Rebuilding a city

Brest fortress
see all photos »

Before leaving Belarus we stopped into Brest fortress, another war memorial. It featured a couple of massive sculptures that dwarved us in size. Again it was raining, so we made it a quick visit.

Then we made our way to the Polish border... and onto 3 hours of sitting in the bus in cramped conditions while our tour manager worked furiously to bribe the right people. It wasn't without set-back... our bus was given the all clear and turned around twice before we got all of the documents required to leave Belarus and enter Poland.

While our tour manager worked furiously to bribe the right people.

Brest fortress
see all photos »

After a long day of travel we made it to our next destination: Warsaw. Warsaw is a city that was almost completely destroyed in the war. In fact only 20% of the city survived. The city is well designed - a blessing from having to be rebuilt in the

industrial era. It's set out with wide streets, trams, trains and able to cope with modern transport needs. The old city was completely destroyed, and yet I thought it was one of the most beautiful old cities because of the colours they used when rebuilding. In the centre of Warsaw is the Palace of Culture and Science - originally a gift from Stalin to the Polish people. It is now the worlds tallest clock tower, and offers beautiful views of the city from the 30th floor.

Chopin's monument
see all photos »

Warsaw was also the home to Chopin, and the first place we visited in Warsaw was the Chopin monument. It also offers excellent shopping - especially in the markets, with western items, but good prices. The best thing about Poland was the people; They were quite friendly. We had a night out on the town and ended up in a bar that specialized in test-tubes full of vodka. You could buy a rack-full of 10 or 20 shots of flavored or straight vodka. It was also one of the girls birthdays on tour, Louise. I convinced her to let me give her a birthday kiss (on the cheek), although she soon found her way onto Brett for some real kisses. I guess you can't win them all. At the end of the night the staff even gave us a free shot each, and then it was time to go back to the hotel.

The Old City
see all photos »

The hotel was the best we'd stayed in yet, and provided excellent breakfasts. This was much to the relief of many on tour who starved in Russia - unable to keep up with the steady diet of tomato and cucumber. At last we were in a city that felt safe, and part of Europe.