Into the second week of Lent, taking it totally in my stride. Not a drop of alcohol, no meat, no sugar (other than that naturally occurring in fruit or unsweetened fruit juice), no fast food or salt snacks. And no temptation too. Sit-ups - 100 in the morning, 100 at night. Caffeine limited to one coffee in the morning - then only fruit infusions thereafter. Moderate amounts of coffee improve brain function and stave off dementia.
I'm eating lots of fish (tinned mackerel, smoked salmon mostly), bulghar wheat, lentils, chickpeas, salads with feta and anchovy, apples, bananas, natural yogurt, wholemeal bread, cheese - good stuff. And I've been introduced to a new burger bar - KroWarzywa on ul. Hoża (just off Marszałkowska). A nice play on words - Krowa żywa = live cow; Warzywa = vegetables. This place makes six different types of vegetarian burgers. I had the chickpea one with spicy tomato sauce and a huge salad in a wholemeal bun. Excellent - tasty, healthy and great value for 13.50 złotys (£2.65).
The sit-ups are going well because I started shortly after the New Year, building up to reach 100 in one go just ahead of Lent. It feels great to get to 90, then blast the final ten. And then there's walking...
My Tanita pedometer (John Lewis, £24.95) is an excellent instrument (although NoomWalk or other apps do much the same thing if you have a smartphone). Given the World Health Organisation, the National Health Service and the US Surgeon-General all suggest 10,000 paces as a recommended daily target, I've made this my Lenten target too. Over the first week of Lent, my daily average was 11,350 paces - around 8.4km.
My experience today will show just how much walking one needs to do to make your 10,000. This morning I walked from home to W-wa Jeziorki station (around 1,300 paces), from W-wa Śródmieście station to the office (around 400), to the India Curry restaurant on Żurawia for a vegetarian business lunch, and back, from the office to Centrum Metro station... and getting off at Wilanowska, I looked at my pedometer and it showed a measly 6,500 paces. So instead of boarding a bus, I walked to Al. Lotników, and caught a bus from there; travelled on one more stop beyond Karczunkowska to Dąbrówka and walked the long way home from there. Another look at the pedometer - still only 8,500 paces. So I passed the house, and kept on along ul. Trombity, round the corner on to Nawłocka to the end of the paved section - and back home. 10,070 recorded.
Now, if you are driving to work every day rather than walking to station to office to station to bus stop and home, it must be incredibly unlikely that you can squeeze in your recommended daily output of steps. The car has made us lazy and unfit.
This time last year:
Bary mleczne - Warsaw's cheap eateries
This time two years ago:
Nikkor 45mm f2.8 pancake lens reviewed
This time three years ago:
Old Town, another prospect
This time three years ago:
W-wa Śródmieście - commuters' staging post
This time five years ago:
Filthy ul. Poloneza
[five years on, there's finally prospect of change]
This time six years ago:
A sight that heralds the coming of spring
Wednesday, 12 March 2014
Monday, 10 March 2014
A night of musical enchantment with the Webb Sisters
Charley and Hattie Webb were the angelic voices backing Leonard Cohen on tours around the world and on some of his recent albums over the past five years. This evening, the two sisters played Warsaw's Fabryka Trzciny, a beautiful evening of close harmony. Their melodic fusion of folk, bluegrass, pop and Celtic music appeals to a broad audience, divine voices so perfectly in tune with one another. And musicianship that testifies to endless hours of practice, ever since childhood in a musical family. The 10,000 hour rule, made manifest.
Below: Hattie on harp and mandolin, Charley on acoustic guitar. A magical night. Indeed, I could have gone on listening all night. The audience listened, rapt, and reverent. In between the songs, Charley and Hattie would swap unscripted, unrehearsed comic banter, which had the row in front of me in stitches.
The encore was a pure delight - Charley left her guitar on stage, and together with Hattie, the sisters came down into the audience, entirely unplugged, no microphones - just two angelic voices accompanied by a harp - and unlit by spotlights - communion with music in its purest form.
After the show, the girls were happy to chat with fans, autograph CD covers and sell tea towels (yes!). A wonderful, thoroughly enjoyable evening, which will be repeated tomorrow in Katowice and on Tuesday in Wrocław. If you live in or near those cities - do go, you too will be enchanted.
