2024 – a year in numbers

Well, it's that time of year again, when I can reveal whether or not I'm in better shape than I was a year ago. Age takes its toll, but I'm not into the notion of eternal youth. But by maintaining a regime of exercise, good diet and moderate alcohol intake, I intend to keep my active life going on as long as possible. Healthy body – healthy spirit. This post stands as a guide for the future.

So – did I beat last year? [numbers on a gold background = personal best]

Measurable and manageable
	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Paces (daily average)	11.4k	12.0k	11.1k	11.2k	11.6k	11.9k	12.1k
Moderate to high  intensity (mins)	N/A	24	30	35	44	50	51*
Alcohol drunk (units/week)	19.7	18.5	15.5	14.1	13.7	13.6	13.3
Dry days over course of year	196	198	208	231	234	249	243
Days with zero physical training	27	17	11	22	9	10	6
Press-ups/day	60	90	83	20	23	26	28
Pull-ups/day	7	5	11	11	12	6	14
Sit-ups/day	N/A	N/A	16	19	25	33	34
Sets of weights exercises/day	2.2	2.3	2.4	1.1	1.6	2.5	2.7
Squats/day	N/A	N/A	N/A	28	40	45	47
Sets of back extensions/day	N/A	N/A	N/A	0.3	1.3	2.8	4.5
Plank time (min: sec/day average)	N/A	3:40	4:11	4:21	4:58	5:55	6:17
Portions fresh fruit & veg/day	5.2	5.3	5.4	6.1	6.3	6.7	7.3

* daily average Jan-Jun, see below

Exercises, described

Walking/paces – touch and go after my recent torn calf muscle. I failed to hit my target for this year (12,200 paces a day, every day for 366 days), but I bounced back after two and half weeks of recuperation. So, this year (12,100) is still a best, beating my pre-pandemic record (12,000). The 'moderate to high intensity walking' metric is only for January to June inclusive, as my Huawei phone on which the app ran failed finally in early July. The replacement Samsung Health app counts this more generously than Huawei, so I don't want to mix apples and pears here. Since starting to keep count, I have averaged over 11,235 paces a day, every day, since 1 January 2014. According to Samsung Health, I'm in the top 3% of all users.

Alcohol intake: I have massively reduced by alcohol intake – in 2014, the first year of measuring, it was 33.4 units per week (it must have been more than that in the days before I began to measure). For the third year in a row, I managed to get below the current NHS guideline limit of 14 units per week (2 units = 50ml of vodka at 40%, or 150ml of wine at 13.5%, or half a litre of beer at 4%). I achieved this by restricting my drinking to social occasions (family Zoom calls included), with the occasional beer on long summer walks. Zero alcohol for two-thirds of year, which of course includes Lent. Two consecutive days a week with no alcohol, another rule. However, fewer alcohol-free days this year means lower consumption on days when I did drink (5.8 units vs. 6.1 units per drinking day).

Press-ups: focus on quality over quantity (hence much lower numbers than in earlier years). To qualify, the body must go down to the floor so the nose touches it; then up with arms fully locked at the elbows.

Pull-ups: again, proper sort, so fewer. From 'full-dangle' position, up to chin touching the bar, then down to full-dangle, then repeat. My record (only achieved five times this year) is nine in one go. Indeed, on hearing the news that Trump had one, I channelled my anger into two sets of nine pull-ups; a best-ever, and one that I feel I'll never beat.

Sit-ups: feet wedged under the sink, knees bent, back flat on floor, then sit up, right elbow touching left knee, then down, back flat on floor, then sit up, with left elbow touching right knee. 

Weights: with two x 5kg dumbbells, one set of each: 10 x lateral raises, 10 x internal rotator cuff, 10 x external rotator cuff, repeat that lot two or three times, plus 30 back-bends with dumbbells in hand. 

Squats: standing upright, heels raised, squat right down, stand up straight again, repeat (typically do this while kettle boils). Still not able to squat down fully after tearing my right calf muscle.

Back extensions: lying stomach-down on my ZemBord™; legs rise up behind back like a scorpion's sting, moving centre of gravity, causing me to rock forward until my nose touches the ground. Hands behind head. (More here about the apparatus and the exercise.) One set = eight forward-and-back rocking movements.

Plank: holding myself up by forearms, toes on the ground, back absolutely straight. Record time eight minutes and 15 seconds; more usually, two lots of three minutes with a short break in between.

Portions of fresh fruit & veg: one portion = 80g. Daily staples: apple (or fresh-pressed apple juice); banana, cherry tomatoes, berries, spinach, beetroot, chickpeas or lentils or beans, parsnip, grapefruit and/or orange/tangerines. A significant boost this year, due to my weekly shops at Lidl where the fresh fruit & veg selection is superior to that in Chynów's Top Market.

So – tomorrow starts another year, and having set myself the goal of beating last year, and being a stronger and fitter (and more self-disciplined) man aged 68 than I was at 67, off I go, getting on with it… May it remain thus for a long time to come. 

And a time to offer up my gratitude for having been so healthy so far.

