Walking to the Palace on the Isle

You can take a boat to the Palace on the Isle. I walked.

Today's Warsaw adventure was a walk southward on the Royal Route. The Royal Route is the route that the Warsaw-based Polish kings would take from the main palace in Old Town (north of where I am staying) to the summer palace, the Palace on the Isle (south of town).

Just a short distance south from Jerusalem Avenue (al. Jerozolimskie) was Plac Trzech Krzyży, an island in the middle of Nowy Swiat with a small church with a dome. Three roads veered off in different southerly directions at this point. I did not take the road less traveled. I took the road most traveled, the one in the middle.

Cool looking building, with an entryway being held up by two burly men of stone:

Speaking of men of stone:

I soon ran into President Ronald Reagan. I just had to get me a selfie with him.

The next dignitary I came upon was Ignacy Jan Paderewski or, more precisely, his monument.

Paderewski was a famous Polish pianist and composer turned prime minister. He was Poland's first prime minister after Poland was returned to the map after World War One, as a result of the Treaty of Versailles.

Paderewski had a big, beautiful park behind him. It was not as big as the park surrounding the Palace on the Isle (that's coming up), but it was worth the walk through.

Today was an unexpectedly sunny day. The weather forecast for this trip, right before I left town, had it raining. Every single day. They lied. Today was beautiful.

A beautiful day in a beautiful park filled with beautiful greenery.

And foot bridges.

And children playing.

And Chinese lion sculptures.

With foot bridges leading to a pagoda.

And a pagoda.

And, as nice as was the park surrounding Mr. Paderewski, it was not even the main event.

This was the main event:

 

The Palace on the Isle. First challenge, how to get to it.

As is often the case with me in this life, I found myself on the wrong side of the canal. Fortunately, there were many footpaths. Fortunately, the one alongside the canal took me to a bridge.

I crossed that bridge when I came to it.

And on that bridge was a statue.

Meet John III Sobieski.  This is the Pomnik Jana III Sobieskiego (translation: John III Sobieski Monument). Mr. Sobieski was King of Poland (and Grand Duke of Lithuania) from 1674 to 1696. A very very important man in the history not only of Poland, but of Europe. He led the Polish cavalry in their victory over the Ottoman Turks at the Gates of Vienna, basically saving Europe from the infidel Turks and saving Christendom from Moslem conquest.

So he's a big deal.

And this is the view he would have (if he were where his statue is) looking down the canal at the Palace on the Isle:

Sometimes when I travel, I find myself somewhere where I am enjoying myself so much that I have this giant smile on my face and a feeling of total and complete contentment. I call these "bliss spots." I do not find these every vacation, but I do often enough. This park was definitely one such place of bliss for me.

I'm not sure what this is and why it's there, but it looks sufficiently royal:

We must be in the right place then.

And we are now at the front of the Palace of the Isle:

What time is it?

The door to the Palace of the Isle is closed to all who do not hold the proper ticket. I did not.

They don't sell tickets to the Palace of the Isle at the Palace of the Isle. You have to go to the Stables. Which are very close. And the ticket included admission to the five sites within the park. So, after buying my ticket at the Stables (do not go to the Hunting Lodge to buy your ticket as their machine is broken), along the way back to the Palace of the Isle, I stopped by my first sight:

This is Pałac Myślewicki, or (and this is a difficult translation), the Myślewicki Palace.

This was the nearby home of a lesser grade royal.

Lesser in the royal hierarchy, yes, but fabulous nonetheless.

Euro-royals love the portraiture.

This picture was a tad demonic for a royal home, no?

Then it was back to the Palace on the Isle, for a look inside.

Well worth the price of admission, which was 40 zloty.

For purposes of "in your head" math, one zloty equals about a quarter. So 40 zloty is about ten dollars. For five buildings.

And all the mirror selfies I can handle.

I was told by the guide-guard that the clear plastic chairs on the left side of the photo are not original. Royal bums do not sit on plastic.

A view out of the window:

And this was the king's throne, for when he was entertaining visitors.

Note that the royal bum most certainly would not be seated on plastic.

Lots of art in the Palace on the Isle.

This place survived World War Two because the Germans used it as a headquarters building during the Nazi occupation.

There were explosives planted throughout the building when the Germans retreated, but, fortunately, they did not get around to detonating any of them. The guide-guard did not think they were planted as booby traps to kill the first Poles who entered. The theory is that the Nazis left quicker than expected. 

Another of those unlimited selfies included in the purchase price. Got time for one more?

The Palace on the Isle was not that big, not even the size of a typical suburban McMansion. So it soon was time to move on to the next attraction on my ticket, the White Pavilion:

Named because it is white. 

Inside as well as out.

As you can see, I wore red. In complete violation of the white theme.

And in the White Pavilion they also had a royal throne:

Of sorts. It was not labelled as such, but I believe that is an un-plumbed, wooden toilet.

Finally, after the White Pavilion, it was time to check out the sculptures to be found in the Old Orangery.

The busts of great Poles are original works. The classical-style statuary are plaster replicas.

Looking out the window at the garden:

I always like sculpture that has a dog looking adoringly at its master:

The classical statuary is in a single hall, which, at the end, leads out into the garden.

After the long walk, I was getting thirsty. I found a water tower.

Alas, there were no libations to be had at the water tower, so I had to leave the park in search of a drink to quench my thirst. Back to the Royal Route. Back to my hotel!