Sightseeing without the tourists

Now is the time to see Warsaw or any other Northern European city – when the weather's grim and tourists are sparse. Let's face it – exploring cities is not about sunbathing, but revelling in the architecture without the distraction of the bucket-list selfie crowd. The lowest of the low season, between the New Year and Easter, is when it's best to wander around. Below: the market of Warsaw's 17th century New Town, Friday lunchtime – empty. Now's the time to savour the atmosphere, the klimat.

Below: Warsaw's Barbakan – the remaining stretch of the mediaeval wall encircling the Old Town. Without the hawkers touting tourist tat, without buskers, without garish adverts for shops or restaurants. Walled cities speak of a time of constant invasions and the need for defensive structures.

Below: from the steps of the Church of the Holy Spirit, looking down ulica Mostowa curving and dipping gently down towards the Vistula. The Barbakan gate to the right. 

Below: by night, same composition, unsullied by the tourist throng milling noisily from shot bar to shot bar.

Below: the Barbakan as dusk falls. The Old Town lies silent.

Below: the last weekend with the Christmas lights on; the city authorities start taking them down on Monday. Ulica Freta with nary a human being in sight. 

Below: corner of ul. Freta and ul. Kościelna. Architecture, cobblestones and remnants of snow give that European authenticity best appreciated at this time of year.

Below: the edge of the New Town, early-postwar Socialist Realist architecture. A Żabka convenience store is now an obligatory fixture on many a street corner in Poland's towns and cities. De jure it's actually a Żabka café, with its two barstools, a windowsill table measuring three foot by one foot six, and a self-service coffee machine, which allows the premises to stay open on Sundays pursuant to Polish retail law. From the tourism industry point of view, this is good, as visitors can safely graze on salt snacks and energy drinks the whole week round.

This time last year:
How much spirituality do we need?

This time five years ago:
New 'down' platforms take shape at Sułkowice and Chynów

This time six years ago:
Birds return to frozen ponds

This time seven years ago:
Bending the forces of physics with your will

This time nine years ago:
Giving it up for Lent

This time 11 years ago:
North-east of Warsaw West revisited

This time 12 years ago:
Looking for answers

This time 13 years ago:
Fresh powder in Warsaw's parks

This time 15 years ago:
Another Lent starts

This time 17 years ago:
Okęcie dusk

City centre notes

Most of my life has been spent living in the suburbs - 36 years in the West London suburb of the Borough of Ealing; four years in the suburbs of Coventry (including two on the campus of Warwick University) and 25 in the Warsaw district of Ursynów - it's 'green' parts - Pyry and Jeziorki. And of those years, 37 have been spent living in detached houses. No one living on the other side of my four walls. The past few years have seen me spending more and more time in the countryside, which I am coming to prefer over suburbia. I used to think suburbia was the best place to live; today - I'm not so sure, as housing density and traffic increases.

The past four days I have been cat-sitting at Moni's flat just off Warsaw's New Town (Nowe Miasto) - that's 'new' as opposed to Warsaw's Old Town - 15th century rather than 13th (rebuilt after the war). Below: looking at ulica Freta from the New Town market square, rush hour.

This is an entirely new experience to me - staying for more than a single hotel-night in a city centre -  being in my daughter's flat, with kitchen, pet, routine, office work online - and city-centre life. Strange.

Left: just 400m from Moni's front door, the Barbakan marks the border between the New Town (ahead) and the Old Town (behind). Built in 1540 and rebuilt after WW2. Fewer tourists penetrate the New Town, preferring the more commercialised Old Town, its market square and the castle square. Those that make it beyond the Barbakan tend to be more curious and less prone to boozy excesses.

So it's quiet - but not silent. On the działka, the only things that make any noise are the fridge and my bedroom radiator as they cool and warm; other than that, there are no 'bumps in the night'. In the flat, however, I have the impression of being in a hotel or student halls of residence - beyond these four walls, there are people - things going on. 

Through my sleep, I dimly hear somebody's alarm clock going off. People are walking up and down the stairs. Someone's hoovering - where? there's a flat upstairs, downstairs, to the left and to the right right. Little boxes all around. People separated from me not me hundreds of metres, but by the thickness of a wall.