This time last year:

2023: my tenth year in numbers

This time two years ago:
2022: a year in numbers

This time three years ago:
2021: a year in numbers

This time four years ago:

2020: a year in numbers

This time five years ago
2019: a year in numbers

This time six years ago:
2018: a year in numbers

This time seven years ago:
2017: a year in numbers

This time eight years ago:
2016: a year in numbers

This time nine years ago:
2015: a year in numbers

This time 10 years ago:
Economic forecasts for 2014 – and 2015?

This time 11 years ago:
Economic predictions for 2014

This time 12 years ago:
Economic predictions for 2013

This time 13 years ago:
Economic predictions for 2012

This time 14 years ago:
Classic cars, West Ealing

This time 15 years ago:
Jeziorki 2009, another view

This time 16 years ago:
Jeziorki 2008, another view

This time 17 years ago:
Final thoughts for 2007

Local hellos and a farewell for 2024

A short post about what's changed in my neighbourhood over the past 12 months.

Pavement along ul. Wolska (below): excellent news for local walkers, especially on misty winter evenings. Road safety and civilisation go hand in hand. This gives me a new way to walk to/from the shops – longer than along ul. Wspólna; more paces. 

New way between Machcin II and Adamów Rososki: the situation where a local thoroughfare is both a public right of way and also private land might have been resolved, with a new track carved out from scrubland. parallel to the disputed one. Still unclear as to whether this will become an access road to a new house, or a long-term solution to the right of way issue.

The former BP petrol station on ulica Grójecka (otherwise known as the DK50) finally opened as a TransOil station in April. No real change over what was there before – I guess the same operator with a different franchisor. Same assortment in the shop; locals say petrol prices here are cheaper than in other petrol stations. Below: awaiting the green light to open, late 2023.

New housing: at least four new house-starts in my immediate vicinity this year, though only one is nearing completion. All are detached dwellings on their own plots. One exception lies further north, in Sułkowice – a four-story block of flats between the railway station and police-dog school (below). Construction started in the spring; interesting to see when the first residents move in.

A goodbye-hello this year to certain roofs in Grobice. Storm Boris hit Central Europe on 14 September bringing deadly floods to Czechia and the south-west corner of Poland. Here, a bizarre situation. In the neighbouring village of Grobice, a localised wind of intense energy tore the roofing off five or six houses and barns, and hurled garden furniture all over the place. Passing through today, I can report that repair work is almost complete, though the scaffolding is still up.

VeloMazovia: Signs have appeared indicating a new long-distance cyclepath for the south of the province. However, there's still no information online as to how it connects up, or how far it will go. Left: the route as it goes through Sułkowice, along ul. Ogrodowa, over the DK50, then along Chynów's ul. Główna. Then down to Warka? Find out soon!

Christmas lights in Chynów. Not much I know, but another spark of local pride, another reason to be cheerful at this dark time of year. And no need to translate the slogan – a sign of increased openness!

Luxor Kebab opened in October on ul. Parkowa, giving Chynów its first sit-down restaurant since the J&B Snack Bar closed in the summer of 2022. Three point five stars as per Google Guides – bez szału (no big deal). Not the best, but far from the worst I've eaten – but it's here! I go for the medium beef kebab with spicy sauce in thin pita bread, 22 złotys.

Discovering the forest west of Hipolitów and Sułkowice: not anything new, but a magical place that I only discovered this year; an unusual landscape featuring eskers (below). More here, here and here.

Farewell to Browar Perun? In summer, a neighbour told me that the local craft brewery in Budziszyn had gone over to part-time production, with workers laid off. Asking about its fate in Piwnica Konesera in Chynów, I was told that indeed the brewery has closed for good. This sad news is not shared by the Perun website as of today's date. In my time, I have supped back some truly excellent beers from this place. The key to survival in this business is good distribution (check out just how many restaurants sell wine by Winnica Turnau).

This time last year:
An Alternative Theology

This time two years ago:
From the Long Review of 2022, Pt IV

This time three years ago:
S2 tunnel under Ursynów opens

This time four years ago:
The first year of Covid-19

This time five years ago:
Last night in Ealing, twenty-teens
[A strangely prophetic post, suitably dream-like in quality]

This time six years ago:
The Day the World Didn't End

This time nine years ago:
Hybrid driving - the verdict

This time 11 years ago:
Pitshanger Lane in the sun

This time 15 years ago:
Miserable, grey, wet London

This time 16 years ago:
Parrots in Ealing

This time 17 years ago:
Heathrow to Okęcie

Radom

Radom, a city of 200,000, has largely bypassed my attention, other than changing trains at the main railway station. It is Poland's 13th most populous city; other Polish cities of similar size (Gdynia, Rzeszów, Toruń for example) I've been to many times, but in my 27 years in Poland, I've visited Radom only once, for  a conference in about 2006.