This time last year:
A selfless faith
This time two years ago:
Ul. Profesorska after the remont
This time three years ago:
Lent kicks off again, for the 20th year in a row for me
This time four years ago:
Half way through Lent
This time six years ago:
Spring much closer
Below: Hattie on harp and mandolin, Charley on acoustic guitar. A magical night. Indeed, I could have gone on listening all night. The audience listened, rapt, and reverent. In between the songs, Charley and Hattie would swap unscripted, unrehearsed comic banter, which had the row in front of me in stitches.
The encore was a pure delight - Charley left her guitar on stage, and together with Hattie, the sisters came down into the audience, entirely unplugged, no microphones - just two angelic voices accompanied by a harp - and unlit by spotlights - communion with music in its purest form.
After the show, the girls were happy to chat with fans, autograph CD covers and sell tea towels (yes!). A wonderful, thoroughly enjoyable evening, which will be repeated tomorrow in Katowice and on Tuesday in Wrocław. If you live in or near those cities - do go, you too will be enchanted.
This time last year:
A selfless faith
This time two years ago:
Ul. Profesorska after the remont
This time three years ago:
Lent kicks off again, for the 20th year in a row for me
This time four years ago:
Half way through Lent
This time six years ago:
Spring much closer
Saturday, 8 March 2014
What does it take to get a roundabout built?
A big thank you to Marcin Daniecki for spotting this one - a story on a local portal about the Biedronka store currently under construction near W-wa Jeziorki station.
The planned entrance to the store is to come off ul. Karczunkowska - right on the bend of a road along which drivers tend to go far too fast. It would make sense to build a roundabout here (rather like the one by the entrance to King Cross Ursynów). But apparently no - because there are plans to build a viaduct over the railway line 250m away. As we know, these plans are gathering dust on some shelf at PKP PLK and will continue to do so for many years.
But the many drivers turning left into Biedronka from Karczunkowska will expose themselves to a sideways shunt from cars hurtling eastbound along the road. How many serious crashes are needed to convince the authorities that a roundabout here is absolutely essential?
Judging by the volume of traffic turning into Lidl on ul. Puławska, I expect that a Biedronka will attract similar custom. Some of it will come from other other side of the tracks, but I guess much of it will come from Puławska. Unless there is some form of traffic management at this junction, it will be a very dangerous one.
It is evident that some form of traffic-calming measures are needed; a roundabout is the only practical solution. But will the developer/investor want to spend money on it? Better than dead customers.
Judge for yourselves...
[Two years on: I've seen the aftermath of one non-fatal car crash on this junction since then.]
This time last year:
God's own risk
This time two years ago:
A third of the way through Lent
This time three years ago:
Balancing surfeit and shortage
This time four years ago:
Congruent consciousness
The planned entrance to the store is to come off ul. Karczunkowska - right on the bend of a road along which drivers tend to go far too fast. It would make sense to build a roundabout here (rather like the one by the entrance to King Cross Ursynów). But apparently no - because there are plans to build a viaduct over the railway line 250m away. As we know, these plans are gathering dust on some shelf at PKP PLK and will continue to do so for many years.
But the many drivers turning left into Biedronka from Karczunkowska will expose themselves to a sideways shunt from cars hurtling eastbound along the road. How many serious crashes are needed to convince the authorities that a roundabout here is absolutely essential?
Judging by the volume of traffic turning into Lidl on ul. Puławska, I expect that a Biedronka will attract similar custom. Some of it will come from other other side of the tracks, but I guess much of it will come from Puławska. Unless there is some form of traffic management at this junction, it will be a very dangerous one.
 |
| This low shed will become a Biedronka. |
 |
| Straight ahead for Biedronka - across a bend in a fast road |
 |
| Turn left for Biedronka - across a lane of speeding traffic |
 |
| Turn right for Biedronka - watch out for pedestrians crossing |
Judge for yourselves...
[Two years on: I've seen the aftermath of one non-fatal car crash on this junction since then.]
This time last year:
God's own risk
This time two years ago:
A third of the way through Lent
This time three years ago:
Balancing surfeit and shortage
This time four years ago:
Congruent consciousness
Thursday, 6 March 2014
Putin: tactical genius, strategic failure
Who do you think you are kidding Mr Putler?
