Warszawa, part IX - Zamek Królewski w Warszawie, Krakowskie Przedmieście and plac Zamkowy

Enter through the narrow gate..

I went back to the hostel after the Chopin museum. It had rained, and there was that fresh earthy green smell in the air that usually follows these afternoon showers. I went to one of the Carrefour expresses on the Krakowskie Przedmieście and got some vanilla milk, because apparently I've never really grown up, and walked slowly, sipping my vanilla milk as I went, enjoying the view.

I returned to the hostel and sat around for a bit, and then when I'd gotten my second wind, went out to the Zamek Królewski w Warszawie, or in English as it is known, The Royal Castle in Warsaw. It was right across from the hostel so was very accessible.

Facade of the Castle

Inside the courtyard

There was something very beautiful about the royal castle near dusk. The sun was setting and everything was darker, yet not in a forbidding way, but rather evoking the sense of rest and rebirth, even.

And then I walked out of the arch and turned, and saw this.

Something about the way the sunlight filtered down from the row of restored buildings resonated within me. That, and the lushness of the drying cobbled pavements. It was a rather magical moment, for reasons I'm unable to put in words, or describe in any language. The closest analogy I can find is that moment in Interview with the Vampire, when Louis first awakens as a vampire: "I saw as a- vampire," said the vampire, his voice now slightly detached. It seemed almost distracted.... "

Housman, maybe, says it the best:

Then I saw the morning sky:
Heigho, the tale was all a lie;
The world, it was the old world yet,
I was I, my things were wet,
And nothing now remained to do
But begin the game anew.