June 2006 tour of Central-Eastern Europe(First stop in Poland)

With a team of few travel enthusiasts, I took a tour of Central Eastern Europe.
Countries of Poland, Hungary, Czech republic, Austria and finally eastern part of Germany. The tour was focussed on visiting the capital and important cities of each of these countries but the drive was through some unique parts of each of these countries.

I have travelled to Western part of Europe and loved it. It's absolutely beautiful...But everyone goes there from India!.

To take a tour in Central and Eastern part of Europe was a dream come true.

These were the countries who suffered a lot in World War 2 and regained back in a typically European way. They became communist countries and hence the influence of Communism and a rush towards new found freedom and democracy has created a strange culture.

They did not have money but they still reconstructed each and every town exactly like the way it was in the past.

Modernity is nice but to experience quaint European towns is a pleasure beyond description.

Cobblestone streets, fountains, old architectures, old town market squares, beautiful cathedrals...It's very European.

But there's a big twist. Many of these countries were the old communist block countries and Russian influence with gray buildings is still seen everywhere

The first stop was in Warsaw, Poland.

We covered the historical sites such as the Ghetto Memorial, the monument of Warsaw Uprising, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Grand Theatre, Chopin's monument, the Belvedere Palace and the Old Town.

In the Old Town we walked passed the Castle Square, King Sigismund's Column, St. John's Cathedral, the Old Town Market Square and the Barbican.

What was interesting to see was the very strong Catholic influence on day to day life of Polish people. We saw lot of nuns dressed in white dresses walking to churches which were

Poland has ofcourse produced brilliant scientists. And we saw Madame Curies house

The hightlight of the visit to Warsaw was going to a famous University. Our guide was a lovely Polish lady. She knew a lot of history of Poland. We walked through the University gardens and the interesting part of the garden was that it was on the roof of the University and through the glass of the roof we could see students

When we came outside, we were stunned to see a description of the Universe in Sanskit. After further enquiries the guide told us that famous Polish scientists acknowledge the amazing contribution of ancient India to science in many fields and foremost being astronomy.

That evening 3 of us headed back to the old town square and it was beautifully lit.
We ordered a classic beetroot soup (Borscht), sausages and beer! Wonderful

We visitied the Jewish memorial. Poland with its large concentration of Jews was the place of ghettos...
Warsaw ghetto, divided into 2 sections (the Small Ghetto at the southern end and the Large Ghetto on the north) 450,000 Jews were forced to live in very crowded conditions. By the time deportations to the extermination camps began, about 100,000 residents of the Ghetto had died of starvation or disease.

A gruesome reminder of moments in history which should never be forgotten

We then visited the Wilanow Park, dating back to the 17th century. It covers the area of 43 ha. Its central Italian-styled area corresponds to the ancient, renaissance and baroque forms of the palace. The palace has a baroque garden, laid out in the Italian-French style, abounds in decorative vases and scultpures of ancient gods which are easily distinguishable in the rich vegetation all around.

The Wilanow Park has also a lot to offer to romantic souls. Once the Wilanow Park was reputed as one of the most beautiful water gardens in Europe.

We also visited Lazienki Park

The Lazienki Park is one of the most beautiful park and palace complexes in Europe.

Palace on the Water , Theatre on the Island, the Myslewicki Palace, the Old Orangerie, the Belweder, the Astronomical Observatory.

The Lazienki Park covers the area of 76 ha.. The unique character and history of the park is reflected in its landscape architecture (pavilions, sculptures, bridges, cascades, ponds) and vegetation (domestic and foreign species of trees and bushes).

The Lazienki Park also attracts music lovers who attend summer concerts which take place at the foot of Fryderyk Chopin's monument.

The Botanical Garden, dating back to the 18th century, is also a part of the Lazienki Park.

As a bunch of Indians walking in this park, we never expected to meet Indians. But we ran into 3 college girls from Mumbai who had come to Poland to stay for 2 months.
It was amazing...We were in a country where Indians will not venture into and out of nowwhere we bump into cute college girls.
To celebrate the moment we had lunch in an Indian restaurant in Warsaw. The polish waiter was a big fan of everything Indian. Indian food, Indian culture, Indian dresses...and Indian cinema. The 3 college girls were completely overwhelmed.

They had been staying away from home for a long time and when they met Indians, their joy was obvious. They were talking to old people in our group with warmth that only Indians can express.

One of them started asking me far too me details showing obvious interest in my single status! So characteritically I resorted to my way of answering 'politically'

All in all it was a wonderful trip to Poland.

After that we flew to Hungary and landed at Budapest. More about Budapest in my next few posts.