The Ham Nomads

3 Aug 2015. <PL> Warsaw, Poland —

Today, into Warsaw, to the old city. To be honest, that's not quite the case. During the Warsaw Uprising against the Nazis in August 1944, the city was all but obliterated. Warsaw is an incredible phoenix, having risen from the ashes with such fidelity that in 1980 it was listed on the UNESCO World Heritage Register, the only listing ever of a reconstructed site. This fact is proudly announced in a plaque set into Zapiecek Street, near the Old Town Square! (We were expecting a plaque on a wall, and had actually walked over the plaque about three times before we realized where and what it was!)

We passed the Palace of Science and Culture on the way in, an amazing building, and arrived at Mariensztat Bus Stop, just outside the Stare Miasto, and we had a short walk into the Old City. The first place we stopped at was on Plac Zamkowy, where there is a column celebrating King Zygmunt III. Beneath the column were a number of schoolkids, being entertained and all waving this flag:

We found out that we had arrived right in the middle of the commemoration of the Warsaw Uprising, which ran from August 1 to October 4 1944. This was a black, but a proud, period in Polish history. As we walked around the city, we found wreaths and little memorials beneath plaques that commemorate events during those dark days. We hope to be able to visit the Warsaw Uprising Museum in the next few days, but we can't go on without relating the sad history of this time. The incredible thing is that the Uprising began by prior arrangement with the Red Army, timed for when they arrived on the left bank of the Vistula. So, hour W came, the Varsovians fought valiantly — while the Russians sat on the other side of the river and did nothing. They wouldn't even allow Allied (English and American) planes, which were trying to drop supplies, to land in Russian-held airfields, even though they had one only 5 km east of Warsaw. It's obvious that the Nazis committed blatant war crimes in Warsaw in an attempt to wipe it off the map, but the Russian inaction — presumably under Stalin's directives — was no less a war crime!

1 Aug	17.00, hour 'W' — The Uprising breaks out
4 Aug	Teatralny Sq. — The poet Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński is killed
5 Aug	Black Sunday. Some 40,000 citizens in the district of Wola are massacred by the Germans
8 Aug	The first broadcast of radio 'Lightning'
11 Aug	The Wola district falls
13 Aug	A Trajan tank explodes on Kilińskiego St
20 Aug	The PASTA Building is taken
31 Aug	Evacuation of the Old Town via the sewers
2 Sep	The Old Town district falls (7,000 fighters are killed)
6 Sep	The Powsite district falls
8 Sep	Thousands of citizens flee the besieged city
14 Sep	The Red Army and the 1st Polish Army occupy the district of Praga
27 Sep	The district of Mokotów falls
30 Sep	The district of Żoliborz capitulates
2 Oct	The city of Warsaw capitulates
4 Oct	The last broadcast of radio 'Lightning

Here are just some of the memorials we found on our way round — they are virtually everywhere you turn — sometimes just a seemingly insignificant plaque on a wall — but there are two we just have to save till later!

We went into the Tourist Information office on Plac Zamkowy and picked up maps and other goodies to help us on our way round. We came out and walked past the Royal Palace (in front of which someone had kindly set up a fire hose to act as a water spray, useful on a hot day, and kids were having fun getting mighty wet!

We wanted a quiet place to sit, get cool, and get a caffeine fix while we looked over the material from the Tourist Information Office and planned our day. Just south of the square, in Krakowskie Przedmieście, we found Nero Coffee, which fulfilled all our desires!

Coming out of the cafe, we looked at the 'White Church' opposite. It's actually Kościól św. Anny w Warszawie (The Church of St Anne in Warsaw). This church — a complete reconstruction of a Boroque church totally demolished in the Uprising — is a delight. The Baroque organ inside benefits from advances in technology in the twentieth century, but is still a pure mechanical action Baroque organ. There was to be a concert insite at midday - only about ten minutes away — and the organist, Przemyław Kapituła, fully dressed in Baroque dress, wig and all, convinced us to go in. Good choice. The organ sounds superb, and his playing was brilliant! They apparently always include a work by Mieczysław Surzyński (1866-1924), who is characterised as the 'Polish Bach', although he is about 200 years too late! The concert was great, and finished with a resounding (in every sense) performance of the Bach D minor Toccata and Fugue.

Teen we walked to Śietojánska, where we found Archikatedra św. Jana w Warszawie (St. John's Archcathedral). This church, levelled in 1944, was rebuild not to its pre-war appearance, but as true as possible to 15th and 17th century illustrations. The stained glass is modern, and the organ, which we heard being tuned proir to a performance, is magnificent.

The Mermaid of Warsaw appears on the cathedral door!

Next to the Cathedral is the Sanktuarium Matki Bozejłaskawej Patronki Warszawy (The Church of the Gracious Mother of God).

We finally got up to the Old Town Square, in the middle of which is another representation of the Mermaid of Warsaw. The buildings around the square could have all come from the middle ages, but are in fact a superb reconstruction.

We walked on through the Barbican to Freta Street, where we found a restaurant for lunch — we had Polish dumplings washed down with beer or caffe latte — guess which of the Nomads had which! This restaurant was very near the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Museum, but unfortunately it is closed on Mondays. So we'll try to get back! We were fascinated by a beautifully executed wall mural opposite the restaurant, of workers working on the building itself! And the wall painting opposite the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Museum was similarly impressive.

Another restaurant in Freta Street had a clever punning name — Restauracja Fret @ Porter (although it might have been better Restauracja Fret à Porter.

We walked on, to Rynek Nowego Miasta (The New Town Square), where we found a lovely white church — actually it is the convent of a closed order, the Benedictine Nuns of Perpetual Adoration. We were able to get a glimpse inside, however.

We then went round to Kościól Nawiedzenia NMP (The Church of the Visitation of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary), but before we went in, we noticed below us the most incredible fountain complex, the Multimedia Fountain Park of the Castle Grounds. Apparently on Friday and Saturday evenings, these fountains are synchronized with music and lighting displays for incredible effects. But today, they were simply being used to provide what you might call an unaccompanied water ballet. Apparently the 367 fountain nozzles eject at the same time nearly 30,000 litres of water per minute — combine this with almost 300 submerged coloured lights, and it must be an incredible display! Whatever the programme, there were lots of Varsovians (and others) just enjoying the cool of the water spray!

Quirky statue of British water engineer,
William Heerlein Lindley —
the 'water pipes' double as a seat!

We came back up to the church, only to find a service in progress. Nevertheless, we poked our noses in to see what we could see.

Near the church is a statue of Marie Sklodowska-Curie, whose museum we will be visiting in the next couple of days.

Then we made our way round to the Warsaw Uprising Monument. The is is the first of the two special sites we promised you,. This monument is just mind-numbing, especially if you take into consideration the history of the monument itself. The Communist puppet government installed by the Soviets regarded all those heroes had heroically taken part in the uprising as war criminals, and tried and executed many of them. The monument itself was not unveiled until 1 August 1989, the 45th anniversary of the Uprising!

The other Warsaw Uprising memorial we have saved till now is especially poignant. Young children took up arms to defend their homeland, and Mały Powstaniec (the Little Insurgent Statue) is a memorial to all these children, many of whom lost their lives in the struggle. As you can see by the wreaths and candles, both of these monuments receive special attention during the commemoration of the battle, which is happening right now!

We visited other sites today, but we think that what we have presented here is as much as anyone should have to take in for one day. We were simply overwhelmed by Warsaw! We cannot comprehend how any city could be subjected to such horrific maltreatment, and yet bounce back with a wonderful sense of optimism!

Distance driven — today, nil; to date, 25,033 miles ( 40,387 km )