Every November 11, local Poles gather in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Warsaw\u2019s Pi\u0142sudski Square to honor Poland\u2019s Independence Day. The ceremony itself is filled with somber commemorations and highly-structured military salutes \u2013 reminders of the country\u2019s harsh history, and enduring spirit of resilience. Poland\u2019s capital, Warsaw, is a reminder of this as well.<\/p>\n
Along with hosting the country\u2019s seat of government, Warsaw is Poland\u2019s cosmopolitan business hub. Travelers seeking Old World quaintness should head for Krak\u00f3w; but for today\u2019s Poland, visit Warsaw. It\u2019s a 21 st-century city with a dark 20 th-century story.<\/p>\n
In fact, most of Warsaw\u2019s past has been hard. Since becoming Poland\u2019s capital in 1596, it has seen wave after wave of foreign rulers and invasions \u2013 and currently, it\u2019s going through a demographic shift, as hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees are becoming citizens. It\u2019s a big talking point in modern Warsaw, and yet another fascinating chapter in the city\u2019s history.<\/p>\n
Warsaw\u2019s darkest days came during the Nazi occupation of World War II. First, its Jewish residents were forced into a tiny ghetto. They rose up\u2026and were slaughtered. Then, its Polish residents rose up\u2026and were slaughtered. In retaliation, Hitler ordered the block-by-block destruction of the city. As the smoke cleared and the Nazis retreated, the Soviets marched in and claimed the pile of rubble that was once Warsaw. It would be another 45 years before the Soviets would leave and the Poles could freely govern their capital and their country.<\/p>\n
After the war, the Poles almost gave up on re-creating old Warsaw, but ultimately they decided to rebuild, constructing a city of contrasts. Now, painstakingly restored medieval lanes border pedestrian-friendly parks and sleek skyscrapers. Now, painstakingly restored medieval lanes border pedestrian-friendly parks and sleek skyscrapers\u2014 a jumbled aesthetic that reflects the city\u2019s hard history.<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s Warsaw is safer, wealthier, and happier than ever. You\u2019ll encounter stylishly dressed locals, sophisticated shopping boulevards, and thoughtful museums covering World War II, Jewish history, hometown composer Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Chopin, and Polish art.<\/p>\n
The city has two historic districts: the 13th-century Old Town and the 15th-century New Town. Both are nearly complete 20th-century reconstructions, right down to the higgledy-piggledy charm of the colorful buildings. The countless restaurants in the historic district provide a good introduction to Polish cuisine \u2013 and the national drink, vodka. Many traditional dishes \u2013 herring, cold cuts, pickles, steak tartare \u2013 pair naturally with chilled vodka. Poles don\u2019t sip their vodka. It\u2019s a bottoms-up beverage. (\u201cThat way it only stings once.\u201d)<\/p>\n
For me, the pleasure of Warsaw is just connecting with its big-city people, who are as warm and charming as small-town folk. Poles love Americans \u2013 they think of us as big brothers and sisters from across the Atlantic. When the communist government gave the people a small shot at representative government in 1989, the \u201cget out the vote\u201d poster showed Gary Cooper from\u00a0High Noon\u2013 holding not a gun, but a voting card.<\/p>\n
Remnants of Warsaw\u2019s earlier magnificence show up in huge, idyllic \u0141azienki Park. It\u2019s sprinkled with Neoclassical buildings, peacocks, and young Poles in love. Poland\u2019s very last king built the park in the 18th century for his summer residence and as a place for his citizens to relax.<\/p>\n
A monument to Chopin, Poland\u2019s great Romantic composer and favorite son, graces the park\u2019s rose garden. Even though Chopin left Warsaw for Paris, his final wish was to have his heart brought back to his native Poland. And so it was, after his death in 1849. It now lies buried in a pillar in Warsaw\u2019s Holy Cross Church (the rest of him is interred at Paris\u2019s P\u00e8re Lachaise Cemetery).<\/p>\n
Locals still proudly celebrate the composer\u2019s music. On Sundays, huge crowds fill \u0141azienki Park for Chopin concerts that take place in front of his statue \u2013 and smaller odes to the composer pop up all across town. When I was last in Warsaw, I went to an intimate, salon-style concert hosted at a hotel. The pianist, seated at a baby grand under a lovingly lit portrait of Chopin, closed his eyes as if to channel all his heart into his fingers flying across the keys. I, along with the rest of the music lovers in attendance, swooned.<\/p>\n
I was reminded how, before recorded music was even imaginable, lovers of culture all over Europe would gather for concerts just like this, where musicians would share the great music of the day. And it felt so appropriate that Chopin is still celebrated by resilient, culture-loving Poles right here in the middle of Warsaw, a city that refuses to die.<\/p>\n
(Rick Steves (www.ricksteves.com<\/a>) writes European guidebooks, hosts travel shows on public TV and radio, and organizes European tours. This column revisits some of Rick\u2019s favorite places over the past two decades. You can email Rick at\u00a0rick@ricksteves.com<\/a>\u00a0and follow his blog on Facebook.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Every November 11, local Poles gather in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Warsaw\u2019s Pi\u0142sudski…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4394,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[540,3608,3607,558,45],"class_list":["post-4393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-warsaw","tag-entertainment","tag-latest-headlines","tag-things-to-do","tag-travel","tag-warsaw"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4393\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}