Warsaw: Back with the Streetlamp Motif

Back with the streetlamp motif here.  Warsaw has lots of beautiful streetlamps, although these two are dominated by an interesting sky in the background.

Warsaw: The Lazienki Chopin Concert (at 4pm on Sunday 29th June)

At 4pm on Sunday 29th June 2014, I finally got round to seeing one of the Sunday afternoon Chopin concerts in Lazienki Park:

According to the schedule below, the pianist was Elzbieta Karaś-Krasztel who was fantastic:

Many particularly younger people just came to the event to lie on the grass and  relax to the music:

Before each piece of music, the compere below explained (in Polish and English) what it was:

Of course, after each piece of music and especially at the end, the extremely talented pianist  took fully deserved rounds of applause:

Song of the Day: 'Fantasy' by Earth Wind & Fire

This song just takes me back to 1977, my first year at secondary school, St. Gabriel's in Bury, Lancashire.  Just love the upbeat mood and rhythm and beautiful melody of this song. 

Remember buying this as a 7-inch single and marvelling at the yellow-orange CBS record label logo which I was setting my eyes on for the first time.

This song also gave me some kind of enchantment:  a kind of idealised image of a magical world that existed over the Atlantic.

Warsaw Lutheran Cemetery: Some More Shots

Below are some more shots from the smaller of the two sections of the Lutheran cemetery at lower Wola, Warsaw:

The statue above almost reminds me of the Catholic saint, St. Theresa of Lisieux, but the woman in the statue above has a plain cross rather than a crucifix.

Love the tree-enshrouded grave below, as nature seems to perfectly balance with human construction as a fitting memorial to the deceased person (or people):

Inside the smaller of the two parts of the Lutheran cemetery, there is also the extremely photogenic church building below:

As can be seen below, the stained glass windows are also beautiful:

And, finally, there are quite a few interesting-looking statues dotted around the smaller part of the Lutheran cemetery, such as the two below:

Yes, if you're ever in Warsaw, both parts of the Lutheran cemetery at lower Wola are well worth a visit.

A Red Squirrel Leading Me a Merry Dance in Lazienki Park

This red squirrel led me a real merry dance while I was trying to take shots of it in Lazienki Park, Warsaw.  Almost every time:  in the split second that it takes for the flash to go off, the 'little critter' had moved.

Still, in the end, my perseverance somewhat paid off, as I eventually got the semi-decent shot of the squirrel above.

Misiek: A Fine Golden Retriever

Some time ago, I put a picture of Misiek, my wife's parents' Golden Retriever, on here from when he was a puppie.  So, here's a far more recent picture of him, as he now is a finely developed Golden Retriever.

Warsaw: The French Orphans' Grave?

Came across the following what, at a guess, may be a French orphans' grave in the smaller of the two parts of the Lutheran cemetery at lower Wola in Warsaw (here, I'm assuming that the smaller second part is related to the much larger definitely Lutheran part just up the road, which may not be the case)

For obvious reasons, this grave caught my eye, and took me back to Blake's 'Songs of Innocence and Experience', especially 'The Chimney Sweeper' and 'Holy Thursday' poems.  

All in all, the grave looked very distinguished with the dragon-type coat of arms above, and the old but still elegant gate below:

But beyond the gate, there was the locked opening, and I couldn't help but think about how many orphans may've been buried below:

Just seen an article on the internet in French which may suggest that this grave relates to a German massacre that took place in the Wola district of Warsaw in 1944.