Proper winter hits Warsaw

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).

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).

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?

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.

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.

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).

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.