Warsaw experience

I had a wonderful 2-day stay in Warsaw I must say. The city is must safer than I thought it would be. Perhaps it is the religion that the Poles adopt which explains their behaviour and attitude. About 90% of the Poles are Catholic and the guide in Krakow was right about Poland being a traditional catholic country which devote their Sundays faithfully to church and god. In Warsaw, I see for myself what it means to have a faith.

I remembered that when I went to Shanghai 2 weeks ago, the professor who gave us a lecture on Shanghai mentioned about how the lack of a religion or faith makes one greedy, unscrupulous, or even immoral. That explains why the PRCs are known to be profit- oriented businessmen who lack sympathy for the poor or the health of others. In Poland, I see the other side of human beings.

While in Wilanow and the other parts of Warsaw, I see people walking, rushing to churches. Mother and son walking together to church, students flocking to church in hordes, and the most amazing one was seeing a tall, cute, handsome and promising young man with his messenger bag hurrying to church after hearing the church bells! I think I am someone who fears commitment which explains why I adopt no religion. I cannot foresee myself diligently going to a place of worship on a regular basis and not questioning whatever faith that I might adopt. But I see the majority of the Poles doing that, young and old alike. For that, I truly admire them for who they are.

It is often in these cities that we see peace and stability and security. :)

The visit to the Warsaw uprising museum caught myself at a surprise because I know I am not a museum person and even if I were to go to one, I am unlikely to stay there for more than 2 hours. However, I spent close to 5 hours in that museum. The whole exhibition was awesome because of the way they presented the entire WWII situation where Poland is concerned. We had read in secondary school textbooks about how WWII started as a result of Germany's invasion of Poland and how the Jews were exterminated in concentration camps in Poland. But we never truly learnt anything in depth in my personal opinion despite the 1 year spent on it. A visit to Berlin, Munich, Krakow, and Warsaw in 2 weeks would suffice and be deemed more beneficial. All the insights of the war, from invasion to capitulation to uprising and eventually surrender are simply awe-inspiring!

The visit to Warsaw's stare mistro was a little of a disappointment. The square was a small one and there were not that many shops or fanciful items that can be bought. It reminds me of Stockholm's old town but I guess the latter was so much more beautiful! :)

But anyway, I was lucky to have gone to a really nice Polish restaurant which served delicious cuisine! The warming winter tea was one of a kind and after drinking it, I really find the cold less overwhelming.

I guess I am pretty sick of castles and cathedrals after the Europe tour in 2008. Every other castle pales in comparison compared to the ones in Austria, Sweden, and Buckingham Palace. The only twos that I have heard are of equivalence are Versailles in Paris and the one in Munich which I did not visit the last time round. As a result, I no longer pay to enter castles. As for cathedrals, I have seen at least 20-30 of them in Europe and my favourite 3 has got to be saint peter's in Rome, notre dame and sacred coure in Paris. So no more cathedrals for me when on tour. As a result of such a mentality, I see myself needing lesser time when I visit. I guess I have to say so for waterfalls. I don't think I will pay much attention to falls again after having seen Niagara, with the only exception the Iguazu falls in Brazil! Hope that some day I get to visit it and that day would not be too far away.....