Hello from Warsaw, Poland! We are standing in front of probably the most…
well, absolutely most recognizable building. Oh yes. In all of Warsaw. This is the Palace of Culture and Science. And there’s a bit of controversy around
this building I think it’s fair to say because it opened in 1955
as a gift from Stalin to Poland. So you can understand there’s
some mixed feelings about it, however it is a beautiful building
so we’re going to head inside and take a look. We made it inside. This building is enormous. It feels like a fortress when you’re
trying to walk your way around. But we are inside the main part now and there’s a lot of different stuff
in this whole complex. It’s more of a complex than just one building. There’s theatres and museums and a cinema and…what do we want? We want to go to the top. So we got tickets. You can go up in the tall tower
and see the view of Warsaw so that’s where we’re going to go now. We’ve just come up to the top
of the Palace of Culture and Science. We’re not sure why Yoda is here but
I think it’s fair to say we’re happy that he is here. He’s…anytime you see Yoda, it’s a good thing. So…I’m viewing this as a sign of a good day to come. I don’t need the why or how, I just need Yoda. Exactly. We took the elevator up to the 30th floor. This, by the way, is the highest building in Warsaw. We’re at 114 metres right now and there’s a lot of development
and construction happening here and no better place than up top to see that happening so I don’t know how long
this will stay the tallest building but for now it’s definitely the best place
to get a great view. Oh that sun is coming out! That’s nice! And it’s really cool that you can walk around
the whole top of the building. And I like that for the rest of our time in Warsaw I can look up at this Palace of Culture and Science
and know that I was right up there. It is very chilly up here as you can tell and quite windy so we have taken the 360 view and we’re going to head back down
to the streets to keep exploring Warsaw. I don’t know if you can hear that lovely sound
of the wind going through the trees but we’re walking through another huge park and I’ve noticed how green Warsaw is, would you say? I would definitely say. There’s parks dotting the city everywhere you look. Yeah, there’s parks everywhere and this one is huge. We’ve just come across something really,
really important in this park that I wanted to share with you. This…this mark on the ground marks where
the ghetto…the Jewish ghetto used to be. And you can see it clearly on the ground and then there’s a plaque here talking about it. It says that the ghetto here was 759 acres and that it was cut off from the rest of Warsaw in 1940 and then the Nazis held
approximately 360,000 Warsaw Jews and 90,000 from other towns
were brought in to this ghetto and nearly 100,000 of them died of hunger. Just hunger alone. And during the summer of 1942,
they deported 300,000 people to gas chambers in nearby concentration camps. And on April 19th, 1943, there was an uprising here. The people in the ghetto realized
that they were going to die anyway and wanted to fight and so they did and the fighting here lasted for more than a month. And this place where we’re standing right now, it says is where one of the main
entrances to the ghetto stood and it’s here on April 19th, 1943 that the SS rode through and killed the remaining
people who were living here in the ghetto so... this is just so sad. So terrible. You can’t even possibly imagine but so important
to remember what happened here in this place. I don’t know about you but I’m hungry. I’m starving. I’m absolutely…you can hear my stomach right now. I can hear it too. And we found a milk bar nearby so we are going to stop in there
for some much needed Polish food. We found Oranżada again. So I got this orange one. I’m not sure what flavour this is Marc. Oh, Zelona? Maybe that’s lemon? It’s ‘white’ flavoured. And then we each got kompot and we got the same thing that looks like…
like a beet salad and then this is pork goulash with some potato. It looks good! Looks really good. And I love the…you can see behind like
they have these nets holding the lights. And then we’re all in this kind of
long booth almost like a train. Bon appétit or no, I mean ‘smacznego’. Zosh…za… Smacznego. -Smacznego. Smacznego. Mmm. Is it hot? No. It’s just delicious. Oh! Oh that is good. Oh! My belly’s full! That milk bar was really cool. It was! It was really modern and the seating was really cool. All the little booths. It did have the really cool old tiles though. Yes it did…it did. I liked it a lot. The food was delicious. There was no English at all so we pulled the whole
‘I’ll have what he’s having’ thing. Luckily there was someone sitting… Just point. …right by the cash and I was like,
‘I’ll have that. That thing.’ Which actually was delicious. Yeah and that meal…all of what we got was 46 złoty and then the dessert was what 7? About 7. -About 7. Yeah.
