The Vistula, becoming an attraction

Time to record something that's been floating above the right bank this summer, the tourist balloon (Balon widowiskowy Warszawa) that takes 30 people up to a height of 130m for some spectacular views of the city. Euro 2012 fever has long gone, but there's evidently the appetite for this tourist attraction to continue.


Across the river from the balloon's base, a barge turned into a trendy bar (right), attracting cyclists who in turn are attracted by new cycle paths. Warsaw is slowly waking up to the potential of the Vistula as a salient feature of the city. Across the river, the newly-created beach; the strains of dance music wafting over the water. A most pleasant evening in a vibrant, increasingly self-confident city. I remember an August night in Warsaw 23 years ago; the Old Town - silent, dark and empty. How good that communism is dead.

We must not forget. Graffiti has been thankfully expunged from the surface of my favourite bridge, Most Poniatowskiego, for the football championships and has not (to my knowledge) returned - except for this stencil art below - the Home Army 'anchor' symbol and the word pamiętamy ('we remember') - day 13 of the 68th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising.