Poland... the best kept secret of Europe!

After 10 days of rainy weather we lucked out on this particular Saturday with sunny skies and ideal temps. It was such a beautiful day to visit the sites. Not to be forgotten! You probably can't really tell, but in the background is a wedding party.

The Presidential Palace.... the equivalent of the White House. The brown cross (a source of controversy between the older more traditional generation and the younger more secular generation) is in honor of the president and his wife who were killed last April in a plane wreck.
Many Poles have paid their respects in front of the palace
Nowy Swiat... a very quaint street just outside Old Town. Love it!
This is how we roll. We have loved our double stroller!
The Palace of Culture and Science is the tallest building in Poland and Stalin's pet project just before he died. Most Poles don't like it because it's a throwback to Communist times. Ironically, it is patterned after the Empire State Building.
We went to the top to see the magnificent views of Warsaw
Em, apparently not afraid of heights
Caroline... she's the greatest!


The Warsaw Ghetto wall has of course been destroyed, but the perimeter has been preserved and marked. Pretty neat.
Em walking along where the wall once was
Sometimes Em would just get tired on our outings and take a little rest.

No car... just our stroller and our legs

We attempted walking home from the embassy... it was a bit further than anticipated and Em conked out not too far into the journey.Sleeping Beauty
The weekend of the 17-18 September Ben's good friend Chuck came to visit. He is also a FAO in Poland and is about to retire from the army. He was Ben's boss in Iraq and they had a good time reminiscing about the ole war days. We also dragged him to church. Can you see the heavenly beams lighting upon them? It's a sign Chuck. He posted this pic on facebook and said, "Here I am with the only person on the planet that could get me to go to church." Way to go Ben.
President and Sister Harding are full-time missionaries here. He is our branch president. They are from Malad Idaho and have nice children and are super nice. They took us to an American restaurant called Jeff's. So far our experiences with fine Polish cuisine include Jeff's and Pizza Hut.

Warsaw Ghetto and Park

They don't seem to really go together, but these are the two places we hit on our Saturday. Our wonderful tour guides, Asia and Richard from church, showed us this little alley where on either side are original buildings that were within the walls of the Warsaw Ghetto. They are the only ones still standing. Pretty amazing.Asia and Richard. They are awesome. She's Polish, he's American. Check out Ben posing in the middle. What a stud. He makes fatherhood look so fashionable.
Up close you can see the German machine-gun holes and mortar fire
I had to get this shot in too... it's fun to pack C around like this
...And then on to the park. C's first time on the swing. She LOVED it.
Em looks a little too excited about having this kind of control over C's safety.
And we come home, tired but happy.

Am I Dreaming?

One of our favorite things about living in Warsaw so far are the live piano concerts at Lazienki Park every Sunday. The performers come from all over Europe and play exclusively Chopin. Pinch me please.

I was sitting comfortably on a bench and had the best view until the tall man in the black shirt planted himself right in my line of vision. Down in front!