Week 2 - Warsaw, Poland – Vincent Sonneville

Week 2 - Warsaw, Poland – Vincent Sonneville

World War 2

Our journey began in Belarus, but we didn’t do many interesting things over there. That’s why I’ll start this blog with our second week in Warsaw, Poland. Uncomfortably sitting in my aisle seat I was eagerly waiting to hear the screeching sound of our aircrafts tires hitting the ground. We were all dying to get off the plane… even if the flight was only 2 hours long. It wasn’t just an ordinary landing, it was the first landing of many. For the next 8 weeks my friends and I were going to see a part of the world we thought we would only see in our dreams.

Our first stop, apart from our little hotel in the middle of Warsaw was Old Town.  This is an area of Warsaw that is prized for its modernization. After the two world wars had passed, there was practically nothing left there but dirt and rubble. The entire city was rebuilt and turned into a place where people could enjoy again and come to commemorate all that had been there before it was all destroyed. The town was lively and booming with tourists who were all there for the same reason we were.

Next we decided to walk through what is known as the Former Jewish Ghetto in a different part of Warsaw called Mirow and Maranow. This place really gives you the creeps. A part of me still felt like I was back in the 1940’s. Looking around you could really tell people had suffered here in the past. The streets were lined with communist apartment buildings and market squares. Luckily all the main historic sights were clustered together in one area, so we didn’t have to walk too far because it was starting to rain.

 

To honour and mourn those who had suffered and died during the second world war we decided to visit the Treblinka concentration camp, about 70-80 kilometers northeast of Warsaw. This really touched the hearts of everyone in the group, the girls even had tears in their eyes. Still, at the end of the day sitting in the bus on our way back to Warsaw, we were glad to have been able to pay our respects.

After soaking up all the history we decided to spend the rest of our time discovering Warsaw, looking at local shops, restaurants and of course bars.

 

http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005193