This is the view looking west from the Bristol Hotel on Krakowskie Pzredmiescie. The building in the distance is the tip of Warsaw Trade Tower (43 storeys / 203m high) and the statue is of Jósef Piłsudski - Poland’s Chief of State from 1918 -1922 and who was a major influence on Polish politics throughout the 1920′s. The flag pole which can be seen rises up from alongside the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
This is a scene which could be anywhere in Italy – the newspaper, the pipe, the glass of red wine and the colourful cafe on the side of a busy street. Blocking out the bustle of the city for 10 minutes and enjoying a glass of wine in the evening sounds (and looks) bliss.
The Stary Rynek (Old Market Square) is the heart of Warsaw’s Old Town and surrounded by colourful and vivid architecture. This area was almost completely destroyed during the war, and the following years saw the Old Town built brick-by-brick according to how it looked before WWII started. Many of the materials used were salvaged from other cities in order to ‘restore the capital’, and cities such as Wrocław and Kraków suffered the most. Listening to a live jazz concert here on a warm summer evening is one of the most pleasant ways to spend time in the city.
Katedra Połowa Wojska Polskiego, also know as the ‘Church of Our Lady Queen of the Polish Crown’, is located on ul. Długa and is the main church where all major military events and religious feasts are held. Dating from 1660, this is another building which was bombed heavily during the war due to the towers being used as a lookout post. Many heavy battles were fought inside the church and the cellars were used as a military hospital. It was completely destroyed in 1944 in a bombing raid. During the after-war years, it was fully restored to its present condition and gained the status of a cathedral – one of only three in Warsaw. As you can see from the photo, due to its location and history, it’s a popular venue for weddings and one of the most prominent buildings near the Old Town.
Located on the west face of the Pałac Kultury i Nauki (PKiN) or Palace of Culture & Science, is the date plaque marking the year it was constructed. The building was actually commissioned by Stalin in 1952, Stalin died in 1953 and the building was completed in 1955 – much to the disgust and understandable resentment of the Poles! Given the size of the building, this plaque can be easily missed.
This mundane looking manhole cover on ul. Miodowa holds one of the greatest stories of the Warsaw Uprising. This was used as an escape hatch by the Polish Home Army (Armia Krajowa) to access the city centre underground sewer system. In 1944, as German troops and tanks systematically drove the defending, and by almost defeated, partisans into the city centre, the decision was made to abandon the devastated Stare Miasto. On September 2, around 1,500 of the surviving AK troops, along with over 500 other wounded, headed down into the city sewers through a single manhole to escape the ruins of the Old Town. Thousands of cars now drive over it everyday, many of them oblivious to the historical significance of the road beneath them.
A new sandwich shop has opened on Krakowskie Przedmiescie run by the Gessler chain of restaurants / 24-hour snack-bars. To prove they add the fillings to the sandwiches themselves, they have the chief sandwich-stuffer preparing the kanapka where everyone can admire her skills. At least this way, once you’ve paid over the counter, you can head outside onto the street and watch it being created. If she starts to add the onion you didn’t ask for, you can always wave at her hysterically through the window until she gets it right!
On Monday I was in Munich on a ‘business’ trip. As with all successful business trips, it ended up in the bar, except this one was a rather large one. The world-famous Oktoberfest lasts for two weeks, in which time 6 million people will have visited the festival consuming around 7 million litres of beer, 80,000 litres of wine, 60,000 pork knuckles and 500,000 roast chickens. The scale is breathtaking and the atmosphere addictive. Our hosts were local and they have another three nights at the festival planned this week! How do they do it?!
Adjacent to Płock Cathedral is a viewpoint looking over the River Wisła. It is said that this is one of the most picturesque points on the river which runs from the Carpathian Mountains in the south to the Gdańsk Bay in the north, finally emptying into the Baltic Sea. The river also runs through Kraków, Warsaw, Bydgoszcz, Toruń and Sandomierz amongst many other major cities. Whilst in Poland, the river covers an area of over 65,000 sq miles.
This is a section from the intricate carvings on the main entrance door to Płock Cathedral. They are actually replicas of the original bronze doors which now lie in Veliky Novgorod in Russia. The original doors were given away as a present by King Władysław Jagiełło in the mid-12th century to his brother who later became the Prince of Novgorod. Missing for six centuries, a Polish academic recognised latin references to Płock on the doors in 1970 and copies were made – the ones now at the Cathedral. The carvings represent scenes from the Old Testament and the Gospels.
