Random Pictures from Warsaw

On Friday afternoon I took a train from Kotun to Warsaw Wschodnia station with four other volunteers. I helped them find their connecting train to Krakow. Then I found another train that would take me across town to Warsaw Centralna station. From there I took a short walk to the Marriott Hotel and checked in and got a room on floor 32. I walked over to the Zlote Tarsy shopping center for supper. Then back to the hotel where I crawled into bed. It had been a busy week with hot, hot weather. Just before dropping off to sleep I could see some lightening.

The next morning was cooler and rainy. I had some coffee in my room and then walked over to the Centralna station again where I got coffee and waffle at a Starbuck's shop. Either Starbuck's coffee is getting better or they do it better in Europe. I met three other volunteers who came that morning and helped them get to the bed and breakfast where they would stay. From there we started up Nowy Swiat and so did the rain. We ducked into the Blikle Cukiernia for drinks and eats and watched the rain pour down. When it let up a bit we walked as far as Holy Cross Church, the church famed for holding Chopin's heart. After a visit there we started for Old Town. The rain also tried to return. I got my fellow volunteers to the ticket booth at the castle and then headed to Old Town alone.

What follows are simply random things that caught my eye. This posting is definitely not a travelogue for Warsaw.

I saw this amber boat in a jeweler's window. Over the course of my stay this year I've seen some spectacular amber pieces, and this is one of the most interesting ones. Readers can also see a reflection of nearby buildings in the store window.

I walked around the rynek noting that the gray sky made a good back drop for the buildings of Old Town.

I headed off on a side street trying to remember where is the monument to child soldiers who fought in the Warsaw Uprising. Found it.

I find this very poignant.

Now it was time for obiad and I took care to find a table in a sidewalk cafe that was well under an umbrella in case of rain. So glad I did for I hardly sat down when the heavens open and heavy rain came down for about 30 minutes.

I had a great meal, but did have some friends looking for a spot out of the rain and also trying to see if they could pinch some bread.

Decided to head back to the hotel.

Found a sign for bubble beer. Can't quite imagine what this is.

Look carefully and you can see bubbles come in cherry, mango, or lychee flavors.

I knew I was finishing everything on my Kindle and had not brought my computer so I could not order more library books, so I stopped at Empik, a large book store. It's always fun to look through a store like this and see what can be found.

A flask, a very large one, for celebrating Boss Day.

I continued my walk back to the hotel and noticed something along the side of the street.

 This is a sad place. It marks the spot where 102 Polish people were executed on January 28, 1944. What a tragedy.