(MORE PHOTOS TO COME FROM EARLIER IN THE YEAR...)
-Poland-
Polish Customs Officer: "Will you be staying here in Warsaw?"
Me: "Yes."
Polish Customs Officer: "Where will you be staying?"
Me: "With my husband."
Polish Customs Officers: "Is he Polish?"
Me: "No. He is here with the US Army."
Polish Customs Officer: "Ok." As he stamps my passport and opens the gate for me to pass through.
The thing about the Army is that it makes the world feel smaller and more assessible. Since being in the Army, Jared has gotten to travel to Turkey, South Korea, Japan, and now Poland. He spent a year at each place. Turkey was a deployment, but the other three were changes of station where he went on unaccompanied orders, so the kids and I could not go with him. But! I had the opportunity to go visit him in Poland at the end of June for a week! I am so thankful for this wonderful opportunity. We had so much fun touring around the city of Warsaw and taking the train to Gdansk for two nights and three days.
Poland is a place you don't hear many people have travel plans for. It seems like a lesser known European country. It is a beautiful place with beautiful people, who are friendly for the most part. I never thought I would visit Poland, but I am so glad that I did.
Pictures and videos from my phone. Since I took my 50mm lens it didn't always capture the scene the way I wanted to remember it so I took a lot on my phone. These are my favorite ones that I caught on my phone. Enjoy!
Jared lived in an apartment on the Polish 11th floor, the American 12th floor. His views were so great. Warsaw is a beautiful city with lots of vegetation everywhere, wild flowers bloom everywhere, including roses, so many roses! Just outside his apartment complex are walking trails and bike paths that are always full with pedestrians. There is also a tram stop right outside the gates of his apartment, a wonderful convenience. The people mind their own business but are nice and friendly for the most part. The Polish flag waves everywhere.
The Museum of Polish Military Technology.
Located at a former Warsaw fortress called Fort IX (Czerniaków) that was built in the later half of the 1800's. It sustain much damage during the German invasion in 1939 where the 2nd Battalion of the 260th Infantry Regiment suffered the loss of 20 men.
The museum offers a look at some of the Polish Army equipment through different eras along some other equipment used by the Polish manufactured in other countries.
Gdansk.
A port city on the Baltic Sea. It is one of the oldest cities in Poland, being mentioned in historical record dating back to the 10th century and possibly a bit earlier.
A beautiful and resilient city! So much history exists here. In more recent history it is known for the place where the Second World War started, when Germany invaded Poland on September 1st, 1939. Most of the city was destroyed during the war. After the war the Polish reclaimed the city and named it Gdansk and rebuilt the best they could based on historical archives of the buildings.
There is a magical aura that floats in the air as you walk through the city streets. It is a truly beautiful place!
We stayed at the Craft Beer Central Hotel. A hotel/restaurant/brewery. An interesting combo that they make work SO well! The building that the hotel is in was originally part of the main rail station complex, it was the inspection building. Construction to the building was complete in 1907. It opens as a hotel in 2017.
As you can see it is directly next to the train station we arrived in. This beautiful architecture continues through out the city. (Cell phone photo)
The WWII memorial monument at Westerplatte as seen from our return galeon.
Nowy Port Lighthouse. Built in 1893.
Wisłoujście Fortress. Dating back to the 14th century and has been used as a lighthouse, defensive post and prison.
A man on freighter taking our picture as we rode on the Martwa Wisla River in the galeon
Lone swan
More people taking our photo. The galeon was a sight to behold.
A pirate lady waving her hat at us.
Swan tower as seen from inside the galeon
Bridge of Love
Three layers of buildings. Our view from the bridge of love
The galeon "Lew" docked
The Streets were just so pretty!
Views from our hotel room.
Another view from our hotel room
The top of Jacek Tower. 15th century defensive tower, serving a key role in the defense of the city of Gdansk.
14th century defensive wall. These were one of my favorite parts of the city. They once surrounded the city, now you just see pieces of them here and there.
Another part of the wall.
Just a beautiful building
a snapshot of St. Mary's church the largest brick church in the world. This beautiful church was HUGE! Construction started in 1343 and completed in 1502.
Veiws from our hotel room. Watching the trains come in and go out of the station.
The view of St. Mary's from St. Mary's gate at the start of Mariacka Street.
Looking down the Martwa Wisla River
Mariacka Street with St. Mary's church at the end of the road
Looking down at the bridge of love from another bridge
The colors of the buildings were so pretty
Wilanów Palace in Warsaw.
The palace was built in the last quarter of the 17th century for King Jan III Sobieski and later added onto by other owners. A breathtakingly beautiful place! The outside is as ornate as the inside, there is much to look at, the ceiling and the walls, even the floors are decorative.
In 1805 the aristocratic residences of the Palace opened part of the Palace as the first public museums in Poland to show case the beautiful artwork of the palace. During the Second World War most of the collection had been taken by the Nazis. Most of the works were repatriated after the war. But still to this day there are over 300 works still missing. In the spiral staircase leading to the art museum section of the palace there are a bunch of empty frames on the walls that represent the missing works.
Cell phone image of that staircase.
