96 Names.

At 08:57, sirens, bells and horns sounded and wailed for two minutes. It was a chilling reminder of the tragic plane crash exactly one week earlier. I hadn't long been up and had the television on, watching the news (hoping for open airspace) when it started. Grandmama slept through it, but Echo was up and shared the moment. I had goosebumps and thought back to when a similar tribute was paid in China a week after the Sichuan Earthquake in 2008.

The television was on for the whole day and we flicked between the news channels for updates on the ash-cloud and for coverage of the memorial service, which started at noon. It went on for about three hours, significant because there were so many areas to cover, to commemorate those lost: The Religious, Political, Military and Cultural figures, along with 'Families of Katyn' who were lost in a cruel twist of fate as they travelled to mark the Katyn massacre.

After all of that, we needed to get out. It was such a beautiful day, and we had a nice hour or two, walking through Lazienki Park. We found a place for tea and cake and sat outdoors in the sunshine before we returned home, stopping only to look at the photos that lined Aleje Ujazdowskie. Forty or so images had been enlarged and fixed to the railings, showing scenes across Poland, in its week of Mourning. Another historic day.