Yesterday was a bit cooler, than goodness, and I took a slower pace, spending most of the day walking to, around or from parks. The two in particular, Ujazdowski and Lazienki, are quite lovely and just what I needed after two days spent primarily in the city.

Ujazdowski was a smaller park on the corner of two streets while Lazienki was much bigger, likely comparable to Central Park in New York City but I can’t say for sure. The threatening skies resulted in only one gentle rain shower and it was otherwise a great day, especially due to the fact that it was not brutally hot but even a bit chilly and windy at times – my favorite!

On the way to the park I passed by the Ronald Reagan monument (the Poles are big fans of Reagan) and the US Embassy. I have to say that while the Reagan monument is a good likeness and nicely placed, the embassy, directly across the street) is a disaster of a building, utterly without charm. (I’d post a picture for you but I forgot one cord I needed for transferring pictures from my camera to my iPad… sigh, best laid plans. Next trip!) A lot of the guide books talk about the Socialist Realist architecture of the Communist era; I am not an architectural expert, but when I look at the US Embassy it screams Socialist Realist and really what could be more inappropriate for the embassy of the USA than such an ugly, functional building? I felt embarrassed, actually, that it was so ugly. The Swiss embassy next door was in a charming building and I suspect other embassies in the area were as well.

I will post pictures when I’m back home and you’ll see what I mean.

My tour of Lazienki Park started with the lovely Botanical Gardens. I took lots of flower shots here and also saw my first cat in Poland. He / she looked happy and content although he / she was very shy, taking care not to let me get too close. I snapped two quick pics before he / she hid permanently. I suspect life in the Botanical gardens is rather nice for him / her. Unlike the cute little black kitty I saw later in the day sitting sweetly by the side of a major highway, getting ready to hide from an approaching dog – ugh! But there is nothing I can do – I watched to make sure the dog didn’t bother her but then walked away before she wandered out into the street and got run over right in front of me. I’m sure that street cats are quite savvy, but still…

Lazienki Park included the Chopin Monmument (picture posted on FB from my iPhone) and the large open square surrounding it, the Palace on the Isle and lots of other beautiful buildings and settings. They needed a few more maps posted around the park but otherwise it was beautifully well kept

The squirrels are red here. Took a pic of one eating from a plastic bag within 3 feet of the man who was feeding him. The noise from my camera scared him a bit but he came back as soon as I kept walking.

I had potato pancakes and chicken “leaver” with apple chutney for lunch at an outdoor cafe atop a hill in Ujazdowski Palace. It was very windy but a nice area. I can’t believe I didn’t figure out that “leaver” was liver, but I discovered it as soon as I took a bite. I ate about half of the leaver, smothering it with chutney as long as it lasted and left the rest on the plate. The pancakes were absolutely delicious!

In the evening before dark I walked to the corner of Zelazna and Chlodna. I had been there on Monday as part of my ghetto tour, but one of the guide books said there was a lighted monument that came on at sunset to commemorate that spot, scene of the elevated footbridge between the larger and smaller ghetto. Nothing came on and when  I asked the hostess at the restaurant on the corner she didn’t know what I was talking about either due to our joint language difficulties or the absence of any real light display on that corner.