Express trains make few stops; they are not necessarily fast, not in Poland. But it was a nice trip from Malbork through farmland and forests. We had a compartment to ourselves most of the trip. The only annoyance was the guy who stalked the corridor, back and forth, like the blind albino honey badger in South Africa.
The lobby of the Marriott was packed when we arrived - seems the Warsaw Film Festival begins today. Four-star hotels are a great place to get maps and directions, even if you're not staying there. Which we're not. Our rooms are about a mile away in what was once the Jewish Ghetto. The Ghetto was razed by Nazi artillery and tanks to quell the "Jewish Uprising." In fact all of Warsaw was destroyed towards the end of World War II to show those uppity Poles a thing or two. Nearly all of Warsaw's 350,000 Jews were exterminated in the camps or killed in the streets and sewers of the Ghetto. All that remains is a bit of the wall, a plaque with some names and a sculpture of the sewer where the lucky few escaped.
Hands Climbing out of the sewer, Jewish Ghetto
The Soviets came after the Nazis and their influence is still visible. Most of what you see in Warsaw today was built by the Soviets, everything except the new construction which seems to be booming. The Palace of Culture and Science, formerly the Lenin Palace of Culture and Science, is the largest, tallest and most despised structure in the city. The views from the 30th floor are especially good, it is claimed, because only from there is the building itself unseen.
The best views are from the top, Palace of Culture and Science
One building that is worth seeing is the National Museum, a tribute to Polish and European artists from the Middle Ages onward. As with the architecture of Gdansk there is a strong Dutch influence; "Mannerism" it's called. Except for a handful of pieces by the likes of Rodin, Caravaggio, Courbet and Serac (the lone Renoir was being cleaned) we didn't recognize a single artist. But there were scores that we enjoyed; like Wladyslaw Podkowinski and Jozef Chelmonski. And the Polish national treasure, the original The Battle of Grunwald by Jan Matejko, to Poland what Washington Crossing the Delaware is to America.
"Noway Swiat Street" by Wladyslaw Podkowinski
