Warsaw...20th June

It's fair to say, I didn't know what to expect before arriving. 

I'm aware of Warsaw's first and second world war history, the reconstruction of the old town (to become a designated UNESCO world heritage), the re-development of wider Warsaw under the communist rule and finally the post 90's explosion of commercial development. When you read about these it isn't always easy to visualise how the current city will look and understand how all are connected.

My journey from Bialystok was very straight forward.. a motorway all the way, not much traffic and hopefully the freedom hasn't resulted in any fines....

I arrived at my apartment in the afternoon and after a short break, decided to walk into the city. 

Perhaps I should do a separate blog on the apartments/hotels I have stayed in but this studio apartment is so well designed and detailed, maximising all the space for lots of storage. Perhaps the two most important items are the ceiling height, at least 2600mm, and the quality of the lighting. It put's contemporary modern London studio apartments to shame.. I think I'm going to draw it out for future reference....

Anyway walking into the city.. 

The extent of development currently under construction is astonishing. It is probable that I'm located in the new Warsaw development zone but walking from the apartment towards the city centre I photographed these ....

In the centre there is a building that looks suspiciously like a Foster building.. The Erco down lighters give a clue....

My first walk has been short but will post more tomorrow.. but I did reach the edge of the old town;

Just a few photos....

I also walked past the Palace of Culture and Science (below), a gift from Soviet Russia to the Polish people, completed in 1955, allegedly still the tallest building in Poland, including the spire. It was designed to house cinemas, theatres, libraries, sports clubs, university faculties and the Polish Academy of Sciences. 

This building is sometimes known as the 8th 'sister'.. the other seven are in Moscow and were designed by the same architect, Lev Rudnev.. (the 8 1/2 is in Riga, as you know if you read this blog.... ).

tomorrow.. lot's to see...