Commuter Family: Poland

Saturday morning was with Monika and Saturday afternoon was with ...

Mariusz - Guide #2: Adventure Warsaw Website Where Mariusz Works

Mariusz, our 2nd Guide, was a cheeky character with a quick wit, strong opinions and deep knowledge of Warsaw's communist history. I did not let him bait me however I was tempted to spar with him. His grandfather worked in the Ministry of Agriculture for the Communist Party in Warsaw. Adventure Warsaw offers an "Off the Beaten Path Trip" in an original dark green Polish Van, the Nysa 522.

Off we went at 2:30pm in the afternoon!

Mariusz telling us about the Palace of Science and Culture. A French couple from Marseille was with us too.

There are many such alters with Mary and her lighted halo in courtyards all over Warsaw and most built during WWII as a literal place of worship while the Nazis occupied the city. Reminds me of Mexico which has similar structures everywhere you go.

The Morocco Embassy - notice the statue of Mary placed on upper part of building.

Rough translation is that 9 Poles were shot by the people of Hitler on August 1, 1944 which is the day the Warsaw Uprising began. I asked about the word "Hitlerowcy" which Mariusz explained as the people of Hitler. I found it interesting that this memorial used the terminology Hitlerowcy versus the Germans or the Nazis.

This street art has lots of symbolism. The Kotwica, Polish for anchor, symbol with "P" and "W" originally surfaced in 1942 with the Nazi resistance and came to represent "defiance against occupiers" which ultimately included resistance to the Communists as well.

Artist Julita Wojcik's Tezca is an artistic construction of a rainbow with plastic flowers representing LGBT rights. It is placed in Savior Square across from a Catholic Church and is quite controversial. It has been set on fire several times.

A park in Praga which is on the eastern bank of the Vistula River. Praga is a settlement inhabited by artists and such ...

In Praga. What is it? You hang your rugs on it to beat them clean!

Our tour included a high calorie dinner in a Polish Milk Bar. In Eastern- Bloc Poland this food was subsidized by the state. Large portions of regional cuisine (beets, wheat, cottage cheese & potato peirogi, potato pancakes, etc.) at bargain prices!

Milk Bar server - the blue coat is iconic.

Final Stop ...
By 6pm, it was dusk and the French tourists had left early in a cab. We loaded up in the Polish Van with Mariusz. He drove to a dark street in Praga and parked. We exited while he left to get a key - what?!!? We stood there in this slightly scary spot awaiting the next move. Mariusz returned and unlocked a heavy metal door to a courtyard and locked it behind us - what ??!!#@! Two random men appeared to be wandering around the dark enclosed space. Then he unlocked a plain metal door to a sparse dimly lit hallway. Then he unlocked yet another door where we entered a corridor with flickering overhead lights and then ...

We saw this guy!

The final door led to this Communist Era Museum and Apartment. Mariusz started the record player over in the corner. It all felt slightly c r e e p y ...

Then we embraced the moment (realizing we are not going to be chopped into bits - ha!) and started to appreciate all the glorious artifacts of a time bygone.