Here's a little trip report from our long weekend in Warsaw, Poland. Trish had decided to celebrate my 51st birthday there, and since I hadn't been there for over 20 years, I thought it would be a good idea, specially since Trish had to be there for business.

We flew in on Friday evening, and Trish's colleague from Polish Telecom (TP) gave us a lift to the Marriott hotel. The Marriott hotel is right in the center of the new town, in front of the Cultural Palace (a gift from the Soviet Union to Poland).





The hotel is right on a square, with the above Cultural Palace and the central railway station.



If you think that Warsaw is just an old city, forget it. It had been extensively bombed during the 2nd World War, and rebuilt.



In fact, there were quite a lot of modern buildings. That white stuff is snow...



Around the square is a small garden/park with some "strange" trees in blossom.



There are a few "old fashion" buildings around, like this Hotel Palace, but I learned not to judge quickly, since many are not old, but actually quite new.



A colleague of Trish from TP came and picked us up on Saturday and brought us around Warsaw. What better way to see Warsaw. Here's the Russian Embassy.



We were brought to a park with several monuments.



Inside the park was a beautiful "Chateau", which was being restored. The Chateau is the Wilanowie Palace and is a museum.



The castle grounds could be visited, and looked quite extensive and pretty.



The castle itself was a "French" style chateau.



We were then driven to the old part of town. This part is on the hills.



Everything there looked old, but in fact was quite new, including the churches.



The houses in this part were often colored is nice colors.



The streets were still made out of cobblestones.



There is an "old" but new gate and fortified walls. All are new, but with an old look.



Along the streets were many antique shops and art galleries.



The market place is the central point of the old town. It is a very large square with buildings surrounding it.



Further up is another large square. This is where the royal palace is located (more of that later on).



Here are some of the houses in that square.



The way around the old town is by horse and buggy (cars are not allowed in).



There are several churches in this old town.



That afternoon, we had lunch in this restaurant (RP Restauracja Polska Tradycja). The food was very, very, good (we had goose leg) and not that expensive.



That evening, Trish and I ate at the market square in the old town in this great restaurant (Fukiera).



That evening either the 3rd World War broke out, or they just started firing fireworks over the Cultural palace. Trish lust have told them that I was in town...



The following day, we visited the Royal Palace in the Old Town. This Palace was totally destroyed during the 2nd World War, and with donations, they rebuilt it from scratch. It's quite imposing to visit, since the restoration is uncanny.



Finally, we had a nice tea and coffee in a small shop with a food place in the rear.



The trip was quite memorable, apart from the going back with Air France playing its nasty, un-customer friendly, tricks. But the whole trip was enjoyable, and Poland is a definite recommendation for a nice trip. Prices are very decent, food is excellent and the people go out of their way to be nice.