Saturday, November 12, 2011

Independence Day celebrations (?)

Everything was looking out quite well. 
The day was chilly but unexpectedly sunny, with beautifully coloured autumn leaves falling down left and right and forming a most amazing yellow-red-orange carpet in the parks all around town.

I met with Fer, a Spanish friend's boyfriend who's currently on an internship in a Polish town called Lublin, and wanted to see Warsaw on our National Day. We went to pick up Mauro, an Italian CSer who'd just come to Warsaw on a business trip and wrote me looking for a bit of local company for a couple of hours. Together we set off in the direction of the Old Town and the walk took us through Saski Park, where we got just in time to see a bit of the Independence Day parade by the Unknown Soldier's Tomb.


All the time we were walking there, I was feeling so positive and proud to be seeing the Polish Flag all over - traditionally street lamps and building entrances are decorated in white and red, but also people and cars carrying little flags, children using bigger ones as Superman-type caps, SuperPoles, if you will. Everyone rejoicing, celebrating the day Józef Piłsudzki was announced Commander-in-Chief over the Polish Forces - 123 years of occupation, partition and bloody fights were over, although the nation didn't get too much time to embrace their independence.. And it should be mentioned that Poland got to celebrate 11th of November openly only 24 times in its history! It was estabilished as a National Day in 1937 and got banned under German occupation (39-45), it was also illegal to celebrate it during the comunism era (45-89). Thus, we got our Independence Day in '37 and '38 and then from '89 till now. Not too much independence celebration for a centuries old nation, it would seem..


But back to the day at hand - so there I was going on about how great this day is, how Poles finally come together, stop complaining about their country and their countrymen. All was true till the moment I decided to take Fer for dinner in U Szwejka, a restaurant at the Constitution Square, where we got ourselves in the middle of riots started by, pardon my vocabulary, moronic imbeciles who instead of celebrating the freedom they can enjoy know, started demolishing the very city they find shelter in. Also, to make things worse, they invited our German neighbours to help them fight the police, beat up innocent people, throw bottles and bricks at anyone unlucky enough to be within their reach. We got gased and coughed a bit of our lungs out, almost got hit wth glass.
splashing in front of our feet.. I was so furious and embarrased I could only try to joke about it.













Why are people unable to create anything worthy so keen on destroying whatever anyone else has managed to achieve with their hard work and effort?




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