The flats are are of various sizes (Moni's is very small - one room, tiny kitchen, tiny bathroom), the building's just four floors high - so no lift. But for one person - entirely adequate, cheap to heat and light.

In the country, I can go for a 90-minute walk and literally not encounter any other human being during that time. I can revel in the solitude, the peace, the luxury of uninterrupted trains of thought.

But here, I am a stone's throw from a UNESCO World Heritage Site. My evening strolls - either through dark, cobbled backstreets that could be from an Expressionist film-set, or else along brightly lit, car-free thoroughfares decorated for Xmas and full of tourists and revellers - are quite magical. A different magic to that of silent misty forests and orchards in the encroaching dusk. 

Neither forms of magic are on offer in suburbia, all rushing cars, muddy puddles where pavements should be.

Living so close to a street full of excellent restaurants, cafes and bars, living one minute rather than 30 minutes walk from the nearest grocery shop, a Carrefour Express, however, is costly. The temptation to live it up is great. Crisps and a beer? Don't mind if I do. Good bottle of wine?

After a few days' city-centre living, I must say I can see the appeal. Massively. A great counter-balance to rural life, but so much better than suburban life which has little of the civilisation of the city, and little of the comforting calm of the countryside. Suburbia is not what it was.

This time two years ago:
First snow for ages!

This time three years ago:

Politics and personal responsibility

This time four years ago:
Consciousness, memory and spirit of place

This time five years ago:
Polish Perivale

This time six years ago:
Power in the vertical

This time ten years ago:
And still they come [anomalous flashbacks that is]

This time 11 years ago:
Classic glass

This time 12 years ago:
What's the Polish for 'pattern'?

This time 14 years ago:
"Rorate caeli de super nubes pluant justum..."

Warsaw's Christmas lights 2017-18

As a rule, Warsaw's Christmas decorations are getting better each year; in good taste, avoiding the garish, and increasingly imaginative. Result: people come out to look, filling bars and restaurants along the way. Starting at Nowe Miasto (below), through Stare Miasto, taking in the Royal Castle, Krakowskie Przedmieście, Nowy Świat, Al. Ujazdowskie, down past Łazienki Park.

Below: ul. Freta, connecting Nowe Miasto with Stare Miasto. In the distance the illuminations around Barbakan.

Below: ul. Piwna looking up from Pl. Zamkowy

My personal favourites - an illuminated peacock, symbolic of the royal parks, on Al. Ujazdowskie...

...and a reprise from last year, a Jelcz 'Ogórek' bus, roof rack laden with presents.

Pictures taken on New Year's Day; on 30 December there was a brief power cut in Jeziorki after which the computer wouldn't reboot and had to be taken away for repair - it returned yesterday, so back to pictorial blogging!

Bonus shot, update 8 January, World David Bowie Day... [for He gave the world Warszawa]

This time last year:
Farewell to Ciocia Dziunia

This time two years ago:
Poland's roads get (slightly) safer in 2015 

This time three years ago:
Convenience and the economics of bottled water

This time four years ago:
Locally, it's the little things... 

This time last five years ago:
Warsaw bids farewell to its old trams

This time ten years ago:
Five departures from Okęcie

Warsaw, early autumn, photo miscellany

Here is a selection of photos taken of central Warsaw yesterday and today - I hope you enjoy them.

Al. Jerozolimskie, looking west. Above: a bus, headed for Awaria (this side of Trasa Zmieniona). Giant billboards promote men's fashion rather than financial pyramids. Below: another view, later the same day.

Below: outside the Institute of Applied Social Sciences. It's nearly two weeks since the academic year began, and still the University of Warsaw is recruiting students (a result of the deepening demographic dip).

Below: a classic view of Warsaw's ever-changing skyline with two skyscrapers - Zlota 44 (left) and the Cosmopolitan building on ul. Twarda 2/4 (right). The new architecture makes the Palace of Culture look dreadfully dated and threatening.

Below: ul. Chmielna, by Nowy Świat. Lovely pastel hues around sunset. Plenty of shopping, plenty of restaurants and bars, the clientèle a mix of tourists, students and office workers.

