Monday, October 5. 

Decided to drive remaining distance to Warsaw, set up, shower and breakfast and start looking around. Found camp easily, about 4kms from city centre, with a bus stop across the park.

As we had collected a map from the camp office, we took the bus to the end of its run, and then walked up to main square in old town. The buildings were magnificent, and lots of restoration work going on, but as we found out later, 85% of Warsaw was destroyed in the war. Many of the buildings were rebuilt from paintings after the war. 

 We were having a cuppa, when we noticed a young girl standing with a sign which said , free walking tours. We enquired and discovered that she was conducting a tour of the old town in fifteen minutes. So we joined the tour. She was very informative, and during the next two hours we saw some amazing stuff. 

Palace which is now a museum

    

The national sports stadium, which prior to a match between Poland and England, they left the roof open over night and they received 12.5″ of rain. flooded the pitch with a metre of water. some clowns donned flippers , snorkels and goggles ansd swam around the ground. since then it is also kniwn as the national swimming centre.

  

Barbican or town wall which encircled the old town

  

Just another square. buildings are magnificent

    

The building with the gate in, is only a metre wide. that is because buildings here are rated by their street frontage.

  

This is the other side of the building and as it faces the river and has no street, then it is rated by the previous photo.

  
    
    
  

The mermaid statue is the symbol of Warsaw and it is said that she protects the city

  
    
More photos of the barbican.

    
    
  

Birthplace if Marie Curie.

  

There are twenty teo of ghese mouments around the city. they mark the boundaris of the Jewish Ghetto during the war. as does the following photo

    

Rdflections off the court building.

    
 
Photos of the three statues, faith, hope and justice which support one section of the law courts.

   
    
  Two statues which symbolize the insurrection, when the Poles rebelled against the German invaders.  
    
  

Entrance to the treadury biilding

  

Another palace shich was rebuilt. the original building had all the statues on the yop excrpt the last one. see next photo

  

The statue on the end is a chimpanzee. the architect who originally designed the biilding was mot happy with how the lady who iwned tbe palace was treating. so he drew a monkey standing next to her statue mocking her. when they rebuilt thd building from drawings and painyings the monkey was invluded. guess he had the last laugh

  

Pope John Paul II’s Cathedral. as he was Polish, the Poles considered hom thrir Pope, and is stoll held in high reverence today.

  

Fates to Warsaw University

  
  

Someone was hungry

 
Following dinner we caught the bus back to Myrtle.