Lazienki Park, Warsaw, Poland

Upon our return to Warsaw, we discovered there was more to see and do in Warsaw. My daughter-in-law, Dawn, served as our tour guide. We went to Lazienki Royal Park. It is an absolutely enchanting park, 73 hectares of tree shaded wide paths, beautiful palaces, a rose garden and lakes. Beautful! The park  is well known for Belvedere Palace, the former residence of King Stanislaw August Poniatowski. However, my favorite building was Myslewick Palace, built in the baroque style for his nephew Josef Poniatowski. It was built in three stages from 1775-1784. It is one of the few buildings that didn't have severe damage during World War II.

Myslewick Palace

Another beautiful feature of the park is the rose garden. It is the setting for a monument of Chopin. Concerts are held there in the summer. We found it a very relaxing place to take a break.

 Chopin's Monument

The woods along one of the paths

What a beautiful place to visit, relax and imagine what it must have been like to live there! 

Stay tuned for our next stop--Polish pottery!

Gdansk, Poland

We traveled by train to Gdansk, Poland,  located on the Baltic Sea.  What an experience--I was very grateful that my son and his wife were our guides and that they spoke Polish. The train station was very large and crowded. Just before each train departed, a huge board with many slots started changing rapidly-it was mind boggling!! And of course all the announcements were in rapid Polish. The only places I heard English spoken in Poland were at the Marriott where we exchanged money, very few restaurants and the American Embassy. One interesting thing to note is that we had to be very aware of pickpockets. I  wore a hidden money pouch, so I felt prepared, but was vigilant anyway. The train ride was great--we had a private compartment and it was fun to watch the scenery go by.I found it much more pleasant than driving in heavy traffic.  I took a great photograph of  Malbork Castle  as we went flying by. My knowledge of world history is pitiful--I didn't know that Poland had castles!! A surprising country.

                                                          Malbork Castle

Gdansk itself was a treasure. A huge open square dominated the area that we visited. We were in luck--a parade was forming just as we arrived-apparently some sort of church oriented parade-the main characters were a devil and an angel.

                                                    Gdansk Parade

Gdansk is famous for its amber, so naturally we visited several amber shops.   I felt wealthy-it was so reasonable--at one point I had a whole velvet lined tray filled with amber in one shop.The shops were dark inside with lights  located to enhance the beauty of the amber.  Beautifiul pieces!

And believe it or not, I met my "knight in shining armor."

                                                    My Knight in Shining Armor


Too bad he couldn't come home with me!!


 We took a launch and visited the spa town of Sopot. A pleasant day! On the way we passed through the famous shipyards that were the birthplace of Solidarity (the movement which, under the leadership of Lech Walesa, was instrumental in ending the Communist rule in Poland). It was a very moving experience-I had almost the same feeling as when I visit the Alamo in Texas.

                                                  Shipyard

                                                         

We had a very nice dinner in Gdansk that night to celebrate my birthday . The restaurant presented all the ladies with a rose. Nice! One thing to note--unlike in the U.S., every restaurant gave us all the time in the world to enjoy our meal. No hurrying us out so the next table could be seated.

We ate lunch the next day outdoors at a restaurant on the square. I had the absolutely best capachinno I have ever tasted! Inside, the decor was very neat! I took a picture of the light fixtures which were made from gourds. I planned to make one when I returned home. Of course, that is one of my many projects which I haven't started yet. :)
Anyone know of a source for large gourds?

This is me trying to figure out how it was made.

Stay tuned for another day in Warsaw!

Poland - a Wonderful Surprise!

Old Town-Warsaw, Poland

Outer Wall-Old Town, Warsaw, Poland

Warsaw, Poland -
I really never thought this Texas girl would be traveling abroad. But there I was, on a plane to Poland, of all places. My son, Paul,  had become a Foreign Service Officer and he and his wife, Dawn,  had moved to Warsaw for his first post. They  encouraged my mother and me to visit. So there we were, on our way! We had planned this trip for months. I had obsessed over what clothes to pack, how much money to take, who to get to keep my dogs, etc. etc. Mother and I had marathon telephone conversations before  the trip. I really didn't think I would like Poland all that much but wanted to visit my son and his wife. Mother and I had booked a tour to Spain after the Poland visit, so I was really more excited about going there. Boy, was I in for a surprise! I just fell in love with Poland. I will have to tell you, though, that traveling with my son and his wife is better than any tour--they took care of every detail and tailored the trip specifically to us. Luckily for us, they both had learned Polish-we didn't find anyone who spoke English! Oddly enough, the first thing that fascinated me was the plumbing fixtures-definitely a cut above ours. :) Their house had ceramic heaters-I'm still not sure how they worked--with hot water I think. Parts of Warsaw were just what I expected--Soviet era ugly buildings-but with one bright spot--geraniums spilling out of every window box! . Then we went to Old Warsaw--absolutely beautiful. The architecture was wonderful, the buildings colorful, and the people very friendly even though Mother and I only knew "good morning","thank you" and "you're welcome". I felt as if I had gone back in time. The buildings surrounded a large square, which had artists, restaurants and performers.  There was even an organ grinder--he had a parrot instead of a monkey!

I wanted to come back there, rent an apartment facing the square  and stay for a month, but what to do about the language?? Polish is not an easy language to learn. So I settled for a return trip the next year. :) I told my son that I would probably save money because I didn't expect  Poland to  have any good shopping. Wrong again! Their hand painted Boleslawiec pottery (which is quite popular now) was outstanding-I bought several pieces of it. Then my daughter-in-law took us to a really neat little store in the basement of a building. An artist  had hand carved things of all kinds.I purchased several things, my favorite of which was a delicate bird (I hand carried it all over Poland and Spain so it wouldn't get broken!). One special thing--each store gave us something "extra" with every purchase, such as a hand painted egg, etc. and wrapped all our purchases.  A high spot of our trip was a visit to the American Embassy. Very impressive-especially the Foreign Service Officers--I don't believe I have ever met a more gracious and friendly group of people. We were able to meet the Ambassador, which was a great treat. He was also very gracious. The  grocery stores in Poland  are really something! There was an entire aisle devoted to milk products. We weren't sure what they all were. And the vegetables--so fresh some still had their roots! They also had all sorts of other things from appliances to clothes. We saw small community gardens scattered about the city. One fun thing we did was to dine at a restaurant that specialized in traditional Polish dishes. They also had traditional folk dancing in which we participated. What fun!

 Traditional Polish Dance-I'm in the back!

Stay tuned for the next leg of the trip-on to Gdansk, Poland where I met my "knight in shining armor"!
TRAVEL TIP:  Pack your suitcase, then take half the clothes out!! Take an extra one for souvenirs!