Yesterday I went to two museums. In the morning I went to the museum of the Polish Uprising. I should start off by saying there we're two uprisings in Poland during World War II. (they are often confused-I didn't realize two existed). The first was the ghetto uprising, which was about a month long, where ill-equipped Jews in the Ghetto decided to fight the Nazi's, and while the Jews lost, they we're able to prevent some deportations to the concentration camp. The second uprising-The Warsaw Uprising, lasted a few months, with all of the anti-German Polish forces (directed by the Polish government which was working out of London) mobilizing against the Nazi's to fight them.
Anyway, the museum was dedicated to the second uprising-the Warsaw Uprising. The museum was three stories of survivor stories, tanks, ammo, and other wartime stories/apparatus, and huge crowds. You may ask, how do you find enough stuff on a fight that lasted a only few months for three stories of museum? good question. I found this the museum rather boring. The highlight was during a short film on the third floor, when I was able to sit down and take a nap.
After the film, i went to a mall to buy a small tripod for my camera. (mine broke), and then went to the second museum. This was the Museum of the History of Polish Jews. I didn't except much of this museum-just long lines, audio headsets, etc. Here I was wrong. Maybe I am biased since I am Jewish-but this museum was fascinating. I learned of a Jewish factory owners who needed people to work on the Sabbath, so he was criticized for not hiring Jewish employees. There was also a film about a Yeshiva, where Jews studied and debated the Talmud long into the night. There was a voice over of a nurse from the Warsaw Ghetto, who was overwhelmed by cases of Typhus. I arrived at this museum around 3:00 pm and left at 6:00-only because the museum closed at 6:00. I could have stayed an hour nor two longer. As a matter of fact, I had thoughts about being stuck in the museum-which brings to mind a new "Night in the Museum" movie, filmed at the Jewish Museum. Ben Stiller has already played a Rabbi in another movie, so this wouldn't be much of a stretch.
After the museum, I wandered around and went to an Italian Restaurant near the hostel for some pasta and beer. The service was on the slow side. At the end of the dinner, I paid the bill of about 42 pln (roughly $11.50) with my credit card. The waiter actually asked if I could charge an even 50 pln, giving himself a tip of 8 pln. ($2.00 I guess). I have never met a waiter who had the balls to suggest how much of a tip for himself. He could see I wasn't happy with just charging an extra 8 pln, and I gave him the equivelent of 5%. (tipping isn't mandatory in Europe as is in the US, and it is not customary to give 15-20%). Then I walked back to the hostel and went to bed.
