Warsaw - Sunday, 20 June 2016

It is always a good night's sleep the first night in Europe and last night was no exception.
We woke to a beautiful sunny day in Warsaw. After a hearty breakfast, we were on the coach for a city tour at 9:00.

Marta, our GCT program director, guided the tour. She is a Warsaw native and loves her city. Warsaw is really a city of contrasts. It was virtually destroyed during WWII and therefore has the the gray Communist built buildings, the reconstructed Old Town, and the high rise office buildings that you would expect in a capital city. The tour was conducted on the coach and so I will have to wait to get Barbara's pictures since she was sitting on the right hand side of the bus where most of the attractions appeared.

We drove past the beautiful Park Ujazdowski, the Royal Palace, the U.S. Embasy and a statue in tribute to Ronald Reagan.

Park Ujazdowski, 

U.S.Embassy

Prsidential Place

We saw numerous monuments erected to commemorate the Warsaw uprisings, the deportations, and the beautiful Jewish History Museum.

From there it was past where the Warsaw ghetto once was. Then it was on to Old Town and a stroll through this historic, but reconstructed area. There are lots of shops, cafes, restaurants and AMBER. I thought Russia was the amber captial of the world, but not so. There is so much in Poland because it doesn't have to be mined.

We picked up some lody (ice cream) to stave off the hunger from walking and to not take time to sit down with out seeing every piece of jewelry in the area.

We met Marta at the mermaid statue and walked to the Museum of Warsaw to see a movie on the destruction and rebuilding of Warsaw.  After the short film and a beer stop, we continued our walk of  the Old Town. Along the way we saw the Presidential Palace and the church where Chopin played the organ.

Back to the hotel for a quick change of clothes and then aboard the coach for travel to the former stock exchange building and now an art gallery for a Chopin piano recital performed by Maciej Poliszewksi. Beautiful program with an intermission glass of sparking wine.

A long day ended with dinner at Honoratka Restaurant.  Back to the hotel and bed.