Autumn Break, Poland Part 1: Warsaw

 

Over Sam's autumn break (last week of Oct/first week Nov) we headed to Poland.  Our first stop: Warsaw.

Warsaw is a fascinating place of contrasts.  We were walking down the street and on one side there is the old Soviet Palace of Culture and Science and on the other the commercial district with its gleaming glass towers.

We went to the POLIN Museum where you can see Sam is so much cooler looking than me with her audio guide.  We spent over four hours there.  

When you get to a certain point, they recommend you take a break and go to their café.  What grand advice.  We got ourselves some pierogies, of course.

Per usual, we did lots and lots of walking and got to see lots of interesting sites, including this mall with its funky roof and the great American export: Kentucky Fried Chicken.

We walked through the University of Warsaw where Scott got to hang with other academics.  We could not help but comment that the entrance gate reminded us of UMD. Ha!

Scott hung out with some other types of people too.

We spent some time in the Old Town, which is actually new.  They had to rebuild it after WWII because it was bombed.  Here we got to see "Instagram in the Wild."  

We try to get those shots for "the gram" too.  Let's be real.

It is quite something to see these folks in action.  I liked this photo because you see her all glammed up with her photographer taking a tight shot while the old busker with his accordian sit on the other side.

Scott and I are just complete failures at it.

We went to the top of St. Anne's Church and got a better glimpse of the Old Town and other parts of Warsaw.  It was a bit of a tight squeeze for Scott.

More scenes from Old Town.

Because food is such an important part of any trip, we ate exceptionally well in Warsaw.  My favorite was dinner at an Indian restaurant and the pizza slices.  Since we spent Halloween in Warsaw, Sam got her pick-n-mix.  She is already dreading leaving Europe and the ever present pick-n-mix.

I almost forgot.  How cool is this?  The benches were right near Chopin's house.  So clever this piece of public art.

All in all, Warsaw was great fun.  Up next, Lublin.