We left Warsaw yesterday after a wonderful stay. It is a beautiful and vibrant city with one of the most interesting histories of any city I've been to. In addition to the Warsaw Uprising, the story of Old Town is very fascinating. The city was essentially leveled during WWII. However many years previous to the war there was an Italian painter who was enamoured with the city and painted the buildings in great detail. During the post-war reconstrucion efforts these paintings were used as references to recreate this part of the city as it had been many years ago. Although the locals informed us that it is mainly tourists who visit this area, it is quaint, charming and made us all crave ice cream! (They sell it on every corner it seems.)
We are now in Lublin which has a similar feel, but these buildings really are hundreds of years old! The locals take great pride in the fact that these are original, and for good reason. When we were asked why we keep taking photos of "things that are ugly" (referring to the areas of the buildings that are showing wear) we had to admit that it just feels special somehow...
And while we did not end up getting ice cream from any of the street vendors, we did have the opportunity to indulge at a lovely restaurant that used to be a water powered grain mill.
I have never heard of "Black Saturday". I guess "back in the day" events like taht would have been considered too tramatic for young school children. Interesting how some historic facts were swept under the rug so as not to affend the American people.
ReplyDelete