Monday, October 7, 2013

Signs of autumn are now everywhere in Warsaw.

All the trees are changing colors in shades of crimson, cinnamon, golden yellows and pumpkin orange. Sidewalks and parks are littered with fallen brown leaves. Temperatures are hovering around 50 F (8-10 C) during the daytime and down to 32 F or below (0-1 below C) at night. Brrr!

Before temps get too cold and the trees loose all their leaves, I decided to spend an afternoon taking some fall photos in Łazienki Park (Łazienki Królewskie in Polish). This centrally-located park is the city’s largest at 76 hectares (187 acres). This is the same park that hosted the summer Chopin concerts on Sundays that we enjoyed so much.
Here is the Chopin monument where the summer concerts were held.
Łazienki Park dates back to the 17th century, taking its name from a bathing pavilion that was once located here. In 1764, the King of Poland Stanisław August Poniatowski acquired the gardens for himself and later had a former palace, nicknamed The Palace on the Water (Pałac na Wodzie), remodeled for his own residence. The palace is currently undergoing massive renovations, but you can still get some lovely photos of it residing on the artificial lake.
The Palace on the Water (Pałac na Wodzie) in Warsaw.
The park is a gorgeous setting for a morning or afternoon stroll. I saw older couples together, young mothers with their children and friends of all ages strolling through the park, picking up fallen leaves and chestnuts and watching the squirrels and ducks.

Speaking of the squirrels…As I was squatting down to take some photos of these rambunctious red squirrels, one of them decided to run towards me and climb up on my leg! I did not appreciate this fellow’s friendliness and may have screamed a bit.
These red squirrels sure are cute until they try to climb up your leg!
After the squirrel incident, I stumbled upon a long path filled with red, Chinese lanterns. Apparently, the King created “Chinese Avenue” in 1780 because of his fascination with the Far East, and this road was only recently reopened after renovations. This wide avenue connects the 18th-century Royal Garden to the 19th-century Belvedere Garden. It’s also another excellent place for photos!
I left the park with a bag full of chestnuts and a memory card full of fall photos.

Happy fall everyone!
The "White House" housed the King's mistress for awhile.
Marble busts near the Old Orangerie in the park.
I love the bird just sitting on this statue!

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7 comments:

kami said...

I was there yesterday (and so were tonz of other people, the place was so crowded!) and it looked so stunning with the autumn colours! It might not be my fave park in Warsaw but it definitely is beautiful!

Joy said...

@Kami, thank you! I'm curious, what's your favorite park then? I'd still love to get down to the Wilanow Palace while the trees look so pretty. Hopefully, we will have another sunny day soon. The trees looked stunning yesterday!

kami said...

The best time to visit Wilanów is in spring, when magnolia trees bloom, it's pretty spectacular then! I really like Park Skaryszewski, it's pretty big and with a fairly big lake in the middle. But I guess it's my fave because I'm there the most often as I live and work nearby

Joy said...

@Kami, thanks so much for your tip! I haven't been to that park or even much over to the Praga area since we moved here. Great excuse if the weather gets nice this week! :-)

kami said...

So when you get to Praga be sure to check the Neon Museum in Soho Factory, it's small yet really amazing! Well, the whole Praga district is great and so much different than the other side of the river

BacktoBodrum said...

It looks beautiful Joy.

Joy said...

@Kami, I made it to Park Skaryszewski this afternoon and loved all the gorgeous fall colors here! I'll definitely be back to take some more photos. Still have the museum on the list for next time! :-)

@Annie, thanks! The city's park are absolutely gorgeous right now! More photos coming soon!