The west is disarray, uncertain as to how to respond to the Kremlin's carefully planned aggression aimed at breaking up Ukraine. It looks increasingly likely that Putin may win Crimea, maybe other bits of eastern Ukraine. But so what? He's played out his last good cards, he has precious little in reserve. At its heart, his long-term game plan lacks any goal other than maintain Russian (read post-Soviet, read Putin+pals) power for as long as possible. Why? For power's sake, not for sake of the prosperity and well-being of ordinary Russians or their neighbours.
Russia is a hollow giant. Other than raw materials it has little to sell to the West in terms of things or ideas. It is imploding demographically, it is faced with tumult from its Muslim republics, it is collapsing in terms of infrastructure. Its biggest long-term threat is not from the West, but from China, which is eyeing the resource-rich lands across the Amur. China's population density is 141 people per square kilometre, Russia's is but eight. China needs lebensraum and raw materials; will Russia be ready, willing or able to defend Siberia, several time zones away from the Kremlin?
With the West less dependent on Russian energy (shale gas, LPG, renewables, investment in energy saving), the Kremlin will have less of a throttle-hold over its western neighbours.
An economy based on the extraction of raw materials is unsustainable in the long term. Where's the innovation? What happened to Medvedev's 'silicon city'? You can't create successful innovative clusters by diktat. Putin's dream of a Eurasian Union to rival the EU is another sham; a cosy bunch of dictators denying civil liberties to their own peoples is hardly a vision of lofty ideals to rival that of Schumann and Monnet.
Putin has shown his true face to the world, to those willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. The massive slump in his trustworthiness as perceived by the West will hit the Russian economy hard in the long term. It will further hit Western firms' willingness to invest in Russia. It has hit the rouble, it has hit the Moscow stock markets. And Russia's crude disinformation services, be they Russia Today TV channel or the army of online commentators posting bogus comments on English-language news media have been exposed and held up to ridicule; doubts have evaporated. The work of the 40-rouble army will no doubt be seen again on the forums, message boards and comments sections of British media in the run-up to the Scottish independence referendum and indeed an eventual referendum on the quitting the EU (so-called 'Brexit'). Watch out for bogus Scots Nats and Ukippers; they write in increasingly good English and also amplify extremist voices.
For young Ukrainians, continuation of the Soviet Union under a different name means an end to any dreams of a decent life for themselves at home. It means more of the same; victory of might-is-right over decency and fairness. A Ukraine that's still a puppet of the Kremlin is one that needs to be kept corrupt, with feeble institutions and controlled media. It cannot be another way.
It is in particular the young Ukrainians that are hungry for change; they look over the border at their counterparts in Warsaw, Budapest or Bratislava and see a model of how they'd like to see themselves. The generation that was born in an independent Ukraine rather than the USSR has an entirely different outlook than the children of the war veterans that parade around in their bemedalled Red Army uniforms. And in between, a generation of 30- and 40-year-olds who've seen the last two decades of their lives stolen by venal politicians.
The true Putin has come out of the shadows, not the genial host of the Sochi Olympics or the conciliatory statesman at Westerplatte in September 2009 but a darker figure, bereft of any redeeming features.
Whatever the outcome - and I hope it is a peaceful one maintaining Ukraine's integrity - young people in Russia will look at what happened in Kiev's Maidan from November to February and consider how long they will put up with the way things are.
A final point to consider: if Russia is indeed so great, with such a great future - why are its wealthy elites getting their money and their children out of the country? Russia is like a colonial empire in reverse - ransacking its own natural resources and taking the cash to foreign capitals. Putin's elite live the life of colonial masters - abroad. See this article about Yanukovych's stash.
This time two years ago:
Socialist Realist architecture in late winter sun
This time three years ago:
The Cripple and the Storyteller - part II
This time four years ago:
The station with no name
[update: W-wa Dawidy station got its sign last autumn]
This time five years ago:
Lenten thoughts on motoring
This time six years ago:
Flowers, spring - already
The west is disarray, uncertain as to how to respond to the Kremlin's carefully planned aggression aimed at breaking up Ukraine. It looks increasingly likely that Putin may win Crimea, maybe other bits of eastern Ukraine. But so what? He's played out his last good cards, he has precious little in reserve. At its heart, his long-term game plan lacks any goal other than maintain Russian (read post-Soviet, read Putin+pals) power for as long as possible. Why? For power's sake, not for sake of the prosperity and well-being of ordinary Russians or their neighbours.
