Tall and awesome

On my walk yesterday, I looked towards the city centre from Dawidy and was stunned to see a blazing tower on the horizon. So I scrambled up onto the railway embankment to get a better look - my God! My first reaction was that this is something akin to the Grenfell Towers tragedy in London in June 2017, when 72 people died. I whipped out my 70-300mm lens and zoomed in - no smoke above it, no smoke - no fire. So what was it?

A live railway line is not the place for pondering such questions. I did so at home, posting the photo on Skyscraper City, the very best resource for anything to do with Poland's built environment. 

[It's a global site, but Poland has one of the most active Skyscraper City communities in the world, with more posts and page views than Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK all put together!]

Within minutes, I had my answer - that 'flaming tower' is the Warsaw Spire. Yes indeed. Such was the angle of the sun that the south-west facing glass reflected it so awesomely. It was quite a sunset, too... (turn through 180 degrees...) On the horizon, the Raszyn radio mast (a misnomer, as it's in Łazy, 9km from Raszyn. When completed in 1962, it was the second-tallest structure in the world and the tallest in Europe. And 93m miles beyond, the sun. Shining onto Warsaw's Spire.

Left: my father and my son in front of the Spire, 31 July 2019. The Spire has two curved glass 'walls', and between them a vertical row of windows - and it was these that reflected that sunset yesterday. 

One Skyscraper City commentator remarked that the Spire from this angle looks like a frankfurter between two hot-dog buns; another commentator reminded us of the time that sunlight reflecting off the mirrored roof above the entrance was strong enough to set fire to two motorcycles parked outside. 

Today's walk took place on a heavily overcast day, but at least it didn't rain - or as had been forecast - it didn't snow. A standard 10,000 paces to Nowa Iwiczna and back, and on the way, a snap of the electricity pylons marching through Zgorzała and Nowa Wola on their way to Piaseczno and Konstancin. These are high-tension M52 pylons (!) carrying 220kV cables all the way from the coal-fired Kozienice power station. Standard height, 40m.

One development worthy of note - ulica Gogolińska, which runs parallel to the railway line on the west side, is currently asphalted only as far as Warsaw's border, from there on it's a muddy dirt track that serves the housing estates like the ones above. Today I saw evidence that asphalt is currently being extended southwards towards Nowa Iwiczna. Good news for local residents!

Bonus picture: domesticated cat helps out around the house.

This time five years ago:

Catesby Tunnel in the 1980s

This time seven years ago:
Crumbling King Coal, Katowice

This time eight years ago:
Street cries of Old Poland

This time nine years ago:
The gorgeousness of Warsaw at dusk

This time ten years ago:
I'm so glad I'm living in Warsaw

This time 11 years ago:
Candid photography

This time 12 years ago:
Archival photos of Jeziorki's Rampa in action

This time 13 years ago:
Red sky in the morning...

The aesthetics and guilt of climate change

The past week in Warsaw has been glorious, with temperatures in the mid- to high 20Cs. But I'm wrestling with my conscience about the balance of enjoying the sun and worrying about climate change. Consider this: every month since October 2015 has set a new record for high temperatures. This past July and August were the two hottest months on this planet of ours since mankind started keeping data.There is little doubt that the planet is warming up; the key question is whether there's anything we can do about it.

Above: the base of Warsaw Spire, glinting in the morning sunlight yesterday. I'm minded of the fact that I've twice visited Los Angeles, both times in mid-September, and both times under those famous blue skies, blue skies that have inspired artists, writers, musicians and film-makers. Warsaw seems to be getting a climate that's seeing an extended summer. Ten cloudless days (well almost - on Tuesday afternoon, I could see some clouds on the horizon from my 9th floor office, but they'd gone by the early evening); quite marvellous and eminently enjoyable - but should I be feeling guilt - anxiety even - at the way the climate is changing?

Yet this long spell of beautiful hot sunny days is something I want to keep on keeping on. Hotter Septembers in Warsaw? Why, yes - they lift my soul and bring the Sublime Aesthetic to my home town; to quote J.M.W. Turner's famous last words - "The Sun is God", I must say, aesthetically speaking, I concur, for on days of such stunning brilliance I am brought nearer to the essence of my existence, of consciousness, as the sun streams in through the ocular orbits and stimulates one's being.

