Town and country, snow and frost

Stepping off the train at W-wa Wola station, on my way to buy new winter hiking boots, I am once more hit by that familiar recognition of an exomnesia flashback, an anomalous qualia memory that I cannot ascribe to my West London childhood. Minnesota in the 1950s? Scandinavia in the 1950s? The clarity of the sky, the rows of mid-rise buildings, the sharpness of the frost, the sun glinting off the icy snow. As a child, I recalled such scenes, though from where, I knew not.

The church of St Stanislaus the Bishop (kościół Św. Stanisława Biskupa), locally better known as kościół Św. Wojciecha. Used by the Germans as a concentration point through which some 90,000 residents of Wola were evacuated during the Warsaw Uprising; some 400 were executed here, suspected of being Home Army fighters or Jews. The trams are running on time.

Below: modern Warsaw, built on the wasteland that was left over after the retreating Germans flattened the Ghetto. The Warsaw Trade Tower (at 208 metres, Warsaw's seventh tallest) stands in the centre.

Left: now that Warsaw West (W-wa Zachodnia) has a fully functioning tunnel system linking all platforms, there's no reason to use the footbridge any more. Once crammed with passengers, it's almost deserted now. There are four of these 'arrows' between the platforms created by the roofline, offering a splendid view of Warsaw's skyscrapers on the horizon. 

Best viewed at dusk on a fine day, when the glass facades are lit up by the setting sun.

Below: back in Jakubowizna, wearing my new boots. With Vibram soles, they are markedly less slippy than the old pair. And – most importantly, they are warm and dry. The old pair had developed fingernail-sized cracks that were letting in water. Five winters' use, probably about 5,000 to 6,000km of wear over the harshest walking conditions of the year.

The morning of 6 January, the Three Kings public holiday, the day after the Twelfth Night, the last day of the lazy season. Shops shut, so a long walk around the snow-covered neighbourhood. The first half-hour is a trip to the forest with the cats – today, only the male cats chose to go with me, Wenusia and Céleste decided to stay in. Below: Czestuś enjoying the snow. Not much to hunt, but he's no hunter (unlike his sister and mother, who decidedly are).

Once the cats had had enough of playing in the forest, they trooped back in single file to the house. Then I set off on my proper walk, to take in the beauty of the day. Below: the edge of the woods, Machcin. Note how low the sun is – and it's only quarter past one.

This time four years ago:

Random photos from around Warsaw

This time six years ago:
The Inequality Paradox: pt.2

This time seven years ago
Jakubowizna in mid-winter

This eight years ago:
Warm winter's day in Jakubowizna

This time nine years ago:
Seeking an aesthetic in the Grim

This time ten years ago:
UK overtakes France as the World's fifth Biggest Economy 

This time 12 years ago:
Ice in the Vistula

This time 16 years ago:
A consolation to my British readers

This time 17 years ago:
Winter in its finery

The time 18 years ago:
Snow fences keep the trains running