Wandering Fel

Showing posts with label Warsaw. Show all posts

It took us nearly 4 hours by car from Krakow to Warsaw so it was already late afternoon when we reached the city. However, since the sky is perpetually grey when we were in Poland, the timing does not really make any difference I guess.

Our activity of the day started with a walk to the Wilanow Palace Museum. Buses are not allowed to park too near to the palace and hence, we had to continue our journey on foot. Not that I mind it at all, I love wandering around a town. Especially an old town. Near to the drop-off location, there is a nice church. I could not see the name of the church though, unfortunately.

In order to reach Wilanow Palace compound, you have to walk through a park. The park looks so gloomy especially since it was already late autumn and the trees have no more leaves on them plus don't forget the grey sky.

Old tree on the way to Wilanow Palace Warsaw

There's a statue of Mother Mary and a bouquet of beautiful red flower at the bottom of the statue. I suppose this is some kind of praying station but it's so pretty I could not resist not taking picture with it.

A brief guidance on Wilanow Palace Museum in both Polish and English. I am not much of a reader so I usually just ignore or skim through the whole thing. Or to jump straight to the prohibition portion of what you are not supposed to do inside the museum. At least, I'm being a responsible visitor, eh? Hahaha.

Entrance of Wilanow Palace Museum in Warsaw Poland

The map of the whole palace complex can be seen beside the guidance. The royal palace seems to be so huge from the map alone.

After the entrance gate, you still have to walk further inside but the pathway is so beautiful you just feel like admiring your surrounding while walking toward the palace.

Pathway to Wilanow Palace at Warsaw Poland

At the end of the road, you will see the beautiful and grandeous Wilanow Palace Museum. I totally don't know where to start. Well, probably from the designated entrance. I guess.

The wind got pretty erratic and cold at this area maybe because it's an open field. I hope I could get inside pretty soon while our tour guide is busy dealing with our ticketing administration. Brrrr~~~

In front of Wilanow Castle at Warsaw Poland

Ticket type and prices for your information:

"I refuse to look back thinking days were better just because they're younger days."

Something funny just happened involving a texting conversation about an emoticon. Although to be honest if the conclusion is not in my favour, I need to hide from society (or at least from the texting counterpart) for maybe 3-6 months due to humiliation. Or maybe I should just do what I usually do, acting blur. My skill of acting blur is comparable with Emma Stone's role in La La Land because after all it is one of survival skills to work in Singapore. Hahaha.

Random intro aside, let's continue our walk in the old town of Warsaw where the terraced houses look monotonously brown.

4D3N Poland Trip: The Warsaw Old Town Part 3

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.

Colourful building in the Old Town Market Place of Warsaw

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.

Statue in the middle of old town market place in Warsaw

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

Beautiful cafes at Warsaw Old Town Market Place Poland

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

Beautiful restaurants at Warsaw Old Town in Poland

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.

Terraced houses in Warsaw Old Town Poland

Until next time, Warsaw. :)

"Even after all these years, we just now got the feeling that we're meeting for the first time."

Continuing on from my previous post whereby we start our journey to walk through the picturesque old town of Warsaw. Our wandering from one alley to another in the Old Town has led us to many awesome findings such as the cute souvenir shop named Polish Folk Art. The shop immediately picked our interest because of the cute decoration outside its door.

4D3N Poland Trip: The Warsaw Old Town Part 2

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.

Polish Folk Art souvenir shop at Warsaw Old Town Poland

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.

Beautiful kitchenware at the Warsaw Old Town Poland

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.

Cute Christmas tree figurines at the Warsaw Old Town in Poland

Warsawa plates anyone?

Plates at souvenir store at the Warsaw Old Town

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 Sosa Handmade Sweets at the Warsaw Old Town

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.

Making handmade sweets at the Warsaw Old Town

Lots of flavour to choose from in the display.

Handmade lollipops at Cukrowa Sowa in Warsaw Old Town

A happy me with the lollipops.

Happy girl at the candy store in Warsaw Poland

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!

Cute piggy lollipop from Cukrowa Sowa at the Warsaw Old Town

"Cause you only need the light when it's burning low, only miss the sun when it starts to snow."

