I took a trip to the Polish capital Warsaw between July 30th and August 2nd 2004. This page shows my pictures of this trips and gives a little background to the visit.

In August and September of 1944, the Polish resistance Army, Armija Krajowa , The Home Army, launched an uprising against the brutal German occupation of their city. With the Soviet Red Army only miles away, they expected to be liberated within days and enjoy again the taste of freedom. However, due to German counter-attack and Soviet inaction, this relief never arrived. After 63 days of brutal fighting during which over 18,000 Polish fighters were killed, 25,000 wounded and 180,000 Polish civilians were murdered, the Poles were forced to lay own their weaphons and enter into captivity. Such was the force of the Polish defence, that the Germans gave the Polish fighters combatant rights nd they were sent to normal POW camps with relative safety which allowed them to survive the war in some numbers. The city was however evacuated of civilians and then systematically further destroyed by demolition troops.

The city ruins were finally captured by the Red Army in January 1945. One occupation was replaced with another. Despite this cruel fate, the Poles rebuilt their city over the next 60 years. What I found on my visit was a bright and vibrant city center, modern and clean. No doubt like all cities it has it's problems but it is well worth a visit. My primary reason for visiting the city on that weekend was to be present durng the 60th Anniversary of the start of the fighting within the city.

For more info on the city and its tragic recent history, see the sites below (after browing my pictures of course!).

But despite my reason for traveling on that weekend, Warsaw is much more than a city with a past, it is from my observation a great city, and one that I look forward to returning to for a normal holiday! and I fully recommend a visit.

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Photos from the Polish Military Museum, Al. Jerozolimskie
[01] The Ilyushin Il-2 (right) and Il-10, the famous Second World War Soviet attack aircraft.	[02] The two aircraft from the rear, showing the similarity of the two and relative size.	[03] A 'Katayusha' type rocket launcher.
[04] The Petlyakov Pe-2 multi-role bomber.	[05] The ubiquitous Mikoyen Gurevich MiG-21 'Fishbed'.	[06] The PZL TS-11 Iskra Polish designed jet trainer.
[07] The classic Soviet fighter of the Great Patriotic War, the Yakovlev Yak-9.	[08] A replica of the armoured car, "Kubus" fabricated by the Home Army in 1944 from a Chevrolet truck Chassis.	[09] The PZL Mi-2 'Hoplite' and Mil Mi-8 'Hip' helocopters, in Polish Airforce Colours.
July 31st, Friday - I got to Warsaw at 2pm on Friday. Having spent the week looking up the weather on Euronews I was expecting sunny and cloudy. I got the sunny; boy did I get the sunny! Deffinetly no cloud until Monday when It poured down. I got the 175 bus (the one to use if you ever go there), packing my photocopied map I was easily able to find my way to Jerusalem Street. I got off bit to early but as I was to find out nothing is to far away in the city. I checked in, packed guide book and maps, camera and wandered off into the wilds. Bang, I was at the National Museum and Military Museum in minutes basically. A great big court yard full of sadly decaying tanks and aircraft had me all happy straight away. After using up nearly half a film in ten minutes I thought I better leave and come back Monday.
[10] The Antonov An-2 'Colt' transport, the workhorse biplane built after the war.	[11] 'A Boy Insurgent', on the Gun powder Tower on the old Town city Walls.	[12] A Close up of the statue, the memorial to the youth of Warsaw during the 1944 Uprising.
[13] The Blue Tower. Glass covered tower block which reflects the sky wonderfully. Built on the site of the Great Synagouge blown up in May 1943.	[14] Memorial of the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. The main group of the monument, depicting a group defending a barricade. Unveiled in 1989.	[15] Church of Our Lady, Queen of Poland. Constructed in 1758-69 this is the Cathedral of the Polish Armed Forces. Its walls and doors are covered in plaques commemorating the battles and service men of Poland military history.
