Town and country in the snow

At last, after a couple of weeks with ambiguous weather, finally winter returns with snow and frost - and the prospect of more to come. The next week will not see temperatures rise above freezing. In central Warsaw, the urban heat-island effect means the difference between frost and meltwater. Salt applied liberally to the roadways makes its way onto the pavements. However, as the week's rush subsides on Friday evening, the snow gently falling, the visual effect is aesthetically pleasing.

Below: looking north along ulica Krucza, towards the junction with ul. Żurawia. The Socialist-Realist building on the right is typically of the state administrative buildings - ministries - built soon after the Soviet takeover of power in Poland.

Below: looking north along Aleje Ujazdowskie towards Plac Trzech Krzyży. Note the tree nestled between the historic buildings. 

Below: looking west along ul. Hoża, a Stalin-era ministry to the right, Tsarist-era tenements to the left.

Below: looking alongside the Most Poniatowski bridge towards the Vistula; its escarpment is behind me. My favourite bridge.

Down among the trees, the bridge is visible in the distance. Powiśle, between the scarp and the river, has significant parkland. I catch the Kamienna Koleje Mazowieckie limited-stop train back to Chynów, which takes a mere 42 minutes from W-wa Śródmieście.

Back in Jakubowizna after a decently frosty night, a bright morning - the snowfall hasn't been too heavy over night, and its powdery rather than wet and heavy - so walking to the shops isn't a chore (indeed I walk the long way out and the long way back to maximise exposure to sunlight).
 

After lunch, a second stroll, this time the other way, into the forest.

Below: heading back home, note the approaching cloudbank on the horizon. It looks like a range of distant hills (I wish it were! Would be lovely to explore them on foot...). More snow is on its way.

Today's walking: 14,500 paces (see below!) 

This time five years ago:
"Forget about doing 10,000 paces a day!"

This time six years ago:
Ukraine - fight or flight?

This time nine years ago:
Sadness at the death of Tadeusz Mosz 

This ten years ago:
Oldschool photochallenge

This time 12 years ago:
Warsaw's wonderful nooks and crannies

This time 15 years ago:
Viaduct to the airport at ul. Poleczki almost ready

Weekly pictorial roundup

This week's random selection of photos. Below: Most Poniatowskiego bridge, my favourite Vistula crossing. So much charm and elegance, few other bridges can compete.

Below: classic 'Ogórek' bus (Jelcz 043) outside Palace of Culture. Two Ogórki are usually parked here, this one a rarer visitor.

Below: murals on ul. Tamka, near the Chopin museum. I was astonished that Netflix Polska now has the budgets to advertise its TV series by way of hand-painted artwork four stories high.

The retro-style restaurant/bar Setka on ul. Świętokrzyska boasts two wall paintings by Katarzyna Bogucka, one of the most recognisable graphic talents in Poland today.

Ms Bogucka's work draws heavily on the tradition of Polish graphic art from pre-war and post-war days, and is immensely likeable. Her website here.

If the style is familiar, it may be you saw some of Ms Bogucka's murals decorating Łódź Fabryczna station (at least six on view).

Meanwhile, Poland's construction sector is Getting On With It. Progress is visible. I visited my działka on Friday, and was surprised and delighted to see the new windows in place.

In Jeziorki, on ul. Trombity - where work on new water mains and sewers began last November, the first lick of asphalt is down, and awaiting the second and final coat.

And the viaduct taking ul. Karczunkowska over the Warsaw-Radom railway line is coming on nicely, although I still totally doubt a December 2018 opening. At least the site is busy.

Late summer/early autumn - the weather is holding on nicely. Next week will be busy (Rzeszów/Kraków/Wrocław/Warsaw/London).

This time three years ago:
Scotland's independence referendum looms

This time six years ago:
Summer comes crashing to a halt

This time seven years ago:
The atmosphere of impending autumn - Mono no aware

This time ten years ago:
Time to recycle.

This time 11 years ago:
Coal train running

Warsaw: spruced up and looking in its prime

The football starts in just over two weeks. Seven kilometres of motorway have been opened this morning, linking the S8 which skirts round Warsaw's north-east flank to Pruszków, still over 100km from Stryków where the motorway from Berlin currently ends. Meanwhile, the city authorities are doing their best to make Warsaw look clean, modern and welcoming.

Graffiti has been removed from my favourite bridge, Most Poniatowskiego. Left: steps leading up to Al. Jerozolimskie from the passage to W-wa Powiśle station. The écru-coloured walls are a magnet for the vandals; within minutes of the painters restoring this structure to pristine condition, Warsaw's public monument-defacer community has been out and about uglifying this beautiful structure, and others, such as Arseniusz Romanowicz's W-wa Powiśle station.

