Late autumn in BUW gardens

The Library of the Warsaw University (BUW) is one of the most amazing new buildings in Warsaw. I will show it to you one day. For the time being, I took a nice Sunday walk in its garden. You can see that autumn is already well established.

The grass is still green but all the leaves are gone with the wind. Luckily, the Library itself is also green.

As I was approaching the building of the Library, I noticed many curious elements, first of which was a dome. It allows the students to have more natural light in the library.

As I came even closer, I noticed some further strange structures.

Do you have any clue what these can be?

Well, me neither. I decided then to turn in the other direction where I saw another building hidden behind a hill.

The stairs allow to enter the roof part of the garden. Unfortunately, it is closed between November and March. We will need to come back here in spring.

The building behind the hill turned out to be one of the buildings of the Faculty of Law and Administration of the Warsaw University.

I definitely need to come back here in spring. In the meantime, I will have a virtual tour of the gardens.

Pérouges

Paris was not my ultimate destination in France. Therefore, I headed to Gare de Lyon. It is impressive both from the outside...

... and from the inside:

The lane was empty so ...

... I decided to have a little coffee.

Finally, my TGV arrived and I could get on my way to Lyon.

In Lyon I took a taxi and I arrived at my final destination - the beautiful medieval city of Pérouges. I stayed in a hotel located in the very hearth of the medieval city.

When I was walking the paved roads I could feel like if I have made a journey in time rather then a journey in space. Early morning, you could almost believe that at any time a knight will come from round the corner. 

The Christmas decorations are also present.

Paris

Finally, I went on my first (and hopefully not the last) journey abroad. I came to the Warsaw airport very early and checked my flight details:

Luckily, I still had time for a little shopping.

I took me a bit too long so I had to really run to the gate.

The boarding started on time - the plane was really impressive

And then we took off! The flight was not long so when we landed I was all thrilled and excited, ready for a walk in Paris. Unfortunately it rained the whole day so I had to take a car instead. This did not help with the pictures but I still managed to see some interested sites. We started with

where I could admire the Arc de Triomphe:

... and the Grand Palais

Look - a Christmas market!

As we moved down the Seine, I could further see the Museum of Orsay...

... La Conciergerie where Marie Antoinette was improsoned and executed.

I also admired many beautiful bridges, in particular Pont Neuf that is called "the New Bridge" even though it was built in the 16th century.

It was a long trip to time to have some rest. Hopefully, they will treat me here like a VIP that I truely am.

Kozienice

Kozienice is a small town in central Poland. It lies in the hearth of the Kozienice Landscape Park. If you go there, you must see the palace and the park. Today, the palace houses the Town Hall. You may notice the coat of arms with a yellow animal on a blue field. Looks a bit like a goat? Well no surprise, since the Polish word for goat is "koza". Of course the locals say that the name of the city comes from something else but I have serious doubts.

Here you can see the seat of the Revenue Service. The most feared place on Earth.

The forests around Kozienice were the favourite hunting spot for king Władysław Jagiełło. In front of the Town Hall you can see hunting scenes.

You can of course also see a monument of the king himself. And of his horse too. High five my friend!

When Jagiełło was on his way to the battle of Grunwald (Tannenberg), he had to cross the Vistula River. To this aim, his soldiers have built in Kozienice a pontoon bridge. You can see its replica in the park.

The battle of Grunwald was the biggest victory of Poland in the Middle Ages. It was supposed to stop the suppremacy of the Teutonic Kinights over the Northern territories of the present Poland. Unfortunately this was not the case.

Gliwice

Recently we went to Gliwice, where the  grandfather of my human family spent his childhood. The most famous place in the city is Gliwice Radio Tower:



It is the highest existing construction made of wood in the world. Here German staged the "Polish" attack on the Reich to justify the begining of the Second World War.

Some other interesting places in Gliwice are the Main Square with the Town Hall ...

... the Neptun fountain...

... and the Visual Artists House ...

The oldest building in the city is the Castle. It houses now the archeological and historical parts of the Gliwice Museum.

I highly recommend you to have a walk around and find some beautiful buildings, like this 5th High School

or views, like this on the main street called Victory street.

Studzianki Pancerne

Studzianki Pancerne is a small village in the Central Poland. It is best known for the battle of tanks that took place in August 1944.Today, you may see there a monument dedicated to those who perished in that battle.

You may also see there one of the tanks.

The best thing is that you can touch it and even walk on it! As you recall, my family has a long military tradition so I simply had to profit from this chance.

This seems to be the entry.

Afterwards, I made a little tour in the neighbouring forests and fields. You can see that summer time is past and gone with the wind.



The leaves become brown ...

... and red.

The Old Town of Warsaw

I have recently participated in a meeting od Polish Postcrossers held in the Old Town of Warsaw. The Old Town of Warsaw is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was almost completely destroyed during World War II and then rebuilt based on Bernardo Bellotto's 18th-century paintings. The most impressive building is the Royal Castle.

You can see it better here

On the Castle Square you can see the Sigismund's Column. Sigismund III Vasa (Zygmunt III Waza) was a king of Poland who moved the capital od the country from Kraków (Cracow) to Warsaw in 1596.

If you ever visit the Old Town of Warsaw, you must walk along of the city Walls ...

... and see the Barbicane.

I love walking through the Old Town of Warsaw. But this time, the purpose of the visit was special - I had loads of postcards to sigh and send. I invite you all to Postcrossing.com. It is a great way to visit the world without travelling. And a great place to make new friend as well :).