Sunny Sunday, Powsin, bikes

Sunny Sundays will become fewer and fewer as we head into autumn and then winter, so one must make the most out of them. get out into the Las Kabacki forest and go mad on your bicycle (where conditions allow of course. It's annoying to see cyclists hurtling at full throttle just inches from mums pushing prams). But the 900-hectare forest is large enough to provide stretches where you can open up (below). Suffice to say, like George W. Bush, when on my mountainbike I do not pootle around whistling show-tunes.

Especially good fun is the so-called 'Technical Trail' which runs inside the forest along its southern edge. Twisting and turning between trees, charging along here is exhilerating (helmets essential given the risk of getting whacked in the head by low-hanging branches).

Then right across the forest from south to north, to the railway line linking Warsaw's Metro to the outside world and the Metro Depot. To get up to the beautifully evocative trail running alongside the depot's sidings (below), one must first rush a five-metre high earth ramp along which the trail runs. There's only a 25m long run-up - not enough to accelerate to full speed - and the final part of the ascent is at least one-in-three. I used to be able to get to the top first time, today I managed on my third attempt (above left).

And finally on to Powsin (below), where the ride starts and finishes. At least a hundred other cyclists have had the same idea. Get out on a Sunday, cover 30-35km then relax with a beer and grilled pork shoulder (karkówka). It is a remarkable contrast with Britain, where Sunday sporting activity is usually team-based such as Sunday League soccer or rugby. In Warsaw, thousands of people take to the forest for jogging, Nordic walking or cycling. Would you witness such scenes in say, Richmond Park?

Compositions in yellow, blue and white

Time to take a stroll around the shire. The day is so beautiful that I find it in me to forgive Dame Nature for soaking us for the best part of the week. The effects are to be seen - flooded fields between Jeziorki and Dawidy Bankowe, between Zamienie and Zgorzała, numerous large puddles.

Above: A solitary sunflower stands on a field between Zgorzała and Jeziorki. Below: an untended field between ul. Gogolińska and the railway tracks. I am grabbed by the white fluffy clouds making their way unhurriedly across an azure sky, and the yellowness of the vegetation at this time of year.

I get home to find that the moles have made an unwelcome return after an absense of almost a year. Five brand new molehills have appeared overnight. Nothing for it but to remove the soil from the molehills, find the moleholes with my fingers, mark with metal rods topped with glass bottles, and drink copious amounts of beer and mineral water...

And another thing... this weekend (and for the next two as well) Okęcie airport is shut for most air traffic as the runway surface where the two runways (15-33 and 11-29) intersect. The only planes that can land are small turboprops, business jets, or ones with short-runway capability such as the BAe/Avro RJ family of jets. These planes, which can land in less than a half of the runways' total length, are using the airport as usual. The rest is landing and taking off from Łódź. Special rail services have been laid on to connect it to the capital.

Battle of Britain: Poland's contribution

The next two weeks mark the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, which culminated on the 15th September, the day on which Luftwaffe losses were deemed by the Nazi leadership to have been unsustainably high. After that date the strategy changed, and bombing cities replaced destruction of the RAF and its bases as the priority.

Hawker Hurricane Mk I, V6665 RF-J , 303 (Polish) Sqn, Northolt, September 1940.

The role of Polish pilots in the Battle of Britain is today well known (though I have books about the battle that entirely fail to mention them). Above all, it is the legendary 303 Squadron that bore the brunt of the action as a Polish unit. (I was planning a day-by-day account of 303 Sqn's action during the Battle of Britain, but the Wikipedia article does that admirably).

To save you clicking hither and yon, and skipping over the debates between military historians that have gone on for the past seven decades, the point is this: 303 'Kościuszko' Sqn was one of the top scoring, if not the top scoring RAF unit in the battle; the contribution of other Polish pilots either in the other Polish fighter squadron taking part in the Battle of Britain (302) or spread around other non-Polish units, was extremely significant. After Great Britain, Poland supplied more pilots to the Allied side than any other country, with New Zealand in third place.

