Warsaw

Good morning Warsaw. Today we are going to spend the morning exploring the Warsaw. After WWII the city of Warsaw was levelled. Our guide said the city was 90% destroyed and the ghetto they placed the Jews in was 100% destroyed. So essentially the entire city had to be totally rebuilt!

Our muggy morning started with a bus ride to the Warsaw Memorial Museum. But first we stopped where they have a marker where the walls to the ghetto once stood. Some buildings that partially stood after the war still remain with bullet holes and evidence of bombing. At the start we watched a film showing the evolution of the ghetto. Some of the images were disturbing, but the truth was what needs to be shared. Afterward we looked at pictures and propaganda images during that time.

Marker where the walls to the ghetto once stood.

Building with evidence of the war in Warsaw.

Our city guide met us after we had a chance to get some lunch to take to a park. Our first stop was the Warsaw Ghetto Memorial. It was built shortly after the war ended and the city grew around it.

Then

Now

Next stop was another memorial represented by a replica of a gas chamber with the names of the first victims sent to Treblinka.

The break in the wall was purposeful to show the life of the tree.

A building that is being renovated that was left standing after WWII.

In the background a building built by order of Stalin in the middle of Warsaw in traditional Soviet style. The Poles hate it and wanted to tear it down but cannot afford it.

A very popular park - Royal Baths Park aka Łazienki Park. This is where we had lunch.

Mark trying to parkour

Afterward we went to the Old City part of Warsaw to walk the Royal Road and look at some shops for free time.

The Child soldier statue - to remember the children who fought in the ghetto uprising in Warsaw and died.

Line up for Lody (ice cream) which was very good.

Back to the hotel for supper. We are heading our for Berlin next day. Will be a long train journey and the kids (and myself) might not have access to Wifi as easily as we have. Therefore there might not be too many calls home for a little while.