Birching is too good for them. Bring back the stocks, public flogging etc. In the meanwhile, before too many visual equivalents of doggy-do return to despoil the walls of the bridge, it is a rare chance to photograph it looking like it should.

Right: steps leading down to Śmigły-Rydz park in Powiśle. The neo-gothic vaulting reminds me of the Chapterhouse Steps at Wells Cathedral.

Once at street level, turn left for the Polish Army Museum (Muzeum Wojska Polskiego). Entrance to the park, filled with an eclectic mix of Soviet and Western militaria, is free of charge.

Below: a Cold War-era MiG 21 fighter gleams bright in the morning sun.

Below: a Sherman tank and 25-pounder field gun, both as used by Polish soldiers fighting alongside the British in Italy and the Normandy campaign. Worth remembering that Poland provided the fourth-most numerous army to fight the Germans (after the USSR, USA and UK). Hanging on the railings of the museum, a series of illustrated historical posters leaving our footballing visitors from the East in no doubt as to who won the Cold War.

Our city is truly at its best right now; spruced up for the visiting football fans, and enjoying some wonderful spring weather. A north-easterly wind cooled the air to a pleasant 21C today; walking around Warsaw a real joy.

This time three years ago:
Heron over Jeziorki

This time five years ago:
Present rising, future loading

My favourite bridge, from topside

I've written about the Most Poniatowskiego before (notably here); unquestionably my favourite bridge in Warsaw. A damp winter's afternoon, wet snow, just around sunset - a good time to catch some atmosphere on the deck of the bridge before continuing by tram to get to Moni's school meeting.

Below: looking across from Most Poniatowskiego to the railway bridge over the Vistula that runs almost parallel. Four railway tracks are carried across the river, taking trains out of the Tunel Średnicowy and over to Praga and the east.

Below: last tram stop on the west side of the Vistula. Looking towards Praga on the right bank; the lights of the Stadion Narodowy (national stadium) to the left of the picture; construction is moving ahead in good time to be ready for next year's football championships.

Most Poniatowskiego connects two roundabouts named after statesmen: Rondo De Gaulle'a on the left bank and Rondo Waszyngtona on the right bank. Alight at Rondo Wosh (where the row of lights converge) for Sophisticated Saska and Park Skaryszewski.

This time last year:
Illuminating snow from beneath

This time two years ago:
Poloneza drivetime, winter

This time three years ago:
Looking up over Jeziorki

Most Poniatowskiego, winter

'That looks like America', says Eddie looking at the photo above. This is Powiśle, showing the north side of the Poniatowski bridge, looking towards the town centre. Car in the foreground is a Warszawa 204. Temperatures today hovered between -5C and -4C.

Upon my way to work and home

On such a day as today, when winter makes itself felt, Warsaw goes to work as usual. Buses and trains generally running on time (no less so than in summer). It's the first heavy dump that disrupts, and each subsequent one after each thaw. Top: W-wa Jeziorki station, this morning. Temperature was -10C. Right: On my way to lunch, Trasa Łazienkowska in background.

Above: The Poniatowski bridge, Powiśle. Nearly at the station, headed home. Below: Back at W-wa Jeziorki, the evening's last train terminating Czachówek Południowy departs southbound.

Powiśle on a cold, clear autumn morning

My favourite bridge in Warsaw, Most Poniatowskiego. (See also night-time photo here). I arrive at W-wa Powiśle a few minutes early to discover that the Koleje Mazowieckie train I'd boarded was not the 9:07 from Jeziorki, but a far earlier one that finally arrived in town a whole 60 minutes late!

Still, it gives me an extra ten minutes to snap some snaps. The bridge looks good through the trees, too. Although November (listopad/'the leaf-fall month') has just begun, the process of deciduous trees shedding their leaves seems nearly complete.

Strong, low sunlight creates the ideal conditions for dramatic photography that captures spirit of place and the sublime aesthetic.

Right: block of flats on Powiśle, just off ul. Leona Kruczkowskiego. I note they've been repainted since the current photo on Google Earth was taken - they were all white back in March 2007! Below: flats along ul. Czerniakowska.

Most Poniatowskiego

Looking at this time of year like a fairy tale castle rather than a key bit of Warsaw's transport infrastructure, this is my favourite bridge over the Vistula. Blown up twice, rebuilt twice, the Poniatowski bridge and the area around it has a unique atmosphere, a blend of industrial revolution meets high renaissance (only the Dom Luis cast iron arch bridge over the River Douro in Oporto, Portugal, beats it from among bridges I've seen, but then I've not been to Brooklyn).

Beyond the Poniatowski bridge is a parallel railway bridge, and at its western end W-wa Powiśle station. It's here I'm heading, to catch the train home to W-wa Jeziorki.