Museum of the Warsaw Uprising

When it gets to Sunday morning and I'm lying in bed avoiding getting up, I usually think back over the weekend so far. Generally there have been a couple of interesting nights out but a wasted day, or a Saturday filled with boring necessities like cleaning and supermarkets.

Well, this weekend we decided to do something with our Sunday that would justify its (and our) existence. We trotted off to the newish Museum of the Warsaw Uprising (which their website actually calls the 'Warsaw Rising Museum' but that conjures a different image in my mind) and were impressed.

The museum is pretty new and modern in its approach. There are no long display cabinets under harsh lighting, but interesting and interactive displays using film, photography, newspaper extracts, models, mock-ups of rooms and bunkers, and plenty of bits of paper to collect.

The museum revolves around a central pillar, which pulsates, as if with a heartbeat. If you go up close, you discover speakers hidden all over with sounds of the uprising broadcast from it, but the beating sound follows you throughout the tour.

Its an awfully tragic story, and you can't but feel indignant and ashamed that the allies abandoned the Poles to defend their city alone, but the Polish sense of pride permeates the museum, and the heroic efforts of the unequal fight are honoured.

The information was well presented and clear (although they really should have got a native-speaker to check the English translations) and I especially liked the old photos and description of the Scout-run postal service that they set up around the city.

It's a museum that takes a good couple of hours to get round, and on Sunday it was packed, but towards the end they have thoughtfully placed a Blickle cafe where you can have a coffee and a piece of cake to see you through the rest of the displays.

If you haven't already been, go and see it!