Insult to injury. Following the tragic crash of the Polish President's plane, the world scrambled to attend the state funeral. Following deliberations, the Poles announced it would be in Warsaw, with President and Mrs. Kaczynski laid to rest in historic Wawel Castle. The state funeral would come to Kraków, and President Obama would be attending. As you can imagine, everything ground to a halt. Except one thing. Barbara was medevaced to London on Tuesday evening! This left the fun of a presidential visit, care of Megan and Ennis to me...and, thank God, a legion of friends. More on that later.
So, the insult. Of course, as is often the case in Poland, no tragedy goes uncomplicated. After the announcement of the funeral preparations, a volcano erupted in Iceland. The preparations for the POTUS visit went on until Saturday night at 8:00 pm when the White House sensibly called it off, 18 hours before the event. Secret Service on the ground, check, communications, check, Embassy personnel, check. So we represented as best we could, with Ambassador Feinstein representing the President.
It is hard to say how many people turned out for the funeral in the main square of the procession afterward. However, as state funerals goes, this one was an appropriate, grand, and fitting ceremony for a great nation.
While I hesitated to take more personal pictures, a couple of images stood out. Perhaps expressing the activities of the day.
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For more photos check here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/usembassywarsaw/sets/72157623763630337/
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