The definitive book on the subject for non-Polish readers is For Your Freedom and Ours: The Kościuszko Squadron - Forgotten Heroes of World War II, by Lynne Olson & Stanley Cloud (William Heinemann, London). This is a book that should be on the bookshelf of every expat in Poland. Period. It is based to a degree on Dywizjon 303 by Arkady Fiedler, first published in London in 1942, published by the Polish underground the following year in Warsaw, and - even more remarkably - in communist Poland in 1965. This book is a classic. It was published in English during the war (in London and New York). I have the 1974 16th edition in Polish signed by the author ('Puszczykówko, V 1975').

The authoritative history of Poland's contribution to the Allied victory in the air is the two-volume Polskie Siły Powietrzne w wojnie (vol. 1 1939-43, vol. 2 1943-45, AJ Press) by Jerzy B. Cynk. This is the place to go if you want to know if your dad/grandfather did indeed shoot down five jerries in one afternoon.

A younger generation of Polish aviation historians is responsible for a series of well-researched monographs about individual squadrons, Mushroom Books (UK) and Bellona (Poland) publish these. A bit anoraky (serial numbers, dates, markings predominate), but plenty of names. 303 Dywizjon Myśliwski Warszawski im. Tadeusza Kościuszki, by Józef Zieliński (Bellona) is of this genre. The model Hurricane above is painted (by me using Techmod decals) according to Robert Gretzyngier's excellent colour plates from this book. This plane piloted by Sgt Michał Brzezowski shot down two Heinkel 111 bombers over Portsmouth on 11 September 1940. Two weeks later, Sgt Tadeusz Andruszkow downed another He-111 while flying the same plane; he was shot down and killed in it a day later (27 September).

One recent book I'd recommend to the general reader is Lotnictwo polskie na zachodzie 1939-1947 Polish Air Force by Robert Gretzyngier, Wojtek Matusiak and Józef Zieliński (ZP Grupa). Lots of pictures, many colour plates, text in both languages, highly informative - it tells a story rather than merely trot out numbers and dates.

The story is a heroic yet ultimately tragic one, for few of the Polish pilots who fought in the West were ever to return to a free Poland after 1989.

Things can only get better

Today my train arrived at W-wa Jeziorki on time, and got me to W-wa Powiśle on time. I got to my first meeting of the day two minutes early. It was not raining (rained at bit during the day, but not when I was out and about). Indeed, the sun shone for a while. And, after my three-year old Nokia N95 finally gave up the ghost yesterday, I bought a brand new used phone, a Nokia N82 for just under five stoovers. Feels more solid than the N95, no sliding moving bits to go wrong, yet also has a 5MP camera and takes memory card from my old phone.

Yesterday I went to the Era dealership on Marszałkowska to see if I could change my tariff and get a new phone for a zloty (meaning: "pay us back for the real cost of the phone over the next 24 months). I had one hour and five minutes before a meeting; adequate for my transaction, I thought, especially since there were only two people being served and one other person waiting. But as the minutes passed, and the two young men serving the customers dawdled from photocopier to scanner to cashbox to computer screen, I felt that I was getting nowhere. After 35 minutes, one of the customers finally left the shop, having been properly served. The lady in front of takes her turn. She wants to pay 25 zlotys in cash for a top-up to her pay-as-you-go account. It took her a full twelve minutes for her simple request to be dealt with. Next - my turn. I explained that I needed a new phone and new tariff. "Would it be possible to deal with me in 18 minutes? I have a meeting at half past one." "Hmmm... New phone... new tariff... er... it will definitely take longer." "OK", I said, "You've lost my business. I will buy a second hand phone elsewhere and stick to my existing el cheapo tariff. BYEEEE!"

Today I visited a cold-storage warehouse in Grodzisk Mazowiecki. It's amazing to see how the workers there hustle when the temperature inside is +4C. Maybe Era's dealerships would work more efficiently if they were housed inside coolrooms.

Back to Koleje Mazowieckie. Online, I see my train leaves Jeziorki at 07:14. The timetable on display at the station (left) suggests that in fact my train leaves at 07:27. The online timetable is wrong. Why? Same with my trip to Grodzisk. Nice journey, cheap ticket... but why did the online timetable lead me to miss a train (10:16 at W-wa Powiśle) that was purportedly due at 10:25? If you can't trust the online timetable, who can you trust?

UPDATE: 3 September - On the third day of the new schedules, the online version has finally been amended. One thing fewer to get worked up about :-)

A return to commuting hell

Yesterday I took the bike and got severely rained on. Today I decided to let the train take the strain. 1st September - new school year, so numbers of people using public transport increases by a quarter, plus there's a new railway timetable in force. Plus it's still raining - severely.

