Powązki Cemetery

I should be preparing now for my presentation tomorrow, but i wanted to post these beautiful pics. hope u don't regard it as immodesty, but i love these ones. they were taken in Warsaw's oldest cemetery. A bunch of very famous and popular Polish people were buried here, but to be honest i was more into the old, and often really nice tombs, graves and crypts. I don't think a cemetery would be a bizarre or sad place. On the contrary, it was peaceful and i admired those monuments there. I had similar feelings in highgate cemetery in london.

Original photo taken by Gosia

Warszawa, Warszawa

regardless the gentle ties i am attached to Warsaw, i must say i like that town, even if many people don't see the charm of that city. i'm not talking about the massive socreal design of the bulk of buildings but the atmosphere. there's something that probably most Warsovians don't even know about. something i could best describe as an endless fight for turning the 'socialist achievements' into a cosy, more lively surrounding. there's this cafe for example. The groundfloor of a typical, ugly, block-building from the socialist era has been transformed into a cool, elegant and stylish cafe and whatsmore, the ladies behind the bar really strove to deliver excellent service. so that's what i call a qualitative change in attitude... (people from this region will certainly understand what i mean)

nevertheless, they are still learning how to live together with the legacy of the last era. best example is that many Warsovians hate the building of Palac Kultury i Nauki, just because it was a 'present' from the Soviet Union. well, i understand their feelings about soviets, but i still like that building. and as i noticed so does the new generation, for hosting temporary and permanent exhibitions, cultural programs, a cinema and last but not least providing great view on Warsaw.

however, in the same building (Palac Kultury) u can still meet the good old behaviour of what i wouldn't call the exclusive feature of the socialist systems, but certainly of those with suppression and the lack of liberty. so what am i talking about? we entered Palac Kultury, and the safety guard asked Gosia where we wanted to go. to the top floor - she said. well, it's normally 20 zlotych for entrance, 15 for students, but if u go downstairs, talk to XY, u can enter for 10 zlotych - sounded the answer.

just two comments on this:
1) 20 zlotych for this is a proper rip-off today in Warsaw, especially for Pols.
2) I hope Poland, Hungary and the other countries in the region will very soon escape from the trap of black-market and corruption - let me add that i don't think that those countries in the Western part of Europe would be much better in these matters, see the Siemens case for example...

so here's the building that i was saying all this rubbish about up here:

Palac Kultury i Nauki

one entrance of the Old Town. Barbakan (Barbican):The Old Town is very nice by the way. It's unbelievable that they rebuilt everything after the nazis had destroyed almost all buildings, and u wouldn't say that those buildings are not a hundred or two hundred years old.

don't ask me what ruins are these (i think those of a once palace) but it's very close to the monument of the Unknown Soldier, which i personally like or even more respect a lot.
yeah, Warsaw is all about remembering.
and when i said transforming the socialist legacy into something i also ment this: builing nice buildings, with concept. okay, we can make a discussion on whether this building actually fits into the surroundings, but at least it's something unique. and if nothing else, i appreciated this. but i actually think it does fit into.

Supreme Court of Poland

the best of Polska: KISPOLSKI!!! :)we call it Kis Polski, they call it Maluch - the same: small, lovely.

Easter in Warszawa

i thought i'd never seen how Easter was celebrated in a foreign country, so i decided to spend Easter in Warsaw. and once i was there, i visited someone. someone special :)
so if u wanna know what a proper Święta Wielkanocne is like, u need to be accommodated at a Polish family. i can assure u, u can't go wrong. they are kind :)
for a full experience there should be at least one naughty but very cute boy like him: :)

-hope u don't mind getting famous, Chłopak :) -

now, the tradition is that in Poland people bring święconka to the Church where the priest blesses it. btw, it's very similar to Hungarian traditions: here we bring ham to the church to be blessed. this was our święconka, consisting of eggs, bread, sausage, salt n pepper:we met quiet a few people on the streets heading for the church sometimes carrying very interesting baskets. for instance one of these was a cake itself, serving as a nest for other delicates.
this is where our święconka got blessed.God bless You for our great time!

i wrote this post ages ago, still in Poland. sorry for publishing it just now.
take care!

Heya all!
I hope everything’s ok. I kind of lost contact with everyone at home... But no worries, am coming back in a week. Be prepared!!! :)
I’m in poland now, Warszawa, warszawa. Hmmm, it’s nice, am feeling very well. In fact i’m feeling home thx to Gosia’s parents, who are very kind. There’s also a very cute little boy, Filip, Ania’s son. (Ania is Gosia’s sister.)
Warsaw is much nicer than I expected. In fact, I didn’t know much about Warsaw.
My favourite building is the Palacu Kultury I Nauki W Warszawie. It’s an Arts and Culture Centre, but we’ve only been at the top of tower, which provides excellent view of Warsaw. Not interestingly, it was built after the World War II, as many of the other buildings. (I guess all of us know the destruction taken place in Warsaw during the War.)
Then there’s the Palace of Milanow, a royal residence not far from the City Centre. Big, nice building, currently still being renovated, with a huge well-kept garden (also still under construction). Undoubtedly, the nicest park in Warsaw is the Park Lazienkowski. So nice, that one king built its sommer residence on the lake situated in this park. Really interesting: the palace occupies almost the full width of the lake.

Now, we are just about to leave to Wroclaw.

I’d better go...

Bye ya all in the Polish-Hungarian common language:
Pa-pa!


...

Siema, that is yo!
In the mean time we arrived to Wroclaw, Iza’s place. Lovely town, built on several islands on the river Odera. The town itself has got some 120 bridges, tiny and big ones too, most of them very pretty. Nice Market Square, cool bars and clubs, nice place to live.
Iza's mum prepared some cheesecake for us, yummie!!!
we'll leave to Cracow soon.
see ya!