[16] The second group of the Warsaw Uprising memorial, shows a group escaping through a sewer manhole, an action which many fighters and civians had to do during the fighting to escape the German forces.	[17] A picture of the memorial, showing the main group and the architectural backdrop.	[18] The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Saxon Gardens. The tomb based in the destroyed remains of the Saxon Palace colonnade.
I started then what I thought was going to be the long hard trek up to Old Town and the Castle Square. Before I knew it I was there! The city was deffinatly not as big as I thought! Along the way I kept going into book shops and drooling over the tons of books in Polish about the war! Then headed up the Krasinski Square to where the main memorial to the uprising stands. Its a large structure and quite impressive. What strikes you is that around nearly every corner and on most every street is one or more wall plaques or memorial stones commemorating some act during the war and in particular the uprising. Course not being able to read them didn't help but I was able to make out certain words to make up some of the gist of things. Went then to Bank Place where there was a presentation taking place to veterans in the town hall. Strangely enough the ceremony was in Polish so I made my way back and down to the edge of the Saxon Gardens, a large open public park, adjacent to Pilsudski Square. Sat there for a while as I was awaiting a march past of veterans. Following that I made my way down to the Warsaw Volunteers Square where there was another ceremony going on. They lit a memorial flame and at that point I was getting tired and the lack of polish was getting telling.
[19]	[20]	[21]
Various pictures taken of the ceremony which took place on Friday July 31st at Plac Powstañcòw Warszawy, The Square of the Warsaw Uprisers. The ceremoney involved a lighting of an eternal flame. The large anchor symbol (Pic 19) evident in many pictures is that of the Home Army and is a styled rendering of the words 'Polska Walczy', 'Fighting Poland'.
[22] The Lighting of the flame.	[24] Looking East from the Palace of Culture and Science. Marshal Street in the left foreground and the Warszawa Hotel in the center, (Brown Tower). This building built in 1943, survived the uprising due to it's steel frame.	[25] Looking north East, the Saxon Gardens and the Grand Theatre are clear in veiw. The red roofs of the Old Town can be seen also.
[26] A wider veiw north and north east with the Saxon Gardens at center. To the left of photo is some of the area of the old Jewish Ghetto.	[27] Too the south east, the junction of Marshal Street and Jeruselum Street. I was staying in this area in the Grand Hotel.	[28] The Merriot Hotel, to the south of the Palace, reminded me of Dallas opening credits!
August 1st, Saturday - Managed to get up early, ungodly hour of 8am or something like that. Down to breakfast, and remembered again that I love continental breakfasts! Excellent selection! I could go on but I won't. Saturday morning I walked (like an idiot) all the way down to where they were opening a new museum dedicated to the uprising. Now, anyone would have gotten a bus a bit down the road and saved him or her the walk in the intense sun! Still I got there. However, again the ceremony was talking place inside the buildings compound so I hung around a while outside with the plebs and decided I might as well move on, as I didn't think that the building was going to be open to the public that day. With the aid of a bus (good man! about time) I travelled up the Palace of Culture and Science. This a mad place built in 1953-55 as a gift from Stalin to the Polish people! Thanks, Stalin, your some man for one man! It would have been more in his line to not have thousands of Poles killed during the war but what can you do. The building is a massive thing, a centre part of it is about 40 stories tall and the bits around the base of it contain theatres and gyms and all sorts of display halls. Mental, all marble interiors. So, off I went up to the 30 floor viewing platform. Took a load of pictures and took in the sites. It's the tallest building in Warsaw.
[29] Looking to the west over a building site behind the Central Railway Station. Don't ask why I photo building sites.	[30] Tennis courts to the north side of the Palace.	[31] The veiwing terrace at the 20th floor which provide the veiws of the city seen above.