This morning, landing at Luton Airport through a thick layer of cloud, I emerged in a grey drizzly world far removed from the dazzling skies at 30,000ft, I felt this moral/aesthetic dichotomy acutely.

Yes, our planet needs these damp, cool, cloudy days, just like we need green vegetables in our diet. Except I don't like damp, cool, cloudy days. I want an endless summer.

But I should be careful what I wish for.

As I mentioned in May [here], Poland's hotter, drier summers are likely to be matched by winters that are largely snow- and ice-free. While this means less transport inconvenience, lower heating bills, less bulky clothing etc, there's also the aesthetic loss - those days of fresh crisp snow on the ground, a hard frost - and those piercing blue skies. The phenomenon of hoar-frost - the frozen fog on the twigs and branches of trees, lit up by a low winter sun, white against the azure heavens - is something I'm lucky to catch once every two or three years now.

Some of us are lucky enough or motivated enough to be able to choose where we live. I have made a choice, some 20 years ago, and am happy with it - climate plays an important part in that choice. Real summers, real winters - not a climate where it can be 12C in July and 12C in January and where months can go by without a sunny day. The summers are getting more like the idealised summers that I yearn for - and I don't have to travel to the Med to experience them. I have them at home. But the winters... Recent Warsaw winters - real winter, where the ponds freeze over so solid you can drive a car over them - have been getting shorter and shorter. This blog will stand as testimony to how Warsaw's climate has been changing since 2007.

This time three years ago:
Rich man, poor man, entrepreneur, banker

This time five years ago:
At the hipsters' ball

This time six years ago:
Cycling through the spirit of place

This time seven years ago:
Invaders or liberators?

This time eight years ago:
Adlestrop, en route to Kraków

This time nine years ago:
Return to Zamienie

It's been 19 years,11 months and one day

The wait, that is, between the opening of the first line of Warsaw's Metro and the opening of the second line. Anyway, Line M2 is here and functioning, as of yesterday at 09:40, so this morning before work I checked it out for myself.

The line is short, just seven stations; from west to east: Rondo Daszyńskiego, Rondo ONZ, Świętokrzyska, Nowy Świat - Uniwersytet, Centrum Nauki Kopernika, (then under the Vistula), Stadion Narodowy and Dworzec Wileński.

So then. Starting from the west end of the line, Rondo Daszyńskiego (below). Note the red station entrance, shaped like a large, post-modern letter 'M' sloping towards the ground. Not too far away, Warsaw Spire rises above the neighbourhood, which will soon fill up with new skyscrapers as the city's central business district expands westwards.

Below: the new stations have sliding glass doors, head-height, impossible to jump over, unlike the gates on the first Metro line. Fare dodging has become harder.

It's eight in the morning, so rush hour... where are the crowds? The new public transport solution has not yet made its impact on commuters; no doubt in weeks to come, more and more people will start to use the new line.

Next stop, Rondo ONZ (below). The murals on the station walls were designed by famous Polish artist, Wojciech Fangor (92). Typographically unique and characteristically Polish, imparting a sense of urgency and style.

Westwards to Świętokrzyska, the interchange station with Line M1. Passengers wanting to change lines can either go up to level -1, go through the gates, enter the gates to the other line, and descend once more to platform level, or use the connecting passage (see next post). Warning: if you have a single-use ticket, do not go up to change lines, use the connecting passage.

The next stop is Nowy Świat - Uniwersytet, located at the junction of Nowy Świat and the east end of ul. Świętokrzyska.

Then to Centrum Nauki Kopernika (which was originally to be called Powiśle), and under the river, stopping at Stadion Narodowy, the train finally terminates at Dworzec Wileński, interchange for the station from which mainline trains would once depart for Wilno/Vilnius (but sadly today Polish trains no longer go there). Mr Fangor's graphics seen to good effect here. The journey from Rondo Daszyńskiego to Dworzec Wileński took just ten minutes, including five station stops along the way.

Below: entrance to the Metro at Dworzec Wileński, this time in blue. This is an important interchange from trams, suburban trains and buses. Time to head back to the city centre. Remember, this is rush hour...

