I journeyed yesterday to Zielona Góra, probably the least-known Polish city in the least-known part of Poland (Lubuskie province). I boarded the EuroCity express from Warsaw to Poznań, changing there for a pospieszny (misnomer: the word in Polish means 'hurrying' train, this 80 mile journey took two and half hours). Shortly after leaving Poznań, I was jolted out of whatever reverie I was in by the sight of a real, live, working, scheduled service, steam train. Below: my first glimpse of Zielona Góra from my hotel room, early this morning. Gulp! Some kind of time warp! I've woken up in 1979! Solidarity and Marshal Law have yet to happen! (must buy some shares in that American computer start-up, Microsoft)
This time last year:Wintery visit to Kraków
Kicking coffee in the run-up to Lent
Just before dawn, Ursynów
Trundling Tamara, Jeziorki
Pastel sunrise, Jeziorki
Frosty morning, Jeziorki
Gasping for a coffee
Do you know the reason for the popularity of square houses in Poland? I would say they tend to have been built from about 1925 to 1955? Quite a few variations in design, but always square. You see them from the train and roads while driving into all Polish cities.
ReplyDeleteI have only seen this design in Lithuania as well, nowhere else. Indeed, the view in the picture is identical to that from my mother-in-law's balcony in Kaunas.
I heard that the cubic house design dates back to the Gomułka era (1956-71), when a law was passed limiting the size of detached houses to 10m wide, 10m deep by 10m high (including basement). A fair size, by today's standard, a fair size even for the relatively well-off and large rural families that tended to build and inhabit this type of house. Does anyone else know anything about the cubic house?
ReplyDeleteDon't know about the cubic houses, of course, but that second picture brings up memories of another time and place for me, too - I think it's the klimat of the photo more than the houses as such.
ReplyDeleteAnd that first picture - a real steam train! What a treat! I'm glad you got to see it!!!