Dreamscapes Travel & Lifestyle Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dreamscapes.ca/i/889690
FALL/ WINTER 2017 DREAMSCAPES 47 embassies, including the Canadian, behind which we came upon a moving "memorial of thanks" dedicated to Canadian and Polish soldiers who fought side by side against the Germans. We stopped at the Church of the Holy Cross, the keeper of Frederic Chopin's 39-year-old heart, brought back from Paris to his homeland by his sister in 1850. Interac- tive benches outside the church describe his works and play one at the push of a button. In 2010, two crosswalks were painted on Emilii Plater to resemble piano keys in com- memoration of Chopin's 200 th birthday. The Chopin Museum, located in the Ostrogski Palace, is a cornucopia of all things Chopin: his compositions, person- ality and legacy are showcased in 11 displays. Highlights are seeing the very last piano on which he played, his original man- uscripts, letters and photographs of him with his illustrious artistic friends. Head- phones allowed us to revel in recordings of his music throughout. Our next walk took us to Warsaw's 700- year-old Old Town and the Royal Castle, both of which were razed to the ground during World War II. The astounding recon- struction's authenticity owes a great deal to 18 th -century paintings by Canaletto docu- menting visuals of the area and the castle. Warsaw was a stopping point for many artists on their way to commissions at the Russian court in St. Petersburg. The castle's interior recreates magnificent spaces deco- rated with maps and fine paintings that include two Rembrandts, and majestic throne rooms. The walls of its Great Assembly Hall are embossed in gold. The POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews took us on an extraordinary journey: from Jewish life in the Middle Ages to the present. In eight awe-inspiring galleries it showed us how and why Poland became home to 3.3 million Jews before the Holocaust. There are superb recreations of Jewish homes, a multicoloured celestial canopy, a synagogue and a Jewish street. Thirteen towns each demonstrate a different aspect of daily Jewish life. The years of 1939–45 reveal the horrors of the Holocaust: depor- tations, the Warsaw Ghetto uprising and death camps. After the devastation of war, Poles were confronted by new oppressors. We gained a panoramic view from the 30 th floor of the Palace of Culture and Science, a 46-floor, 3,288-room "wedding cake" gift from Stalin that is now a living museum and home to four theatre companies, two orchestras, two museums, two public libraries, a swimming pool, a private university, and the Warsaw Tourist Information Centre. Much as we hated to leave Warsaw, Krakow beckoned. KRAKOW Once Poland's capital, Krakow is home to 16 universities, 45 convents and monasteries, 120 churches, seven synagogues and a castle. Its Jagiellonian University, founded in 1364, counts Nicolaus Copernicus and Pope John Paul II as alumni. The university's Maius Col- lege has a fascinating museum of scientific instruments. We admired the 14 th -century "Jagiellonian Globe," used to determine astro- nomical coordinates, and the first globe to name America. We were also shown an OPPOSITE TOP: POLIN The Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw. Filip Kwiatkowski BELOW: The European Solidarity Centre in Gdansk. Grzegorz Mehring MIDDLE: The Amber Museum in Gdansk. Grzegorz Mehring BOTTOM: The Main Square in Krakow. Pawel Kranz