Only want to travel when work is tough. But my work is forever tough so I always want to travel. Oh no. When it's time to work in my work-save-travel-repeat life cycle, weekends are my ray of hope, what keep me going from the insanity. Call it exaggerating if you must but that's life. At least, my life. LOL.

But today is Friday and I'm feeling high and full (from the dinner I just had with by BFF) so I'm gonna share with you the wonderful travel story which I had in Warsaw. #feelinghigh

4D3N Poland Trip: The Warsaw Old Town Part 1

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.

Ichiban Sushi restaurant at Warsaw Poland

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.

Sigismund's Column in Warsaw Old Town Poland

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.

The square in front of the Royal Castle of Warsaw Poland

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.

Posing in front of Sigismund's Column in Warsaw Poland

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.

Standing in the market square of the old town of Warsaw Poland

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.

The road at the Warsaw Old Town in Poland

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

Road sign of the old town of Warsaw Poland

"If it's a broken part, replace it.

But, if it's a broken arm then brace it.

If it's a broken heart, then face it."

Facing a broken heart, I wonder how long that's gonna take. To be honest, I don't really have a fixed number to this but I think I moved one pretty fast from my failed friendship (despite I'm still clueless on the real reason of why that happened) and my failed dream job (what could you do if the company refuse to accept your application?). Broken heart from failed love relationship? Uh oh, I had no idea to be honest with you. Apart from the wisdom shared by the peeps from How I Met Your Mother. Hahaha.

"Ted: Everyone has an opinion on how long it takes to recover from a breakup. Lily: Half the length of the relationship. Marshall: One week for every month you were together. Robin: Exactly 10,000 drinks, however long that takes. Barney: You can’t measure something like this in time; there’s a series of steps—from her bed to the front door. Bam! Out of there. Neeeeext!"

10,000 drinks seems to be the most awesome method but anyway, I hope I don't have to go through this break-up thingy once I have found the AO (Appointed One). Hahaha.

4D3N Poland Trip: Royal Lazienki Museum, Warsaw

Okay, gloomy topic aside, let's just continue our walk from Wilanow Palace to the Lazienki Garden where another museum, Royal Lazienki Museum is located. The best time to visit the garden is actually in March where the flowers bloom. There is even a special walking tour, Secrets of Lazienki Garden, conducted during four weekends of March. And they are free. Do check out its website (http://www.lazienki-krolewskie.pl/en/aktualnosci/tajemnice-lazienkowskich-ogrodow-wybierz-sie-na-spacer-z-prz) if you are interested.

Statue of a soldier at Royal Lazienki Museum in Warsaw Poland

The Lazienki Garden is very very big. It is divided into many sections such as the Royal Garden, the 19th century Romantic Garden, 20th century Modernist Garden, Chinese Garden and the current work-in-progress 21st century garden. However since we visited the garden in early winter, there is not much flower to see apart from this funny white flowers/ fruits, I could never tell.

Winter flower at Royal Lazienki Museum Warsaw Poland

The main attraction throughout our walk in the garden is definitely the Palace on the Isle which is originated from the late 17th century. The palace was intendede as a place of resting, leisure and contemplation. King Stanislaw August purchased the used-to-be-bathhouse together with the Ujazdowski estate and then transformed it into Palace on the Isle.

While the palace is not used as a summer residence of the royals anymore in the modern days, it is now used as a museum to display Stanislaw August's art collections i.e. 2,289 works of art by some of the most famous European artists during that period. Unfortunately, our tour group did not have time to visit the museum as we need to rush to the next destination.

Close up look of Royal Lazienki Museum Warsaw

Slowly making our way back to the entrance gate of the garden leading to Wilanow Palace now. Oh look, free wifi zone in the courtyard if you need to upload your picture to Instagram (or checking your next destination or whatever).

I find the garden in front of Wilanow Palace to be quite fascinating even though by the time we visited the garden, all the leaves have fallen to the ground. If you visit this venue in spring, make sure you allocate a day to walk around and enjoy the beautiful nature.