My train into town from Jeziorki, which used to leave at 07:21, getting me into W-wa Powiśle for five to eight, now leaves at 07:27, arriving just after eight (if on time), and giving me not quite enough time to get to Al. Ujazdowskie for quarter past.

So I'm waiting for the 07:27. It arrives seven minutes late. Not the usual six-carriage set, but a four-carriage set. So 33% less space for 25% more passengers. Result - I could not slip a credit card between the passengers let alone move down the corridor. At Śródmieście a train indicator board that announces that the train I'm on is not actually the one I think I'm on, but another one that's running over 60 minutes late. So Day One of the new timetable and the usual chaos.

And the online PKP timetable is at odds with what it says on the platform at Jeziorki and with reality. When oh when will PKP and Koleje Mazowieckie's management get a grip?

During my walk to Al. Ujazdowskie I witness the aftermath of two car crashes, front-to-rear shunts evidently caused by drivers tailgating one another, in too much of a hurry and blissfully ignorant of the fact that road surfaces are slippery when wet.

And it's raining. It's unbelievably dull and miserable. It will continue like this tomorrow. And the water level in Jeziorki is rising ever higher. A repeat of the Corpus Christi flood is likely - not as a result of one intense downpour, rather of three days of incessent rain.

Use the car to get to the Park+Ride? Not on your nelly. Puławska's totally gridlocked, the Jeziorki back roads are either closed for roadworks or oceans of mud. Plus my dear old Micra is afraid of the rain - the electrics are none too happy when it's wet.

Cycle? I'd need to invest in real waterproof rain gear (Goretex? Waterproof? A myth, ladies and gentlemen) and mudguards. Anyway, cycling 18km in the rain is hellishly unpleasant as I found out yesterday.

I can only cheer myself up with the thought that the weather may improve by the weekend.

Rare Russian visitor in the gloom

Coming in through the rain and dark cloud at 18:40 this evening, Rossiya Russia State Transport Company's Ilyushin Il-96-300 RA-96018 lines up with Runway 33 at Okęcie.

For more pics of rare and interesting Russian aircraft coming in to land at Okęcie click on these: Il-76 belonging to the Russian Emergency Control Ministry, and the world's largest helicopter, Mil-26T also belonging to same ministry. Rossiya also fly Tu-154Ms; this is the first time I've seen the their Il-96 overhead. On board this plane is Sergey Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, flying into Warsaw for a meeting with his Polish counterpart Radek Sikorski.

A propos of aviation - a series of posts about Polish pilots flying with the RAF coming up, marking the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.

Moni's last year at school

Thirteen years ago today, just weeks after our family arrived in Warsaw, Moni started school. When I took her picture on the first day of the new school year, she for some reason adopted this unusual pose. Since then, each year, I've taken her photograph in the same place, with Moni holding her arms in the same way. Right: 1st September 1997, ul. Gajdy, aged 4 years 8 months. Moni starts at the British School, Warsaw.

Left: 1st September 1998, ul. Gajdy, aged 5 years 8 months. The British School, Year 2. At that time, the school had buildings scattered all over southern Warsaw. In Year 1 and Year 2, Moni's class was on ul. Dąbrowskiego. Note the samovar on fireplace, soon to disappear upstairs. Logs in fireplace for show only, we never once lit it in the four five winters we lived on ul. Gajdy.

Right: 1st September 1999, ul. Gajdy, aged 6 years 8 months, Moni looking as bright as a button. This will be Moni's last year at the British School. Year 3 children were now being taught on ul. Bełska. (Note in background around the fireplace: three different formats of recorded music: 12" vinyl, CDs and music cassettes; all could be played on our old Sony music centre). 

  Left: 1st September 2000, ul. Gajdy, aged 7 years 8 months. Having by now decided we're staying in Poland for good, Moni moves to a Polish school, Przymierza Rodzin im. Jana Pawła II in Ursynów, joining the second year of the elementary school as the youngest child in the class. Born in January, she should have joined year one, but her years at the British School helped her jump a class.

