Warszawa, Poland - April 17-18, 2003

After a flight delay of a few hours, I got into Warszawa on the eve of the 17th. Here you see the main train and bus station in the heart of Warsaw. The weather was so-so during my two day stay. The sun came in and out and rain occasionally broke out for a few minutes here and there. I was really impressed by these clouds tho...they almost look painted!

Here's the most striking building in Warsaw. Altho...I read that the Poles think the best view of the city comes from the top of this building... because it's the only place in Warszawa where you can't see this building!

Over the course of trip, pieces of the family puzzle started to fall into place and I started to realize where certain people's habits and hobbies came from. Here is the first example: The gamblin' gene must be a hereditary Polish trait! On top of this poker joint, there were two other casinos in Warszawa...which I'm sure a certain Grandma of ours would be frequenting if she still lived in Poland!

What do the Poles listen to for music? Well, they do like their heavy metal as this concert poster clearly shows. Other concert posters included REM and Peter Gabriel. And looking at the top 20 artists in Poland, there was Linkin Park at #3, Celine Dion a little after, then Rod Stewart, and Pat Metheny at #20. I know we've got some Pat Metheny fans in the family, and in fact I caught a concert of his on Polish TV one night...In other entertainment news, the movies Gangs of New York and X-Men 2 were the most heavily advertised.

And what do the Poles read? Here we see a book on The Beatles, some Tom Clancy, Norman Mailer, and even a book on the Buddha. You can find a few of those on my bookshelf too...

The anamolous palm tree in the middle of Warszawa...I have no idea what the story is on this, but it's the only one that I saw in Warszawa.

Heading up one of the shopping streets in Warszawa, Novy Swiat.

Soccer is big in Poland. I gave up counting the number of pick-up games I saw after the number got past 10. Not just in Warszawa, but also in Krakow, Novy Sacz, and throughout the countryside. No wonder there's a few soccer players in our family! Here we see a Beckham supporter and a Maldini supporter (judging by their jerseys)...

This is the Frederic Chopin Museum. Not terribly large...really just two rooms. He composed his first piece for some royal dignitary at age 7 and was recognized as a musical genius for his entire life. And yet again, many a piano player and musician in our family as well!

Yes, a walking beer. Can you spot it/him/her?

A science museum with Nicholas Kopernicus sitting in front of it. One of two well-recognized Polish contributors to science, the other being Marie Curie (the first/only person to win a Nobel prize in two fields... chemistry and physics). Perhaps its getting old to say, but we've got chemists and physicists in our family too!

Our first Polish church. The first of many, many, many churches that I saw during my time in Poland. Soccer and church (maybe not in that order) are two things that stand out in my mind when I think back to Poland. Plenty more church pictures will be coming...

The Poles like gold inside their churches, and the more ornate the better it seemed. This one was not very ornate in comparison with some of the other churches I saw.

Flowers were just starting to make their way above ground. Here you also see one of the few Polish flags that I saw walking around Poland. A proud but perhaps not overly nationalistic people...

The tomb of the unknown soldier.

A fountain on the reverse side of the unknown soldier's tomb.

Another church.

A statue just beside the previous church.

Part I / II / III / IV / V / VI / VII