(Poland Flag)


(Map of Poland)

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2013:

On Sunday I flew from Helsinki to Warsaw, Poland for the final two nights of my trip.



The video below is 9 minutes long of my flight from Helsinki to Warsaw.

I checked into my hotel, the Marriott in downtown Warsaw.
I had a beautiful corner suite with a fantastic view of the city.

All of the images below are thumbnails and can be clicked on for a larger image.

Marriott Hotel in Warsaw, Poland Marriott Hotel in Warsaw, Poland View from the Marriott Hotel in Warsaw, Poland

The video below is 3 minutes long of my accommodations in Warsaw, Poland.

It was a beautiful day on Sunday.
I took a walk around the downtown area near my hotel.
Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, Poland Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, Poland Warsaw, Poland Skyline

MY DAILY EMAIL SENT ON SEPTEMBER 8, 2013
Polish Greetings,

We had our farewell dinner at the hotel last night. This morning I had a flight from Helsinki to Warsaw. I am staying at the Marriott Hotel in downtown Warsaw. It's nice to be staying at a deluxe hotel again. The hotels Trafalgar booked were ok, but definitely not five star.



Below is a picture of Warsaw from my hotel room.



I took a walk around downtown Warsaw this afternoon. Below is a floral clock in front of the Palace of Culture and Science, the tallest building in Poland. The building was originally known as the Joseph Stalin Palace of Culture and Science.



I have a tour of Warsaw booked for tomorrow and then I fly home on Tuesday.

Tim
Click on email photos for the large full-size photograph.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2013:

Today I took a half-day tour of Warsaw.
Our first stop was at Lazienki Park (Royal Bath's Park).
Chopin statue at Lazienki Park (Royal Bath's Park) in Warsaw, Poland Lazienki Park (Royal Bath's Park) in Warsaw, Poland Lazienki Park (Royal Bath's Park) in Warsaw, Poland

Our second stop was in the Jewish Ghetto.
Our final stop was in Old Town.
Ghetto Monument in Warsaw, Poland Old Town in Warsaw, Poland Old Town in Warsaw, Poland

Warsaw's Old Town has been placed on the UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites as "an outstanding
example of a near-total reconstruction of a span of history covering the 13th to the 20th century."
Old Town in Warsaw, Poland Old Town in Warsaw, Poland Old Town in Warsaw, Poland

After my half-day tour I returned to the hotel and prepared for my return home.
Below is the Warsaw Uprising Memorial.
Warsaw Uprising Memorial in Warsaw, Poland

The video below is 23 minutes long of my visit to Warsaw, Poland.

MY DAILY EMAIL SENT ON SEPTEMBER 9, 2013
Hello everybody,

Today is the 36th day of my trip. I have visited 14 different countries. The weather was remarkably good. A little warmer than I would have liked the first couple weeks in the Mediterranean but almost no rain and the sun was shining 90% of the time. I wrapped things up in Warsaw today with a tour of the city. The first place we visited was Lazienki Park (Royal Bath's Park). Here we saw the Chopin Statue. There are free piano concerts around the statue every Sunday night in summer. The last one for this year is next Sunday.



It is quite a large park. It was designed in the 17th century for the then King of Poland. Below is his summer palace in the park.



We had a nice walk in the park. It was a beautiful day as usual. A few of the leafs are just beginning to turn color here.



Our next stop was at the Heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto Monument. There were over 400,000 Jewish people living in this city at the beginning of WWII. A wall was built around this small area in Warsaw where they were all forced to live. They were dying at a rate of about 40,000 per year. But that wasn't fast enough for the Nazis, so they then started shipping them off to Auschwitz. Today there are only 2000 Jewish people left living in this city of 2.5 million people.



Next we visited Old Town. It's not really old. Nothing there is older than 60 years old. This city was completely destroyed during the war. The only buildings left standing were the ones the Nazis were using for their headquarters. This area of Warsaw was rebuilt to look like it did before the war.





Our last stop was at the Warsaw Uprising Memorial.



I now have 24 hours to kill. The tour ended at 1:00 and my plane doesn't leave until 2:00 tomorrow afternoon. I think I will just enjoy my beautiful hotel. I can literally see the entire city from my room. I have a corner room on the 31st floor. The view is endless.

Tomorrow afternoon begins my 17 hour journey home. I have a ninety minute flight out of here to Frankfurt, Germany. The 15th and last country of the trip. I will only be in Germany for two hours. It's then a nine hour flight to Chicago on a Lufthansa 747.



I have a three hour layover in Chicago and won't get back to Indy until after midnight Wednesday morning.

Thanks for reading my reports. I don't know where or when my next trip will be. Due to upcoming medical procedures I don't have anything in the works. This is probably the first time in over a decade that I have no trip to look forward to. Kind of depressing. Hopefully it will be a short hiatus.

Until next time,

Tim
Click on email photos for the large full-size photograph.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2013:

I had an early afternoon Lufthansa flight out of Warsaw on Tuesday.
They discovered a slash in one of the plane's tires which is pictured below.
Lufthansa plane with slashed tire at Warsaw Airport

We waited around the gate for a couple hours before they finally cancelled the flight.
There is virtually no Lufthansa ground staff at the Warsaw Airport.
It took several hours and waiting in numerous slow moving lines to get my new flights.
Unfortunately I could not get out until the next morning.
Lufthansa sent me to a flee bag motel for the night.

MY DAILY EMAIL SENT ON SEPTEMBER 10, 2013
The plane I was supposed to fly on out of Warsaw slashed a tire and they have no spare parts so the flight was canceled. So after being in the Warsaw airport all day waiting in line after line after line after line. I am now in a flee bag hotel near the airport waiting to try again tomorrow. Supposedly I will get to Indy at 4:42 Wednesday afternoon. But the way my luck has gone I would not bet on it.

It's going to be a long night. I am so mad I know I won't sleep a wink. I'll probably get eaten alive by bed bugs or murdered in my sleep in this dump.

Tim

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2013:

It was back to the Warsaw Airport very early Wednesday morning.
I had a 6:00AM flight to Frankfurt.
From there it was a nine hour flight to Chicago's O'Hare Airport.

From Chicago it was a short flight back to Indy.
I landed in Indianapolis at 4:30PM, 16 hours later than originally scheduled.

The video below is 33 minutes long of Lufthansa flights home.


Click on the arrow above to begin my next adventure in COLORADO!.

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