-So… So quite reasonable. A very inexpensive, you know, reasonably priced
meal for really good food. We’ve arrived at our next stop for today, which is a museum that both of us I know
have really been wanting to visit called POLIN. So we are going to walk around
with our audioguides here and learn more about Polish Jews and, of course, you know on the way here earlier walking through that park, we passed the wall
of the former Jewish ghetto and this museum is very close by to that so we’re going to learn more about that here. This museum is a little overwhelming. There’s so much information
and history to take in here. It starts with the first arrival
of Jewish people to Polish lands and takes you all through history. This is an 18th century village now and you can see there’s like people walking around and it’s very interactive and all these touch screens and
my audioguide is just full of information. So there’s a lot to take in here. This room is made to look like a synagogue that once existed in a Polish city
in what is now present day Ukraine, made of wood — 17th century. And then these incredible paintings on the ceiling
were done throughout the 17th and 18th century and unfortunately, like most of the synagogues,
they were destroyed during the Second World War so this is a replica of what once was. And you can see on the ceiling there are pictures
from the zodiac — the horoscope signs. And the painting is just so intricate and detailed. I find this room really interesting. It’s talking about the time when Poland
ceased to exist on a map. It was split between Russia, Prussia and Austria and you can see the portraits of those leaders
looking down at the empty throne of Poland. We’ve entered now the part of the museum
about World War II and the Holocaust. And Germany invaded Poland on September 1st, 1939 and they have archival footage here
from October 5th, 1939 just over a month later when Hitler himself was present for a victory parade
that took place here in Warsaw. The Germans established around 600 ghettos
throughout occupied Poland and here on the wall, you have the names and have a sense of just how many ghettos there were. The Germans collected the Jews street by street. The street names are on the floor and stairs
leading down to the Umschlagplatz. Jewish policemen helped Germans round up Jews hoping to save themselves
and their families by cooperating. Jews were gathered in a big crowd
at the Umschlagplatz and violently loaded onto cattle cars. The trains pulled out and headed east. No one knew exactly where they were going. Within two months, the Germans had deported
300,000 Jews from the Warsaw ghetto to their death. Well we’re just leaving POLIN and
it was quite a moving museum. It’s just absolutely devastating
what’s happened to the Polish Jews. There were about 6,000,000 Jews
murdered in the Holocaust and half…about 3,000,000 were Polish Jews, which is over 90% of the prewar
Jewish population of Poland. So… Very heavy. Yes. And it’s started to rain outside which is quite fitting for the mood
I think we’re both feeling now. Yes it felt appropriate to walk out
and see some grey sky so now we’re just going to walk and I think be quiet. And reflect. Yeah, just think about what we’ve seen. We’re just walking along
near the park we were in earlier where part of the Jewish ghetto once stood and passed another border on the ground
where they’ve marked where it used to be. And yeah…just reflecting…oh sorry. Reflecting on Poland…on the Jewish museum and we are headed to…now… a very uplifting kind of event called Time for Chopin. It’s a concert of Chopin’s music and we’re really lucky because
this particular concert is his Nocturnes. I know you’ll like that. Yes…which I really do so I’m really excited but we’re a little bit late so at the moment
we’re afraid of being in time for Time for Chopin. But I hope we’ll make it on time. We just made it! It’s 5:59 — the concert starts in one minute. We’re soaking wet but we are here
and we are here in time for Chopin! Welcome her please…Katarzyna Hushta. It’s so beautiful. My souls feels like it’s not only full but like pulsing and I think earlier today was really
draining and emotional obviously and now Chopin is just filling me right back up. I can’t agree more. Yeah. It’s intermission right now. I have a…I don’t actually know
what this is but na zdrowie. Na zdrowie. Oh that’s nice. Tastes like a little…like a dessert wine. Mmm yum. And I think playing Chopin every single night
in the same small room does something to the vibrations
in here and I’m totally serious. Oh yes. Because when we walked in I just felt good and I just keep feeling better and better
the more she plays. This is the best. Wow, wow, wow, wow!
-My heart is feeling pretty full right now. I can’t even talk. That was unbelievable! A whole hour of Chopin and his Nocturnes tonight. These concerts are on every day at 6 o’clock
in the Old Town here in Warsaw. And I think actually we were in a part
of the old castle…the royal castle, which helps to explain the
incredible atmosphere in there. Anyway, I cannot recommend
coming here highly enough. It’s every single day in Warsaw at 6 o’clock. There’s no excuse not to come. You have to come and see this. It’s called Time for Chopin —
I will link the information below. But wow — that was unbelievable. Definitely worth the time.
-Exactly, exactly, exactly what we needed. And I think what we need now is… Pierogi! Pierogies! Gone a little too long since the milk bar so we’re going to go find some dinner now. We came to a chain restaurant called Zapiecek. It’s so good — we’ve actually been one time before and the food comes really fast. Everyone’s really friendly and you get so much food
that it just covers your entire table. Bon appetit. Thank you! Smacznego! Two plates of pirogies down,
one plate of dessert pirogies to go. I didn’t know about dessert pirogies
until coming to Poland this time around. It’s the best concept ever. So we got like a variety of different ones. They have currant, blueberry
and apple cinnamon raisin. And to go on top, warm vanilla sauce. It’s so good. So full of pirogies! I love that place! It’s called Zapiecek and it’s a Polish chain restaurant and I love that there’s, you know, International students and locals and visitors like us all in one restaurant. Just really good vibes there. So, I loved it. I would go again. And today was a really Warsaw day.
-It really was! I was thinking about it and it was really
the kind of day you can only have in Warsaw. So I hope that you guys enjoyed it like we did. Remember to give the video a like if you did and subscribe for lots more travel adventures and we will see you in our next video. Bye!
