Wandering Fel

I have totally no idea whether this is a building sign or a road sign. But it looks more like a building sign to me. 

I wonder if it's the sign for this yellow brownish church. Many churches in Poland retains its historical form as the Government ensures renovation and restoration are properly done to preserve history. A lot of renovation and restoration works required because after all, Poland has a turbulent and dark past and it was involved in so many wars and conflicts. 

The most famous part of the Warsaw Old Town is gotta be the Old Town Marketplace. The colourful buildings are so nice to look at. These buildings were reconstructed between 1948 - 1953 to follow its design in the 17th century when it was mostly inhabited by rich merchant families. The marketplace is square in shape and apparently every side has its own name. The 

The north side (which I personally think is the best side because of that particular building in teal) is called Dekert's side. It is named after Jan Dekert,which houses the Warsaw Historical Museum. The entrance to the museum is in a building called "The Negro" after the traditional sign over the doorway.

In the middle of the square lies the Warsaw Mermaid, which has been the symbol of Poland since 1855. Looks like a fierce mermaid indeed especially if compared to the mermaid version shown in Korean drama. 

The Old Town Marketplace has a lot of beautiful restaurant and cafes on all its sides. We spot one restaurant named Rynek Restauracja.

And there's another two lovely restaurants at the other sides. Both has super beautiful decoration in front.

I just could not help myself. Thankfully there was nobody outside the restaurant. Hahaha.

I could not really tell which side these few buildings are located but they look so neat and picturesque. So here is one last shot of the Warsaw Old Town.

Until next time, Warsaw. :)

The blue kitchenwares are so pretty to look at. A lot of the tour participants were quite curious about this shop so we all went inside together to check the shop out. 

If you are a kitchenware collectors, you will love this shop. The shop has so many cute and unique design of kitchenwares from mugs. 

I freaking love this design of the plates and bowls. Feels like buying them but then again, I won't really use them since I live alone in Singapore. 

Since Christmas was just around the corner back then, there are a lot of Christmas trees decorations made from porcelain. Not sure if you want to hang these on your trees but they do make a good decoration on the table. 

Warsawa plates anyone? 

My mum ended up buying a few fridge magnets to complete her collection and a few keychains while I bought nothing, as usual. Oh well, lets continue on with our wandering then to the shop which is just opposite the souvenir shop. The shop is called Cukrowa Sowa and it has display of big lollipops. Oh my gawd. 

Cukrowa Sowa is a candy shop and it sure makes the girls in the tour filled with excitement. The concept of the candy shop kinda reminded me of Sticky in Singapore. You could see how the candies were made inside the shop. 

A happy me with the lollipops. 

Hmm, the pricing guide for the lollipops is kinda confusing because I did not understand Polish. Hahaha. 

We ended up buying the Piggy lollipop for 7 Zlotis. Oink! 

Warsaw has a long and turbulent history but the city has survived the past by keep on rebuilding and reinventing and now it is a city filled a cultural diversity. Well, looking at Ichiban Sushi in Warsaw kinda prove the "cultural diversity" part of the city I suppose. The restaurant looks way simpler than the restaurant sharing the same name in Singapore though. 

While we were on the bus, we could already see a lot of amazing architectures which have survived dark past such the World Wars, etc. Although the building may have been rebuilt, it is nice to see that the original design of the architecture is maintained by the city. For instance, the Grand Theatre that we were passing by here was bombed in World War II and the rebuilt and reopened in the year 1965 after having been closed for over twenty years. It was one of the best equipped state-of-the-art theatres in Europe and it was the largest theatre in the world when it's just reopened in 1965. 

Few minutes later, our tour bus dropped us at the entrance of the Warsaw Old Town, the Castle Square. The red building that we immediately saw upon coming down from the bus is the Royal Castle. It is a castle residency which used to serve throughout the centuries as the official residency of the Polish monarchs. So yeah, this is where the personal offices of the king and the administrative offices of the Royal Court of Poland were located from the 16th century until the Partitions of Poland. The Royal Castle was not exempted from destruction by the city's dark past though as it was looted and burned down by the Nazi Germans back in 1939. It was then rebuilt and reconstructed (thanks God!) and it became UNESCO World Heritage Site together with the Warsaw Old Town in 1980. 

Located right outside the Royal Castle is the popular meeting place for tourists and local in Warsaw, the Castle Square. It features the landmark Sigismund's Column to the south-west and is surrounded by historic townhouses. 

The historic townhouses nowadays used as office buildings, residential and restaurants/ shops. I am quite familiar with this kind of concept because I used to play at my friend's house in England and the concept of her house is quite similar to this townhouse in Warsaw. The ground floor of the house often consists of shops and other businesses like cafe or restaurant while the upper floors are apartments. 

Here I am posing in front of one of the most famous landmarks in Warsaw, the Sigismund's Column. The column and statue commemorate King Sigismund III Vasa, who in the year 1956 had moved Poland's capital from Krakow to Warsaw. The king is dressed in armor and carries a cross in one hand and wields a sword in the other. 

Another pic of me getting so excited to wander around the Old Town of Warsaw in front the Church of St Martin. The church played an important role as the fort of the resistance for the opposition in the year 1970s and 1980s.

The terraced house in Warsaw all looks pretty similar but they are painted in different color which complement each other and give the overall vibe of an European old town. It feels really good and awesome to wander around in this kind of environment. Maybe this is how European tourist feels when they wander around Singapore alley which has shophouses on the right and left side like Haji Lane. Hahaha. 

Plenty of souvenir shops and restaurants if you have time to see, you may want to check them out one by one.