Warsaw in May finery

The Ice Saints have not brought a cold snap this May; temperatures this week have been in the low- to mid- 20Cs. It pays to have a camera with you at all times (these days most people do - in their phones; though few use them effectively). Below: seven Fiat 125Ps on Plac Defilad in front of the Palace of Culture. The 1980s cars, painted as taxis of the late communist era, do tourist trips around town.

The strong spring sunshine is best brought out with the circular polarising filter. As you turn it, so the blue of the sky deepens. Below: ul. Marszałkowska crosses over Al. Armii Ludowej, with Pl. Zbawiciela in the background.

Another use of the circular polarising filter is to enhance or suppress rainbows. Below: 'Bow- no 'bow. In the first photo, the filter is turned to maximise the rainbow, then turned through 90 degrees, the rainbow disappears. Without the filter (and with it turned between these two positions), the rainbow is seen, though weakly.

Left: the new Q22 office tower on Al. Jana Pawła II is nearly finished - as is Warsaw Spire. The two new skyscrapers add to Warsaw's modern skyline. This picture was taken from the 26th floor of Rondo ONZ 1, looking north.

Eddie says there's a new fish restaurant nearby (Ę Rybę, Al. Jana Pawła II 18, near the foot of the white building in the mid-foreground). Walking distance from my office - will have to check it out!

Below: between Dworzec Centralny and Złote Tarasy, looking towards the Palace of Culture. It's not quite half past eleven in the morning.

Below: ul. Świętokrzyska, looking west towards ul. Emilii Plater. In the strong afternoon sunlight, it has the relaxed atmosphere of a Mediterranean thoroughfare.

Warsaw is at its best in May and June, before it gets too hot and humid.

This time four years ago:
What's left of PGR Mysiadło

This time five years ago:
What's the Polish for puncture?

This time seven years ago:
Welcome the Ice Saints
[and on cue, temperature falls from 30C yesterday to 12C today at noon]

This time eight years ago:
Like a Kodachrome

This time nine years ago:
The future of cities