Trip Journal Part 1: Remembering Warsaw

This is a pretty long post, as it journals of my time in Warsaw. If you are not interested in my personal thoughts on Warsaw and are looking for a recipe, scroll down to the bottom where there is a Polish recipe for Wild Mushroom Soup. Enjoy/Cieszyć Się!

Despite the rocky road getting to Warsaw, with JFK keeping us on the runway for over four hours causing mom and I to miss our Frankfurt connection, we finally arrived to our hotel. Tired, we went to bed and started fresh Tuesday morning.

Warsaw greeted us with lovely weather, which prompted us to eat breakfast on the patio. The buffet was a myriad of choices, and was a eye opening reminder that I need to eat better in the a.m. Fruits, cheeses, cereals, meats, fish, breads, you name it, Le Meridian presented the choices with class! (This hotel ended up to be my favorite of the vacation.) The breakfast also became a wonderful preamble to an amazing trip that taught me more than my World History classes in school. (Sad, I know!)

Since we did not have to meet the Tauck tour group until 6PM, mom and I walked around the Warsaw, within close proximity to the hotel, down Nowy Swait (Warsaw’s version of 5^th Avenue), Swietokrzyska Street, to the Palace of Culture & Science. The Palace of Culture & Science, a 1950s skyscraper what houses a museum of fossils and geological artifacts, is fascinating – despite the fact we didn’t have a clue what we were looking at, since all the exhibition descriptors were in Polish. The tallest building in Poland, the skyscraper was a “gift” from Stalin. Unable to refuse, Poland accepted this gift, which was built by Russian workers, yet paid for entirely by Polish funds. The clock at the top was not part of the original structure, but added for the 1999 celebrations of the millennium. We continued, viewing the President’s Palace, Old Town Square (mentioned later), and ate at Stacya. Doesn't mom look relaxed?!

After meeting up with the group that evening, we remained in Warsaw until Friday, when we would travel to Kracow. But, here’s a little about what I learned about Warsaw, the capital city of Poland:

Thought of by many as the Paris of Europe, Warsaw is a poet’s dream with its many gardens and palaces. Unbelievably, 85% of Warsaw was destroyed during WWII. Through the communist rule and the restoration of the city after its independence, 40 years of rebuilding has morphed the city into a city of contrasts with its various architectural designs. One of the first stops we made was to Park Tazienkowski where a monument of Chopin and stunning designs of red flowers greets visitors. Chopin’s statue, first planned in 1908 and finally realized in 1926, was the first monument destroyed by the Nazis, who melted its remnants down for the metal. Luckily, the statue was rebuilt in the 50s and now everyone can see Chopin under a willow – from one perspective, and a hand from another perspective. Sunday’s at the park are reserved for free piano concerts that feature local and admired musicians. (The park also marks the location - although not in view of park visitors - of Poniatowski’s summer residence, Poland’s last king.)

Tazienkowski Park

Private Chopin Concert at The Szuster Palace
Pianist - Maria Korecka-Soszkowska from Warsaw

Throughout the day, other sights we saw included the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, various embassies, the Seats of the Parliament, and Three Crosses Square. Three Crosses Square include Pre-War buildings not destroyed during the war because they were occupied by the Nazis at that time.

Old Town is a sight to see, since it was completely destroyed during the war. The Square (Rynek Starego Miastra) was rebuilt to its magnificence of before the war, with an added fountain in its center. It is said that the fountain’s mermaid, Syrenka, lived in the Vistula River (which runs along the city) and protected the people of Warsaw. The four sides of Old Town Square are named for the Varovians who were considered important in the 18^th century: Kottątaj, Dekert, Barass, and Zakrzewski.

On the north side of the square, Dekert, The Warsaw Museum hides behind a nondescript door. Once in the museum, we viewed a 20 minute English narrated film that presents a picture of Warsaw before, during, and after WWII. From the film, and our guide…

Warsaw was culturally and religiously diverse before the Germans attacked Poland in 1939. The first attack on the city cost the lives of 6000 soldiers and 25, 000 citizens – 12% of its population. Four hundred thousand Jews were liquidated into the Ghettos. Much of this was shown via personal photos taken for General Stoop to forward to Himmler. Nearly ½ million people were moved into the Warsaw Ghetto, which only had 1483 residences. On 7/22/42, the chairman of the Jewish Council was ordered to deliver 6000 Jews from the Ghetto to the Nazis each day. Unable to follow the order, the chairman committed suicide. Unfortunately, the deportation went on without him and by September ’42, 300,000 Jews were deported from the Ghetto directly to the Gas Chamber – 8-12,000 daily. What was once two parts of the Ghetto (the small and the large) connected by a small wooden foot bridge became one, as the small closed once its occupants were sent to the gas chambers. Between the deportation and the starvation (200 calories/day allowance per person), a ghetto housing more than ½ million Jews dwindled down to 50,000 by the end of ’42 – beginning of ’43. Realizing the end was near, the remaining Jews gathered together and organized a riot, catching the Nazis off guard with smuggled weapons. Regrouping quickly, the Nazis came back hard and burned everyone – creating a “Desert of Ruins”.

The Warsaw Uprising marked the beginning of 1944 and lasted for 63 days. After the three months, Hitler ordered the burning and bombing of any building that remained. On January 17, 1945, the Soviet Army entered (however, late) with Polish units and residents began to return to Warsaw. Blowing up a synagogue marked the end of the uprising. Again, 85% of the city was destroyed, but the people of Warsaw had the will to rebuild with nothing. Twenty-five thousand residents occupied the city one year after the uprising. Ten years, one million. Today, just under 2 million. Ninety-five percent of the city is now Catholic, with only approximately 2000 of Warsaw’s population as Jewish.

Holocaust Memorial




Warsaw Uprising Monuments

Other pics from Warsaw...

The President's Palace and the Changing of the Guards

The birthplace of Marie Curie, who was Polish

Legend has it that a witch turned a young man into this statue. Only when a young virgin looks into his eyes will he turn back into a young man. I am still a little perplexed why, when I looked at the bear's eyes, the young man didn't appear!

The streets surrounding a university.

Some of the food we ate...

Random...

Check out my other trip posts! Kracow (1), Kracow (2), Budapest, Vienna, Prague, and my final thoughts...Café Demel.

And finally, since I am posting about Poland, here is a Polish recipe, adapted according to what I had in my kitchen.

Polish Wild Mushroom Soup

1 small can of sliced button mushrooms *
2 cups vegetable or meat stock **
½ Tbsp. butter
¼ cup finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon cornstarch
salt
pepper
sour cream
parsley

Bring stock to a boil, add mushrooms, reduce heat and simmer. (If using the wild mushrooms, simmer for 4 hours). While the soup is simmering, melt the butter in a heavy skillet, add the onion, sauté until golden brown. Add to the soup. Whisk the cornstarch with a small amount of stock, add to the soup, and stir/simmer until slightly thickened. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve in individual bowls, top each with 1 tbsp sour cream and sprinkle with parsley (both of which I did not have).

* The recipe really calls for dried wild mushrooms. If available, cover the mushrooms with cold water and soak overnight. When ready to make the soup, drain the mushrooms reserve the soaking liquid, and strain the liquid through a cloth. Rinse the mushrooms in cold water to remove any remaining sand, then slice into strips.

** I didn’t have stock, so I boiled the water and dissolved 2 beef bouillon cubes instead, and then did not add any additional salt, since the cubes are so salty by themselves.

*Sorry for any possible typos...running out to get my hair chopped...will proofread later! :) Ta ta for now!