I got back last week from a ten day grande tour of Poland, with my dear travel buddy; Jamie. On our tour, we explored three main cities, starting with Warsaw, then to Krakow, Wroclaw, and back again to Warsaw. It certainly was an enjoyable, yet exhausting ten days of adventuring. Let me share just a few photos from each city:
Warsaw:
First of all, I arrived in Poland several hours before my travel buddy. Upon my arrival, I set out to find a museum. I found the Gestapo Headquarters (now called the Mausoleum of Torture and Martyrdom), and despite the fact that there was an age restriction for entry to this museum...I still thought it was a grand idea to tour it by myself. And I mean COMPLETELY by myself, meaning I was not just without my travel buddy for the moment, but I was the only tourist inside this museum altogether. Scared out of my wits.
Political prisoners during WWII were taken here for interrogations, and to be held in cells and tortured until they were sent to another prison in Warsaw, or a concentration camp. You can watch this video to see how creepy it was inside, but I am not responsible for your nightmares.
So this made the start of my trip a bit scary, but I was A-OK hours later when Jamie finally arrived to join me in Warsaw. The next day we walked throughout the city, and ended the evening at the Palace of Culture to see a ballet!
"Old Town" Warsaw
Monument for the soldiers of the Warsaw Uprising. Later when we returned back to Warsaw at the end of the trip, we went to the Uprising Museum.
Palace of Culture...reminiscent of the Stalin buildings in Moscow.
Market
Wawel Castle and Cathedral
Courtyard in the castle
Entrance to the cathedral
Statue of Pope John Paul the II...who was archbishop here.
View of Krakow from inside the cathedral
The town square. I love town squares.
Old Town Hall
The Opera
We saw Chopin the Opera. It was about Chopin's life...all in Polish, but still enjoyable! The music was pretty!
Town square at night
Gnomes were all over the city.
We ended out trip back in Warsaw. We checked out the Warsaw Uprising museum, and concluded the trip with a relaxing night in with room service!
...museum
Warsaw:
First of all, I arrived in Poland several hours before my travel buddy. Upon my arrival, I set out to find a museum. I found the Gestapo Headquarters (now called the Mausoleum of Torture and Martyrdom), and despite the fact that there was an age restriction for entry to this museum...I still thought it was a grand idea to tour it by myself. And I mean COMPLETELY by myself, meaning I was not just without my travel buddy for the moment, but I was the only tourist inside this museum altogether. Scared out of my wits.
Political prisoners during WWII were taken here for interrogations, and to be held in cells and tortured until they were sent to another prison in Warsaw, or a concentration camp. You can watch this video to see how creepy it was inside, but I am not responsible for your nightmares.
So this made the start of my trip a bit scary, but I was A-OK hours later when Jamie finally arrived to join me in Warsaw. The next day we walked throughout the city, and ended the evening at the Palace of Culture to see a ballet!
Krakow:
There was a lot of "ooooooo" and "ahhhhhhhhhh"ing the evening we arrived to Krakow. The buildings are all so beautiful, and have a medieval feel. Warsaw (the capital city) had many more modern buildings.
The first full day in Krakow, we took a day trip to see Auschwitz-Birkenau. To read about that, go to my previous blogpost, or click here.
Our second day in Krakow we explored the main market, the Wawel castle and cathedral, and ended the day viewing a classical music concert in an old church:
Orchestra concert
Wroclaw:
Wroclaw my 3rd and favorite city to visit in Poland. It was smaller than the two previous cities, and ever so adorable. We explored a couple museums about the cities history, spend an evening at the opera, shopped, and got thai massages during our stay in Wroclaw
Oh...and did I say just a few photos at the start of this post? I probably meant a few DOZEN.
We ended out trip back in Warsaw. We checked out the Warsaw Uprising museum, and concluded the trip with a relaxing night in with room service!
All in all, I learned a lot, and thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Poland!
-Gina
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