Although the city has mediaeval roots (unlike, say, Białystok), and a long tradition of manufacturing industry, Radom lacks self-confidence, self-promotion and a sense of its own importance to Poland. When its textile industry collapsed at the end of the communist era, Łódź reinvented itself; Western consultants drew up a plan and the city made it work. Today's Łódź (120 km west of Radom) has attracted waves of foreign direct investment in new factories and shared-services centres as well as being a hub for the creative sector. And Lublin, 100 km east of Radom is establishing itself as a centre for life sciences. But Radom – once famous for typewriters, sewing machines, leather shoes and Kalashnikovs – lags developmentally behind all other Polish cities. As of the end of last month, the Radom sub-region's unemployment rate, 12.3%, is the highest in Poland, and the city of Radom's, at 9.4% is more than double that of Łódź (4.4%) or Lublin (4.0%).

When the current provincial borders were drawn up in 1999, the city authorities fought hard to ensure that it wouldn't end up in Świętokrzyskie province (capital city Kielce, pop. 190,000). And so, Radom became a part of Mazovia, Poland's wealthiest province, thus massively reducing the potential inflow of EU funds.  

Below: how I imagined downtown Radom is how it actually is. On the skyline – the towers of Radom cathedral. A misty day in late December. Important not to get the wrong impressions at first sight. Postwar tenements three or four stories high. 

Most of the city centre architecture dates back to the second half of the 19th century; the opening of the Iwanogorod (Dęblin) to Dąbrowa Górnicza in 1885 was a massive boost to Radom's industrialisation, bringing coal from the Tsarist parts of the Silesian coalfields. 

Below: view along ulica Marszałka Józefa Piłsudskiego. In the mist, the garrison church. Properly restored, and hopefully a portent of things to come. There is potential here to kick-start that transformation that Łódź is experiencing – public and private money building a new city based on what was best in the old.

Left: spotted on a fruit-and-veg vendor's wooden hut, a heartbreaking notice, hand-written by a lonely 65-year-old woman looking for someone to take her in for Christmas Eve. 

Architecturally, Radom is clearly a post-Tsarist city. There's little of the Art Nouveau flourishes that enliven Polish cities that industrialised within former Austro-Hungary or Prussia/Germany. Many buildings have potential for transformation, as Łódź proves. Below: many public buildings in need of a lick of paint. 

Below: and now – a surprise: the Bernardine monastery complex, dating back to the 15th century. Although the facade is spoiled by the entirely faux addition to the roofline on the left (the beige bit with the semi-circle over it and a two-dimensional 'tower' stuck on top. Makes the church look like the factory outlet in Piaseczno or a Chinese town meant to look European.

Below: inside the Bernardine church, a nativity scene (one of the largest I have seen). Just look at that flock!

Below: Radom's 'fara' or parish church, founded in the 14th century. Radom has a lot more historical heritage than I had expected

Below: a 25-minute walk from Radom Główny station to the city's old rynek (market). The town hall is on the right-hand edge; the Jacek Malczewski museum is across the square on the left.

I feel Radom has huge potential. Poland's significant rearmament programme will benefit Radom as the city's factories are already ramping up production of infantry small-arms, such as the modern Grot ('arrowhead') assault rifle, supplied to the Polish army, to Ukraine – and to US special forces. [Cue Elvis Costello's Shipbuilding.]

Radom deserves the attention of foreign investors interested in Poland as a location for manufacturing or shared-services. I shall return to soak up the city's klimat in summer.

This time last year:
New bridge over the Czarna

This time two years ago:
The Long Review of 2022 - Pt. III

This time three years ago:
The Person Who Contemplates Not.

This time six years ago:
2018 – a year in journeys

This time 12 years ago:
Wise words about motoring

This time 13 years ago:
Hurry up and wait with WizzAir at Luton

Jacek Malczewski exhibition, Radom

An extremely important exhibition from the point of view of Polish art history, and one that could easily have slipped under the radar. Advertised extensively on Koleje Mazowieckie trains' TV screens – but nowhere else – the exhibition, Perspektywy ('Perspectives'), brings together paintings by Jacek Malczewski from 16 museums and from private collections across Poland. His paintings are grouped together alongside those by his contemporaries by theme. 

These include fauns, satyrs and nymphs in clearings and glades, by rivers, often with the artist among them, pan pipes, goats' hooves; allegories of Poland's enslavement and rebirth; many self-portraits with classical allusions, Polish landscapes, and – here and there – fantastical visions. 

The exhibition shows works by artists with whom Malczewski had master-student or friendly relations, but also those whose work could have influenced his painting. The context of the title is provided by the juxtaposition of work by artists such as Jan Matejko, Józef Mehoffer, Julian Fałat, Leon Wyczółkowski Olga Boznańska and others. By displaying works that influenced the development of his art, from his early technical studies to the rich symbolism of his later pieces, the exhibition is a journey through the life and works of a great artist, that explores the main threads appearing in his painting.

