bettyk

In September, we spent 3 weeks in Europe, one of which was on a tour of Poland called "Magical Poland." The tour itself was 6 days and was conducted by a local travel company, Mazurkas Travel, which I booked through Blue Danube Holidays.

We haven't taken an organized tour in a very long time, but really enjoyed this one. It wasn't too long, we had an excellent travel guide and our travel companions were great. It was a fast pace but one we were comfortable with. We felt the tour gave us good value for money paid.

We arrived in Warsaw a day before our tour began and a driver picked us up at the airport and took us to the Polonia Palace Hotel for the night. Our tour hotel was the Novotel Centrum around the corner but it wasn't available for this first night. The Polonia Palace was a beautiful, 4* property, close to transportation, shops and restaurants. We were upgraded to a larger room when we arrived. Breakfast was sumptuous and delicious. I wouldn't hesitate to stay there gain.

All of the hotels on our tour were large business type hotels, which I expected and knew about ahead of time. But considering how little time we actually spent in our hotel room, it wasn't an issue for us. All of the meals that were included in the tour were very good with a couple of them being outstanding.

The rest of our trip was spent mostly in Austria with a few days in Germany. When those photos are available, I'll post a link with a mini trip report.

Anyway, for those of you who might be interested, here is the link to the photos my DH took on our tour. We visited Warsaw, Czestochowa, Auschwitz-Birkenau, Zakopane and Krakow with a lunch stop in Lowicz on the way back to Warsaw. We also went on a rafting trip on the Dunajec River in the Pieniny National Park.

http://travel.webshots.com/album/581538030WiSbEI

If you have any questions, I'll be happy to try to answer them.

adrienne

Nice photos. I recently returned from 2 weeks in Poland and fell in love with the country and the people. I didn't care much for Warsaw - large, sprawling city. I really enjoyed Poznan, Wroclaw, and Krakow.

adrienne

I forgot to ask what camera you used and did you have a tripod in St. Mary's church in Krakow? Your photos of the altar were much better than mine.

bettyk

DH uses a Canon 30D. He says he pushed his ISO to the max (3200) and shot the photos handheld. He did take a monopod but only used it for a few photos in Austria and for some night shots.

We didn't have a problem with Warsaw, even though it is a big city. We enjoyed walking around the area near the hotel, our tour of the Royal Castle as well as Łazienki Park. It was just fun being in Poland!

I felt alot of admiration for the Polish people and what they went through during the war. It is evident through the many memorials in Warsaw that they suffered greatly.

Ozarksbill

Nice photos with flowers in bloom. I'll study them further. Warsaw is a bustling large city but I marvel how the totally demolished square has been so carefully rennovated. Have you seen the movie "The Uprising?" Yes, Zakopane a nice trip in the mountains and Krakow so ancient. As for Aushwitz-Berkenau...I believe it is an important place to visit.
Bill in Boston

bettyk

Bill, we were told that the Canaletto paintings of Warsaw that now hang in the Royal Castle were used to help in the reconstruction of the old town after the war.

No, I have not seen Uprising but I have seen The Pianist. On the tour, before we got to Krakow, we were shown the movie, "Karol, a Man Who Became Pope." It was an interesting look at the early years of Pope John Paul II, who is revered in Poland.

iris1745

Enjoyed the photos. We liked Warsaw a lot and so appreciated the work done to reconstruct the old town. Did you get to the free Chopin concert in the park surrounded by rose bushes. It may have been in the park you visited. But, You would have to had been there on a Sunday. Richard

bettyk

Unfortunately, Richard, we did not get to go to the free concert in the park BUT our tour group did attend a piano concert performed by Maria Skurjat-Silva at the Raczynski Palace. It was very enjoyable.

latedaytraveler

BettyK, beautiful pics. You really covered a great deal. Thanks for sharing. Poland has such a noble, albeit sad, history. Geography is destiny. The country was constantly buffeted by forces from East and West, particularly in WWII.

You might enjoy reading THE LAST MAZURKA: A Family’s Tale of War, Passion, and Loss by Andrew Tarnowski. The Tarnowskis were a privileged, noble Polish family displaced by the Nazis who survived through their aristocratic connections in Europe during the war. With difficulty, they survived in England and eventually some of the clan returned to their ancestral homelands. Great read.

bettyk

Thanks, latedaytraveler. The book sounds interesting. Years ago, my husband read Poland by James Mitchner (sp) and found the history of the country fascinating.

The interesting thing about Poland today is that same geography is helping them become one of the fastest growing economies in Europe. There was so much building going on all over Warsaw. It is a very vibrant city.

adrienne

<< There was so much building going on all over Warsaw >>

Betty - Poland is getting ready to co-host the 2012 Euro Cup. The 4 locations (Warsaw, Poznan, Wroclaw, and Gdansk) are building stadiums (such as the new one in Warsaw you probably saw) and renovating the train stations. Krakow will be an alternate venue in case one of the original four cities is not ready. Everyone I spoke with in Poland is very excited about the Euro Cup coming to their country.

nicksgirl88

Hi bettyk -
Enjoyed your report and photos. Now I am anxiously awaiting your trip report on Germany and Austria - my two favorite places to travel.

bettyk

adrienne, we did see the new stadium in Warsaw and they are very excited about showing off their city/country to the world.

nicksgirl, I'll try to post my report soon. Photos probably won't be ready, though, for a week or so.

irishface

thanks for sharing your pictures. It looks as if it was a great trip! I really liked Poland when I visited in 2005. It was May, but cold, rainy and occasional snow. Your pictures are so colorful!

Ozarksbill

bettyk, when in the Nat'l Fine Arts Museum in Vienna we saw a Dutch collection such as vanDyke, Bruegels, Rembrandt, whole gallery of Rubens, but also a special display on loan from Warsaw by Belleto with many city scenes. And these we learned were very helpful in depicting how the old city looked before destruction.

bettyk

irishface, we were blessed with mostly warm and wonderful weather. I was actually hoping for some colder temps, but no such luck!

ms_go

Nice photos! Thanks for sharing. I've had a couple of relatively brief visits to Poland (Warsaw, Krakow, Poznan and Czestochowa) and would love to plan a more in-depth trip in the future.

bettyk

Thanks, ms_go. I also think Poland deserves more time than we gave it but we didn't want to spend too much time on a bus tour. But, we weren't sure how difficult it would be to get around without knowing any Polish.

We found that many people speak English in the tourist areas but there is definitely a problem with traffic so I imagine driving could be a challenge.

Anyway, I certainly would mind returning to Poland some day.

bettyk

Oops, last sentence should say ...I certainly wouldn't mind...

nicksgirl88

Hi bettyk - just checking in to see when we might see your trip report from Germany and Austria.