Miedzynarodowy Dzien Dziecka (International Children’s Day)
It always seems to me that Poland finds something to celebrate. That’s not a criticism, I think it’s great that so many people make the effort for others to provide entertainment and something to do and see around the city at weekends. Earth Day was not long ago and today is International Children’s Day, which means there was absolutely no reason to stay indoors!
Some say it originated in Communist times when it was adopted in Poland and other Eastern European countries mainly at a personal level as a way of uniting families and giving gifts to their children, especially those children from poor families. Other countries celebrate Children’s Day in November, so maybe it’s celebrated here in June to coincide with the beginning of summer. If this day falls on a school day, the schools usually allow the kids a break from their studies and spend the day playing games and sporting activities. The whole point is to focus the day on your kids and ensure they have a good time (and get a small gift in the process).
We decided to head down to Wilanów Palace for a change where various schools and social groups were giving performances on a central stage in the Palace grounds. We chose this option for the morning as we didn’t expect it to be too crowded. From our experience of Pole Mokotowskie on Earth Day, and the huge crowds, we wanted somewhere a little quieter to start off with and I think we made a good choice. Some photos from the morning:
Here’s the American School of Warsaw practicing their scales.
Here’s Benji enjoying the music in the sun. Socks with sandals – very English!
Playing to win…
The prize…and a good recommendation…
And just enough time for a “tuti footy” before heading home for a short nap. Of course he ate everything but the fruit!
In the afternoon, we were feeling refreshed and daring and decided to spend an hour at Pole Mokotowskie. By the time we arrived, it was 17.30, so we thought the crowds would have died down slightly. Maybe they had, but the Park was still full – probably due to the beautiful weather (25 degrees).
Here’s the crowd watching the ‘Gosia Andrzejewicz‘ concert. She’s apparently a popular r’n'b singer in these parts, and provided some lively entertainment for the kids. At one point she gave out some free parental advice which was befitting for the day, but unusual coming from a popstar!
This is Benji heading for the water with Mummy in tow…
Here’s a view of the restaurant in the Park – as you can see, still hordes of people at 6pm!
Something which I noticed in Pole Mokotowskie whilst walking around (probably because I’m English and a little conservative about such things), was that the Poles have no reservations about stripping down to their underwear in a public park. Bathing costumes, bikinis, swimming shorts, tight speedos – all acceptable in my book, but some of the underwear on show was straight out of an Ann Summers collection! Shouldn’t this be reserved for the beach…or the bedroom?!