For all but the last 11 years of his life (Malczewski died at the age of 75), Poland was partitioned between Russia, Austro-Hungary and Germany; Polish artists straddled those borders. Born in Radom (under Russian occupation), Malczewski studied and later taught in Kraków (under Austro-Hungarian occupation). When the First World War broke out, Poles living under the Tsar had to fight against Poles living under the Austro-Hungarian Emperor and the German Kaiser. This reality is shown in the many paintings inspired by Poland's failed risings in 1831 and 1863, the repressions that followed, and the eternal hope that one day Poland would be free and reunited.

As the exhibition comes to an end, it occurs to me that being able to see all these Malczewski paintings  under one roof again is not something that will happen for a long, long time. And displaying them in the context of his contemporaries may not happen again. It runs until 9 January; normal ticket price is 40 złotys, but if you come by Koleje Mazowieckie train and show your ticket, the price tumbles to 10 złotys.

This time last year:
Back out into the open

This time two years ago:
The UK's year of Two Monarchs, Three Premiers and Four Chancellors

This time three years ago:
Wintery gorgeousness and filthy air

This time four years ago:
Jakubowizna – moonrise kingdom

This time seven years ago:

Rural sunlight, Derbyshire

This time 10 years ago:
Derbyshire in the snow

This time 11 years ago:
Is Britain over-golfed?

This time 13 years:
Everybody's out on the road today

This time 14 years ago:
50% off and nothing to pay till June 2016

Busy rails ahead of Christmas

The new railway timetable takes a bit of getting used to. There are two more pairs of express trains hammering down the tracks between Piaseczno and Warka – I especially like the loco-hauled ones.

Below: the northbound TLK Lubomirski express (on its way from Zakopane to Kołobrzeg) approaches Chynów station on the southbound (down) track; it's overtaking a northbound Koleje Mazowieckie service that's just stopped at the northbound (up) platform. Note the red light on the front of the loco, indicating that it's running on the 'wrong' track. This procedure means the local train doesn't have to wait several minutes to let the express pass it on the main line. Running resumes along the normal track on the other side of Chynów station. 

Below: just beyond the level crossing on ulica Spokojna, between Chynów and Węszelówka, a southbound InterCity train, the Siekiewicz, bound for Kraków. It's on the northbound (''up') line. Again, note the red light on the front along with the two white lights, denoting that it's not where it should be.

Below: same spot, literally 30 seconds later, a southbound Koleje Mazowieckie train heading for Radom, on the right track, having been overtaken by the express a kilometre or so south of Chynów station. Travelling on this service on Saturday evening, it reeked of perfume and booze! Christmas comes but once a year...

Below: ten minutes later, another train passes. This time, it's the southbound Lubomirski, heading for Zakopane. It's nearly 80 minutes late; unless that local service above is held at Warka, the delay will extend.

Below: level crossing at Janów, about halfway between Krężel and Michalczew stations. Light drizzle.

Below: there in the distance, the lights of Michalczew station. It's a ten-minute walk; my train home is in 15 minutes' time;

From hobbling to limping to walking with a limp to walking with a slight limp – two weeks on, Today's the fifth day of my return to an average 12,000 paces a day. I can't run, but pain-free walking has been achieved.

Below: the abandoned goods yard by Chynów station. The tracks were ripped out in 2020. Today this empty space acts as an informal station car park during weekdays. Interesting to consider by when this hectare of well-located land might be developed.

UPDATE 23.12.2024: Today's TLK Lubomirski running to time, and on the right track – because the 13:16 Koleje Mazowieckie service from Radom is ten minutes late.

This time last year:
My Covid-19 experience

This time three years ago:
Television times

This time four years ago:
New asphalt for Jeziorki - or Dawidy?

This time seven years ago:
What did you do in the First World Cyber-War?

This time eight years ago:
Solstice sunset, Gogolińska

This time 13 years ago
Extreme fixie

This time 15 years ago:
Poland's worst railway station

This time 16 years ago:
Last Christmas before the Recession?

Deny, distract, dilute

Here's my assessment of the current 'drone flap'. 

Sometime in mid-November, craft of non-human origins began showing up over military bases in the UK and US. These incursions were unprecedented in intensity and duration. The bases have been associated with the storage of nuclear weapons, something that UFOs and Nukes author Robert Hastings says has been happening since the 1940s. These anomalous craft typically show no heat signature detectable to infrared sensors, flying in from the sea in silence, and demonstrating endurance well beyond that of any human-made battery-powered drone, staying aloft for several hours at a time. They were untraceable and unaffected by counter-drone technology. If these are foreign-made drones, the technology is way more advanced than what the US has.

Whereas the UK 'drone' sightings blew over without attracting too much mainstream-media attention, in America, the public, the media and Congress were less willing to let it go. From CNN to Fox News to smaller outlets, right across the political spectrum, the 'drone incursion' story wouldn't fade. It remains in the headlines to this day.

After the first wave of anomalous sightings, the news cycle refuses to move on from on the drone-incursion story. And so, word goes out – flood the fields. 

