Travel to the Birth town Warsaw

I was born in Warsaw rather short time before the second world war and I do not remember how it was like. But I remember how it looked like in 1945-46. I climbed up and down through hills of ruins. Later, as a high school girl, I took part in disposal all rubbish as any of other Warsaw inhabitants did at least once a week. After some years Warsaw was almost rebuilt. I studied also in Warsaw, I got married and I had got my son Marcin (Martin).

After I emigrated to Sweden 1988 I traveled every year to Warsaw to my mother who was very ill. But after her death I traveled not very often because Marcin lived abroad too, he lived in Madrid, Spain.

When I met Yngve I told him much about Poland and Warsaw first of all. Yngve would like very much to travel to Warsaw with me. In 1999 we have booked tickets and all was ready to go in 4th of June. But Yngve was taken very ill and he stayed home, at the hospital.

Year 2000 was travel to Warsaw planed again. Yngve was well but not me this time! I burned myself on my foot very badly. Despite that we went by bus to Warsaw the 1st July and I was not very good guide because of pain on my foot. We were sighting rather much of Warsaw anyway.

First day in Poland for Yngve - GDYNIA, the most important harbor on Polish coast, built from a very beginning in the 30ties, i.e. before the second worlds war. The town was a pride of whole the nation, built from the scratch under only several years.

Busses to Warsaw from Gothenburg via Gdynia goes once or two a week. There are now both Swedish and Polish bus companies which offer travels to Krakow as well. Polish Bus Companies to Poland from Gothenburg is t.ex. Baltic Express Buss (Tel. +46-31-42 42 81 and PeKaEs. There is also BussCo in Borås (Jakobssons), they organize short tourist and shopping trips only to Gdynia. And there are busses from Stockholm as well.

The monument to the right that is the River Mermaid (Syrena) - Warsaw Town escutcheon. She had always to fight with her sward to defense Warsaw.

First thing that Yngve had to see in Warsaw was.. an casually surgery where I needed to get help with my foot.

After I found to buy shoes large and soft enough to go with my aching foot, we went to the National Museum of Arts.

Next we have walked to the biggest park in Europe - Lazienki which means "Bathrooms". Name comes from history - Polish King S.A.Poniatowski who had his palace in the park has built maybe first bathroom in Poland there, even more than one.

On the pic Yngve standing before the Orangery where Polish kings had cultivated citrus trees and other exotic plants. Now there is also place for overwintering of palms, agaves and s.o. and for some art or flower exhibitions in summer. All looks nice among the many sculptures in two lines along walls.

On the pond there is an isle where was built a theater, called Theater on Isle. It was designed as the antique theater ruins (on the picture up). It was water between scene with actors and amphitheater with spectators. The pieces are played there also these days. You can see the Palace behind.

You can rent a picturesque gondola and sail on the little lake (which is a pond really).

Otherwise people set down on the stairs just by water before the Palace and feed fishes. In the ponds - there are more of them - there is mostly one sort of fish - golden carp. I've caught one - on the picture.

In Lazienki Park and on the ponds, there are a lot of birds too. Ducks and swans are really many. People feed them all the time. All would like to see the peacock in all its glare, with this beautiful fun-shaped plume-tail in rainbow colours. One of them made a really show when he danced around - for me - I believed - but it was aimed for its peahens..

In Lazienki Park, after you come in, you can see directly a monument of Chopin.

He is sitting under a willow, most common and typical Polish tree. In the summer under nice weather the piano concerts take place there. Below there is Yngve.