Witam?

Yes, today we are going to Poland.

We are leaving Vilnius at 11am and take a train to Warsaw, and as we have moved into Poland the clocks have gone back an hour, which explains the rather long journey. It will take 9 ½ hours and end at 8.30pm. We have in totaly 2 stops and have to change from trains in Kaunas and change at the border station Sestokai.

When we arrived in Warsaw we went to our hotel called Hetman.This was my last night with the group, because I'm leaving. We had a dinner at restaurant Babalu across from the hotel and went out to a local pub. I came back at 1 'o clock that night.

The next day I wook up at 6 'o clock in the mornig, I wanted to see something of the city.

Warsaw traces its history back to the 1410. After Krakow it became the capital of the great Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1596, and lost all its importance as a result of the partition of Poland at the end of the 18th century. Plenty of uprisings occured during the 19th century followed by the three partitions fighting each other during WorldWar I. Independence was finally gained in 1918, but this only lasted 20 years due to the 1939 Nazi Germany invasion(the cause of WorldWar II). More uprisings occured, especially in Warsaw and in its Jewish getto., The final blow was the total destruction of the city in 1945 by the hand of the Nazi.

The city was 'liberated'by the Sovjets, leading the country towards a communist regime which lasted until 1989. Most of the city was rebuilt during the 40's an 50's. UNESCO recognized its effort by listing it as a World Heritage Site in 1980.

I went to the Old Town Square, one of the most magnificent squares in Europe. Originally used as a market and even a court, it was also destroyed during the war. It as been totally rebuild to its original design. After that I went to the Presidential Palace. Built in the mid-17th century it is the official home of the president.

After that I went back to my hotel and had a breakfast. My taxi was there at 8:15am and brought me to the airport. My flight was at 9:45am and goes to Copenhagen. From Copenhagen I flew to Amsterdam Airport were I took the train back to home.

This was my Holiday from Moscow to Warsaw. Back to reallity!

Do widzenia !

Edwin