Zipping off to Zelazowa Wola

Saturday 22 September.  Today was adventure day.  Relying on vague information gleaned from the internet, we took off this morning to visit Chopin’s birthplace – the village of Zelazowa Wola.  First to Warsaw Central Station and a visit to the toalty – public toilet - where every cubicle is themed with panoramas of fish or other animals (we’re sure that Kyle would be happy to spend the rest of his life here), then a 45-minute train ride to Socheczew, a small town west of Warsaw where absolutely nobody speaks English.  Then on the Number 6 bus for the 25-minute ride to the village of Zelazowa Wola, and a short walk to the house, which is set among beautiful gardens and is now a museum.  Armed with our (English) audio-guide we wandered through the gardens and admired the old trees and roses and all the plants in their autumn splendour, as well as the river that meanders through the property, all the time listening to Chopin piano works piped through speakers along the paths. Then to the house itself, which contains no furniture apart from a piano that was played by Chopin on a return visit to his birthplace - the family actually left here when Chopin was only about a year old and moved to Warsaw.  John was hoping to play a scherzo or a polonaise on the piano but fortunately the keyboard was protected by a solid Perspex cover and we were all spared.  After sitting in on a film about Chopin's life (in Polish) and a lunch of cabbage leaves stuffed with meat we were ready to head back, however the bus back to the station was not due for over an hour, so we had a stroll through the countryside and eventually hopped on another bus somewhere that took us back to the station by another route.  We then sat on the platform for an hour, playing “I spy” using only the Polish words that we could see from the station, and arrived back at our apartment about 6pm.  A great day - we actually stood in the room where Friedrich Francoise Chopin was born on 23 April 1810.

Tomorrow: the Old Town and the New Town and, with a bit of luck, a Chopin piano recital.