Russia is a hollow giant. Other than raw materials it has little to sell to the West in terms of things or ideas. It is imploding demographically, it is faced with tumult from its Muslim republics, it is collapsing in terms of infrastructure. Its biggest long-term threat is not from the West, but from China, which is eyeing the resource-rich lands across the Amur. China's population density is 141 people per square kilometre, Russia's is but eight. China needs lebensraum and raw materials; will Russia be ready, willing or able to defend Siberia, several time zones away from the Kremlin?
With the West less dependent on Russian energy (shale gas, LPG, renewables, investment in energy saving), the Kremlin will have less of a throttle-hold over its western neighbours.
An economy based on the extraction of raw materials is unsustainable in the long term. Where's the innovation? What happened to Medvedev's 'silicon city'? You can't create successful innovative clusters by diktat. Putin's dream of a Eurasian Union to rival the EU is another sham; a cosy bunch of dictators denying civil liberties to their own peoples is hardly a vision of lofty ideals to rival that of Schumann and Monnet.
Putin has shown his true face to the world, to those willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. The massive slump in his trustworthiness as perceived by the West will hit the Russian economy hard in the long term. It will further hit Western firms' willingness to invest in Russia. It has hit the rouble, it has hit the Moscow stock markets. And Russia's crude disinformation services, be they Russia Today TV channel or the army of online commentators posting bogus comments on English-language news media have been exposed and held up to ridicule; doubts have evaporated. The work of the 40-rouble army will no doubt be seen again on the forums, message boards and comments sections of British media in the run-up to the Scottish independence referendum and indeed an eventual referendum on the quitting the EU (so-called 'Brexit'). Watch out for bogus Scots Nats and Ukippers; they write in increasingly good English and also amplify extremist voices.
For young Ukrainians, continuation of the Soviet Union under a different name means an end to any dreams of a decent life for themselves at home. It means more of the same; victory of might-is-right over decency and fairness. A Ukraine that's still a puppet of the Kremlin is one that needs to be kept corrupt, with feeble institutions and controlled media. It cannot be another way.
It is in particular the young Ukrainians that are hungry for change; they look over the border at their counterparts in Warsaw, Budapest or Bratislava and see a model of how they'd like to see themselves. The generation that was born in an independent Ukraine rather than the USSR has an entirely different outlook than the children of the war veterans that parade around in their bemedalled Red Army uniforms. And in between, a generation of 30- and 40-year-olds who've seen the last two decades of their lives stolen by venal politicians.
The true Putin has come out of the shadows, not the genial host of the Sochi Olympics or the conciliatory statesman at Westerplatte in September 2009 but a darker figure, bereft of any redeeming features.
Whatever the outcome - and I hope it is a peaceful one maintaining Ukraine's integrity - young people in Russia will look at what happened in Kiev's Maidan from November to February and consider how long they will put up with the way things are.
A final point to consider: if Russia is indeed so great, with such a great future - why are its wealthy elites getting their money and their children out of the country? Russia is like a colonial empire in reverse - ransacking its own natural resources and taking the cash to foreign capitals. Putin's elite live the life of colonial masters - abroad. See this article about Yanukovych's stash.
This time two years ago:
Socialist Realist architecture in late winter sun
This time three years ago:
The Cripple and the Storyteller - part II
This time four years ago:
The station with no name
[update: W-wa Dawidy station got its sign last autumn]
This time five years ago:
Lenten thoughts on motoring
This time six years ago:
Flowers, spring - already
Wednesday, 5 March 2014
A long, long wait finally over
Twelve years and one month after moving into our house, we are finally connected to the town drains. Below: I came home last night to find the septic tank with its top off and the outflow pipe from the house connected to the sewer pipe (installed in October) that runs through our estate.
Below: this morning, at 7am the men were busy filling in the septic tank with earth and packing it down with a pneumatic hammer.
I got home from work this evening to find the job (on our house at least) done. Completely and totally. Paving stones neatly So finally, freedom from that septic tank anxiety that mounts as the fortnight wears on - will it spill over before Pan Norbert* turns up to empty it? All that remains to do now is to fit a separate meter for the outdoor taps, to ensure that we're not charged sewerage fees on water that's used in the garden.