Right: 1st September 2001, ul. Gajdy, aged 8 years 8 months. Przymierza Rodzin's school uniform experiment never took off for some reason. This is our last year at ul. Gajdy. Our new house on ul. Trombity is being completed, amid much wailing and gnashing of teeth and costly delay. We'd move in to the (nearly completed) property on 6 February 2002...

Left: 1st September 2002, for the first time on ul. Trombity, aged 9 years 8 months. Moni's silly grin reveals milk teeth in the process of replacement. In the new house, the toys hitherto in the background have moved to the attic - plenty of space for the children to play there. Vinyl records have also disappeared as the record player in the music centre has packed up.

Right: 1st September 2003, ul. Trombity, aged 10 years 8 months. The really expensive fireplace in the background has only been used once in all the years since we moved in. Sunrise on 1 September is at quarter to six, so plenty of natural light to take the photos before setting off for school. The first day of terms starts at nine rather than eight in any case, so not too great a rush.

Left: 1st September 2004, ul. Trombity, aged 11 years 8 months. Moni's growing up fast, her trademark fringe replaced by a parting, which will return in late 2010. This is Moni's final year at Przymierza Rodzin's elementary school. Polish primary education has six classes for children between the ages of 7 and 12, so starting two years after British children do. Earlier school starts in Poland are still controversial.

Right: 1st September 2005, ul. Trombity, aged 12 years 8 months. Moni is about to start secondary school (gimnazjum) at Przymierza Rodzin. The Polish education system divides secondary schooling into two three-year blocks; gimnazjum, then liceum (the equivalent of British sixth-form college). Gimnazjum is developmentally the hardest time for children.

Left: 1st September 2006, ul. Trombity, aged 13 years 8 months. Second year at gimnazjum, and Moni's growing her hair and developing a taste for literature, music, art and film. Many's the evening that she will sit with me watching the great classics of world cinema. Long black skirt reflects Moni's interest in Judaism at this time (she taught herself the Hebrew alphabet).

Right: 1st September 2007, ul. Trombity, aged 14 years 8 months. Moni's final year at gimnazjum, final year at Przymierza Rodzin. A year of hard work and exams. Days before this photo was taken, Moni cut her hair and dyed it; she's wearing trousers to the first day of school rather than regulation dark skirt. Teenage rebel of the week.

Left: 31st August 2008. Moni, 15 years, 8 months, is starting high school, (Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. J. Kochanowskiego in Mokotów - an hour's journey by bus and Metro or train and tram). This is the start of Moni's final three years at school. School begins with an integration field trip, hence the date (31 August rather than 1 September) and casual attire.

Right: 1st September 2009. Moni, 16 years, 8 months, beginning her second year at Liceum Kochanowskiego. Properly dressed for the first day of school - regulation white blouse, black skirt. Liceum Ogólnokształcące - 'general-shaping high school', no? Two more years, one more photo, then off to university with Madamki!

1st September 2010. Moni, 17 years and 8 months, is about to start her final year at Liceum. Pass her matura exams and Moni will be off to university for five years. Now scroll up to that first photo and look at how Moni's changed from year to year and over the 13 years. And see her here before her Studniówka - the high school dance 100 days before the matura exam.

Summer slipping away

I can only hope for a typical Polish złota jesień to compensate us for a wet and dull summer (that glorious heatwave in the first half of July excepted). The weather has turned much cooler and there's that ever-threatening afternoon sky that glowers.

The ever-present threat of a cloudburst prevents me from cycling, so I'm using the Park+Ride. Above: the view outside our office, around half past five, looking up ul. Fabryczna.

Above: on my way to the bus stop, along ul. Kośmińska. Less than three minutes from our office, the bus route to Politechnika Metro station has become much better since bus lanes were painted along Trasa Łazienkowska, and a new bus line, the 382, added. Waits are much shorter, the journeys much quicker. I can make it from my office to Ursynów P+R is under 25 minutes.

Above: that same glowering sky at Politechnika Metro. The station entrance is in the foreground, in front of the twin spires of the church at Plac Zbawiciela. As yet no rain. Any second now.

Above: I emerge from the Metro at Ursynów, which has just experienced a shower. I make it to the car without a drop of rain falling on me - lucky, as I had neither hat nor coat. Nor umbrella.

In three weeks time we'll have the autumn equinox and once again slip into the gloom. Over those three weeks we'll lose nearly two hours of daylight.