We woke up not too early, not too late. :) Had breakfast made by juniors - scrambled egg, cereals, milk & cookies (the one she supposed to send for cookies competition) Went out with some zloty borrowed from her. Haha, I told you, we don't have any Zloty, how can we use any of the transportations.
So, whatever it is, the first place we should go was the money exchange at Warszawa Centralna (Warsaw Central), then buy 24-hours ticket and start our adventure!
Then, we just went around the main train station. From our early reading, it was supposed to be Palace of Culture and Science nearby. Yeah, it is true! It was really obvious even from far. Well, that building is the highest in Poland. The first thing I realised when looking at the building was the base. I mean the building at the bottom. Emm it looked so stable. :p
It was built during Soviet Union time, and they said that Polish people hate it as it showed they had been controlled by Soviet people. But it remained there, maybe as tourist attraction? There is also information center in the building, so you can just grab any booklet/maps for free and maybe get some tips from the officers.
Then, we took bus to Nowy Swiat; it is kind of a famous street, I think. Because if you walk along the road, you will reach the Stare Miasto (Old Town) - common thing in all Europe countries. Aha, forgot to mention, Polish language is quite similar to Czech language - so, our basic Czech vocabulary helps a bit. :)
From Nowy Swiat, we just took the bus to Centrum Nauki Kopernik (Copernicus Science Centre), it is located near the Vistula River of Warsaw. From the bus stop nearby, we passed through a small park - where there are many shower-look-like-pole; where you can hear lots of sounds from it. Storm, rain, road congestion, etc.
Meanwhile, Centrum Nauki Kopernik is basically a science museum where there are so many interactive things inside - I have never been to Pusat Sains Negara in Malaysia, so, I cannot say the differences. But, I was amazed with all the exhibitions! Why I don't have all these things when I was struggling to understand the Science subject?
Sila bersyukur, Nina. Allah gave you the ability to have the same imagination; when you was a kid - with the real Science concept shown there. :D
This is the place I loved the most; they put some sounds related to few beliefs & religions. And when it came to Islam, it was azan inside! Well, I haven't heard azan a lot since I was in Czech; except if I go to the masjid. :) *tears*
We spent about 4hours in the centrum, then our stomach started to make loud noises. We decided to have lunch - since we aimed to eat at Pizza Hut, we need to go to Old Town; that was the nearest Pizza Hut, I guess. But the distance was not that short. :p We walked 2km there. I felt like I was wasting my 1-day ticket. Haha. But, since we were going to be there for about 1 1/2 day, we need to be fast :p
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Zamek Królewski w Warszawie | Royal Castle in Warsaw |
Was expecting the Pizza Hut to be similar with Malaysia with its menu. But, nahhh, totally different. I want seafood :p Ordered the similar pizza like we used to eat in HK - quattro formaggi, it is for vegetarian. But of course, it was tasty. Yummyyy.
That night, we went to Stadion Narodowy (National Stadium), just to capture few moments in front of it. Do you know that the facade of the stadium resembles a waving flag? - with Poland national colours; white & red. Wah. It was built for UEFA Euro 2012 last two years - in which that was the first time I watched Czech team. Online je lah ;p
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National Stadium |
The stadium was quite empty, actually - I thought there will be a lot of tourists.
The rest of the night, we spent time enjoying the nightlife in Warsaw :D
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Palace of Culture and Science at night |
The building below is Warsaw Rising Museum; based on what I read, the museum shared lots of previous events (mostly in 1944) that lead to today's Warsaw; how development in Warsaw is influenced by etc. Basically it showed the chronology of World War II; when Polish army had operation to liberate Warsaw from Nazi Germany. If I'm not mistaken, they worked together with Soviet people as both looked Nazi Germany as their mutual enemy.
But both Polish army & Soviet people have different goals - Polish army wanted to free Poland as a democratic capitalist country but Soviet leader wanted to make a communist country in Poland.
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Warsaw Rising Museum |
So, Warsaw Uprising was told to be failed as both Polish & Soviet people do not trust each other and due to lack of outside supports. German continued to destruct the city. I think, that's the main reason, buildings in Poland are not as old as other countries.
Suddenly I remember how Islam prohibited destruction of buildings during war. There must be something behind it right? Memusnahkan bangunan tu menunjukkan seseorang tu berlebih-lebihan dalam berperang sampaikan bangunan yang tak bernyawa (baca; tak bersalah) tu pun nak dimusnahkan. Apatah lagi nyawa-nyawa innocent yang tergadai. T___T
“Orang yang kuat bukan kerana mampu mengalahkan lawan, tetapi orang yang kuat adalah yang mampu menundukan nafsunya di saat dia sedang marah.”
Ad-Deen, Buzulucka
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