Although Poles turned out in their thousands, braving the brisk spring wind to welcome the pope on his second pilgrimage of his pontificate, the turn-out was low when compared to the multitudes that flocked to greet John Paul on his nine trips to his homeland.
"I welcomed the pope (John Paul II) in 1979, on his first pilgrimage. It was a hugely joyous occasion, an incredible atmosphere," Barbara Gorska, 50, said as she waited with several hundred others to greet the Pope Benedict at Warsaw's Okecie airport.
"Today, I feel a bit sad that we aren't welcoming 'our' pope, but there is still joy because Benedict is a friend of our pope, and I hope our friend, too," said Ms Gorska.
As Pope Benedict arrived the airport choir sang "Barka", John Paul’s favourite hymn, some people in the crowds held the yellow and white flags of the Vatican alongside Poland's red and white banner, but the numbers were fewer than in previous years, when John Paul visited.
"I have come to follow in the footsteps of John Paul II, along the path of his life," Benedict had said in Polish when he arrived at Okecie airport, drawing cheers from the crowd.
Warm Welcome
Police said around 70,000 people greeted the pope along his the 11-kilometre route from the airport to St John's Cathedral in the capital's Old Town. They greeted him in a mixture of languages, crying out "Witaj Ojcze Swiety!" (Welcome Holy Father) in Polish, "Saluti papa Benedetto" in Italian, and "Herzlich Willkommen" - a warm welcome in his native German.
One small boy had taped a Vatican flag to his schoolbag and written beneath it, in English, "Welcome Pope."
"The emotions are different, but they're still intense," said Zofia Srodowska, who had come to welcome Benedict at the airport. “But this pope is also fantastic. He's made an effort to learn Polish, and he speaks it so well -- even better than our president who made some mistakes in his welcome address," she joked.
"For us Benedict and John Paul are one. We see our pope in Benedict. It's as if John Paul II has transformed into Benedict XVI", said retired couple Leon Kowalski and his wife Krystyna, as they waited to catch a glimpse of the pontiff in the capital's Nowy Swiat district.
Quick recognition
On his way through the capital, the pope passed in front of key sites commemorating victims of World War II, the memorial to the heroes and victims of the Warsaw ghetto uprising, another to Poles who were deported to the Soviet Union, and another to the 1944 Warsaw Uprising.
Benedict made a sign of blessing as his motorcade drove past an imposing monument built on the site of the former ghetto, but as he was running up to 15 minutes late, he neither slowed nor stopped to pay a more intimate tribute to the Jews who were terrorised in wartime Warsaw, disappointing those who were waiting at the memorial.
"It's a pity that he passed through so briefly," said Zofia Sienienska, 80, one of the Poles awarded the Righteous Among the Nations honour – given to non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the war. "I am a little disappointed. It was very quick. He made a gesture -- I hope it was a benediction," Ms Sienienska said.
Echoing her disappointment was Hanna Galazka. "I expected more. I felt like a schoolkid, standing here waving a little flag.”
“Thirty seconds. If he had stopped just 30 seconds or slowed down to make a gesture," said Jerzy Kozminski, another of the honoured Poles on the list of the Righteous Among the Nations.
Benedict, a member of the Hitler youth during the war, acknowledged the painful wounds inflicted on Poland by Nazi Germany, saying at St. John's Cathedral that "every stone" in the edifice, which was rebuilt from rubble after the war, "recalls the painful history" of Poland, and lamented the "trials you endured" at the hands of the Nazis.
"Providence has deemed that a German has succeeded a Pole on the throne of Saint Peter. Our two peoples, who are very close, have often been separated by history," Polish President Lech Kaczynski said his welcome speech.
Not selling
But merchandise isn’t selling as well as one street vendor, Slawek, had hoped. Slawek who stocked up on the yellow and white flags, the colours of the Vatican, bearing the image of Benedict said he was already disappointed with sales, "Flags just aren't selling. It's nothing like it was in John Paul II's time," he said.
Bemoaning the slow trade, Slawek, hoped business would pick up as the pope's visit continued. "Maybe tomorrow things will be better when people come to Pilsudski Square," he said.
At the square Benedict will celebrate the first outdoor public mass of his visit, again following in the footsteps his predecessor who made a memorable call from Pilsudski square in 1979 for Poles to "have no fear," interpreted by many as an exhortation to stand up to communism.
Benedict will also head south to visit key sites in the life and papacy of John Paul, ending his visit on Sunday at the Auschwitz Nazi death camp.