The three of us (Ave, Julie and I) had SUCH difficulty picking a seat on the bus (hahaha)! Our local guide was Phil. We began by driving up and down the streets around our hotel. Phil put names and purposes to many of the buildings I'd already passed by when I was walking. We passed many embassies, including the American one, and other official buildings, including the Parliament I'd seen the day before.

We stopped at Lazienki Park and visited the Chopin Monument. In addition, there was an impressive statue of Jozef Pilsudsky at the entrance to the park. Phil described this person as one of the top three statesmen who formed the country Poland as we now know it.

We drove on a main street through the shopping/commercial area which was only a few blocks from our hotel. On that road, we crossed the Vistula River using a VERY long bridge which evidently is still one of the longest in Europe. On the other side of the river was the impressive football (soccer) National Stadium.

As we drove along, we saw the large public square where all events of importance have been held. We saw monuments to soldiers, patriots, and to various leaders including the tomb of the unknown soldier, the Warsaw Uprising Monument, Charles De Gaulle, Ronald Reagan, and Napoleon to name a few.

There were many monuments to the thousands and thousands of murdered and persecuted Polish Jews. The most impressive might have been the Monument to the Fallen and Murdered in the East in the Jewish quarter. We stopped at the Museum of the History of Polish Jews. As Phil explained, it seemed pointless with camps like Auschwitz within driving distance to recreate that experience so instead, this museum tracks the history of Jews in Poland. Inside was a partial replica of an original Polish Synagogue. Outside, there was a statue of Jan Karski who tried to warn the world of the atrocities which were occurring in Poland during WWII but his stories were so gruesome that no one believed what he was saying could be true. There were also monuments and posters depicting the terrible fate of so many Jews during the war.

While we were visiting the museum, Michael arrived with two more of our (soon to be) family of six. Amanda and Adam had just gotten in from JFK using Aeroflot. They had started in Ohio but because of storms, they were unable to make their original connection to Poland. They drove through bad weather in Ohio to JFK airport to make their new connection to Poland and our tour. They looked exhausted but they were game to join in for the rest of the day.

Last stop on the guided tour that day was to "Old Town". Showing us original pictures of the severe bombing of Warsaw, Phil explained that most of Warsaw's buildings were destroyed in WWII. Using original blueprints, many important buildings were repaired or rebuilt. The Old Town square was the final stop in our tour. Afterwards, I chose the option to go back to the hotel so I could meet up with Lynn who was scheduled to arrive in just an hour.