Wednesday 9 September 2009

Late summer scenes, Warsaw

If it's still warm enough to leave home at half past eight in the morning without having to put a jacket over my shirt - it's still summer. A rule of thumb when riding a bike is that if you feel comfortable during your first kilometre or two, you are overdressed. Below: the cycle path parallel to ul. Rozbrat, Solec.

Right: Al. Ujazdowskie: The new cycle path between ul. Bagatela and ul. Agricola is now complete. The final touches: stencilled bicycle symbols on the tarmac. This stretch of road has been criticised by Gazeta Wyborcza as not being 'artistic' enough - designed by road engineers, not urban architects. For me, as a cyclist, it's OK as it is. Bikes are kept away from cars, pedestrians from bikes.

I took a tram to a meeting today, and snapped this pic as the tram turned off ul. Wołoska onto ul. Rzymowskiego. It took a long time to redevelop this part of Warsaw, but now it's done, it's something to be proud of. The the left, out of shot, Galeria Mokotów. Where you can look at, and indeed even buy, mokoty* Straight on for Terespol and the Polish-Belarusian border.

Below: A tram track grinding/polishing machine on Al. Niepodległości. In the distance, the Rondo ONZ 1 tower.

Below: cycling home alongside the horse-racing track at Służewiec, the juxtaposition of the yellow Shell tanker truck and the blue sky caught my eye, enhanced with a polarising filter.

Below: Home again, our own bus stop. Note that the 715 and 809 buses do not stop here currently (while the sewerage tunnel under the railway line further up ul. Karczunkowska is being built). But there is the replacement service, the Z-9.

* Joke courtesy of Zosia, daughter of blogger Toyah aka my good friend Krzysztof .

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