[32] The east side entrance to the Palace of Culture and Science. The veiwing terrace is at the top section of the main body. The 230 m (750 ft) building was finished in 1955. Pope John Paul II celebrated mass here to massed crowds in 1987.	[33] Saturday afternoon in Plac Powstañcòw Warszawy showing the memorial there. A number of ceremonies were held here to commemorate the veterans of the Uprising.	[34] The veiw east accross Pilsudski Square from before the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
[35] The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with the trees of the Saxon Gardens behind. The pillars once rose high above this structure and the arches ran left and right.	[36] The flower gardens and fountain from 1855 at the eastern end of the Saxon Gardens.	[37] The veiw back towards the Tomb with some of the 21 statues dating from the 1730's.
I then went back into the center and up through the Saxon Gardens to view them and get a few photos. Made my way through there and found the Blue Palace, a building I read about during the uprising. Near it was the St. Anthony of the Padua Reformed Church with in the side cloisters innumerable memorials to people, dating all the way back to the 1800's but by far the most of them were from the 1939 - 1945 period. Some listed names of those who died in the Concentration Camps. I then found the former state bank, the only building that was not rebuilt after the war. It is however being built into another building at the moment. Down from here is the enormous theatre building, which was destroyed and rebuilt. They took the liberty of adding a structure to it however. Across from it, they rebuilt the facade of the building oposite to theater but added modern offices behind it. Onwards I went to the Old Town; this is as the name suggests, the oldest part of Warsaw, the original site dating from the 13th Century. It was laid waste completely. Poland rebuilt it and it is a noble job. It's a small area, delightful narrow small cobbled streets etc. Having wandered around there for a while I started back to the hotel as I intended coming back in for an open air service at the Uprising Memorial for the dead. I made it back in for that but again, I left it after a while due to not being able to comprehend the event. I took the oppertunity to have dinner on the Old Town Square with the sounds of Frederick Chopin playing from a concert in the Royal Castle. I then spent a little more time back up at Krasinski Square at the Uprising Memorial where films of the uprising were being shown but after a while returned back to the hotel. On the way I found that a building next to Pilsudski Square had the maddest fountain feature. A ring of water jets set in the ground that were programmed to come on at different times, heights, strength etc. A great display. (I might just be easily impressed!). Any kids that were there were fascinated by it.

[01] The lake, the water tower from Warsaws first water supply system framed by the trees of the Saxon Gardens.	[02] The Grand Theatre on theatre Square. Built in 1833, destroyed in 1944 and rebuilt and extended post war it again suffered a fire in 1985.	[03] The Presidents Palace on Krakowskie Przedmiescie. A ceremoney for veterans was taking place inside. The Prince Józef Poniatowski Monument stands in front of the court yard.
[04] The Bristol Hotel, this is not where i stayed! Apparently Warsaws most posh hotel!	[05] Monument to the Ghetto Heroes, commemorating the tragic uprising of 1943 in the Jewish Ghetto. The entire surrounding area was completly laid to waste and nowadays contains appartment blocks.	[06] The Umschlagplatz momument at the spot where an extended rail terminus was used to deport up 300,000 people to concentration and death camps.
[07] The Krasinski Palace from 1700 stands across from the uprising monument. It now houses Polands national library.	[08] The Warsaw Uprising monument on Sunday August 2nd showing the the abundance of floral tributes and candles left by people to remember the dead of the uprising.	[09] The Market Square in Old Town. The buildings in the area are all rebuilt following destruction in the uprising of 1944.
Sunday, August 2nd - Next morning, after yet another excellent breakfast, I spent an hour trying to figure out the bus I needed for my next trip. Figuring out entailed realising that I needed to go to the other side of the road! How refreshing to be in city with a reliable public transport system. I got the bus out to the area in the center of the old Jewish Ghetto area. The Ghetto was destroyed in 1943-44 during the two Uprisings there. This large area, perhaps the size of Sligo town and its outskirts, once held 450,000 people virtually all of whom were 'liquidated' to use the Nazi term. It was very quiet, only some bus tours and lots of locals on the adjacent grass park sunbathing. I wandered around the town then again for a while, trying to visit new places, new streets etc. I covered a long distance! I was taken by surprise when they held the 5pm silence. It was the official start time for the uprising 60 years previous. The ever present girl guides block the roads and an air raid siren sounds across the city. A lone trumpeter played a song. Very touching. I wandered around then and made it back to the hotel. Whatever with the excellent breakfast I'd had or the terrible kebab I insisted on having, I didn't feel hungry enough for dinner so missed out on another excellent dinner.
