Changing of the Guard
by dlandt
I'm not sure what they were guarding, but as we walked away from one square we saw three soldiers marching towards us in classic fashion. They relaxed more as they approached us and it turned out their barracks was almost right where we were standing.
Rest and Relaxation
by dlandt
Normally when I am in Europe I like to take some time to sit around the cafès and drink, or hang out and do nothing. Warsaw doesn't really seem like its good for that. You can find places, but overall, the city is usually noisier than what you would expect. We took this picture over by the Vistula, where there was a quiet space with a nice lookout. Warsaw, when all is said and done, is a little different than most other European cities.
Fascinating artist and paintings
by matcrazy1
Before going to Warsaw to a VT-meeting in January, 2006 I, as usual, checked what's on in Zacheta National Gallery of Art. I recommend to do it before each trip to Warsaw. I got to know that there was an exhibition titled "Boznanska Unknown." I am not familiar with art, so I asked Urszula who is a dedicated fan of art what's that and she shortly replied something like "WOW, fantastic, I MUST go to see it."
So we went to see that Boznanska on our last day in Warsaw. A day before, when my taxi driver passed by the building of the gallery at night, I asked him about the exhibition and he replied that he had seen long lines to the gallery the previous day. So, we went there pretty early on Sunday and we were not forced to wait in a line but some 2 hours later visitors were waiting as limited number of people was let in at one time. Keep in mind that many Warsaw loacals love to visit 3 places on Sunday, in chronological order: a church, a gallery or museum (option: park, ZOO) and a shopping mall/supermarket :-).
I bought a ticket (10 zl, on each Thursday free!) and followed the crowds and went upstairs. In the first large room I saw a lot of paintings by Boznanska and after taking 2 pictures certainly with no flash I was asked by a lady - museum guard not to take any pictures :-(. A young and very nice pregnant lady with huge abdomen (she is a happy mother now for sure) suddenly presented herself as a student of art, dedicated fan of Boznanska and welcomed all to hear her stories on life and art of Boznanska. She was talking with great passion. So, I easily got to know a lot of fascinating facts on the artist's life and paintings which was for me very interesting.
Boznanska (1865-1940) was taught painting and drawing by her mother. At age of 21 she moved to Munich, Germany to study art which caused conflict with her father. It was not costumary for a woman to be an artist that time. Soon she opened own studio in Munich, became famous and exhibited her works in many galleries in Europe and the USA. She was included among top 12 woman's painters in Europe by prestigeous Berlin's art journal. In 1898 she moved to Paris but often visited Poland. She never got married, she said that her husband was art. She painted over 1,200 paintings now mostly stored in private collections but also in Muzeum Orsay, Paris; Art Gallery in Lviv, Ukraine and National Museums in Cracow and Warsaw. She painted still life and landscapes but first of all numerous portraits. Now she is often classified as postimpressionist but in fact she developed own style. After WWI she closed in her studio and painted, painted. She was honored with the French Legion of Honor in 1912 and the Order of Polonia Restitutta in 1938.
I was surprised that many Boznanska's paintings were not well lighted, thus somewhat dark and sad. The lady-guide explained that strange and extravagant Boznanska used to paint not on canvas but on cardboards. The collectors from all over the world who hired her 110 works for the exhibition (all were never presented to the public) ordered specific weak lighting and usage of some filters not to damage the paintings.
Tasia, Jurek, June and Paul
by matcrazy1
1. I was lucky to meet for the first time Tasia from Minsk, Belarus and Jurek (jbpinki) from Lodz, Poland in Warsaw.
2. Tasia, you won our (mine and my wife's) hearts. We were very lucky to meet you. You are so nice person. Thanks a lot for being with us till Sunday and giving us a lot of fan, good laugh and joy. I'd love to repeat it someday... What do you think?
3. Jurek, thanks for coming from, well, not so far Lodz. I enjoyed your company and stories. Haha, your already planned trip to London sounds quite interesting and spontaneus :-). It's a pity you couldn't join us on Saturday and Sunday. We have to meet again for sure.
My new best friend Wyborowa
by AcornMan
Wyborowa is not a person, it is Poland's flagship vodka. I'm not much of a vodka drinker, but one shot of this stuff made a convert aout of me. Smooth doesn't even begin to describe how gentle and cool this vodka is. I brought home a nice big bottle of Wyborowa, though I'm told it is widely available around the world because Poland exports so much of it. Still, there's nothing like getting it straight from the source.