Olden times in Wrocław and Gliwice

Travels by train around Poland are somewhat hit-or-miss these days with big delays being commonplace; is our railway infrastructure being hit by hackers from Russia? Opóźnienie może ulec zmianie. Za poniesione niedogodności przepraszamy. ("Delay may succumb to change. For indignities sustained, we apologise."). My return from Wrocław was punctuated by an hour-long transfer at Gliwice, chance for a wander around. 

The railway station (below) is complete, but access to it from front and back is complicated by a mass of reconstruction work from the front, and the building of a new bus station at the rear.

Below: plenty of pre-war architecture to remind one that this was once the German city of Gleiwitz. 

Below: unthinkable that ghost signs in German would have been visible even 20 years ago; with Germany and Poland both comfortable about their present borders, it's not a issue.

The same in Wrocław, 90 miles (145 km) north-west of Gliwice. Below: a pre-war shop sign adorns a branch of Poczta Polska on ulica Kościuszki; tastefully renovated facade, listed building. Google Maps Street View image from 2017 shows the building without the pre-war sign.

Below: I stayed at the Hotel Europejski, which I can highly praise for the price/quality balance. If you're thinking of staying here, choose a room facing the side street; the trams are noisy early in the morning.  

Below: Wrocław Główny station, always worthy of a snap. 

As I crossed ulica Oławska, I spotted this delightful two-door Opel Manta (the pre-facelift B1 version 1975-81); the butt of German jokes in the 1980s, but today a classic. 

Another two-door coupe of similar vintage, the Honda Prelude (1978-81), again in original pre-facelift form. Both these cars will hit their half-century some time this decade! Good to see a thriving classic car scene in Wrocław.

Below: some brutalist architecture from the 1960s, ul. Powstańców Śląskich

This time last year:
Are aliens good or bad?

This time two years ago:
Thoughts - trains set in motion

This time four years ago:
Great crested grebes and swans hatch

This time six years ago:
Jeziorki birds in the late May sunshine

This time seven years ago:
Making sense of Andrzej Duda's win

This time eight years ago:
Call it what it is: Okęcie

This time nine years ago:
Three stations in need of repair

This time ten years ago
Late evening, Śródmieście

This time 11 years ago:
Ranking a better life

This time 13 years ago:
Paysages de Varsovie

This time 13 years ago:
Spring walk, twilight time

Return to Gliwice and its new station

Last time I was in Gliwice, the station was being remonted, with duckboards outside straddling pools of mud, passengers being diverted this way and that - bałagan, Panie. What a surprise when I stepped off the Pendolino from Warsaw this evening. The station is finished and looks great! Below: first impressions. The lighting levels fluctuate, rising then falling in intensity; interesting!

Below: I walk to the end of the platform to see the station name in lights - not the neon that Wrocław Główny has, nevertheless effective and conforming to a Polish standard for main railway stations.

Left: the stairs down to the tunnel that links the platforms and the main hall. Interesting use of metal tubing in conjunction with blue-tinted glass and light-grey concrete. Good signage and full support for disabled passengers. EU funds put to good use.

Below: the main hall, with that wonderful abstract mural which has survived the remont intact, remaining the focal point. As I wrote, along with Gdynia, one of the finest works of public art on PKP's network of stations, this photo hardly does it justice.

Below: outside, the station structure has been retained, the facade cleaned up and beautifully illuminated. Last time I was here, temporary wooden roofing was placed above the walkways to protect passengers from falling debris.

The civilisational changes happening across Poland are raising the quality of people's everyday life; we must appreciate this; it did not happen because the Big Man deemed it be so.

This time last year:
Poles and Brits go shopping differently

This time two years ago:
Reanimated - my father's car 
[Still on the go, with new MOT]

This time three years ago:
Defending Poland against hybrid warfare 

This time four years ago:
Another office move

This time six years ago:
PiS splits again - Solidarna Polska formed 

This time seven years ago:
Tesco vs. Auchan

This time ten years ago:
My father's house