When in Warsaw

Where am I now? I am riding a train from Nürnberg to Frankfurt am Main, after saying a sad farewell to my parents, who, waving goodbye on the platform opposite, are on their merry way to Salzburg and full Sound of Music glory. Yet for me, today marks the end of indescribable journey through time, history, and memory. The skies are a dull gray and the rain blurs the train windows as I look outside; I feel that the weather is indicative of my own feelings…

And yet continuing my blog—on Saturday in Warsaw, July 14^th—is truly a perfect way to revive me from my end-of-journey slump, for that Saturday was truly a fun-filled, memorable day. Because it was the Sabbath, we had the day to ourselves which was a much-needed after the fast-paced and stressful week. Zach and I ran to Łazienki Park (Park Łazienkowski or Łazienki Królewskie in Polish, which literally means Baths Park or Royal Bath). It is the largest park in Warsaw with Baroque palaces strewn among the park grounds. There were beautiful marble statues, gravel walkways, grandiose fountains, serene waterways, and so any flowers and sculpted landscape as far as the eye could see. Oh and peacocks! How could I forget the peacocks? It truly was surreal, I felt like every turn we took, there was a new garden or statue or palace or fountain. I decided that anyone who has any doubts about Poland’s beauty, I am going to drop them into this park and let them find their way out.
 

One of the many palaces in Łazienki Park

My running partners (kidding)

Taking a running break

For lunch, a few of us met up with Dara and her brother and then headed up the café-lined Nowy Świat and then to the Frederyk Chopin Museum. I did not realize how much I needed to go into a non-Holocaust related museum until I was inside. Chopin’s masterpieces flooded this interactive space where we learned about his life, his romances, his talent, his works, and his early death.  I had to leave the group early for I had a date 5 years in the making. My friend Piotr—who I saw last when I was in Warsaw in 2007, but who I met randomly at Disneyland when I was there with Carolyn in 2006—was supposed to meet me on the steps outside the museum. I anxiously waited while dark clouds had filled the sky and a gusty wind had picked up, looking around for the familiar face I hadn’t seen for quite some time. Few people were outside. Yet sure enough along came Piotr. And sure enough it did rain ;).

Nowy Swiat street, on the way to the Chopin Museum

Chopin Museum

Piotr and I

Piotr and I went to a café and caught up and then he took me to Warsaw’s finest Fotoplastikon Warszawski which displays three-dimensional images from the turn of 20^th century Warsaw through present. After a quick dinner at this little Italian restaurant close to my hotel, we parted ways for a few hours before meeting back up later for drinks. This time I persuaded Zach to come with us and Piotr quickly took us off the tourist track and into these hidden local bars. In the few hours hanging out with Piotr, I quickly realized how much more enjoyable it is walking around in Warsaw, ordering food, buying tickets, asking for someone to take a picture of us etc. when the person you are with speaks Polish. If someone had told me six years ago that the guy who randomly talked to me while watching the fireworks at Disneyland, I would be sitting at a bar with in Warsaw practicing Polish in July 2012, I would have laughed at the absurdity.  Na zdrowie!