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 :).

Biebrza National Park (1)

Today I will show you the Biebrza National Park in the near from the town of Goniądz.

The park is the house of many species of birds, including ruffs that you will see in the emblem of the Park.

I stayed in a nice hotel.

Inside you could see that the forests here are full of animals

On the outside, you can admire the wonderful views of the Biebrza river marches.

So, enjoy the walk!

Wilanów

Wilanów is a district of Warsaw. It is best known for its baroque palace built by Tylman van Gameren and the surrounding gardens. I love to visit Wilanów on a sunny day - the yellow walls fill me with optimism.

It is quite amazing, but the back of the palace looks just like to front side.

Make sure you do not miss the garden. It has a wide variety of flowers in different colours. It is a French-style garden, which means that it is symmetric and well planned (as opposed to the English-style garden that is more or less growing wild).

The flowers smell great!

The Wilanów Park also includes a lake (here it becomes closer to the English-style garden that always includes a lake).

It is pretty romantic. At least as long as you are able to pretend that you do not see the chimneys of the Siekierki heat and power plant, the biggest of this kind in Poland.

After such a long walk, I love to sit for a while in a nice cafe and reward myself with something sweet.

This ice cream will just be perfect.

Powązki

The 1st November is a special day in Poland. People visit the graves of their relatives and friends. They also visit the graves of those who fought for the country and other famous people. In Warsaw this typically means that they go to Powązki Cementary. I did it as well.

If you go to Powązki on this special day you must visit the graves of those who persihed in the Warsaw uprising.

You will find candles on individual graves but also these commemorising entire groups of soldiers. These ones were defending the Old Town of Warsaw.

You should also visit the site dedicated to the Gray Ranks, i.e., the Polish scouts fighting during World War II. Many of them were teenagers.

The victims of the recent catastrophe of the Polish government aircraft in Smolensk where 96 people died, including the Polish President Lech Kaczyński and his wife, also have their memorial in Powązki.

Some of the famous Poles you can meet there are the poet Julian Tuwim...

... the writer Ryszard Kapuściński ...

... the sculptor Xawery Dunikowski ...

.... or the war correspondent killed in Iraq, Waldemar Milewicz.

So if you have not been to Powązki this year yet, grab your flowers and go. The history waits there for you.