It was a great feeling to flush the loo knowing that the wastewater is heading for a water treatment plant via a network of pipes and sewers, rather than being held in a ten-cubic metre tank awaiting a ten-tonne truck to clog up the roads getting to and from our house.
There are EU funds available for filling septic tanks, but the procedure is long and there's no guarantee your application will be successful. Better, then, to bite the bullet, pay for the work, get it done quickly and save on those 230 złoty (£46) septic tank-emptying fees - that's over £90 a month. A big thanks to our neighbour Tomek, who expedited the whole process.
At last, I feel civilised - civilised that is in the sense of being part of the city, the city we pay our taxes in, civilised as in belonging to a city. Now all that's needed is that pavement along ul. Karczunkowska...
* Pan Norbert - not cheap, but very reliable, and always willing to help out in crisis situations.
This time last year:
No more revelations
This time three years ago:
Free will vs. destiny
Below: this morning, at 7am the men were busy filling in the septic tank with earth and packing it down with a pneumatic hammer.
I got home from work this evening to find the job (on our house at least) done. Completely and totally. Paving stones neatly So finally, freedom from that septic tank anxiety that mounts as the fortnight wears on - will it spill over before Pan Norbert* turns up to empty it? All that remains to do now is to fit a separate meter for the outdoor taps, to ensure that we're not charged sewerage fees on water that's used in the garden.
It was a great feeling to flush the loo knowing that the wastewater is heading for a water treatment plant via a network of pipes and sewers, rather than being held in a ten-cubic metre tank awaiting a ten-tonne truck to clog up the roads getting to and from our house.
There are EU funds available for filling septic tanks, but the procedure is long and there's no guarantee your application will be successful. Better, then, to bite the bullet, pay for the work, get it done quickly and save on those 230 złoty (£46) septic tank-emptying fees - that's over £90 a month. A big thanks to our neighbour Tomek, who expedited the whole process.
At last, I feel civilised - civilised that is in the sense of being part of the city, the city we pay our taxes in, civilised as in belonging to a city. Now all that's needed is that pavement along ul. Karczunkowska...
* Pan Norbert - not cheap, but very reliable, and always willing to help out in crisis situations.
This time last year:
No more revelations
This time three years ago:
Free will vs. destiny
Tuesday, 4 March 2014
It's that time of year again
For the 23rd time in a row, it's Lent Time. Starting from midnight tonight, finishing on Easter Sunday, 20th April, forty-six days distant. I shall limit my food and drink intake, toughen my body and feed my mind with philosophy. The goal is to achieve that annual cleansing, strengthening of will and re-focusing on the Higher Purpose.
This year, I will be abstaining totally from alcohol, meat, sugar (other than that found naturally in fruit and vegetables) - and then the easy stuff that I've either stopped eating anyway, or have massively cut down on. Cakes and biscuits, salt snacks, confectionery. The will to stop doing something is the easy bit. The will to do something outside of the routine is harder.
Physical exercise - an average of 10,000 steps a day. I have a pedometer, but a smartphone app like NoomWalk does the job just as well. And sit-ups... last Easter, I ended Lent on 50 sit-ups twice daily. Rubbish... Starting soon after New Year, I've built up my sit-ups to 100 twice daily - and that's before Lent's even begun. I'll continue that 100 twice a day as a bare minimum. Since New Year, I've trimmed a whole inch (nearly 3cm in fact), so my girth around my fattest part is now 39 inches, down from over 40 inches (99.2cm from 102.2cm). A long way to go to my target, 36 inches.
And reading matter... This Lent I shall be reading Wiesław Myśliwski's Traktat o łuskaniu fasoli ('Treatise on Shelling Beans'), for some Polish metaphysical folk philosophy.
"How many issues and happenings are the work of chance, and how many of our conscious actions? A treatise on what is important, more important and most important."
I know that fellow blogger Paddisław is joining me this Lent, along with Paweł and Martin - do join in if you are a regular reader. Fasting in contemplation is good for body and spirit.
To celebrate the end of the Carnival, I drank a bottle of Lyme Bay Jack Ratt Vintage Dry cider, which I washed down with a bottle of Lyme Bay Sparkling cider. The former was the better of the two, a cider that captured the essence of a drizzly day on an English beach, a quiet, contemplative cider. still and dry.