Left: work continues at a noticeable pace on the Cosmopolitan building. I counted up to 38 floors, and it's on its way up to 44. Once again I manage to snap it from midway up the Warsaw Financial Center building just across ul. Świętokrzyska.

I like the way these new skyscrapers are modernising Warsaw. I believe cities should grow upwards rather than outwards. In years to come, the skyscraper centre of gravity will move towards Wola, with several developments coming into fruition.

Above: another unattended suitcase brings the city centre to a halt. Police close off ul. Emilii Plater around the Lumen building and the Złote Tarasy shopping mall.The all-clear was given minutes after I took this snap.

Above: a recent mixed residential/retail development on the corner of ul. Franciszkańska and Bonifraterska. Glass windows, floor to ceiling, glass balconies, reflect off the late-afternoon sunlight.

Above: Al. Jana Pawła II, by Dw. Centralny. A Konstal 105Na tram waits, doors open, for the signal to proceed across the busy junction with Al. Jerozolimskie. Note Złota 44 in the background. Right: the Palace of Culture, its upper floors illuminated by a low, early-evening autumn sun, the Sala Kongresowa (Congress Hall) below already in shadow.

Above: Al. Jerozolimskie; trams outside Dworzec Centralny, Warsaw's central railway station.

Left: wooden steps from the fountain terrace by Wisłostrada leading up the Vistula escarpment, at the top of which lies Warsaw's New Town. The brick tower of a Gothic church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Below: waiting for the neon to be lit - sign at Warszawa Śródmieście commuter railway station.

So there we have it, Dear Reader - Warsaw, my kind of town.

This time last year:
Moaning about the trains again

This time two years ago:
Warsaw streets - Dolna, Polna, Rolna, Smolna, Wolna. Lost?

This time four years ago:
Ditches, landscapes, autumn

This time five years ago:
Golden autumn, Łazienki Park

Fountains by the New Town

The official opening of the fountains was on the night of the most recent Warsaw Blogmeet (7 May) but heavy rain held me back from attending. On Friday nights in summer there's a son et lumiere display, but this starts at 9:30 (too late for me). With two hours to go, the sun sinking over the Vistula escarpment back-lights the main fountain.

Looking at the happy crowds enjoying a rare sunny and warm afternoon outside, I must say I think the money the City authorities spend on renovating this part of Warsaw as a fountain park was well spent. Urban folk, young and old, parents with children, teenagers and pensioners all enjoying being here, a welcome focal point for summer chilling out.

Old Town, early spring

As the weather improves and hours of daylight lengthen, the Old Town beckons. Far more tourists and young people on the streets; more musicians and jugglers and the like. But for me, the allure of the Old Town (and indeed New Town) is found in those byways less travelled.

Above: Straddling the Vistula escarpment is the Dom Profesora (professors' house). The main entrance, via a bridge, is on ul. Brzozowa, while the lower floors look out over ul. Bugaj at the foot of the escarpment.

Above: the backs of houses on ul. Boleść, those balconies looking more New Orleans than Warsaw. The sun is low in the sky

In a little garden, I see what at first sight appear to be bluebells - a common sight in English woodland at this time of year, but quite unusual in Poland. So unusual that few Poles will know what 'bluebell' is in Polish. And unusual enough for me to check... (click to enlarge). I don't think these are bluebells. Anyone care to suggest what flowers these are?

Below: a socialist-realist mosaic mural on the side of a house on ul. Mostowa. Classicism meets the Working Man (and Woman) at work and at play.

Below: Looking south from the crossroads - the junction where ul. Mostowa, Stara, Boleść and Brzozowa meet. To the right, the eastern end of the Barbakan (Old Town fortified wall); the slope of the Vistula escarpment is clearly visible.

Below: Kolumna Zygmunta on the castle square, caught in the sharp light of a setting mid-April sun.

This time last year:
The atmosphere in the week after Smolensk

This time three years ago:
The accelerating pace of change

This time four years ago:
Antonov An-26 in the twilight of its career

Old Town, another prospect

I wrote recently about the less-frequented streets and passages of Warsaw's Old Town and New Town, situated over the Vistula Escarpment. Here are some more views. Below: this is ul. Celna (literally, 'customs street'), which runs from ul. Brzozowa to the Old Town market square. Picture taken from the stone steps leading down toward the river.