Air Force, Army and Navy bases start putting their own, identifiable, drones, into the night skies, with transponders off, and where possible, with position lights switched off. Lots of them. Night after night after night. At the same time, the social media is flooded by Travis Trailerhome and Betty Bigbutt posting footage of airliners taking off or landing at night, accompanied by shrieks of "Wow! Unreal! Aliens!". Hobbyist drone jocks practice flying their Black Friday bargains after dark to get in on the act. Amateur CGI enthusiasts of lesser or greater skill levels start posting their clickbait fakery, hoping the algorithm will help monetise their channels. Recordings of spooky sounds emanating from car radios. The more laughable the fake, the better. The more glaringly obvious missightings from America's none-too-bright community, the better. 

And at a joint press conference held on 17 December by the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security , the Federal Aviation Authority and the FBI the message was put forth that: "Having closely examined the technical data and tips from concerned citizens, we assess that the sightings to date include a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones. We have not identified anything anomalous and do not assess the activity to date to present a national security or public safety risk". The message from White House national security communications advisor  John Kirby and others is – we know that these are not foreign adversaries. We know that these are not our own craft. But we don't know what they are; however, whatever it is that they are, they're not a threat to our safety and there's nothing to be alarmed about. 

This is frankly laughable. This might serve to allay the concerns of the casual observer, but to anyone thinking critically about the issue, this message does not wash at all.

There is a secret so deep that the US military is willing to look incompetent rather than to come clean with the public. 

This time last year:
Pain and questions of loss

This time two years ago:
No true beauty without decay

This time three years ago:
James Webb Space Telescope launch

This time five years ago:

Driving the Silk Road reviewed 

This time seven years ago:
Snapshots of Lublin dressed for Christmas

This time eight years ago:
The best of Warsaw's Christmas illuminations

This time nine years ago:
Changes on ul. Baletowa

This time ten years ago:
UK migration – don't blame the Poles

This time 11 years ago:
Jacek Hugo Bader's White Fever: A Journey to the Frozen Heart of Siberia

This time 13 years ago 
Thoughts upon the death of the Dear Leader

This time 14 years ago:
Global warming or climate change?

Infrastructure: future of local projects

As 2024 comes to a close, a post about three infrastructure projects that will affect me in coming years. Two are big, the other huge. I'll start with the big one...

I've written many times about the railway line from Skierniewice to Łuków. Built during the Stalinist Six-Year Plan to expedite the dispatch of Red Army forces westwards, bypassing Warsaw, the line today is a major conduit for Chinese container trains. Long due for an upgrade; along many stretches, trains are limited to a top speed of 40km/h due to poor track quality.

A major bottleneck is the bridge over the Vistula at Góra Kalwaria. Built in 1950, it carries a single track. The plan is to double the bridge (as has been done over the Pilica in Warka), and to bring back passenger services to the entire line (currently, passenger trains serve only a short stretch, from Czachówek to Góra Kalwaria). EU funds from the Connecting Europe Facility are available to Poland for upgrading this line, of strategic importance to the entire continent. Plans had been prepared. But there was one drawback – the plans did not envisage a footway/cyclepath alongside the rails, to the annoyance of local people. But infrastructure operator, PKP PLK, has given way to public pressure. It looks like there will have an alternative to using the road bridge, which is 3.5km longer. This is a popular area for cyclists from Warsaw, and a river crossing here will come in handy. And drive trade.

So – assuming no delays in the project (there are always delays to projects), the new dual-track railway bridge is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2028, and this should mean that passenger services east of Góra Kalwaria will recommence. Can I hope one day to catch a train from Chynów to Pilawa?

[source]

The second project, again covered many times on this blog, is the final opening of W-wa Zachodnia (Warsaw West) railway station after its comprehensive modernisation. In particular the underground passage linking the eight platforms of the main part of the station to Platform Nine, which is currently a ten-minute walk away. Optimally, this could be cut to seven, so still a hack. 

But the big questions for everyone coming into Warsaw along the Radom line is whether trains will return to serve central Warsaw, or whether they are condemned in perpetuity to be diverted northward via Platform Nine to Warszawa Gdańska station. I think an ideal compromise will be to send some trains this way and some  trains that way. The earliest we'll know is when the 2026 railway timetables are published.

However, while the railway part of the project, the footbridge and the underground connections, are reaching their conclusion, there's still the new tramlines that need to be laid down before the entire project becomes fully operational. This is scheduled for mid-2026. So for the meanwhile, some of the underground parts of W-wa Zachodnia will remain off limits.

[source]

And finally, the mega-project – Warsaw's southern orbital motorway. There is still no decision as to how the A50 will run. Various plans show its course as somewhere between Piaseczno and Chynów, crossing the S7 around Tarczyn and heading east towards a new Vistula crossing. But there's still the chance that the current DK50, which is just over a kilometre at its nearest point from my działka, might be upgraded to motorway standard, doubled or tripled in width.

On the map below, issued by Poland's national-road infrastructure operator, GDDKiA, we see the grey band around Warsaw's eastern periphery. The black lines are existing roads, the red lines are roads under construction, the blue lines are roads being prepared (ie. advanced planning stages); the grey lines represent vapourware, pipe-dreams, notions of concepts. Now, look at the grey lines between the existing S7 and S17. This looks good to me; but the threat of abandoning that concept and using the course of the DK50 through Grójec and Góra Kalwaria doesn't make me happy.