I'll raise a glass of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc to those who stuck it out with me at Easter time!
This time last year:
Future Trends in the Economy
This time two years ago:
Communist Poland's secret rail disasters
This time three years ago:
The Cripple and the Storyteller: a short story
This time four years ago:
Dogs begin to bark, hounds begin to howl
This time six years ago:
Another light dusting
This year, I will be abstaining totally from alcohol, meat, sugar (other than that found naturally in fruit and vegetables) - and then the easy stuff that I've either stopped eating anyway, or have massively cut down on. Cakes and biscuits, salt snacks, confectionery. The will to stop doing something is the easy bit. The will to do something outside of the routine is harder.
Physical exercise - an average of 10,000 steps a day. I have a pedometer, but a smartphone app like NoomWalk does the job just as well. And sit-ups... last Easter, I ended Lent on 50 sit-ups twice daily. Rubbish... Starting soon after New Year, I've built up my sit-ups to 100 twice daily - and that's before Lent's even begun. I'll continue that 100 twice a day as a bare minimum. Since New Year, I've trimmed a whole inch (nearly 3cm in fact), so my girth around my fattest part is now 39 inches, down from over 40 inches (99.2cm from 102.2cm). A long way to go to my target, 36 inches.
And reading matter... This Lent I shall be reading Wiesław Myśliwski's Traktat o łuskaniu fasoli ('Treatise on Shelling Beans'), for some Polish metaphysical folk philosophy.
"How many issues and happenings are the work of chance, and how many of our conscious actions? A treatise on what is important, more important and most important."
I know that fellow blogger Paddisław is joining me this Lent, along with Paweł and Martin - do join in if you are a regular reader. Fasting in contemplation is good for body and spirit.
To celebrate the end of the Carnival, I drank a bottle of Lyme Bay Jack Ratt Vintage Dry cider, which I washed down with a bottle of Lyme Bay Sparkling cider. The former was the better of the two, a cider that captured the essence of a drizzly day on an English beach, a quiet, contemplative cider. still and dry.
I'll raise a glass of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc to those who stuck it out with me at Easter time!
This time last year:
Future Trends in the Economy
This time two years ago:
Communist Poland's secret rail disasters
This time three years ago:
The Cripple and the Storyteller: a short story
This time four years ago:
Dogs begin to bark, hounds begin to howl
This time six years ago:
Another light dusting
Monday, 3 March 2014
Sunday in the City
Sunday, the Lord's Day, a day of rest; even in the City of London. On my way from Ealing to Stansted Airport via Liverpool St Station, I decide to take a walk from the West End (WC2) through the heart of the City (EC4).
Above: Tucked away behind Centre Point, where I used to work for 16 years, is this tenement which looks condemned to be demolished. Other than the Korean shops on the ground floor, it is deserted. Will York Mansions and Clifton Mansions (52-56 Bloomsbury High St) still be here next time I visit?
Below: Looking down Lombard St. The spire of St Edmund, King and Martyr, a Christopher Wren church, is visible, dwarfed by the new office development at 20 Fenchurch St, the so-called 'Walkie-Talkie'. The 160m-high building is controversial because of the way the concave glass surface beams sunlight down onto the street below.
Below: at the epicentre of finance. To the left of this photo, Threadneedle St and the Bank of England. To the right, Cornhill. The splendid building in the foreground is the Royal Exchange. The people in front of the building were Spanish. As it's Sunday, the City is very quiet.
St Helens Bishopsgate; just behind it stands Sir Norman Foster's Gherkin building (30 St Mary's Axe). The 15th Century church, damaged by IRA bombings in 1992 and 1993, has become popular with the many French-speaking people living and working in the City.
Indeed, I must say, that on this visit to London, French was the most common language I heard, followed by Spanish - Polish a long, long way after those two. A mass had just ended as I walked past, many well-heeled professionals and their small children emerged from the church to board their four-wheel drives and head off for lunch in Dalston or Bermondsey.
I continue on foot; by the time the day has ended, at the Sheraton Hotel in Kraków, I have covered nearly 16,000 paces (over 12.5km).
A Sunday morning outside of the tourist season is a good time to wander around the City of London, to see the sights and feel the klimat or ambience of its streets, it temples spiritual and financial.