[10] Saint John's Cathedral and to its left, Jesuit Church of Our Lady Mary the Merciful in the heart of Old Town. Hanging infront of the cathedral are pictures of some of the insurgents. Beneath this people placed lighted candles which lit up the street in the evenings.	[11] Zygmunt's Column standing at the head of Castle Square. The Square opens out infront of the Royal Castle.	[12] Piwna Street, a typical street in the the Old Town area.
[13] A return to the boy Insurgent statue showing the many tributes and candles left at this touching memorial. This was typical of the many, many memorials which dot every corner of the city center.	[14] The Royal Castle, dating in current form from 1619. Yet another building which was destroyed by the German forces, the castle was rebuilt in 1988.	[15] Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joeseph the Bethrothed (!). An ornate example of the numerous churches which polpulate the city. Warsaws rich religious history is evident from these buildings.
[16] The spire of the Palace of Culture and Science towering above the buildings off Pilsudski Square. In the foreground are the Zaceta building and the Dome of the Augsburg Protestant Community Church, two of Warsaw's finest buildings.	[17] The fantastic fountain in the shopping center between the rear of the Grand Theatre and Pilsuski Square. Perhaps I am easily ammused but this display fountain is well worth a visit. It is in the center courtyard of the building. Kids ought to enjoy it greatly.	[18] Holy Cross Church on the Royal Route. The scene of a three day battle for a nearby German Police barracks, the church was extensivly damaged. On Sunday evening August 2nd, I was standing here when the city came to a silent standstill to remember the dead in the city.
[19] Church of the Saviour, a a recent addition to the city from 1901 lies to the south of Jeruselem Street at the end of Marshall Street.	[20] This monument next to the Polish Parliament commemorates the Home Army. "For you, Our Homeland - the Home Army" the inscription reads.	[21] St. Alexanders Church at Three Crosses Square. The Holland Park building stands in the rear right background.
[22] Second World War German Field artillary pieces. The type names escape me just now.	[23] A cut away wartime German Panther tank.	[24] A German Herzer tank hunter (Jadgpanzer).
[25] The Polish Military Museum on Jeruselum Street. The vehicles in foreground are a White half track car and a Canadian Sexton self propelled artillary piece based on the Sherman tank chassis. I did not get into this building as it was closed on the Monday.	[26] An intriguing piece of art at the National Museum beside the Military Museum.	[27] The Mermaid fountain statue in the center of Old Town Market Square.
Monday, August 3rd - Up, breakfast (oh the breakfasts!), checked out and left bag in the hotel and wandered around south of the hotel. Luckily I went back and got the rain coat as it poured rain all through the final day. Finally making it back to the Military Museum I remembered that they are closed on Mondays! I strolled around a further, got a bus ticket, a cuppa and finally headed out to the airport and home I went! Even though I spent most the weekend looking for war related things, the city is really enjoyable. Seems quiet and clean. Night life is there and it seems to be less brash and in your face as Prague for example. It's a very western city, by no means backward. Shops for example are new and 'trendy' you might say. Well worth a visit.
[28] The Fukier House on the West side of Market Town Square, now a restaurant.	[29] Looking east over the Vistula River from the Gnojna Góra in Old Town.	[30] Past and present, the modern rebuilt market Square with to the side a billboard telling some details of the cities destruction and rebuilding. Note the photo to the left edge. The rebuilt city is now a listed UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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