[dfwgator]

When you consider how Warsaw was in 1945, it’s amazing they were able to rebuild it at all. Today, it looks very modern, except for that monstrosity known as the “Palace of Culture and Science.”

[kabar]

The Poles made a concerted effort to rebuild the old city, the "Stare Miasto." One of my American colleagues born in Poland told me that as a school child in Krakow after the war, they would collect money to buy bricks to reconstruct Stare Miasto. This was the case all over Poland.

They had the old plans, but according to the Poles I knew, they could never match the workmanship of the old city. It is still a beautiful place now. Krakow is even better because it did not suffer the damage that Warsaw did.

The last time I was back there was 1999. The differences were striking compared to the days of Martial Law when I was living there. Everthing has changed for the better after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Re the “Palace of Culture and Science.”--the ugly Soviet/Stalinist architecture, layer cake like buildings that were all over Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union:

There was the joke, "What is the best place to get the best view of Warsaw? Answer: "On top of the Palace of Culture and Science because you could not see the Palace of Culture and Science."