Thursday, April 08, 2010
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
Easter Weekend
Warsaw, Poland.
Last year on the Good Friday, I had landed in Frankfurt on the way to Montevideo. I had a 14 hour halt at frankfurt, from 8:30 in the morning to 10:30 at night. Though I was equipped with the transit visa to spend my day at Frankfurt, seeing whatever I could, there is really no charm, atleast for me to roam around a place all on my own. Nevertheless, something is better than nothing and hence set out on foot to enjoy the beautiful city. Once I reached into the city, I was treated with a rude shock. The entire city was dead. There wasnt a single soul outside. It just took a couple of minutes to then realise that due to Good Friday, everything is closed.
This year, I am here in Warsaw, and kind of facing similar situation. Here except the public transportation, everything else is closed. Thanks to Preethi, she warned me to buy all my provisions in advance and thankfully I could. But the weekend was different. Since everything here is closed, I assumed there wouldnt be any life at all over the weekend. But no, on the sunday, when I boarded the train, the train was as full as a normal day. When we reached the Lazienki Park, it was indeed a festival. The place was flooded with people, which is not really a normal sight here. Apparently , everyone takes a nice long walk after the lunch on Easter, and what better place than this park.
The Chopin Statue:
This is one of the highlights of the park.
These Benches here , play Music. Apart from the music, wherever they are located, the significance of the place around it will also be mentioned, and this time, in English also :). So you would always find people standing next to it, rather then sitting on it and reading about the location and also enjoying the beautiful music.
A close up view of the Chopin Statue
Lazienki Palace, Also known as Palace on Water
The amphitheatre in the Park
Somemore peacocks
The endless walks ...
The Cathedral in Old Town,on the Royal Route
The Royal Route
Again, one more of the Chopin Musical Benches along the Royal Route
Information of the Buildings along side.
The President's Palace
This place is apparently a restaurants, where you get limited things for small price. Hence quite a frequented haunt by the locals here, especially by the end of days work.
Hotel Bristol. The most expensive hotel in Warsaw, again on the Royal Route.
The Square where once Pope John Paul II addressed the gathering.
The Eternal flame in the rememberence of soldiers who laid their lives for the country. The Guard is there alawys and standing still. Here you can see the change of Guards.
As old as 972.
The fountain behind this place.
The Warsaw University
This Canon is also inside the University. IT was used in many fights and had travelled to many places before coming back to its oroginal place :)
Preethi and Wiktor had translated the stuff for me.
The University Library
The walls decorated with scriptures in various old languages
And this is Sanskrit
Can you decode this ?
The pictures that follow are from the University Library. Its one of a kind and done very differently.
From the glasses, one can see the inside of the library.
This duck was acting funny...
Sounds Familiar?
On the Roof top
The view of the Palace from the roof top
We climb further up..
View of the River along side..
The watch tower..
The insides of Library, [ Taken through the glass panes, hence not clear]
The Library Structure
The outside of building once again..
One of the roads near the University Library, where car rallies are held.
The Art Theatre
This Eyewitness Guide, lent to me was very very helpful. It has all the details of the history and the significance of the places.
Last year on the Good Friday, I had landed in Frankfurt on the way to Montevideo. I had a 14 hour halt at frankfurt, from 8:30 in the morning to 10:30 at night. Though I was equipped with the transit visa to spend my day at Frankfurt, seeing whatever I could, there is really no charm, atleast for me to roam around a place all on my own. Nevertheless, something is better than nothing and hence set out on foot to enjoy the beautiful city. Once I reached into the city, I was treated with a rude shock. The entire city was dead. There wasnt a single soul outside. It just took a couple of minutes to then realise that due to Good Friday, everything is closed.
This year, I am here in Warsaw, and kind of facing similar situation. Here except the public transportation, everything else is closed. Thanks to Preethi, she warned me to buy all my provisions in advance and thankfully I could. But the weekend was different. Since everything here is closed, I assumed there wouldnt be any life at all over the weekend. But no, on the sunday, when I boarded the train, the train was as full as a normal day. When we reached the Lazienki Park, it was indeed a festival. The place was flooded with people, which is not really a normal sight here. Apparently , everyone takes a nice long walk after the lunch on Easter, and what better place than this park.
