I’m staying in this large Downtown hotel which hasn’t been refurbished since at least the late nineties. I like to imagine that I’m some visiting Russian diplomat during the Cold War.

The hotel started serving breakfast at 6:30 but I slept in till about 7:30. It was pretty crowded. There was a breakfast bar with all types of the usual European Flair. As a bonus there was scrambled eggs. Also I managed to get myself some chocolate Cocoa Puffs for cereal.

While I was in the process of getting my food at the breakfast bar I had left a dirty plate at my table. I came back with a plate full of food and found a couple starting to sit at my table. The couple apologized and went to find another table. I’m not sure what was going on but there was at least a half a dozen Empty Tables there but they seem to want to sit at my table with the dirty dish

So looking at the weather I saw that it had rained earlier in the morning but no other rain was forecasted until Sunday. I decided to risk it and wear shorts and a t-shirt.  I figured the weather could have been like it was in Gdansk where it was cool in the morning and warm in the midday. This was a mistake as I was a little bit chilly throughout the day.

I decided to head toward the Old Town by going around that the Rick Steves tour book recommended. I found the Copernicus statue and took some pictures of it. There was also the Church of the Holy Cross which had a statue of Jesus bearing the cross in front of it.  The church had construction workers doing a facelift on the front of it therefore it would not have looked good for photos.

I decided to enter in to get some pictures. I noticed the church was having a service and I would not have even thought about being obnoxious and taking photos during the service. It was at this point that I was motioned very rapidly by a church worker not to be disruptive, I guess by taking photos.

This church worker’s act kind of frustrated me. On one hand he was thinking that I was going to be disruptive, and didn’t even try to welcome me. He just thought I was another obnoxious tourist with a camera.

On the other hand sometimes you have to make people be quiet during worship by being blunt with them. We have this problem at my home Church on Wednesday nights when people are talking loudly in the foyer while I short devotional is being offered.

I walked by the building where the Warsaw Pact was signed. This building also functioned as the equivalent of the Polish White House at one time.

I made it to Royal Square which is where the building of the castle sits. The square is elevated and has a highway running very near it which goes underneath an underpass. I took several pictures of the square.

I Came Upon the Cathedral of John the Baptist which appears to be a slightly newer Church then the rest of the churches in the area. They were having church service therefore I did not get a chance to take any photos. I found myself in Market Square and decided to go see the Warsaw Museum. The ticket-taker did not speak English very well but pointed me in the right direction. I would not recommend this Museum as many of the exhibits were empty. The only redeeming qualities is that in some of the art rooms there’s a nice comfy couch which you can lay down and rest your eyes (which I did). Also I managed to get some good photos of the Square from the top floor of the building.

The Rick Steves book recommended that I see the Warsaw film which supposedly is shown at 10 a.m. and noon each day. I asked about it and they said that it would be at 11:30. I decided to go ahead and go on in and I guess they felt pity on me and put the movie in just for me.

I feel bad because I was really fighting off a nap while in that nice comfy movie theater chair. The movie spoke about Warsaw’s history up until World War I and World War II. Much of Warsaw was flattened and probably 70% of it had to be rebuilt.

Next I decided to wander around the old town area. I found a local artist selling pen and ink drawings of Warsaw landmarks which I bought.

I decided to have lunch at Pizza Hut which consisted of a pepperoni and cheese pizza with orange soda with free refills.

I did some reading well I was eating lunch and found that I should visit St Ann’s church across from the castle Square to get a good view of the square from their Tower. I paid my six zloty and headed on up to the cold Tower. I took several pictures and decided to head on down.

After wandering around the square for quite a while I decided that I could head over to the Jewish Museum which was only about 1 or 2 kilometers away. 

The Jewish museum is actually built in the same area as the Jewish ghetto was during World War II. There is a monument to those who lost their lives at the Jewish ghetto.

The Jewish Museum was very well done. It probably would have been even better if I could stay awake during the museum exhibits. I had an audio guide and the tour lasted about 2 hours. The Rick Steves book gave good direction on how to find some remnants of the Warsaw Ghetto including an old wall from 1940 something which included barbed wire.

I decided to head on back and really wished I could have found a WiFi signal so that I could ride public transportation back. It wasn’t until I was close to Metro stop that I figured I could probably figure out how to get to where I need to go. I decided to have Pizza Hut again, but this time it wasn’t a pizza it was lasagna in rolls. It was a good meal at the end of the day when I really needed it.

Tomorrow’s weather forecast is much of the same. But this time I’ll be wearing jeans and my light jacket. I’m looking forward to trying to get everything in.