Weatherwise, it's such a lovely day!

The perfect day for taking off from Warsaw's Okęcie airport and looking at Mazowsze from the air. I'm off to Glasgow for three days. Everything goes smoothly - buses arrive on time to get me from home to the airport, I get through security without a pat-down, I get a good seat (3A), the plane departs on time - and here's a bonus - WizzAir no longer flies to "Glasgow" Prestwick, but to actual Glasgow Glasgow Airport, a mere 20 minutes by bus from the city centre.

So a perfect day for some aerial photography - good weather, good seat. Cloudless skies over a snow-covered Poland.

Below: Kabaty, the southern-most part of Warsaw's Ursynów district. In the bottom right, the Las Kabacki forest; in the top left, the houses and apartment blocks of Kabaty, and in between the Metro depot. In the distance, the Vistula escarpment and the floodplains beyond.

The plane swings around Warsaw, making a 270-degree loop before taking a bearing for Glasgow. Below: the Vistula, looking pretty frozen, with Zawady in the foreground, the Siekierki power station's chimneys in the middle-left of the photo. Trasa Siekierkowska, with the Siekierki bridge run east-west, with the district of Gocław lying on beyond the river.

Below: having taken off at midday, seven minutes later, we're back over the airport. The oval in the left foreground is the smaller of the two horse tracks at Wyścigi. Beyond the S2 expressway lies Raszyn ("fools Raszyn where angels fear to tread") - home of the legendary Fashion from Raszyn website. The town is to Warsaw what Slough is to London.

Below: Węzeł Salomea, the most recently opened junction on the S2. As is the case with Węzeł Warszawa Południe, the southern arm of the junction goes nowhere and stops dead in a field, awaiting the cash needed to extend it to join the S7 expressway running south out of Warsaw.

Left: cruising altitude reached. The plane's heading in a north-westerly direction, rather than flying due west for London. The darkish band crossing the photo from left to right in the middle distance is the Vistula river valley. Ground temperature is -3C. A dazzlingly beautiful day to be flying at 30,000 feet over Poland. As you can see, Mazowsze is as flat as a steamrollered pancake.


This time two years ago:
Temporary home of the National Film Library

This time three years ago:
Oldschool photochallenge

This time four years ago:
Warsaw's wonderful nooks and crannies

This time six years ago:
Viaduct to the airport at ul. Poleczki almost ready