Warsaw junctions, winter's evening rush-hour

On my way to Moni's school for the half-yearly parents' meeting. I take the 182 from the office to ul. Wawelska, where it cuts under Al. Niepodległości (above). There are underground passages on either side of Wawelska full of small electronics shops where you can buy computers and computer parts at low, low prices. And where the guys are generally more knowledgeable than in a large chain store.

Above: The same junction, the south-bound tram stop, looking towards the city centre. The Marriott Hotel has a huge digital clock on it. The same vista, though closer to the centre, and in a tighter crop, here. The rear wagon of the elderly number 16 tram that arrived soon after stank of smoke as though there was an electrical fire somewhere; everyone got off, the driver investigated, he gave the all-clear, and we proceeded.

Above: Junction of ul. Wołoska and Racławicka. Note the heaps of snow. The temperature soared (from -9.6C to +0.4C) today, air pressure dropped further (from 990 to 970 hPa) and lots of new, wet snow fell. Over the weekend, we can expect -7C, so all the new snow will turn to ice once again.

Winter and broken-down trains

What a sight greeted my eyes (above) as I got off the train at W-wa Powiśle this morning! A Pruszków-bound SKM train had broken down some 200 metres east of the end of the platform. As you can see, it's modern rolling stock, not a 40-year old EN57. I can only guess the passengers had to wait a fair old while before being told that they can get off the train and walk to Powiśle.

Above: social solidarity in action. Strangers were helping one another up onto the platform, not an easy climb when wearing thick winter clothing and clumpy footwear.

Above: I get the story into the following day's Gazeta Stołeczna, which earns me 200 złotys.

Right: Another view of winter hitting public transport; the bus stop at Rondo ONZ is one of the busier ones in Warsaw.

As I awaited a 155 back to the office after a meeting, three buses turned up at once. The one at the rear had to stop past the area from where the snow had been cleared. Passengers had to get off the bus by leaping over heaps of icy snow. Dangerous.

My train home was on time, though waiting for it, I spared a thought for passengers aboard the 15:47 departure from Siedlce to W-wa Zachodnia. At W-wa Śródmieście, this Koleje Mazowieckie service was advertised as being 120 minutes late. A record for a local train?

Weatherwise, today saw the really heavy frosts and blue skies replaced by snow-bearing clouds. Pressure dropped by 30 hPa in under 24 hours (from 1020 to 990!); fresh snow helped brighten the grey and tired mountains of ice piled up on the edges of Warsaw streets. More snow expected through to Saturday, then deep frosts to return.

Aha! And more here about the broken-down SKM train, in Polish.

Łazienki Park, midwinter

Returning to the office from the studios of TokFM on foot, I chose to take a brisk walk through Lazienki Park (3.6km) rather than to wait in the intense cold for a bus and then another bus.

And on a day as beautiful as today, why not. The park is again looking perfect in its mid-winter finery. Above: The New Orangery, home to the Belvedere Restaurant, a great place for fine food any time of year.

Above: For some reason, when calling to squirrels in Polish, you address them (regardless of gender) as 'Basia'. The park's squirrel population is as hyperactive as a council estate-full of radio-controlled toy cars on Christmas Day. They will charge up to any passing human and demand food. If not forthcoming, they will scamper off to the next one. Or ransack a nearby bird table.

Below: through the trees, the Old Orangery. Moments, lost in wonder.

Electric, in the dark

Peering into the mouth of the Tunel Średnicowy, the railway tunnel that burrows under the heart of Warsaw from the western end of the platforms at W-wa Powiśle all the way across town via W-wa Śródmieście (suburban trains) or W-wa Centralna (long-distance trains) to emerge by W-wa Ochota, a mile and half (2.3 km) to the west.

Unlike London, Warsaw doesn't have termini beyond which no trains go - all trains pass right under the very centre of the city.

The line (for my non-Polish readers) was opened in 1933 and electrified (and here's a surprise) in 1936.

Compositions in white, blue and gold

Cloudless winter's day, sharp frost, sunset; the ingredients for the perfectly magickal walk, serene and transcendent.

Above: ul. Kórnicka, the footpath approaching the railway crossing. Footprints of wildlife outnumber those of humans.

Above: Abandoned greenhouse, ul. Trombity, seen from railway line.

Right: Setting sun over Jeziorki; to its right, the radio mast at Raszyn, to its left, houses in Dawidy Poduchowne. The snowfields are covered by a thin icy layer covering about half a metre of compacted snow beneath.

Below: Home again - Trombity, dusk.

