Day 2: Warsaw Poland; Old Town and some Zombies(?)....

Day 2 of our trip found us traveling by plane to Warsaw Poland. This flight was one of the few flights actually taken on this trip considering that the rest of the trip until coming back to Denmark would be via train. So we got to the airport, got out tickets and headed to the plane. Somehow on our very full flight Joe and I were not sitting next to each other but did both have window seats, until Joe discovered he was in the very LAST seat of the plane with no window, sadness! The flight was quick and easy and we landed without any problems. :) I had been a good planner and knew exactly what bus we needed to take in order to get to the city center and so we got some money and bus tickets and headed for the city. (Go me for being well prepared for this part of the trip, this did not prove to be the case on Day 4 our first day in Krakow, but more to come on that). We got to the main train station in the city center, got out train tickets to go from Warsaw to Krakow and then Krakow to Prague and headed over to the mall. Like good Americans we decided to have some Burger King for lunch. This being one of several fast food meals on our trip which is kind of funny considering that I never eat fast food in the States but it’s quick and easy and you know what to expect. So after ingesting some calories we were ready to walk and find out hotel then start our adventures.

I had picked a cute little B&B for us to stay in while in Warsaw. The only problem was that we had to check in at a hostel owned by the same people around the corner. This proved to be worth it however because this hotel was by far the best accommodations we had our entire trip. We were staying in the San Francisco room which was extremely comfortable and all around very nice. The other great part about our hotel was we were literally right off the main street so we were close to everything we wanted to see.

After getting settle we got ready to wander around the town and headed off to Old Town. Prior to getting to Old Town we stopped at the Presidents house. Since the President was recently killed in a plane crash there was a big memorial outside the house to honor him and the other people who were killed in this crash. It was very touching to see people remember the President and sad to think about the utter tragedy this was for the county.



We finally made it to the center of Old Town and started to explore. I think Old Town Warsaw was one of my favorite parts of the trip. Most of this area of the city was destroyed during WWII (We certainly saw a lot of the devastation this war caused Europe on this trip) but when the war was over the people of Warsaw decided to rebuild the area to make it look like it was before the war. Everything about the area is so classic looking and just beautiful! We walked around and saw the walls of the Old Town area and the Warsaw Uprising monument as well as the Young Soldier monument. Warsaw really struggled against the Nazi powers but they were a strong country and were able to maintain their nationality despite many trials. We also went to the Church of the Holy Cross where Chopin’s heart is buried, apparently in a jar of Cognac. We had a traditional Polish dinner of Perogies and Pancakes which was really delicious. We stopped at one of the outdoor cafes for some refreshing drinks and then headed back to the room for a while.



While we were relaxing in the room we heard all kinds of screaming and yelling outside. We looked out the window and saw several soldiers shooting at something (but couldn’t see what) and nothing else. I honestly thought some kind of crazy attack was happening outside our window until I happened to notice that there was a mob of people following these soldiers and they were all dressed as Zombies! This is also when I noticed that the guns the soldiers were shooting had the orange caps on them so they weren’t real. There were so many people though. Joe and I decided it must have been some kind of flash mob or something but they looked like they were having fun.



After the Zombies cleared we decided to go back out and enjoy some of the social life Warsaw had to offer. We picked another restaurant and sat outside people watching. It was so much for us to watch people wander around the streets and see how everyone was dressed and ready for the night. It was also great to sit outside and enjoy the beautiful evening. All in all a great first day in Warsaw!