The beautiful flowers and lush surroundings of Lazienki Park came as a result of a wet spring. This has been a winter and spring of record snow and rain. The saturated land and heavy snow pack have combined with unprecedented rainfall to produce the biggest floods in over 100 years in Poland. Poland is influenced by a few major river systems that drain into the main river artery, the Wisula. The river runs from the southern boarder and empties into the Baltic Sea in Gdansk. No City along its course has escaped the effects of its high water. Thousands have been evacuated and the Poles have pulled together to fill sand bags and help each other out. (No Pun intended) 
Two of the adjacent pictures were taken from a bridge near our apartment in New Town in Warsaw. The water level on the bridge piers is up about 3 to 4 meters from normal height.
We live well above the river and, it appears that for Warsaw, only the low-lying suburbs have been affected. We are happy to see that the majority of Varsavians have not been impacted. However, many of the smaller cities have been significantly affected. A walk through the city this afternoon found many visitors and residents enjoying the warm spring day. On our drive home from Church earlier this afternoon we were pelted with grape sized hail balls. Ten minutes later the sky had cleared inviting all to come our and risk another 
exchange with Mother Nature. We accepted the challenge and found ourselves with hundreds of others enjoying a relaxing afternoon with the cool freshness that a spring storm brings.
exchange with Mother Nature. We accepted the challenge and found ourselves with hundreds of others enjoying a relaxing afternoon with the cool freshness that a spring storm brings. The sidewalk cafes and shops on our street were filled with families and young people standing in lines to enjoy Poland's delicious lody (ice-cream) I will put it up against any ice cream we have found anywhere in the world . So far it is at the top. Tomorrow we head to Italy to enjoy the sights and flavors that are famous to that region. However, we have become very fond and proud of our Eastern European home in Warsaw with all of its customs, quirks and color. Rome's offering will have to be over the top to topple our current favorite.
Even before the movie "NIGHT at the MUSEUM," Warsaw made it into real life experiences for Poles. This year on May 15 all museums and art Galleries in Poland were staffed and opened all night (or at least until 3:00 a.m. we heard from one teen) so in this way we celebrated David's birthday (along with watching Robin Hood at a nearby theater with Polish subtitles. An easy BD present from Lisa as David likes R.C. movies) People came out in droves and made it quite the evening. Old Town with its numerous museums and gallaries was filled with people who were enjoying the social novelty offered for free to all those willing to venture out at the late hour. It is really a neat event. We took a couple pictures which didn't turn out too well, so we snapped these during daylight. 
Lisa is standing in front of Madame Curie's museum which, "chronicles the life and work of Madame Marie Curie, a Polish chemist and physicist, winner of two Nobel Prizes and pioneer in the study of Radioactivity." We learned this online, because the film is in Polish! It is about 4 or 5 blocks from our apartment. It was packed to the brim during the Night at the Museum. David is in front of the entrance to the Old Town guard towers that resemble those that once stood as a main entry to the gated and walled city. A door that we pass by frequently, but didn't realize contained a museum about the walls, had a long line which we joined to tour the passage-way where we could see out the tiny windows shown in the picture. That night "if these walls could talk" seemed to tell the story from old drawings and maps of what previous walls looked like.
As we finished our walk we passed a few areas near our home that speak to the charm that is Europe. Lisa is standing in a narrow street that is sometimes referred to as Hostel Alley. It has two youth hostels that invite the young back-packers that migrate throughout Europe in all seasons. Every high school graduate's dream, footloose with a backpack traveling to the major cities of Europe.
The final photo is of our favorite little gathering place. It is New Town Square in Warsaw. It is just a few blocks from were we live. In previous blogs you can see this square in the different seasons. My favorite photo is the Winter scene. However, the serenity of this Springtime setting is a close second. We love the restaurants that surround this peaceful part of Warsaw.
