Trams and Chopin

Monday, July 7, 2008
This past weekend we began to get acquainted with Poland’s history—beyond what we’ve read in books. Saturday was threatening rain so we postponed our trip downtown to Old Town. Elizabeth and I had our “Intro to Tram Riding 101” lesson. It really wasn’t a big deal but since we’d never done it before, it was something to be learned. After riding the tram a few stops, getting off, walking around, getting back on, and walking home, we ate lunch and prepared for a different kind of excursion. We took the car (It’s a Volvo, diesel, stick shift—6 gears! It is a very nice car.) and drove out of Warsaw. We got on route 580 drove through several small towns until we arrived in Zelazowa Wola. According to the guide book, this is where, “in a Romantic manor house surrounded by a park, Frederic Chopin was born on 1 March 1810.” We paid the fee to visit the house and the park. Only the ground floor of the house was open for the tour and we were given a laminated sheet (in English) to use for a self-guided tour. It seemed small compared to my image of a “manor house” but we walked through about six rooms so it really wasn’t a small house. The wooden plank floors were beautiful and the painted ceilings were lovely. I loved the ceramic tile heating ovens that warmed the house in its prime. We were intrigued by the wood inlay tables and the veneer work that had the pattern of the wood grain consistent over the faces of several drawers in a dresser or up the side and over the top on another cabinet. The most fascinating things for me were two pianos in the house. One was about the size of a baby grand but instead of the sweeping curves we expect on a piano of that style, this was all straight edges and angles. I have seen a square grand piano but never one that was a truncated triangle. The other was referred to as a “giraffe” because the sounding board is vertical. I have included a photo I found online that is similar to the one in the house. The guide information said Chopin composed some of his earliest works on such an instrument.
After touring the house we wandered through the park. We seem to have just missed many of the spring blooms but after about a week in the city, the green of the park was a wonderful respite. We also enjoyed watching the young newlywed couples with their photographers. It seemed around every bend in the path there was another couple being positioned “just so” by a photographer. As we were ready to leave the park, we noticed a small, outdoor café and decided to step in—chocolate was prominently displayed on the menu! We ordered the cold drinking chocolate which was a terrific way to end our visit to Chopin’s birthplace.
As we returned to Warsaw, the rain that had been threatening all day came down with a vengeance but we made it home safely. I consider our first venture into sightseeing a definite success.