History of Polish Jews...

The Nozyk Synagogue, originally built in 1902, was located in the small ghetto and was used as a stable by the Nazis. Although it survived the war, it was later demolished and rebuilt. Unfortunately, it was closed when we went past.

This memorial tree stands in front of the remnants of Pawaik Prison, built in 1835. After serving as a Gestapo prison during WWII, it was destroyed by the Germans in 1944.

The walking tour ended at the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, which opened in 2013. After having a picnic lunch in the park, Jimmy and I went to this impressive museum.

I especially enjoyed seeing the reconstructed interior of a wooden Polish synagogue from 1650. It was damaged during WWI, rebuilt, and then destroyed by the Nazis.

The entrance hall was quite impressive, resembling a gorge. According to its website, it symbolizes a gap in the 1,000-year history of Polish Jews.

Outside the museum was the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes, built in 1948 to commemorate the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943 partially using materials brought by Nazis into Warsaw.

We also went past the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with an eternal flame, which was erected after WWI as part of Saxon Palace which was destroyed during WWII. 

Warsaw Ghetto...

We took an excellent walking tour of what once was the Warsaw Ghetto, the largest of the Jewish ghettos in German-occupied Europe during WWII with over 400,000 people imprisoned there. These sidewalk signs designate where the ghetto once stood.

The Warsaw Ghetto was burned down by the Nazis in May 1943 after a Jewish uprising. A few of the original buildings from the small ghetto are still standing.

Most of the remaining buildings are falling apart so there are protective wiring to catch falling bricks. Some are still occupied...

...and some aren’t.

This sculpture and its twin across the street stand as a reminder of the staircase that once existed to march Jews up and over the road between the walls of the small and large ghettos.

The tour guide showed us a similar photo to this one that I found on Wikipedia.

This building, which was outside the ghettos, is the same one seen in the background of the above photo.

St. Augustine Church, built in 1896, was one of the only surviving buildings within the large ghetto. Only 1 of the city’s 300 synagogues survived the war.

Back to Warsaw...

The following day I surprised Jimmy with a stay at a small spa hotel. Unfortunately, it was in the middle of a boring industrial area, so we just hung out at the pool and ate dinner there.

The next day we dropped off the rental car and took the train into Warsaw where we were spending three nights at this cute apartment.

We walked all over the city, including to this market built in 1905, which has been converted to a modern supermarket.

We walked down to the river and found that there were several riverboat restaurants. We enjoyed sitting on beanbags in the sunshine and drinking cheap California wine.

We moved down to the water level for dinner...

...and eventually moved to the riverfront beach to watch a World Cup game. 

Back to the Wedding Site...

After a few hours of sleep, we headed back to the wedding site to go to a brunch at a nearby restaurant on a lake.

It was nice chatting with folks, but the food was not nearly as good as what we’d had the night before at the wedding.

Afterwards, we went back to the wedding site to help clean up. Nick’s dad was enthusiastic and very helpful. Later that evening, we enjoyed going to the aqua park at our hotel. It was small, but the water slide was fun and the hot tub was relaxing.

Late Night Shenanigans...

At midnight there was an impressive fireworks show...

...and fresh pierogies were put out including these delicious vegan spinach ones. The buffet dinner earlier had an incredible assortment of salads and appetizers for vegans, vegetarians or meat eaters, plus lots of grilled food. 

During dinner an amazing band played and afterwards a DJ played until the wee hours of the morning. Here is Jimmy dancing with Julie...

...and between steps with Freya (being photo bombed by Dave).

Jimmy later took photos of me hanging out at the bar Nick built with Kevin, a hasher from London, and Alex, Ola’s British cousin.

There was definitely no shortage of alcohol at this wedding.

This is one of the last late night photos I took before the party finally wrapped up after 4 a.m. There was no doubt that this was one of the best weddings we’d ever attended.

More Wedding Fun...

It was so cool to meet up with hashers from different phases of Ola and Nick’s lives. We sat with Abbie and Derek from Amsterdam as well as Julie and Alan from Brussels. It was also great to see Dave, who we knew from Holland but is now living in Hong Kong...

...and Alan from Germany.

I know that photo booths are all the rage at weddings these days, but I don’t like the idea of fake mustaches and silly signs. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw Ola and Nick’s version of the photo booth and was happy to both take photos and pose for some myself.

Jimmy also enjoyed photo bombing at the photo booth.

No idea what Nick and I were discussing, but clearly we were cracking each other up.

Nick is quite a good guitarist and likes to write songs, so it was not surprising when he dedicated a song to Ola.

A Little Bit Country...

In contrast to the classiness of where dinner was served, there was a down-home country side of the venue complete with portable toilets and a smoking section.

Nick had made these tables to be used around the firepit for later in the evening, but Jimmy thought they’d be a perfect replacement for a ladder so he could take a group shot.

 The shot turned out really nice. Best of all, Jimmy didn’t fall.

 Getting down was a bit of an adventure...

 ...with Cosmo helping a little more than he might have planned.

 Afterwards, he took some other nice photos...

 ...the best of which was this one with the wheelbarrows.