My inner NIMBY is against this idea. The DK50 is currently taking less east-west transit traffic than had been the case before the A2-S2 was fully opened, with its tunnel under Ursynów and its new bridge over the Vistula, but even so, on days when the wind's from the north, traffic noise can be annoying.

At this stage, we don't know (nothing more than this report from Raport Warszawski). Fingers crossed.

This time five years ago:
West Ealing by night 

This time eight years ago:
Smog starts getting to be a big problem for Warsaw

This time nine years ago:
Snow in December: A memory or figment of my imagination?

This 11 years ago:
A muddy walk along ul. Karczunkowska

This 12 years ago:
Ul. Trombity - a step closer to dry feet?

This time 13 years ago:
Matters of style

This time 15 years ago:
Real winter hits Warsaw

This time 16 years ago:
This is not Mazowsze, no?

Poland's sleeper-train services for 2025

Yesterday saw the annual change to Poland's (and indeed Europe's) railway timetables. There are minor adjustments throughout the year (9 March, 15 June, 31 August and 26 October 2025), but this is the moment that new services are introduced or old ones axed.

So – how many domestic sleeper-train services are there after the timetable change? Excluding the international sleeper trains, we are down from six pairs to five pairs; two of them start/finish in Warsaw (to/from Świnoujście and Szklarska Poręba Górna); two pass through Warsaw (Gdynia to/from Zakopane; Kraków to/from Kołobrzeg); and one bypasses Warsaw altogether (Przemyśl to/from Świnoujście via Wrocław). Last year, two of the six trains were operated by InterCity with new sleeper carriages, the remaining four were TLK (Twoje Linie Kolejowe, the cheaper brand). This year, two of the TLK services were upgraded to IC; one TLK remains, one has been changed from a sleeper service to an ordinary train that travels by night.

Let's look at the five pairs of Polish sleeper trains in detail.

I'll start with my personal favourite that I've used many times over the years.

IC 18171 Uznam Warszawa Wschodnia - Świnoujście (dep. 22:39 arr. 07:20). An InterCity, rather than a TLK service, with the newer sleeper carriages are now in use on this service. It leaves Warsaw later than in last year's timetable, calling at Szczecin Główny on the way, arriving at 05:29, more convenient for business than the previous 04:16. The Uznam still gets you to the Baltic beach resorts in good time – it passes through Międzyzdroje at 07:07. And it runs all year round.

IC 81170 Uznam: Świnoujście – Warszawa Wschodnia (dep. 22:03 arr. 06:51) is the return service. Leaving an hour later than in the previous timetable, but arriving just ten minutes later in Warsaw, giving you an extra hour in Świnoujście. The train is already in the platform well ahead of departure time, so passengers can board early and get themselves comfortable before it sets off. 

Taking the Uznam there and back from Warsaw in summer gives you the best part of 12 hours on the beach. With a hotel or apartment from Saturday to Sunday, you can get a full weekend of Baltic sun-and-sea having worked Friday, and be back to the office first thing Monday morning.

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This is another that I've used many, many times, though I've never been beyond Jelenia Góra.

IC 16190 Karkonosze: Warszawa Wschodnia - Szklarska Poręba Górna (dep. 23:24 arr. 08:25). The Karkonosze, which only goes as far as Jelenia Góra in summer, returns to the mountains, calling in at Wrocław (04:16), Wałbrzych Główny (05:57) and Jelenia Góra (06:42) along the way. Upgraded this year to an Intercity (IC) train, you'll no longer find old-style carriages here. If you have an early business meeting in Wrocław, my tip is to sleep on to Wałbrzych, change there to take a local train back, which will give you another couple of hours of rest. Otherwise you'll be spending all that time in Wrocław Głowny's McDonalds until your meeting.

IC 61190 Karkonosze: Szklarska Poręba Górna – Warszawa Wschodnia (dep. 20:27 arr. 04:56). Departing at the same time as last year, the return service arrives in Warsaw more than an hour earlier, lets skiers and hikers get a weekend full of mountain air and get back well before their offices open on Monday morning, having slept on the train. 

If past years are to go by, the Karkonosze will only run between Warsaw and Zielona Góra during the summer months, thereby depriving passengers the possibility of hiking in the mountains in summer.

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IC 38170 Ustronie: Kraków Główny – Kołobrzeg (dep. 21:36 arr. 09:34). Year-round seaside-special for folks from Poland's south, calling at Kielce, Radom, Warsaw East and the Tri-City on its way to the resorts of Ustronie and Kołobrzeg. You can use this train as a nocturnal connection between Warsaw (dep. 02:30) and Gdańsk (arr. 06:01) and Gdynia, though with three and half hours between the two cities, you'll not get quality sleep time. Two significant changes to this service; as with the Świnoujście services: it has changed from a TLK to an IC, so better rolling stock. Also, it visits Warka (01:25) and Piaseczno (01:45), Warsaw West and Warsaw Central on the way. One of Poland's longer night-train routes, at 887 km.

