Corona times are poor holiday times. Any trips abroad get somewhat difficult. Nevertheless after a spontaneous weekend near Maastricht we had further plans. Beginning of 2020 we decided to go to Poland during June or July – Corona made us postponing this trip into September i. e. we started end of August.
What did we do?
We took the ICE train to Frankfurt airport, boarded a flight to Warsaw, stayed in Warsaw, took a train to Krakow, stayed in Krakow, took another train to Wroclaw, stayed – of course – in Wroclaw … and boarded a flight back to Frankfurt and came home on the ICE train. (Also we made a Corona test at Frankfurt airport – negative.)
So …
It’s Warszawa in Polish, Warsaw in English and Warschau in German.
It’s Kraków in Polish, Krakow in English and Krakau in German.
It’s Wrocław in Polish, Wroclaw in English and Breslau in German.
It was all about sightseeing 3 major cities in Poland with a long and turbulent history. My better half has got a pedometer last year and so we checked: we did about 167,000 steps during our tour. We walked Old Town quarters, castles and fortifications, palaces and churches, cathedrals and churches … Each city has got lots of everything – most of it thoroughly restored after WWII.
Attention:
Always watch out for people on electric scooters … they move so fast …
In Warsaw I especially liked a walk we did from the Royal Castle and its Old Town quarters (see photo of the post) to the Royal Palace in Łazienki Park (see above).
Originally we planned to extend our daily walk up to Wilanóv Park, home of another splendid Royal Palace, however, the weather didn’t like our plans. It was the only day with rain starting in the afternoon – heavy rain – while we were exploring the areas. Apart from that we always experienced magnificent blue skies and blazing sunshine when walking … (Any rain was confined to travel times – and these days on train do not count!)
We started along the boulevard, a route also known as Warsaw’s Royal Road, one of the longest showpiece boulevards, leading from work to pleasure. It’s defined from the Royal Castle to Wilanóv Palace all along the Vistula (aka Visła (Polish), aka Weichsel (German)).
The Royal Castle was the main focus of politics and economy since about 1600 when the then King of Poland (see above on the pillar) decided to move his throne from Krakow to Warsaw. Afterwards also the building of more cathedrals, more churches and more palaces started.
Let’s start with some impressions of the Royal Castle and the fortifications …
… outside – in front of the Royal Castle …
and
… fortifications …
… inside …
… from the garden front …
Then there is the colorful Old Town where you’ll find cafés, bars, bistros, restaurants … to chill out or maybe get lost.
… decorated buildings …
… churches & spires …
… market squares …
Strolling down the grand boulevard from Old Town to the Royal Palace we meet churches … more churches …
… and guards and ladies, bishops and lions …
… and even Nicolaus Copernicus (aka Mikołaj Kopernik (Polish), aka Nikolaus Kopernikus (German)) near the gates of the university.
Finally there is Łazienki Park, a vast estate with a beautiful palace …
The palace was built like an island in the water …
… with water all around the statues …
Even a small theatre is nearby for entertainment – for performances of Greek dramas as it seems.
… and there is also a small, very small Chinese garden re-created some years ago to bear the spirit when China was en vogue on royal courts some centuries ago.
… and there is much more: more churches, more palaces, more statues … Unfortunately our further walk was stopped by sudden rain. You may guess about the shower when looking at the photos – the sky was cloudy, then grey, then dark grey …
