I'm pretty bummed I didn't check out Warsaw on Independence Day there, would have been fun if I had just been paying a little more attention or looked up holidays online or something.  That said I do remember hearing what sounded like celebratory gunshots that weekend and got to see a mini 'parade' with horses and a cart right outside my window.  Course it was only afterward that I realized what it was all about.

Poland's a pretty nice place if you ever end up staying there for a bit.  Haven't been here long enough to really say too much about local politics but...there is a particular building in Warsaw called the "Palace of Culture and Science" that everyone loves to joke about as being [url=http://www.501places.com/2012/03/warsaw-palace-of-culture-stalins-unwanted-gift-to-poland/]"Stalin's Gift"[/url].  So in the heart of Poland is literally the largest Red-Pill ever constructed.  People walking around Poland pretty much can't avoid seeing this huge reminder of just how much it sucked to be under communism.

Fun facts.