IC 83170 Ustronie: Kołobrzeg – Kraków Główny (dep. 19:30, arr. 07:46). Passing through Warszawa Wschodnia at 03:00. The train is a useful nocturnal connection for Varsovians needing to be in Kraków for early business meetings. Departs Warka at 04:37 in time for breakfast in Kraków.

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TLK 35170 Karpaty: Zakopane – Gdynia Główna (dep. 21:47, arr. 08:30) At last, track work complete, from the mountains to the sea, 848 km. Not upgraded to IC, so fans of old-school rolling stock can still experience the veneered wood, moquette upholstery and clunkiness. The Karpaty also functions as another nocturnal connection between Kraków, Warsaw and the Tri-City (dep: Kraków Główny 00:45, calling at Warsaw Central at 04:20 and arriving in Gdańsk Główny at 07:58). The Karpaty takes the Częstochowa - Piotrków Tryb. route rather than serving Kielce and Radom. 

TLK 53170 Karpaty: Gdynia Główna – Zakopane (dep: 19:50, arr: 06:39) On the way back from Gdynia to Zakopane, the Karpaty leaves Gdynia at an early hour for a sleeper service, passing through Warsaw Central at 23:45 and arriving in Kraków at 03:27. This means Krakovians can get home after a late night in the capital. The Polish mountains are connected to the Polish sea by night train again – but unlike the Szklarska Poręba service, this one runs all year round.

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Now onto the one sleeper service that skips Warsaw altogether. There was a second one, the TLK 53172  Rozewie (Gdynia Główna to Kraków Główny via Gdańsk, Bydgoszcz, Poznań, Wrocław, Opole and Katowice); this has been replaced by an unnamed InterCity train, the IC 461; it continues beyond Kraków to Rzeszów and Przemyśl, a 12-hour-16 minute journey of 1,009 km, travelling mostly by night – and yet there are no sleeper carriages on this train!

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IC 83172 Przemyślanin: Świnoujście – Przemyśl Główny (dep. 18:57, arr. 08:25). The Orient-Express of Polish train journeys, a full 1,019 kilometres (612 miles) all the way, linking the south-east and north-west extremes of Poland. Thirteen hours and 28 minutes; more than two hours shaved off the previous timetable. Despite the shorter travel time, the current route is longer, substituting Opole for Katowice in last year's timetable. An mid-evening start from Świnoujście, but there's a restaurant car attached. Given the nature of night trains, moving from your compartment to the restaurant means having to arrange this with the sleeping-car attendant. The carriages are delivered to Świnoujście station an hour or so before the departure time, so you can leave your stuff in your sleeping compartment, and dine en route to Szczecin (20:26) before returning to your bunk(s). The train also calls at Poznań, Wrocław, Opole, Kraków and Rzeszów on the way, thus serving six of Poland's 16 provincial capitals. A proper InterCity train with modern sleeper carriages, superior in comfort to the stock used on TLK night connections.

IC 38172 Przemyślanin: Przemyśl Główny-Świnoujście (dep. 19:29, arr. 09:04). The south-east and north-western extremes of Poland linked the other way. 

So: more quality, less quantity. Use it or lose it.

Other than the sleeper trains, the biggest story of the 2025 timetable is the introduction of Pendolino trains to Szczecin via Poznań, cutting journey time to 4h 23m (from over five hours; and back in recent memory, seven hours). Wrocław-Warsaw has been cut to 3h 30m. And a new international service, the IC Baltic Express from Czechia to the sea, and the IC Galicia from Przemyśl to Berlin via Rzeszów, Kraków, Katowice and Wrocław. Polish trains are getting better and better!

This time last year:
UFO/UAP disclosure – current state

This time nine years ago:
A tiny bit of pavement for Karczunkowska

This time 12 years ago:
Welcome to the machine, Mr Kaczyński

This time 14 years ago:
'F' is for 'Franco', not 'Fascist' [Prescient post!]

This time 16 years ago:
Christmas lights: all in the best possible taste

This time 17 years ago:
Letter from Russia

Slow progress, but the healing goes on

It's been a week since I badly twanged my right calf muscle, and while I am on the mend, it's still a long way from walking normally and without pain. Another week?

The good news – I have not lost any sleep over this. Every night over the past week has been comfortable; once lying down, I soon forget which leg was injured. But when I get out of bed to stand up, the pain begins. But then as soon as I take a seat, the pain eases. It's just getting about that's problematic. Work has been exclusively from home all this week, with only one live event having to be substituted for a teleconference.

But my mobility is getting better with each day that passes. Above all, I must return to symmetrical walking with a normal gait. By Tuesday morning, I could stand up with my weight equally distributed on both legs. At the moment, it's a bit of a shuffle, with my left leg now being able to swing forward to the point where the left toe is about eight or nine inches ahead of the right toe. It needs to be two feet ahead. Symmetry in movement, as my old dad used to say, is crucial to good health.

