To escape the madness, I cut down ul. Jagielska (below), bunged up solid for as far as the eye can see and then some more. Within seconds I shall enter the Las Kabacki forest to revel in solitude, birdsong and an escape from fossil-fuel burning short-distance one-per-car commuters.
Unfortunately, what I thought would be a pleasant ride turned out to be quite the opposite. The forest is podtopiony. (English lacks this word, having only 'flooded', but 'flood' = powódź). My cycling boots are soaked through, once again I'm forced to go to work in wet socks.
But once out of the forest, it's cycle path all the way to work. The weather is still tricky. I'm wearing four layers; my upper body is too warm, my toes are frozen and my hands (in skiing gloves) are too cold. On the way home, three layers are fine, but my hands are overheating.Below: This is how a civilised city should commute. Proper cycle paths, signage and people using the facilities.
Below: evening commute along Al. Ujazdowskie. Note the contrast between the freedom of the cycle path and the stationary cars. More cycle paths for Warsaw! Paid for by a swingeing London-style congestion charge!
This morning I appeared in a recorded interview on Polish Radio 3 (Trójka), talking about UK-Polish trade. On the same programme with me was a financial analyst talking about the Portuguese and Greek sovereign debt crises, and a junior Pani Minister from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs talking about a new website concerning Poland's upcoming presidency of the EU Council. She was accompanied by an assistant who carried her briefcase. After the recording, I left the studio by bicycle, the financial analyst by taxi... Pani Minister and her assistant sped away in a chauffeur-driven black Mercedes-Benz. (Three people to do a 15 minute radio programme.) And one wonders why Poland's public sector deficit is growing dangerously large... There seems a dangerous disconnect between the public administration and the real economy. Our chief executive officer has given up his car and taxis and now travels to meetings by public transport. For Martin, it's a matter of pride that he knows where the 171 bus goes and that the Metro is the fastest way from Kabaty into town.
Why do civil servants not get the belt-tightening and low-carbon transport message?
This time two years ago:
How about swamped? The forest was a swamp. Swampy.
ReplyDeleteKind of like the inside of a tram in August with the windows closed :).
I see more and more people who appreciate advantages of public transport... Not even because petrol prices are skyrocketing. My colleagues seriously weigh up commuting by bikes, because Rondo Daszynskiego is said to be dug up when the second underground line construction kicks off for good.
ReplyDeleteWho was that analyst? Can respond on e-mail or in other, not public way.
Not fair Michał - just 'cos powódź means flood it doesn't follow that podtopiony doesn't mean flooded - after all there's no 'spowodziowany' is there? So does that mean Polish lacks the word for flooded - er, no - although Poles do tend to use the term 'zalane'. But that doesn't have it's root in powódź. Yes I know you're looking for a word that means podtopione but topić means to drown; (roztapiać) to melt, to fuse, to sink - and so round and round we go.
ReplyDeletep.s if not flooded then indeed how about swamped (like it) or even submersed.
... or submerged. After all that, it still seems to me podtopione means flooded ;)
ReplyDeleteOne assistant and a chauffeur driven car for a Minister - fairly standard practice wouldn't you say? I guess it depends on the distance to the office and the rest of her schedule on that day?
ReplyDeleteThat said, I agree with you. If it's public transportable, it should never be done by car.
If we all gave up our dependency on cars, the journey into work and around the city would be so much better.