Making the most of winter

Isn't it beautiful? All the traffic snarls, delayed trains, snow shovelling - it's worth it. Beauty is truth, truth beauty, said Keats, and when there's so much of it all around, one is duty bound to record and share.

Today's crop of snaps - below: feeding the ducks in the Saxon Gardens. On my way to a meeting I hopped off the 171 (on time) and crossed the park. The ducks were all clustered on the corner of Marszałkowska and Królewska, anticipating - correctly - that every three minutes or so a mohair-beret-clad benefactor would bung them a kilo of stale bread. Note the two policemen behind the tree to the left. Had this been London, the lady would have been wrestled to the ground by officious health-and-safety crazed bobbies intent on keeping the capital clear of avian faeces. After which they'd have wrestled me to the ground for taking their image. This being Poland, the policemen smiled and walked on. Twenty years of progress, eh, readers?

Below: The resultant feeding frenzy. Quite what ducks did in winter before humans started to cultivate wheat, grind flour, bake bread, leave it to go stale and bring it out to them is beyond me. Simply fly south?

A propos of stale bread: Polish bread goes stale 14 times faster than British bread - and Poles are proud of the fact. Our local supermarket advertises that all its bread is baked without flour enhancer. Polish bread, eaten within an hour or two of purchase - is the most supremely wonderful bread imaginable. It can be eaten without butter - half a loaf at a time - it is just that tasty. But 24 hours later, it's fit only for toasting.

Across Plac Piłsudskiego (right) where the snow pushed aside by the ploughs forms a heap a metre and half high. The rest of the square is kept clear of snow so that the changing of the guard by the monument of the Unknown Soldier will not be rendered undignified by the spectacle of soldiers slipping up on ice. They march in hobnails. In the distance - the Hotel Europejski.

A propos of soldiers: After my meeting I rushed off to another one, catching a 111 bus to Plac Więzniów Politycznych Stalinizmu (lit. Stalinism's Political Prisoners' Square). And whose monument did I espy in this park dedicated to the memory of the victims of Stalinist repression? Why, a Stalinist repressor. A soldier of the Polish People's Army, bearing a Kalashnikov.

Above: Evening descends on Al. Jana Pawła II. I'm on a tram heading back to the office. The photo is taken looking towards Rondo Zgrupowania Armii Krajowej Imienia Radosława (lit. The Roundabout of the Home Army Grouping Named For Radosław). Until 2000, it was named (and is still universally known as) Rondo Babka. Without wishing to belittle the Home Army soldiers who fought in the Radosław group, replacing snappy local names with vastly longer ones is a bit naff. I read today that a Warsaw councillor wants to rename one of the city's thoroughfares "German Underwater Vessel Sabotage Street" (ul. Sabotażu Niemieckich Okrętów Podwodnych). Bear in mind that a standard bank paying-in slip has two lines each of 32 boxes for your entire address, including house number, flat number, name of city and post code. 'ul. Sabotażu Niemieckich Okrętów Podwodnych 123/456 06-789 Warszawa' does not fit.

And so, homeward bound. The 17:05 from W-wa Śródmieście to Radom, via W-wa Jeziorki, was announced as running 80 minutes late. The 18:18 from W-wa Śródmieście to Radom, via W-wa Jeziorki, was however on time, and to the minute. So I caught that.

Back in Jeziorki, I find that we've had even more snow. My wacky one-second exposure showing the trenches that residents of ul. Karczunkowska have dug came out looking so surreal that I thought I'd upload it anyway. Illuminated by sodium street lighting, it looks like the surface of the sun.

Powiśle, of a winter's morning

Above: My train (the one on the left) arrives from W-wa Jeziorki at Powiśle less than ten minutes late. Better than the train home, which was running 45 minutes late. The EN57 stock is well past its sell-by date and prone to breakdowns in the cold weather.

Large numbers of people hanging around bus stops suggest that it will be quicker walking the three stops to work than waiting - it was. And visually more rewarding. Above: ul. Kruczkowskiego, edge of the Śmigły-Rydz park.

Above: Fieldfare (kwiczoł) just outside our office on ul. Fabryczna. Thanks to Ewa and Mariola for spotting it. A reason for going everywhere with your camera.

You'd better make that call to the Plow King

One of the children's favourite Simpsons episode is Mr. Plow, the one where Homer buys a truck and snowplough attachment and starts clearing people's drives. Barney buys a bigger one and puts Homer out of business. Both men advertise on local cable TV. Homer's jingle is basic: "Call Mr. Plow/That's my name/That name again/Is Mr. Plow". Barney's jingle (sung by Linda Ronstadt) is more sophisticated: "When the snow starts a-fallin'/There's a man you should be callin'/That's KL5-4796/Let it ring!/Mr. Plow is a loser/And I think he is a boozer.../So you'd better make that call to the Plow King"/ This weekend we could have done with the services of both Mr. Plow and the Plow King.

