I am completely blown away by Warsaw, in a million unexpected ways.
We spent the first couple days of our trip in Prague, then went to Oswiecim, then Krakow, and then we spent the second half of our trip in Warsaw.
I've at least passed through most countries in Western Europe, but had never been to Central or Eastern Europe before this trip. I grew up in the cold war and my dad studied Russian literature and language, traveled to Russia in the 70s, and talked a lot about communism when I grew up. I always imagined Eastern Europe as a dark gray place under communism, and as a completely different world than Western Europe.
So I was surprised when I arrived in Prague and it felt just like Paris, Madrid, Copenhagen, or any other Western European city. I had expected it to feel more foreign. Our tour guides have explained that both Prague and Krakow escaped almost all the bombing and destruction during World War II, so most of the old buildings are still there, and there just wasn't much room for the communists to build monstrous ugly building. Prague is gorgeous... every single building is covered with so much incredible ornamentation that if any one of them were placed in an American city, it would be an attraction that people would travel hundreds of miles to see. Krakow is an adorable ancient town.
Warsaw is another story entirely, and is unlike any place I've ever seen. Warsaw is a giant city that was blown to smithereens by bombing, the destruction of Jewish buildings from the ground, and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in which the entire Ghetto was destroyed by fire, and the Warsaw Uprising in which the Nazis destroyed almost everything that was left. Soon after the war, the Soviets occupied Poland, ripped down even more buildings in the capitol city, and built giant communist-style monuments and buildings everywhere. In 1989 capitalism came with a vengeance, many communist monuments were torn down, and all remaining space has been filled with ultra-modern buildings that look like they belong in Shanghai and giant advertisements. Today Warsaw is an absolutely crazy mix of very old classic architecture, Soviet architecture that is all concrete and square, and modern architecture that is mostly glass and filled with curves.
After taking a train that our French friend said was nicer than the trains in France, and exiting the elegant and clean train station, the first thing we saw was this:
That is a crazy curvy building with a lot of skyscrapers in the background. Only a few years ago, the landscape was dominated by the Soviet Palace of Culture and Science, which now peaks out from behind the skyscrapers:
We went straight from the train station to a bus tour of the city where we got to see a dizzying array of architecture.
The old town is filled with classic buildings that miraculously survived the war:
Throughout the city there are classic buildings that only half survived, but are in the process of being renovated:
The tomb of the unknown soldier is in the only tiny fragment that remains of what was once a giant palace:
There is ghastly advertising everywhere (imagine living behind this sign!):
And Soviet buildings turned into centers of finance:
Our hotel is a giant old Soviet building:
that has been completely modernized inside:
Both Prague and Krakow still have completely intact Jewish quarters with hardly any Jews in them. In Prague they are proud that they lost only one synagogue during the war, and in Krakow they are proud that they lost none. In Warsaw, where there were once hundreds of synagogues, only this one remains:
While in Krakow they bragged about having no security at the JCC, in Warsaw there was security at the synagogue. In Warsaw there is no Jewish quarter anymore. Throughout what was once the Jewish Ghetto, there are engraving in the floor showing where the wall once was, and small memorials showing where things used to be. Only one small fragment of the wall remains.
One street of apartments from the old Jewish quarter remains:
We spent the first couple days of our trip in Prague, then went to Oswiecim, then Krakow, and then we spent the second half of our trip in Warsaw.
I've at least passed through most countries in Western Europe, but had never been to Central or Eastern Europe before this trip. I grew up in the cold war and my dad studied Russian literature and language, traveled to Russia in the 70s, and talked a lot about communism when I grew up. I always imagined Eastern Europe as a dark gray place under communism, and as a completely different world than Western Europe.
So I was surprised when I arrived in Prague and it felt just like Paris, Madrid, Copenhagen, or any other Western European city. I had expected it to feel more foreign. Our tour guides have explained that both Prague and Krakow escaped almost all the bombing and destruction during World War II, so most of the old buildings are still there, and there just wasn't much room for the communists to build monstrous ugly building. Prague is gorgeous... every single building is covered with so much incredible ornamentation that if any one of them were placed in an American city, it would be an attraction that people would travel hundreds of miles to see. Krakow is an adorable ancient town.
Warsaw is another story entirely, and is unlike any place I've ever seen. Warsaw is a giant city that was blown to smithereens by bombing, the destruction of Jewish buildings from the ground, and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in which the entire Ghetto was destroyed by fire, and the Warsaw Uprising in which the Nazis destroyed almost everything that was left. Soon after the war, the Soviets occupied Poland, ripped down even more buildings in the capitol city, and built giant communist-style monuments and buildings everywhere. In 1989 capitalism came with a vengeance, many communist monuments were torn down, and all remaining space has been filled with ultra-modern buildings that look like they belong in Shanghai and giant advertisements. Today Warsaw is an absolutely crazy mix of very old classic architecture, Soviet architecture that is all concrete and square, and modern architecture that is mostly glass and filled with curves.
After taking a train that our French friend said was nicer than the trains in France, and exiting the elegant and clean train station, the first thing we saw was this:
That is a crazy curvy building with a lot of skyscrapers in the background. Only a few years ago, the landscape was dominated by the Soviet Palace of Culture and Science, which now peaks out from behind the skyscrapers:
We went straight from the train station to a bus tour of the city where we got to see a dizzying array of architecture.
The old town is filled with classic buildings that miraculously survived the war:
Throughout the city there are classic buildings that only half survived, but are in the process of being renovated:
The tomb of the unknown soldier is in the only tiny fragment that remains of what was once a giant palace:
There is ghastly advertising everywhere (imagine living behind this sign!):
And Soviet buildings turned into centers of finance:
Our hotel is a giant old Soviet building:
Both Prague and Krakow still have completely intact Jewish quarters with hardly any Jews in them. In Prague they are proud that they lost only one synagogue during the war, and in Krakow they are proud that they lost none. In Warsaw, where there were once hundreds of synagogues, only this one remains:
One street of apartments from the old Jewish quarter remains:
The other side of the street is still being renovated:
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