Warsaw

There is a widespread view that the name "Warszawa" appeared as a result of the connection of the name of a fisherman named Wars and the mermaid, surnamed Sawa, on which the fisherman married. The image of Sava Mermaid became a symbol of Warsaw. Of course, this is a legend. Although the mermaid takes pride of place with the pantheon of the Warsaw gods. She placed a monument on the market square and on the coat of arms of Warsaw, too, is a mermaid.

For me, the word Warsaw was first a word from a song, maybe even about a war ... Then something not so far away, but pleasantly sounding in the language ... Let's take into account that Warsaw is the capital of Poland. True, it was not always so. This happened in 1596, when the fire of the Wawel Castle in Krakow, then the capital, forced the king to move to a new place - in Warsaw.

In general, Warsaw has always been interested. What is she like?

And so, one day, after sitting behind the wheel of my faithful Scout, along with my faithful crew, we left the courtyard of our house in Kostroma and rushed west. It was on the day off and sneaking along the Moscow Ring Road without any difficulties, we already drove along the Minsk Highway, looking over the expanses of Russia. The road was given easily and soon the road signs were saying that Smolensk was here. By the way, it will be necessary to go to Smolenks - just to see. And after Smolensk - already, and Belarus.

At eight in the evening, tired but pleased, we crossed the border and stopped in a small hotel with a cozy name "Under the Lions". The hostess of the hotel greeted us cordially. She took it and showed us the numbers. Moreover, she spoke Russian very well. I asked: "Why such a good Russian?". She sighed and told how she traveled to Russia in the nineties with live dollars, trying to speculate with non-ferrous metals. Somewhere in Siberia and the Far East, with bandits, shooting and all kinds of things. In general - the movie and the Germans. As a result, she was lucky, she was not killed and was not robbed. She earned a little, which allowed her to build a hotel here in Terespol.

After spending the night, we went to Warsaw. To Warsaw to go, literally three hours. The problem is that the road is not high-speed. It passes through villages and villages. The speed of movement is quite low.

And finally, Warsaw. The city seemed very large. High-rise buildings, sleeping areas, avenues! But we need to be in the center!

We came to a large square and took a hotel room. The weather was rainy. When the rain subsided, we went for a walk in the old center.

And this is a monument to Copernicus! The monument was cast from bronze in 1822.

In 1943 the Germans solemnly celebrated the 400th anniversary of the birth of the "great German scientist" Copernicus. In protest, young Polish poets from the group "Art and Nation" decided to lay a wreath at the monument to Copernicus, which the Germans now specifically guarded. The wreath was laid by Vaclav Boyarsky, Zdislav Stroinsky took photos, Tadeusz Gaitsy with a gun covered the action. Leaving the chase, Boyarsky came across a patrol and was mortally wounded, he died in the prison hospital. Arrested Stroinsky managed to destroy the film, and then to prove that he, a provincial, in Warsaw was accidentally and has nothing to do with the action.

Warsaw was impressed, firstly by the fact that it is an example of the realization of the universal efforts to restore the historic center of the city after the Second World War. In the palace square, photographs of the quarters of the old town in 1945 were exhibited. It's just a ruin. Not a single whole building. Some skeletons of walls and nothing more. It's terrible to look at this.

And in front of me - a magnificent medieval city, as if there was no war.

Obligatory photo with local police.

Our walk through Warsaw was small. We sat in a cafe and walked around the old streets. On the way back, I took out a tripod and took some night photos. Warsaw is a beautiful city. Especially in the night scenery!