Day 18 - Oct. 08 - Thursday

WARSAW, POLAND

We arrived in Poland's capital early in the morning, but it took me a couple of hours to find a hotel, exchange money and get a cab to the place we are staying. Right after dropping out bags off, we headed to the old town.
PS. does anyone know how this palm tree survives the winter here??








Even my Polish friends told me not to bother going to Warsaw. I understand why. I am sure this is a great city to live in, but since it was almost all completely destroyed during the WWII, Warsaw does not look as interesting as many major European city. It is very new and modern. And I have the feeling that is very culturally vibrant as well, but I could not really enjoy this side of Warsaw, so far.

The old town is really worth visiting, although almost nothing there is original, because almost of the building were bombed during the war. But the people of Warsaw did a great job recuperating the history and reconstructing the buildings in the old town.

This is a fancy hotel and the picture with the gates is Warsaw's first University, founded in 1816.

This is the Presidential Palace - the one with the horse statue in the front. Here was signed the Warsaw Pact, in 1955 and later, in 1970,the Warsaw Treaty.

FROM WIKIPEDIA: The Warsaw Pact (1955–91) is the informal Western name for the mutual defense Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance subscribed by eight Communist states in Eastern Europe, that was established at the USSR’s initiative and realised on 14 May 1955, in Warsaw, Poland. In the Communist Bloc, the treaty was the military analogue of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CoMEcon), the Communist (East) European economic community. The Warsaw Pact was the Soviet Bloc’s military response to West Germany’s October 1954 integration to NATO, per the Paris Pacts of 1954.

The Treaty of Warsaw was a treaty between West Germany (Federal Republic of Germany) and the People's Republic of Poland. It was signed on 7 December 1970, and it was ratified by the German Bundestag on 17 May 1972. In the treaty, both sides committed themselves to nonviolence and accepted the existing border - the Oder-Neisse line, imposed on Germany by the Allies following the end of World War Two.

The Castle Square (Plac Zamkowy) is really charming with its colorful buildings.

The authentic perogie. We tried the meat one and the one with cabbage and mushroom. Great taste, but bigger than the ones you can get in Toronto.

There are so many cranes at this area. Tons of construction happening here.

My dad making friends, of course! The funny thing is that he talks to everybody in Portuguese! They talk back in a different language that we don't understand. But they communicate... somehow!

In the evening we enjoyed walking on the streets of downtown Warsaw. The rain had stopped and the temperature was just perfect. Tomorrow we will look for a bit of Jewish history here. Good night!