Sunday in Warsaw (3 of 4)
Today was my last full day in the city. I didn’t have really solid plans but I knew that I wanted to experience a bit more of the city. All I knew is that I wanted to see more architecture and I wanted to visit the park with the palace in it. I figured I’d start my day in the Praga region of the city. This region suffered the least amount of damage from the bombs of WWII. So, it gives you the best sense of what Warsaw was like before the war. My maps suggested that I could take the metro to the heart of the region, so I was in luck. I’d decide exactly what to do when I get there. Praga is also the religious center of Warsaw so I knew that my day would involve some churches, synagogues, and temples somehow. There was this one synagogue in central Warsaw about a mile away from me near a metro station that thankfully avoided the WWII bombs. I decided to walk to the synagogue en route to Praga.
After breakfast, I headed to the synagogue. Unfortunately, it was closed today and I couldn’t go in to see it. No biggie. I snapped a couple of pictures of the exterior and headed to the nearest train station: Rondo Onz. I took the M2 Metro five stops east to Dworzek Wilenski stop. Once I surfaced from underground, I could tell that I was in a different part of town. I can’t explain why but it just felt more … authentic.
A couple of blocks away from the metro stop was a pretty cool Russian looking cathedral. I decided to walk to it and have a look inside. To my surprise, it was packed with churchgoers. (I probably shouldn’t have been surprised since it was Sunday but honestly, I was.) Unfortunately, the cathedral would not let visitors take pictures inside. So, I headed back outside (after about 10 minutes of standing inside in the vestibule) and snapped a couple more pics of the exterior of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Mary Magdalene.
My most memorable experience happened outside of the church. I was walking away from the church when two guys who were talking to each other stopped me and asked something in Polish. I had no idea what they said. But then, the portly guy asked “Jamaica?” I said “No. United States.” He replied “Oh, America!” He looked thoroughly intrigued. I’m not sure if he was intrigued that an American was visiting Poland or that a Black guy was from America. I’m sure they are used to homogeneous societies like Poland. Because of this, I wonder if the only Black country they knew was Jamaica. Anyway, I had a good chuckle and headed to my pitstop, another church about a mile away.
I arrived at the Michael the Archangel and St. Florien the Martyr Cathedral. This Roman Catholic cathedral is considered a minor basilica, from my understanding, a church with a higher ranking than most other churches except papal or major basilicas. I got there right as the congregation was gathering. Quite interestingly, I arrived right when service was about to start. I snapped a few pics from the back just to be respectful. But when I noticed nobody objected, I walked up about halfway to the altar and snapped a few more pics. I was just standing there enjoying the architectural beauty while carrying my backpack and my camera. To get some relief, I decided to drop my bags off at the nearest pew. (Again, no pushback.). The view from the pew was slightly different than the view from the edges, so I sat down and tried to inconspicuously take a couple more shots. Success. At this point, I just sat back to rest a bit. I must have lost track of time because next thing I know, the cathedral was crowded and the church processional was starting. I found myself in the middle of real live Polish church service.
Service lasted about an hour. I had no idea what they were saying but I participated fully by doing everything that the couple next to me had done. I think they made a call for Eucharist but I didn’t partake in that because I wasn’t quite sure of the instructions. But everything else I did – standing up, sitting down, chanting, singing, praying, standing up again, kneeling… everything.
The bells rang signaling the end of service. I left the cathedral and decided to visit one more church before finding something else to get into. Our Lady of Loreto Church was only about half a mile away on the other side of a small park. Why not? I made it a trifecta. I stopped by this church too but only stayed about 5 minutes because I wasn’t very impressed with its architecture. (Perhaps it is because I visited two cathedrals and an archcathedral first!). Nevertheless, I took my obligatory pics and headed out. At this point, it was about 12:30pm. The sun would set in about 3 hours and I still wanted to see the park with the palace. I was satisfied with my taste of Praga. So, I called it a trip and headed back to my room, reversing my steps on the M2 Metro.
I relaxed for a bit but then I got that itch again. I knew that today was my last day in the country so I wanted to make the most of my time while I was there. To this end, I really wanted to visit Lazienki Park, the park with the palace on an island. I had to see it. Despite the fact that it was getting darker by the minute, I headed out of my room once again in an attempt to see this palace. I caught Bus 180 towards Wilanow. A few stops later, I arrived at the park at 4:09pm in utter darkness. Did I mention I’m going into an urban park in the pitch black in a country where I don’t speak the language and my phone battery is on about 50%?
Despite having paper maps I couldn’t see because it was too dark, GPS maps that kept losing signal, and being on paths too dark to see 20 feet in front of you, I sojourned on through the dense tree lines. After fifteen minutes of questioning my life’s decisions, I finally caught a glimpse of the palace that I risked life and limb to see… and it was worth it. At this point, I felt accomplished. Though there were other structures in the park I would have liked to see, I was completely OK with heading back while I had some of my bearings. (On my way back, I did see a statue of a man getting trampled by a horse. It was cool. I took a pic.). Getting back out of the park was a bit easier. After about another 15 minutes, I emerged out of the park as a survivor. There was nothing left to do now but to get a few souvenirs and head back to the room to finish packing and relax for my travel day tomorrow.
Unfortunately, today is Sunday and most everything in Warsaw is closed. The only place that may still be open is real touristy places like Old Town. So, I hopped on Bus 116 and made my way past my hotel to Old Town. I snapped a couple pics of the Old Town Square lit up at night, got a quick snack to eat, and snagged a couple of souvenirs before the last store closed at 6pm. Afterwards, I jumped back on Bus 116 and traveled the few stops back to my hotel bus stop. Today was finally over… kind of.
After packing, I ordered room service and watched two of Sunday’s Super Wild Card games. Unfortunately, my Ravens were the Sunday evening game. I had resolved myself to watching the highlights in the morning. I just couldn’t see myself staying up to watch the game starting at 2:30am Monday morning when I had to check out my hotel and start a 16-hour travel day, a few hours later at 8:00am. The best made plans…
At 4:40am, my barber called and woke me up. He asked me if I was sick after seeing us fumble on the 1-yard line right when we were going to go up by 7. I didn’t know what he was talking about initially. But now I was awake. I might as well watch the rest of the game. And that’s exactly what I did. The Ravens were put out of the playoffs as expected. But from what I heard (and what I could tell), we really had a shot. The fumble on the goal line turned the tide of the game but we didn’t get blown out. We made it respectable in the grand scheme of things. Not bad for a backup QB.
Finally, my day ended. In a couple of hours, I would get up and begin my long trek back home.