Back at Świętokrzyska. Day two of operations, and two of the escalators are already broken. The up escalators (the single down escalator is working OK). The middle one is being fixed, so it's closed off, passenger troop up the stationary one on the right.

Meanwhile back to Line M1 for a train to Centrum and to work. It arrives. It is so packed I cannot squeeze on board, and have to wait for the next one, only slightly less crowded.

It's been a long wait; I wonder how long before Line M2 is completed (Line M1 took over 13 years to get from Kabaty to Młociny). Finally, the length of time between the opening of the first and second metro lines around the world:

• Paris - first and second line both opened in same year(1900)
• Hamburg - one year (first line: 1912, second line: 1913)
• Stockholm - one year (first line: 1950, second line: 1951)
• Mexico City - one year (first line: 1969, second line: 1970)
• Moscow - three years (first line: 1935, second line: 1938)
• New York - four years (first line: 1904, second line: 1908)
• Prague - four years (first line: 1974, second line: 1978)
• London - five years (first line: 1863, second line: 1868)
• Madrid - five years (first line: 1919, second line: 1924)
• Minsk - six years (first line: 1984, second line: 1990)
• Berlin - eight years (first line: 1902, second line: 1910)
• Beijing - 15 years (first line: 1969, second line: 1984)
• Buenos Aires - 17 years (first line: 1913, second line: 1930)
• Warsaw - 20 years (first line: 1995, second line: 2015)
• Rome - 25 years (first line: 1955, second line: 1980)
• Tokyo - 27 years (first line: 1927, second line: 1954)
• Budapest - 74 years (first line: 1896, second line: 1970)
• Athens - 131 years (first line: 1869, second line: 2000)

Below: a photo I took 19 years, 10 months and 30 days ago, on 10 April 1995, two days after the first line of the Metro was opened. This is Kabaty station, the southern terminus. Today, this is a built-up area all the way to the forest in the distance. 



This time two years ago:
A selfless faith

This time three years ago:
Ul. Profesorska after the remont

This time four years ago:
Lent kicks off again, for the 20th year in a row for me

This time five years ago:
Half way through Lent

This time seven years ago:
Spring much closer

Warsaw Spire - still getting higher

A visit to (near) the top of Rondo ONZ One offered me the opportunity to see from the city centre how Warsaw Spire - the 44-floor, 180m (220m with masts) skyscraper is coming on. According to a post on Skyscraper City last week, there are two more floors of offices and two technical floors to build yet, so it's still got a little bit to go.

Below: Warsaw Spire pierces the skyline of the western edge of the capital. When completed next year, it will draw the city's centre of gravity westwards towards Wola. The area between Al. Jana Pawła II and ul. Okopowa has seen increasing development in recent years, and the opening of the second line of the Warsaw Metro will link Wola to the city centre and Powiśle and Praga beyond. Photo taken from the 37th floor of Rondo ONZ One, the highest accessible floor to the public.

Below: view from the 28th floor, a wider angle shot taken one hour later. Photo tweaked with the latest versions of Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. HDR allows me to render the pic in a slightly surreal way. Note the (rotating) Mercedes-Benz logo on the Ilmet building in the left foreground. The building - 103m to the top of the logo with 22 floors, was only completed 18 years ago, and yet is now earmarked for demolition and replacement with a 188m-high tower, which will be higher than either Rondo ONZ One or Warsaw Spire.

The broad thoroughfare heading out west is ul. Prosta, the continuation of ul. Świętokrzyska. Both have recently been re-opened ahead of the second line of the Metro. Today I heard from a source very much in the know that there are some serious delays and it might yet be some time before the second line is finally opened (something to do with water leaks).

This time last year:
Plac Zbawiciela, lunchtime, winter

This time two years ago:
Is this winter's end?

This time three years ago:
The other Jeziorki station

This time five years ago:
Launching the General's book

This time six years ago:
A pavement for ul. Karczunkowska?
(For a while there it looked like the city authorities would provide us locals with a pavement so that we could safely walk to the station or bus stop with clean footwear. Six years on - not a bit of it. Still waiting. A Big Boo to Bufetowa)

This time seven years ago:
Taking off over Okęcie