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
The Chopin Statue:
This is one of the highlights of the park.
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
These Benches here , play Music. Apart from the music, wherever they are located, the significance of the place around it will also be mentioned, and this time, in English also :). So you would always find people standing next to it, rather then sitting on it and reading about the location and also enjoying the beautiful music.
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
A close up view of the Chopin Statue
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
Lazienki Palace, Also known as Palace on Water
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
The amphitheatre in the Park
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
Somemore peacocks
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
The endless walks ...
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
The Cathedral in Old Town,on the Royal Route
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
The Royal Route
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
Again, one more of the Chopin Musical Benches along the Royal Route
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
Information of the Buildings along side.
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
The President's Palace
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
This place is apparently a restaurants, where you get limited things for small price. Hence quite a frequented haunt by the locals here, especially by the end of days work.
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
Hotel Bristol. The most expensive hotel in Warsaw, again on the Royal Route.
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
The Square where once Pope John Paul II addressed the gathering.
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
The Eternal flame in the rememberence of soldiers who laid their lives for the country. The Guard is there alawys and standing still. Here you can see the change of Guards.
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
As old as 972.
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
The fountain behind this place.
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
The Warsaw University
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
This Canon is also inside the University. IT was used in many fights and had travelled to many places before coming back to its oroginal place :)
Preethi and Wiktor had translated the stuff for me.
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
The University Library
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
The walls decorated with scriptures in various old languages
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
And this is Sanskrit
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
Can you decode this ?
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
The pictures that follow are from the University Library. Its one of a kind and done very differently.
From the glasses, one can see the inside of the library.
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
This duck was acting funny...
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
Sounds Familiar?
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
On the Roof top
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
The view of the Palace from the roof top
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
We climb further up..
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
View of the River along side..
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
The watch tower..
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
The insides of Library, [ Taken through the glass panes, hence not clear]
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
The Library Structure
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
The outside of building once again..
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
One of the roads near the University Library, where car rallies are held.
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
The Art Theatre
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
From Warsaw_04Apr2010 |
This Eyewitness Guide, lent to me was very very helpful. It has all the details of the history and the significance of the places.
Monday, April 05, 2010
People around you
Its amazing how you meet different people and how they help you. I had two different experiences in the two non-english speaking countries that I have been. Last one was Uruguay and now in Poland. I wouldnt want to mention of India here, just to get the perspective right.
In Montevideo, in the meditation center, I ended up meeting with many people and since I was from India, they had a lot of respect for me. It was a great feeling. They even took me to a near by place. I remember it very clearly, and 4 of us went in a nice Honda Civic, to Piriya Polis. A neighbouring town of Montevideo. The interesting part of that was , I hadnt met any of them before and with all full faith I went along with them as if we knew each other for ages. It was only because we are part of the same greater family. One brother from Brazil, One from Uruguay, One from Paraguay and finally me from India. It was such a pleasure going with all of them and learning so many new things. I am sometimes amazed how these things happen.
Now here in Warsaw, I ended up meeting a friend, well, not a friend until I met her. Only link was that we are from the same college and we had never met there. Its only because of social networking site that we got to know each other and now she makes sure that I see all the right places, gives me all the directions to go to important places. How can I ever repay back .
Its simply beautiful experiences like these that makes one feel good have a positive frame of mind ...
Thanks a lot for everything
In Montevideo, in the meditation center, I ended up meeting with many people and since I was from India, they had a lot of respect for me. It was a great feeling. They even took me to a near by place. I remember it very clearly, and 4 of us went in a nice Honda Civic, to Piriya Polis. A neighbouring town of Montevideo. The interesting part of that was , I hadnt met any of them before and with all full faith I went along with them as if we knew each other for ages. It was only because we are part of the same greater family. One brother from Brazil, One from Uruguay, One from Paraguay and finally me from India. It was such a pleasure going with all of them and learning so many new things. I am sometimes amazed how these things happen.
Now here in Warsaw, I ended up meeting a friend, well, not a friend until I met her. Only link was that we are from the same college and we had never met there. Its only because of social networking site that we got to know each other and now she makes sure that I see all the right places, gives me all the directions to go to important places. How can I ever repay back .
Its simply beautiful experiences like these that makes one feel good have a positive frame of mind ...
Thanks a lot for everything