Sightseeing

So, last time I said I would try to give some more frequent updates - but I failed. I guess I never have been much of a blogger, but honestly I also have been quite busy in the past week.

I left off telling you about my lab work. Last week I got to practice more new techniques, but this time one of them was neutrophil (a type of immune cell) activation and I got to see my first Neutrophil Extracellular Traps (NETs), which are supposed to be the topic of my internship. They are a sort of traps neutrophils can make with their DNA that can catch certain bacteria and the like. NETs were only discovered in 2004, so I thought it was pretty cool to see them :) The technique does require quite a bit of incubation time, so these days at the lab were a little longer than before, but we were still done by 5, so no complaints there.
Also, the weather was really great and I finally got myself to do some more sightseeing. I love seeing a lot of things around here - but somehow 6 weeks feel like all eternity so sometimes I need to remind myself of how little time I actually have left and how much I still want to see... Anyway, on Sunday professor Demkow (the head of the department I am taking my internship at) very kindly took me with her and her daughter, first for a delicious traditional Polish lunch and then to the birth home of Chopin, which nowadays is surrounded by a wonderful park. In the afternoon there was a concert of his music by a pianist who had won all sorts of prices, many of which were specifically for playing Chopin. It was absolutely wonderful. Not only did she play beautifully, she did so from the very room Chopin was born, with the doors and windows open to the lovely garden where we were sitting. Add the sun and the birds and you can imagine I had the most perfect and peaceful Sunday imaginable... Later that week I have visited Stare Miasto and Nowe Miasto (Old town and New town), which had some wonderful sights. Most impressive was the statue of the Little Insurgent, which portraits a small child with a soldier's helmet that is too big for him, to commemorate the children that had to spy or courier during the Warsaw Uprising. I read it was to be an impressive monument. Based on the accompanying pictures I was a bit sceptical, but I have to admit that the moment I saw it in real, I became rather emotional. I suppose that means that whoever created it did the best job imaginable.
This weekend I (finally) went up the Palace of culture and Science for a beautiful view over the city. I intend to go back in July, when it is opened till later, to see the city in the evening. Furthermore I walked the Royal Road from the Royal Palace to the buildings of Parliament, not missing the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier - which is guarded by two soldiers at all times. During all of this the lovely weather continued, interrupted only by a heavy thunderstorm that conveniently took place in the middle of the night. Next weekend I intend to visit Lazienski Park with the Castle on the Lake and Wilanow Palace, both at the far end of the Royal Road. Furthermore the Museum of the Warsaw Uprising is high on my list. Unfortunately, all these things close at 3pm already, so even when I am done early with my internship it is often too late to go and visit them. But I still have 3 weekends left, so I will surely have plenty of time still :)