All Saint's Day

In our effort to immerse ourselves in Polish culture, we went and visited the most renowned cemetery in Warsaw on All Saint's Day, November 1. It is one of the biggest holidays here, a day in which they remember and honor the dead. Everything is closed... malls, stores, restaurants, it's crazy!

This is the outer wall of the cemetery and you can see the lines of people waiting to get in. It was packed!
One of the many vendors outside the cemetery selling mums. I tried to be sly in taking his picture but he caught me at the last minute.
Inside the cemetery... the headstones are unbelievable. Each is unique and many have intricate carvings and are several feet tall... very different from American cemeteries.

One of the many interesting headstones... a husband and wife buried next to each other
I love this pic!! A perfect Halloween scene...
Some gravesites didn't even have what I'd call a headstone... it was more like a mini cathedral. This one was about 20 feet tall.
Our awesome American friends the Jagards. They both served LDS missions here and are fluent in Polish. I am the odd one out! (Man, I wish I could speak Polish. Life would be a lot easier!)
Ben was excited to discover this gravesite. This is where a colonel who fought in the Polish underground during WWII is buried
The Poles place tons of flowers and light candles in honor of the dead

And of course, just outside the walls of the cemetery was McDonald's, the only place in town that was open. It was packed and the food was gross (no surprise there).