Today and yesterday, I spent the best part of four hours clearing snow from our drive. The neighbours suggested that 2001/2 and 2005/6 were almost as bad; but I can't remember snow this heavy. Still, shifting snow is good physical exercise. As long as you have the right tools... When we came to Poland, the standard was still the wooden board on a long wooden handle. Today, supermarkets sell large heavy-grade plastic shovels which scoop up the snow much better. But the very best device is the double-width snow shovel on rollers, ideal for clearing large drives.

With more snow on the way before the weather gets colder towards the middle of the week, it makes sense to remove as much snow as possible while there's time to do it. Interesting to see whether there's traffic chaos in the morning...

A propos of conditions in the morning. There are two online weather forecasts I follow for Warsaw; both are found here. Generally, the UM 48 hr forecast is more accurate, but not always. I've been caught out by the COAMPS 84 hr forecast... Let's see who'll be accurate forecasting the temperature tomorrow morning at 07:00. As of now (23:40 on Sunday), UM forecasts -1.5C, while COAMPS forecasts -6C. Results in the morning.

As for current conditions, the Physics Institute at Warsaw Polytechnic keeps good records (but somehow its precipitation readings are nearly always zero). A more accurate thermometer than the one outside my bedroom window (right)!

UPDATE: Monday morning, 07:00. It's -3.1C outside, so neither forecaster was right. More snow expected this afternoon.

UPDATE: Monday evening, 21:00. No snow this afternoon. Again, neither forecaster was right.

Jeziorki rail scenes, winter

Above: A coal train on the main(electrified) line passing W-wa Jeziorki station, just a few km short of its destination, the sidings at Okęcie, from where the coal wagons will be hauled to Siekierki power station by diesel locos on the unelectrified track closest to the camera, which swings away from the main line boynd Nowa Iwiczna, the next station south of Jeziorki.

Above: Running 40 minutes late, the 12:57 Koleje Mazowieckie train from W-wa Wschodnia to Skarżysko-Kamienna. Two engines suggest a breakdown somewhere along the line. The next passenger service passing through, the 13:53 from W-wa Wschodnia to Radom, was on time to the minute, showing how difficult it is to generalise about railway punctuality in this weather.

Both pics taken between W-wa Jeziorki and W-wa Dawidy. The wooden snowdrift screens are now in place.

Winter's walk to work

I continue my recent habit of walking to Platan Park from home (nearly 6km) which I can do in just over an hour despite the snow. Ul. Poloneza is still cut, necessitating a detour. Work on the S2 is still very much underway, no respite for the weather; the viaduct over the expressway seems to be the main priority. Below: House on Poloneza. I fear when the viaduct is completed, this road will become much busier.


My little detour skirting the roadworks on Poloneza deposits me on ul. Krasnowolska, where I take this photo (right) of a drainage ditch filled with snow. This one flows into the pond located along Poloneza, to the north of the Metro rail link and the new S2. Below: Further along Poloneza, the drainage canal that feeds into the pond along ul. Hołubcowa. Beyond it, the airport.

A four mile walk is as good a way as any to start the working day. Going by car, this journey would take 40 minutes, by bus, 50 (one way or the other I'd have to use the desperately congested ul. Puławska).

Most Poniatowskiego, winter

'That looks like America', says Eddie looking at the photo above. This is Powiśle, showing the north side of the Poniatowski bridge, looking towards the town centre. Car in the foreground is a Warszawa 204. Temperatures today hovered between -5C and -4C.

A Consolation to my British Readers

Trapped in your house by an inch and half of snow in England? Wishing that Britain could be more like Poland when it comes to readiness to deal with winter? During the last few days, when new snow was sparse, the weather was settled and temperatures were low - Warsaw worked.

But this afternoon, the heavens opened and vast quantities of new snow fell. On my way from the office to an evening meeting I could see that Warsaw's traffic was having problems. Despite plentiful warning that snow was on its way. The snow ploughs were nowhere to be seen, gridlocks began developing at junctions - and as on 17 December, the evening rush hour extended to very late in the evening.

The above photo was taken on ul. Puławska at 21:25. Four and half hours after most offices closed for business, and the main artery heading south out of Warsaw is still blocked.

UPDATE: ul. Karczunkowska, 07:00, Thursday 7 Jan. Snow cleared - asphalt black. Same on Puławska, and indeed all over Warsaw. The snowploughs were out in force overnight. Everything back to normal.

Upon my way to work and home

On such a day as today, when winter makes itself felt, Warsaw goes to work as usual. Buses and trains generally running on time (no less so than in summer). It's the first heavy dump that disrupts, and each subsequent one after each thaw. Top: W-wa Jeziorki station, this morning. Temperature was -10C. Right: On my way to lunch, Trasa Łazienkowska in background.

Above: The Poniatowski bridge, Powiśle. Nearly at the station, headed home. Below: Back at W-wa Jeziorki, the evening's last train terminating Czachówek Południowy departs southbound.