4D3N Poland Trip: The Warsaw Old Town Part 1
"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
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.
