royal Bedroom. The bed is soooo tiny! People back then was tiny!
Always intrigue with where all these castle hallways led. This was one of them. No one is in this picture either because this area was zoned off :P
This was found near the end of the tour, this was probably an alter of some sort. I love the details here though. The mixture of colors and materials to build this, you don't see this in modern interior design nowadays.
And there was obviously a garden too. While this wasn't as grand as the ones I saw in Russia, regardless it was still a pretty castle garden :)
Other Things
Vistula River Bank
In addition to the aforementioned attractions, my friends and I also spent the Sunday afternoon by the Vistula River where there are tons of activities going on, family and pet friendly, truly reflecting the laid back culture of Europe.
Here's a photo of me trying to balance on this thing by the river side. It probably lasted for two seconds, but hey... this picture made me look like a pro :)
Side Streets
To truly explore a city means you need to get lost in the city. Additionally to the 3 iconic places mentioned above, some other grounds that I walked on while in Warsaw were:
1) Downtown district
2) University of Warsaw
4) Cafe / Street Gallery
My thought about this city: since Warsaw was occupied by various groups during the course of the history, I found that it was very difficult to find "Warsaw"-style buildings or things. Buildings had the influence of Russia and Northern Europe. And food was very similar to other parts of Europe. It was tremendously difficult to find souvenirs that resembles Poland. I felt that half the souvenirs looked like those of Holland, and the other half... was just vodka which resembles more of Russia, since this was my layover to Russia.
None-the-less, this city is full of history and worthwhile to go. Until my next post on another city in Poland... can you guess what it may be?
