![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Cb4PsglK0PNWQKGY7HNStk8gj9n3yMxyxrS9X-_oNoNibAQRUCOmaBdY66GjcTfR3l_bsvvm4pwNiKAxjXlfy6xS77bEAleuNMoIGQlDI_ImPJwmdpJT-ERXYNnNRzWEJWKBckAY-jU/s280/Start+of+the+commute.jpg)
At last - snow. Leave the house at ten past seven, way before sunrise, then the dreadful Puławska. The snow ploughs were not out in force today; commute times were multiples of the usual crawl. But once at the Metro, things worked out fine. To Politechnika where I find an obliging number 35 tram coming along (way behind its scheduled time, but ideal for me).
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh54WbhD33mcejbrznVcrOlbItk0AfRElXzFMDvq55NU6ZblPg96eYGj0c0moXdc1kQw4NdjZvMATuOV1TJiOlOdBU5PcA07A7fhBPpMdddWmn1mIqM_FYU1WPcaURBB0fmy_egmE2RYaI/s280/Waiting+for+the+tram.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb08dGd0oSZP0os3uRNlKdSr010MmK4I-e92G_wDDw9pFbiwI-jsW9XwJ37z-oT6dRwDhcNRA1zW3_tf3FwTmhfDUmDeQSPbiSlY2V0NhjX8tJv8Rpqlua35ec9xSKmHECjFpOID4eXTw/s320/Podworko.jpg)
And onwards, on foot, down ul. Górnośląska towards the office. (
Right) I pass the archetypal Polish
podwórko (courtyard) in a
kamienica (tenement), pop in and take a snap. Early attempts at sweeping a corridor through the snow prove to be futile, as it keeps on falling all day long. The place looks a bit shabby; it's just around the corner from the Sejm (parliament) buildings. You'd not find anything like this around Westminster.
Then off to a meeting in town. Delayed by half an hour because the lawyer I'm meeting is stuck in traffic - no problem. I take the 171 bus. One every ten minutes - but not today. Look at the crowd at the bus stop. Leaving this behind, I walk to Rondo De Gaulle'a where I catch a tram (rail transport runs so much better).
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLdnIZubthmyrg-gJAc4aQOmCKGw6ycY9RUtCRsQtSyco6QT71jzqGl-kt4jBGQJRykZHaujZP10CFjX3OdvsijQUpbz-TNmIPyN12TMg0RhkXlG8KhPWlfy2Y1Gw8_sF2YmJYKzQLpTw/s280/Not+a+bus+in+sight.jpg)
En route to Al. Jerozolimskie and the tram stop, I walk through Park Śmigłego Ridza (
below), where the gritters and snow-clearers are working hard to make the pedestrian's life easier. Daytime high, by the way, is -11C. Cool, eh?
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaNtqqwXLdbubQr8DLLbYWsOboqZbPRuV0yGRG6zonzIpXHFY5O6jgl5fvdlRnH6-7ROoaGTTBdSbRolD7Ivey_Jka_9Rm3tVC5MIjl-Z2LkYHJr2xnAFTidDgbZ8bmJ-3EprJ5quyBOc/s280/Park+Smiglego+Rydza.jpg)
Outside the Warsaw Financial Center I witness the ultimate in cycling madness. Fixed wheel courier bike, no brakes, no gears, no lock (an amateur bike thief would crash in seconds on this thing!), skinny tyres.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhck3muVS32JHEgoVai9I5oFgFpm6ybHGR_33BAlKGvQXlOEmQLQG-sK45gW9HYQf8QH29uZVBe62I5jk06BY2AY6YjXN3xeAN1qOag-IVf6ur-yf8bTC8Sj1ovAwz4bKQwhjMAoetEmqY/s280/Madness+on+two+wheels.jpg)
Returning to the office, I take the quickest route - tram. The snow does not hold them up. Just gone three, and it's getting dark. Although the shortest day is still to come, we've already had the earliest sunset a few days back.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX8X5H2vUqfpB9GeJ5WEu31-dNNoIZrwXh7s9k79SjgRFGc40nV0eqMAJD_26KdqnBgWhyphenhyphenCn1QQp-Mc5M8UO2qoRJ04DgIO30-4JWktGRIaW3CRMwQ8iC2i_cCoL1aZqTr5-8m5fVqs9Q/s280/Trams+outside+Centralny.jpg)
I swap tram for bus and get snarled up in a monster gridlock on Pl. Trzech Krzyży. The 171 bus is an elderly Ikarus; it stinks of fumes (carbon monoxide levels dangerously high); the condensation from passengers' breath has frozen on the inside of the windows. Not something often seen in the UK! I rub a little hole in the ice and snap a jeweller's shop (
below).
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeHjo2akpJVui3bVm2SNoWRRp637jVWusheKIuH-aGFVpx5m5M9PMSH-ndS5Dty9AUnpNaqJ-hj4-EVeUvJLaHGhCGAMZJU7iGPqXDGIBeoHbgfJrcQhjru43En7TclkHz14Pc39svVzw/s280/Plac+Trzech+Krzyzy.jpg)
And home... Puławska was utterly awful today. At 22:30 I picked Moni up from the Metro, and the road was still one solid jam.
i like.
ReplyDeleteFeels like being there! :-)
ReplyDeleteYou captured the mood beautifully...like your photos and your writing very much
ReplyDeleteThanks!
ReplyDelete