On The Road Again To…Warsaw!


Last month I shared with you my adventures in Prague. On that trip I also went to Warsaw.

Warsaw was… better than I expected. It has a terrible wartime past but it also has a beautiful Old Town and lots of fascinating history.

For instance, did you know that the Polish composer Frederic Chopin was so afraid of being buried while still alive that on his deathbed (he had tuberculosis and died at age 39 in 1849) he made his sister promise to cut out his heart to make sure he was really dead?  So… Chopin’s body is buried in Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris (along with Jim Morrison of The Doors) but his heart was sent back to Poland, and is eternally encased in this pillar in the Church of the Holy Cross in Warsaw. Fascinating!


Warsaw is a very Catholic city, and has many beautiful churches…

 

And also, like Prague, Warsaw has some fabulous architecture…

  




It was also fascinating to see the Barbican, the ancient city gate and battlements (built around 1548) that protected Warsaw…  The walls have been painstakingly restored.

Front biew
Walls and old moat



Arrow slit
Warsaw is also the home of the astronomer Copernicus…

Coopernicus
And here is the old Royal Castle…



Readers of this blog know I’m obsessed with (er, I’m a really big fan of) the Rolling Stones. So the highlight of Warsaw for me just might have been seeing this… In one of the Old Town squares, a husband-and-wife team built marionettes/puppets of the Stones, and had them “dancing” to the Stones’ music. Pretty good likeness, right???  LOL.


This is just a quick look at my 3-day stay in Warsaw. Hope you’ve enjoyed getting a glimpse of this beautiful city and consider putting it on your bucket list!

Jenna



1 comment:

Carly Carson said...

I have a friend who goes to Poland several times a year. She's of Polish descent and has many relatives still there. Through her, and another Polish friend, I've learned quite a bit of Polish history during WW2 and it's pretty sad and gruesome. Most Americans don't know too much about it. It's supposed to be a beautiful country.