This time last year:
God's teachings
This time three years ago:
In praise of blue skies
This time five years ago:
WAM PLUNK BISH BASH ZUNK
(For Molesworth fans - Ronald Searle's obituary in the Economist is a must-read)
This time six years ago:
Four weeks into Lent
Above: Tucked away behind Centre Point, where I used to work for 16 years, is this tenement which looks condemned to be demolished. Other than the Korean shops on the ground floor, it is deserted. Will York Mansions and Clifton Mansions (52-56 Bloomsbury High St) still be here next time I visit?
Left: Old Bailey. The thoroughfare, rather than the Central Criminal Court; a building opposite. For London, this is as quiet as it gets. There are still a few tourists wandering around at this time of year, though this is the low, low season. Most of the flagship stores are closed on a Sunday; cafes, pubs and restaurants are open.
Right: The church of St Andrew's Holborn, in the ward of Farringdon Without (the 'without' meaning it lay outside the London Wall).
Like many of the places of worship in the City of London, it is a Guild Church, ministering to those who work, rather than those who live within the Square Mile. A mere 7,375 people are resident within the Square Mile of the City of London, according to the 2011 Census.
Like many of the places of worship in the City of London, it is a Guild Church, ministering to those who work, rather than those who live within the Square Mile. A mere 7,375 people are resident within the Square Mile of the City of London, according to the 2011 Census.
Below: Looking down Lombard St. The spire of St Edmund, King and Martyr, a Christopher Wren church, is visible, dwarfed by the new office development at 20 Fenchurch St, the so-called 'Walkie-Talkie'. The 160m-high building is controversial because of the way the concave glass surface beams sunlight down onto the street below.
Below: at the epicentre of finance. To the left of this photo, Threadneedle St and the Bank of England. To the right, Cornhill. The splendid building in the foreground is the Royal Exchange. The people in front of the building were Spanish. As it's Sunday, the City is very quiet.
Indeed, I must say, that on this visit to London, French was the most common language I heard, followed by Spanish - Polish a long, long way after those two. A mass had just ended as I walked past, many well-heeled professionals and their small children emerged from the church to board their four-wheel drives and head off for lunch in Dalston or Bermondsey.
I continue on foot; by the time the day has ended, at the Sheraton Hotel in Kraków, I have covered nearly 16,000 paces (over 12.5km).
A Sunday morning outside of the tourist season is a good time to wander around the City of London, to see the sights and feel the klimat or ambience of its streets, it temples spiritual and financial.
This time last year:
God's teachings
This time three years ago:
In praise of blue skies
This time five years ago:
WAM PLUNK BISH BASH ZUNK
(For Molesworth fans - Ronald Searle's obituary in the Economist is a must-read)
This time six years ago:
Four weeks into Lent
Saturday, 1 March 2014
Spring makes its mark in Ealing
A weekend in London, the contrast between Warsaw when it comes to the advanced preparations for spring is visible. Warsaw still feels several weeks away from those magic days when creation turns from grey to green. Here, it's happening already. London has had a wet and windy winter, without snow. My father tells me there were only three frosty mornings from early December through to the end of February. And it's worth remembering that Warsaw experienced a heavy snowfall on 31 March last year, so winter can still return there.
Tomorrow, I fly to Kraków.
This time last year:
Waiting for the warmth to return to Warsaw
This time last year:
Remembering Poland's 'Accursed Soldiers'
This time three years ago:
Getting the balance right between work and play
This time five years ago:
Sublime Jeziorki sunset
This time six years ago:
Sunrise getting earlier
 |
| Crocuses in my parents' back garden... |
 |
| Daffodils in my parents' front garden |
 |
| Crocuses blooming in Cleveland Park, West Ealing |
 |
| No room to squeeze a postcard between parked cars, Gordon Road |
 |
| Edwardian parade, Ealing High St. |
 |
| Shop front unchanged since my childhood: City Radio Stores, Bond St, Ealing |
 |
| Shop front unchanged since my childhood: Reg Allen, Grosvenor Rd. W. Ealing |
Tomorrow, I fly to Kraków.
This time last year:
Waiting for the warmth to return to Warsaw
This time last year:
Remembering Poland's 'Accursed Soldiers'
This time three years ago:
Getting the balance right between work and play
This time five years ago:
Sublime Jeziorki sunset
This time six years ago:
Sunrise getting earlier
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