Hand held at three-quarters of a second exposure (steadying my elbow on a wall), the photo shows how well Nikon's Vibration Reduction (VR) system works. Without it, the image would look unacceptably blurred.

Left: this is ul. Krzywe Koło (lit. Crooked Wheel Street)which runs off the north side of the Rynek (Old Town Market). Less of a wheel than a broken dog's leg, the atmosphere on Krzywe Koło at dusk, with no people or cars, is timeless. Where are we... 2011, 1951, 1881? Electric lighting replaced gas, but otherwise, the cobblestones, the cobbled pavements, doors, windows and walls could be from any period in the past two centuries.

Right: looking down ul. Dawna (lit. Long Time Ago Street) towards the Sanctuary of Our Lady and ul. Kanonia. This pic and the one above left were both shot without VR (18-55mm Nikkor set at 18mm) at a quarter of a second. With a steady hand, you can just about get away with it. Three quarters of a second is way too long to hold blur-free unless you have VR. The current generation of 18-55mm Nikkors have VR, optically an excellent lens, and lightweight (although it feels a bit flimsy it's actually very robust).

Old Town, New Town - the way less travelled

Warsaw's Old Town always draws crowds of tourists. They tend to wander down from Plac Zamkowy starting from Kolumna Zygmunta, drifting down ul. Piwna or Świętojańska to the Old Town market square. The more adventurous will go further to the Barbakan, and then usually retrace their steps, ticking off Warsaw as done. Earlier this month, I took some pictures on ul. Kanonia and ul. Jezuicka in the Old Town. These two streets are less used by tourists but still have the same charm (if not more - there are fewer souvenir stores) and they open up the way to interesting vistas off the beaten track.

Now to explore a bit further. Dropping down a steep flight of steps that's ul. Dawna, we find ourselves on ul. Brzozowa. This street opens out on a semi-circular platform overlooking the Vistula escarpment and Praga beyond the river dominated by the twin spires of the Katedra Praska. At dusk, there's a sense of peace and security; the tragic history of our beloved Warsaw is firmly in the past.

Below: Walking along ul. Brzozowa towards the end affords a different view of Stara Prochownia (the old gunpowder storehouse) to the one you'd get from descending ul. Mostowa. The building is now a theatre (Stara Prochoffnia - that's "off" as in "off Broadway").

And finally, we go down ul. Stara (below) as it opens out onto the square of the New Town market. Winter dusk, a frosty cloudless evening creates a perfect mood.

This time last year:
Lent and recession

This time three years ago:
Przednówek - Poland's post-winter, pre-spring season

Old Town in first snow

On my way to a breakfast meeting at the Hotel Bristol this morning I made an early start so that I could snap some snaps of the Old Town in a mantle of first snow.

 

Above: ul. Freta, connecting the Old Town with the New Town. It's 8am and the place is nearly empty. Below: ul. Mostowa leading down to ul. Boleść and the Stara Prochownia (Old Gunpowder Store, now a theatre). Not a street for racing down!

 

Left: the steps leading down to the Trasa W-Z (the East-West Road that leads from the Trasa Armii Krajowej all the way to the Trasa Zmieniona). Below: Through the Barbakan gates and into the Old Town proper. In the Market Place a big effort is going on to clear the footpaths so that tourists can get around.

 

I'm wearing my M-65 field jacket for the second day. By late-March I will be heartily sick of wearing it day in, day out, but it is supremely practical and comfortable with its quilted lining; tried and tested in the most adverse of winter weather conditions.

 

Below: I reach my destination with 20 minutes to spare. This photo of snow piled up outside the Hotel Bristol (right) gives you some idea of how heavy was yesterday's snowfall. To get such massive heaps of snow last winter, we had to wait until February.

 

Below: Back to Powiśle and our office. A little game for my readers, the first of this winter - 'Guess the Car'. What's the make of the vehicle shrouded by a heavy blanket of snow? (Answers in late-March 2011.)