Central Mazovia is pancake-flat. The horizon is at the same level whichever way you turn. In this, it's like Iowa, where to quote Bill Bryson "if you stand on two telephone directories, you have A View". Which generally, I don't mind from a flashback-familiarity point of view, those big skies remind me of the prairies... But the flatness means that hills are at a premium - even temporary, man-made hills...
Seeking a higher vantage point is instinctive in animals. Felusia's favourite place in the kitchen for example, is perched on top of the coffee machine - the highest point in the room - an ideal spot from which to observe human activity. Scrambling to the top of a man-made hill around these flat terrains to have a look around, a rest and a beer, has been a pleasant local activity in recent years, made possible by the civil engineering works going on in the neighbourhood.
Gone now is the ballast mountain (across the tracks opposite from the Jeziorki end of ulica Kórnicka). It stood here between 2016 and 2020 when PKP PLK was modernising the Warsaw-Radom railway line, and afforded good views to the north and south-east. Below: looking across at Jeziorki, the 'up' line awaiting new rails.
Gone too are the highest soil mountains that once stood astride the S7 extension works. Below, the one next to Węzeł Zamienie, between Jeziorki and Dawidy Bankowe. Photo taken on 3 May 2021 - amazing progress since then. Sadly, without this view-yielding mountain.
Below: view from the top of the soil mountain at the northern end of the S7 extension, where it meets the S79.
Alas - these high places, and the views from them - have gone. These were favoured places of mine to scramble to the top of and enjoy a beer around sunset - the golden time of day.
It seems that hills are at a premium - even modest ones. Between Zgorzała and Zamienie, all the hills associated with the S7 extension works have been levelled with the ground - with two exceptions. Both are on private land (situated on either side of the expressway); both are now fenced in. Presumably the owners simply asked the builders not to remove them - and the builders happily obliged. Win-win.Builder saves costs of removal, landowner has a Feature. Below: the hill on the east side of the S7. Plant a few trees, make a path, bench at the top, make good - nice. [There are also two such man-made hills, leftovers from civil-engineering works, by the ponds in Jeziorki. The local 'ziggurats'.]
But there's still one range of soil hills remaining, west of the railway tracks a little way north of W-wa Jeziorki station.
Sadly, although extensive in area, they are not very high (about four-and-half metres at the highest), but they are easy and safe to climb.
Below: the view is OK, nothing spectacular (certainly not when compared to the 12-metre-high hill that stood next to where Węzeł Zamienie now is, second photo from the top), but at least it's here and above ground level. But for how long? Until a new viaduct extends ul. Dawidowska across the railway? If so, it will be a while.
Below: my brother has rendered my photo taken from the Ballast Mountain looking north (seen originally here) in the style of German artist Anselm Kiefer, catching the atmosphere of the late afternoon in winter with a light frost and a dusting of snow. The end-of-day pilgrimage requires a destination; the destination requires a vantage point, a spot for contemplation while watching the setting sun.
The motorbiking season is soon to start, and with it the opportunity to explore further afield, beyond the reach of public transport.
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