On Tuesday we spent most of the day walking around Warsaw, doing some gift shopping! We also tried to rent bikes to bike through the park but it started raining, so we ended up going home. In the evening, we assembled some new furniture for the apartment in Warsaw.
 |
| Kuba is very excited to have bought 3.25% polish milk, like he remembers drinking as a child at his grandma's |
We had big plans on Wednesday morning to go to the Copernicus Science Centre, but it turns out that this museum is so popular that you must book tickets online several days in advance! So we are going on Sunday instead...
We walked home from the Science Centre via Krakowskie Przedmieście, a large shopping street. On the way, we walked through the campus of the University of Warsaw. Here is the library of the university, which boasts a beautiful garden on its' roof.
 |
| Krakowskie Przedmieście |
There are some interesting signs throughout this neighbourhood, showing historic photos of certain buildings. This is the Church of the Holy Cross in 1778 and today.
 |
| Interior of the Church of the Holy Cross |
 |
| Frederick Chopin's heart was returned to this church after his death |
 |
| Memorial to the Katyn massacre |
We continued our walk through the Nowy Świat neighbourhood, past the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, to the National Theater.
 |
| Tomb of the Unknown Soldier |
We found another historical photograph, this one of the Church of the Visitandines.
 |
| Church of the Visitandines |
On our way home, we stopped at E.Wedel, a delicious chocolate cafe, for some hot chocolate drinks :)
 |
| Plac Zamkowy, with the King's Castle on the right |
 |
| Statues holding up the Supreme Court building |
In the evening we went to watch a film about the Warsaw Uprising. This was a really interesting film, because it is entirely composed of real footage from this time period, which has been digitally coloured.
When we returned home, Isabel did her homework. The other day we bought some children's books in polish, for Isabel to practice reading polish. It's also a sticker book!
On Wednesday morning, we walked to Hale Mirowskie, which is a large farmer's market. Our mission was to get ingredients for the pasta sauce we were preparing! On the way, we walked through the Saxon Gardens, located behind the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
 |
| Saxon Gardens |
 |
| Hale Mirowskie |
 |
| Hale Mirowskie |
After returning home with our delicious new vegetables, we went out for lunch at the milk bar. After lunch, we went to a new museum, located inside the Barbican. The Barbican is part of the fortification that surrounded Old Warsaw in the 16th century. It was destroyed, and then certain part of the wall and the Barbican were rebuilt in 1938.
 |
| Warsaw Barbican (left of photo, in the distance) |
 |
| Prints inside the Barbican showing the old city |
There were lots of pictures inside the Barbican showing how the city has changed over time. After its destruction, most of the old town was rebuilt to match what it looked like before the war so it was interesting to relive our time here to these old prints.
 |
| Walking inside the Barbican walls |
 |
| A view towards the old town from inside the Barbican |
 |
| Isabel peeking out of the Barbican, guarding the city from intruders |
The last part of the museum was a film showing how it was rebuilt over the years. They described how they used hand-made grooved gothic bricks like these!
We met up with Kuba's uncle and grandma for a lovely dinner in the old town.
