The main event in the third week of October was a short business trip to Warsaw, Monday-Wednesday. Before and after, it was the usual mix of cycling, walking Mochi and enjoying the still warm autumn weather.
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My Sunday ride was to Busot, a place I visit often, and a sight I always enjoy, partly because it means that the rest of the ride is mostly downhill:
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Looking the other way, Alicante and the coast are visible in the distance:
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On Monday afternoon I flew to Warsaw, arriving at my hotel in the evening. The next morning I walked to the Polish Patent Office, a lovely 1 km walk through a nice park called Pole Mokotowskie, where I could enjoy something we do not have in Alicante–autumn colours:
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Something else we do not see in Alicante:
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The entrance to UPRP, the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland:
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I spent most of the day at the patent office, in good company, like these three ladies. The woman in the middle is Żaneta, the deputy head of the office:
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Afterwards, I walked back to my hotel to change into regular clothes and enjoy Poland’s capital city. I always look for small details, like this old-style neon sign outside a barber shop:
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I passed a very impressive square, housing Poland’s Supreme Court and a monument to one of the defining events in Warsaw’s history, the 1944 uprising against the German occupation:
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When in Warsaw, going to a Chopin recital is if not a must, then at least something very nice to do. The international Chopin competition had just finished, and ideally I would have gone to the winners’ concert. But tickets to that event had been sold out for months, so no hope there. Instead, I went to a recital at the Fryderyk Concert Hall in the old city. It is a very nice small venue, and the Japanese pianist Haruka Matsumoto (originally from Osaka) played beautifully:
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After the concert I walked around the old city for a while. There are many beautiful buildings, like this 18th century palace now converted to a luxury hotel:
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This is Krakowskie Przedmieście, the main thoroughfare leading to the Castle Square:
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In a small park along Krakowskie PrzedmieÅ›cie, there is a time capsule, installed here in 2018 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the restoration of Poland’s independence after World War I, and meant to be opened in 2118:
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The text on the time capsule reads as follows: We, the people of Warsaw, citizens of the Polish Republic, Poles all over the world, friends of Warsaw in Poland and abroad. We are today celebrating the centenary of Poland’s independence in 1918. We lost our independence twice afterwards, in 1939 and 1945. This is why we are happy today to be able to address you, our descendants, from the capital of a free, sovereign Poland. In 1918 Warsaw was a symbol of the re-birth of our country and a hope for the future. In 2018, Warsaw is a modern, open European city. We hope that you who read this is 2118, will do so in a Warsaw of which you are proud. A capital of a free, modern, open and wealthy Poland, in a peaceful and prosperous Europe, ready to share our wealth with those who need it, and prepared for the challenges of the coming centuries:
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My flight back to Alicante was on Wednesday late afternoon, so I had time during the day to do some more sight-seeing. On the street where my hotel was I saw some amusing graffiti:
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There are hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees in Poland, and the signs of their presence are many, including this love declaration on a wall on Polna Street:
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One of Warsaw’s iconic (and ugliest) buildings is PaÅ‚ac Kultury i Nauki (the Palace of Culture and Science), a “gift” to Poland from the Stalin regime, completed in 1955, two years after the dictator’s death:
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Across the street from the culture palace is the modern Warsaw:
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I walked through the Świętokrzyski Park, spotting what appeared to be a TikTok video in the making:
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I visited a couple of art galleries and then slowly made my way back to the central station where I had left my luggage and from where I would later take the train to the airport. A couple of amusing advertising vignettes. First, a mobile billboard advertising a beer brand:
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A highly unusual advert for an accounting firm called Creative Accountants, basically saying that while numbers do not lie, they are happy to do so if the client requires it:
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My final stop before the train station was this Bar Mleczny where I had lunch. This kind of modest restaurant is an institution dating back to Communist times. The name means “milk bar” and refers to the fact that no alcohol is served. But the food is good, hearty traditional Polish food, with some modern salads and such added. I had an excellent and filling lunch for less than 10 Euro:
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In the evening, I flew back to Alicante, but rather than driving home from the airport, I stopped in the centre. My wife was coming back from a visit to our daughter in Barcelona, and her train was arriving about 1 hour later, so it made sense to wait for her rather than driving home and back to the centre. The train station was almost deserted at this late hour:
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The rest of this week’s pictures are from the daily walks with Mochi. The sunrises are really beautiful at this time of the year. This is Thursday morning:
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I was not the only person taking pictures:
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Back to the same place on Saturday morning. Yet another person sitting in the sand and waiting for the sunrise:
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Another dog being walked:
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The exercise group in action:
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Until recently, Mochi seemed to be afraid of the water, but now his inhibitions are gone:
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It may be late October, but the water temperature is still fit for bathing:
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A photo session at the water’s edge:
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Finally, a couple of images from a small park just 100 meters down the street from my house. Mother and child:
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Another mother-child pair joins in:
A full gallery from Warsaw can be seen here.