Pictures from Warsaw

Borek

To buy postcards I had to visit Old City in Warsaw. We went there (with my better half) last Saturday. We took cameras with us. Stupid feeling, to behave like a tourist in your own city

Castle Square with Zygmunt's Column. That's the view you will find everywhere, in every book about Warsaw. Column was erected in 1644. To the right - barely visible - Royal Castle.


Corner of the Old Town Market Place. Can't say I like city pictures with newlyweds, I always find these artificial and arranged, just to show that city is young blah blah blah... But it was Saturday, there are many churches around and the most popular place in Warsaw to get married - Old Town Wedding Palace. They were everywhere and we have them on at least two pictures.*


While this is Old City, new parts of the city hang over it.*


So so view.


City walls.


To the left - Vistula River, not visible on the picture. Old City lies on the river bank, in some places about twice as step as here.


Same river bank. This is Mostowa Street - most means bridge. Yes, there was a bridge here, built around 1570. First in Warsaw. It didn't lasted long.*


Following pictures are - technically - not from Old City, but from New City. New City lies outside city walls and was built somewhere between 14^th and 15^th century.

Towers of St. Hyacinth's Church.


Kościelna Street and tower of St. Mary's Church - built 1409-1411, one of the oldest in Warsaw.


Freta Street and view on the Church of the Holy Spirit.


St. Kazimierz Church on the New City Market Square.*


Droshky (dorożka). One of several. Mainly for tourists.*


Souvenir stalls don't differ much from any other place in the world... Drink Coca Cola.*


One final remark. While it is called Old City, it is slightly older than 50 years After Warsaw Uprising capitulation Hitler ordered to wipe Warsaw from the Earth surface. That's what was left in 1945:

So everything on these pictures have been rebuilt or built from scratch in early fifties.

1 hour to select and prepare pictures, 1.5 hour to edit a single message. I think I may need some treatment.

*Taken by Marzena.

Cyrus

Lovely place. You'd never know the buildings were so young by looking at them.

Borek

Do you mean they already look as if they were going to fall, or do you mean the reconstruction was succesfull?

Egad, in both cases you are more or less right.

Cyrus

If you told me they were from 1800s I would take you at your word.

Most of america looks like this:

http://www.peterpaulsplumbing.com/ns...ilmer%20Rd.JPG

Strip malls everywhere............

Unless your in a major city, the architecture is garbage and the city planning sporadic. I hate suburbs.

scorpa

Great pictures Borek! I would love to go there someday.

dlgoff

Thanks for sharing Borek. Very nice.

cristo

Great pics, Borek. One thing that jumps out immediately is the lack of people. Pictures taken in almost any area of London on a Saturday would be packed full of people. It looks lovely and peaceful there!

lisab

Wonderful pictures - very charming. Thanks Borek and Marzena!

You're right, Cyrus. No thought at all is given to architecture in the US. Look at Warsaw's old town - the architecture say, "Come on in, look around a bit, find a nice cafe or pub and relax!" Now look at the very typical picture you posted - it says, "Move along people, nothing to see here."

Astronuc

Wonderful pictures, Borek! I love the European cities on the continent.

The pictures from Warsaw remind me of Salzburg, Austria, and parts of Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, and other historic cities.

Evo

Yikes, to compare what happened to Warsaw to German and Austrian cities? You forget who destroyed Warsaw.

waht

Very nice Borek. Been in Warsaw way back when, but didn't get a chance to see the old city.

Kurdt

I don't think Astro was referring to just the final picture Evo, just the overall style of buildings.

Very pretty place though.

Integral

Thank you, very nice to take a short trip to a old and facinating city.

Astronuc

I was reflecting on and commenting with respect to the buildings, the colors, the high-pitched tile roofs, and cobble stone and brick lined streets. The top 3 pictures look like images I've seen in a number of northern and eastern European cities. I like to old charm as opposed to modern asphalt and concrete.

WWII was a period about which I studied quite extensively in my teenage and university years. It's one of the reasons I oppose war.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rothenburg_ob_der_Tauber
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salzburg

Another very cool city is Budapest - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest

Cyrus

Pictures like these are why I wish I lived in europe. Take more.

Its part of the reason why I like DC so much. The buildings are 100 years old, the momuments are old. Its not a cookie cutter suburb town with strip malls all over the place.....

physics girl phd

So pretty you make me cry! (In the good way of course!)

Moonbear

Those photos bring back wonderful memories of my visit there! I have pictures somewhere of my choir in front of Zygmunt's Column. That was our daily meeting place to start the day's activities for the half of our trip we were in Warsaw.

Parking seems more orderly than when I visited. I remember cars parked anywhere and everywhere. No place on the street? Park on the sidewalk! The cars look bigger too. Except maybe that yellow one in the picture of Mostowa St.