Things took a setback on Thursday when I ventured into the back of the garden to empty the compost bin. On the way, my right foot slipped on a wet clump of soil, an immediate stab of pain, and I fell backward, unable to stop the fall. So that day I didn't venture out to do some gentle walking exercise. I did today (almost 4,000 paces) and yesterday (almost 2,000 paces), but there's some way still to go before I can complete 12,000 paces in under two hours.

I am continuing to do those exercises that can still be done without the use of leg power, so press-ups, plank, weights and pull-ups continue. No squatting, no sit-ups, no back extensions. As it is, even before tearing my right calf muscle on December 7, I had already beaten last year's records across all of those exercises, only the paces still to beat. But now that looks unlikely.

The key is to finely balance overdoing it and resting myself into atrophy. As always, body feedback and intuition is all important; listening to what my body is really telling me. And the all important lesson that I should have learnt after an analogous event in the other leg – never break into a sprint immediately after getting up from a long spell in the seated position (bus or car). Running at my age requires a warm-up first. Having said that, I remember my grandmother running for a tram at the age of 73, so there's hope.

The healing process is miraculous. Every successive day is one day's progress along the road to recovery. Standing up to walk over to the sink with an empty mug is not the effort it was five days ago; one should be aware of every intimation of progress and be thankful for it; gratitude; alignment with Cosmic Purpose, and the battle against complacency.

Mind over matter; will yourself better.

This time last year:
A mind-blowing dream

This time two years ago:
Utter, utter gorgeousness

This time three years ago:
Hoar frost and proper ice, Jeziorki

This time six years ago:
Alcohol, servant not master

This time nine years ago:

Classic car quiz, 2015

This time ten years ago:

Classic British Car Quiz, 2014

This time 11 years ago:

The poet's gift - an exploration into Why One Writes

This time 12 years ago:

Advertising H&M on Warszawa Centralna station

This time 13 years ago:

Jeziorki in the snow

This time 17 years ago:

Staying Underground: Piccadilly Circus

The November-December 2023 UAP flap

These weeks will go down in UFOlogical lore – the unexplained spate of drone sightings across the UK and US that's still ongoing as I write. Since the middle of November, eyewitnesses had been reporting lights in the sky over RAF Mildenhall, RAF Lakenheath and RAF Feltwell in eastern England night after night for 16 days. Though some were aircraft, helicopters or military drones, the majority of what was reported did not fit into any explicable category. This anomalous activity over Britain tailed off after almost three weeks, but since then, there has been even more intense drone activity in the night skies over New Jersey.

The UK government and media had been generally silent over the sightings. In the US, however, it's quite different right now. Mainstream media outlets , from CNN to Fox News, have been all reporting this phenomenon. We see once-sceptical journalists accepting that they're seeing things that are hard to explain, we see law-enforcement officers talking about swarms of lights flying in from the ocean, mayors and legislators are angry that they're not being told what's going on. Pentagon and White House press conferences that try to reassure ("they're not foreign adversary drones, they're not our technology"), but this only serves to deepen the mystery.

Applying Occam's razor to this phenomenon doesn't help. One way or another, it's bad news for America. Russian or Chinese 'sleeper' agents? An Iranian ship launching drones from offshore? Malicious hoaxers and pranksters? Black-budget projects from rogue groups within the government? The failure of anyone in authority to suggest any plausible explanation as they try to play down the seriousness of the situation in which a nation's airspace security is so evidently compromised, is a major concern for the public.

Meanwhile, social media is full of testimonies and footage of anomalous lights in the sky, and plenty of conspiratorial theories and warnings of doom. A strange, unreal atmosphere (especially on X).

"Because something is happening here, and you don't know what it is, do you Mr. Jones"

A likely outcome once this is over is that like the mass sightings over Washington DC (1952), in the Hudson Valley (1983-84), Gulf Breeze (1987-88), Phoenix (1997), it will just fizzle out. A suitable explanation will be found (Doug and Dave, the British crop-circle makers; the Gulf Breeze UFO model found in an attic; military exercises; flares; top-secret high-altitude balloon experiments, sensor/equipment faults or mass hallucinations. The word will go out via trustworthy journalists, newspaper articles and TV items will appear, and in the end Johnny Sixpack and Eddie Punchclock will shrug their shoulders and say, "well that's been debunked then – it was swamp gas all along" before going back to their favourite show.

It's just that it doesn't feel like it right now.

[Update 15 December: BBC website summary of the story so far here.]

This time last year:
Impressions of Zielona Góra

This time two years ago:
Kraków to Jakubowizna in the snow

This time three years ago:
Frustration for the local wozidupek community

This time four years ago:
Small local milestones, Chynów station

This time five years ago:

Brexit: what next?
[UK economy's screwed – that's what]

This time eight years ago:
Kick out against change - or accept it?

This time nine years ago:
Warwick University alumni meet in Warsaw

This time ten years ago:
Pluses and minuses of PKP InterCity

This time 11 years ago:
When transportation breaks down

This time 16 years ago:
Full moon closest to Earth