Along the S79: Sasanki to Węzeł Lotnisko

Today's sharp frost did not put me off a planned walk from ul. Sasanki alongside the path of the new S79 expressway currently under constructions. I caught a town-bound train from W-wa Jeziorki and rode three stops to W-wa Służewiec. Over the viaduct, to the top of ul. Wirażowa. Below: No work going on at the Sasanki end.

No entry to pedestrians! While I can understand this from the point of view of the general contractor worried about accidents and liability, it is a bit of an imposition on locals on foot to be barred from getting from A to B in their own neighbourhood.

Below: The railway line that runs between działki (allotments) from PKP W-wa Okęcie to the airport, allowing trains to bring tanker wagons of aviation fuel to the airport. The track curves round to the left. Fresh tracks through the snow suggest a recent delivery.

Below: ul. Wirażowa from the trackside, approaching W-wa Okęcie station from the north. No roadworks going on here either. Very quiet.

Whilst Wirażowa is closed, the station remains open. It is well-used by airport workers. A wooden walkway has been built through the building site, linking the airport to the station.

Below: seven diggers arrayed alongside Wirażowa. The no entry and Objazd (diversion) signs are where the road is closed.

And on to the Poleczki viaduct. Again, no sign of any work today. Below: view from the viaduct looking south; the S79 will run to the right of the railway tracks.

Below: Between Poleczki and Węzeł Lotnisko. This be ul. Wirażowa, extended south of the airport's cargo terminal, where it currently ends. The S79 dual carriageway will run to the left, where the mounds of soil are.

As I walked on, with the glaring sun, clear blue sky and -12C, it occurred to me why I persist in going on excursions on days like this. I am laying down memories for the future, like bottles of fine wine. This walk will return to my mind, unbidden, a hundred years from today.

It's all in the mind - but where's that?

An outstandingly thought provoking article in this week's New Scientist by Prof. Ray Tallis, tackling the question that science has yet to answer - where is the seat of consciousness?

Are our thoughts, our awareness of self, our emotional response to a beautiful piece of music, or to an awe-inspiring landscape - are these just reactions of matter and energy within our skulls?

(A neutral monist would say - yes, they reside in your brain and nowhere else outside of it.)

Prof. Tallis offers scientific comfort to those of us with a spiritual view on life who feel that there's more to our consciousness than mere neural activity. He tackles problems such as feelings of past and present, how memory has yet to be adequately explained and how neurophilosophers are uneasy with concepts such as the self, initiation of action and free will.

Science begins when we escape our subjective, first-person experiences into objective measurement [... ] You think the table over there is large, I may think it is small. We measure it and find that it is 0.66 metres square. We now characterise the table in a way that is less beholden to personal experience.

Indeed. Whether it's large or small, how can you ascribe your emotional associations (with tables you've seen in the past, aesthetic reactions to the table) to a mere chemical-electrical interplay of electrons, neurons and synapses?

(As I write about that table, the first association I have is with the table in the kitchen at Osterley House, West London, that I visited with my father and my son in 2007. This is the first time I've thought about that kitchen, that table, since. Yet the thought of that table in Osterley took me back to a similar kitchen and a similar table somewhere in Edwardian England. Why? )

Human consciousness is indeed the final frontier. We are no closer to understanding it than the mediaeval alchemists were to unravelling the secrets of the atom.

Many of us have experienced feelings that we know are not reduceable to matter and energy. We are biological entities, driven by an evolutionary imperative to survive and thrive. But there is more to us than that. Which is something I shall in my own humble way attempt to look for and describe. A guide to the lower foothills of inquiry into the place where neuroscience meets human spirituality.

Work on S79 continues, despite cold

The temperature hit -12C this morning, but work on the S79 between Węzeł Lotnisko and ul. Sasanki continued unhindered. I snapped away through the grubby and iced-over window of the train (which was on time for a change) into town.

Right: just beyond the level crossing on ul. Karnawał. One can see that the general contractor Teerag-Asbag is not slacking. Along the whole stretch, diggers, tractors, graders, bulldozers and piledrivers were at work. This morning, we woke to blue skies, a welcome sight after three weeks where we had a day and half of sunshine. The temperature is due to fall to -20C overnight; I wonder if they'll be working tomorrow...

The soul rejoices in the sight; the sound of footsteps on snow at -12C is quite different from how they sound at -3C.

A chunk of icy snow, kicked along the pavement, sounds like a block of balsa wood.

Below: somewhere between W-wa Okęcie and W-wa Służewiec.

Below: Panoramic shot of work underway by ul. Sasanki, where the intersection at the top end of the S79 will be. The piledriver is working right up by the rails. Just visible at the right is the Sasanki viaduct.