{"id":4289,"date":"2024-04-22T06:26:26","date_gmt":"2024-04-22T05:26:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/?page_id=4289"},"modified":"2024-04-22T06:42:46","modified_gmt":"2024-04-22T05:42:46","slug":"week-13-wroclaw-warsaw-and-a-party-back-home","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/?page_id=4289","title":{"rendered":"Week 13: Wroc\u00c5\u201aaw, Warsaw, and a party back home"},"content":{"rendered":"

I began the week in Wroc\u00c5\u201aaw in Poland, visiting my sister, then on to Warsaw for work (the actual purpose of my trip to Poland), and then home to Alicante in time for my wife’s birthday. <\/p>\n

13_1<\/strong>
\nWhen I woke up on Sunday, I looked out from my sister’s apartment to see the early light over the Ronald Reagan Circle:
\n\"DSF8738\"<\/p>\n

13_2<\/strong>
\nI went for a walk in my sister’s neighbourhood to look for bread for that morning’s breakfast, along the way as always looking for little details in the urban space. This sticker advertises a local artist:
\n\"DSF8742\"<\/p>\n

13_3<\/strong>
\nA boarded-up door and a warning that there are zombies inside:
\n\"DSF8745\"<\/p>\n

13_4<\/strong>
\nFaint traces of Wroc\u00c5\u201aaw’s German past:
\n\"DSF8744\"<\/p>\n

13_5<\/strong>
\nLater Sunday morning, I went to see a large Banksy exhibition with my sister and brother-in-law. It was a real eye opener. I was of course familiar with his most famous pieces of wall art, but I had no idea of the breadth of his body of work, including sculptures:
\n\"DSF8758\"<\/p>\n

13_6<\/strong>
\nWatching a film about Banksy:
\n\"DSF8766\"<\/p>\n

13_7<\/strong>
\nPhone booth:
\n\"DSF8767\"<\/p>\n

13_8<\/strong>
\nPeeing soldier:
\n\"DSF8770\"<\/p>\n

13_9<\/strong>
\nFlag ceremony:
\n\"DSF8797\"<\/p>\n

13_10<\/strong>
\nLondon Underground installation:
\n\"DSF8810\"<\/p>\n

13_11<\/strong>
\nModel of Banksy’s workshop. The anti-copyright message is ironic given the amount of Banksy-related merchandise being sold in the gift shop:
\n\"DSF8811\"<\/p>\n

13_12<\/strong>
\nGoodbye to Banksy:
\n\"DSF8824\"<\/p>\n

13_13<\/strong>
\nThe venue of the Banksy exhibition was next to Century Hall, one of Wroc\u00c5\u201aaw’s iconic structures, built by the Germans in 1913 (the needle was added later, during Communist times):
\n\"DSF8826\"<\/p>\n

13_14<\/strong>
\nAfter enjoying Banksy, we went to the central square Rynek to walk around a bit, and happened on this pro-EU rally. Most of the people were refugees from the Lukashenko regime in Belarus:
\n\"DSF8836\"<\/p>\n

13_15<\/strong>
\n\"DSF8839\"<\/p>\n

13_16<\/strong>
\nWe went for a beer and a snack at a bar with a theme evoking Communist nostalgia (or to be more precise, nostalgia for the times when today’s middle-aged people were young), called simply “Pijalnia W\u00c3\u00b3dki i Piwa” or “Vodka and beer drinking house” (in Communist times, many shops and restaurants did not carry brand names; they were simply called “bakery”, “grocery store” etc.):
\n\"DSF8847\"<\/p>\n

13_17<\/strong>
\nTo go with my beer, I had this delicious tartar:
\n\"DSF8852\"<\/p>\n

13_18<\/strong>
\nOn Monday morning I took a taxi to Wroc\u00c5\u201aaw’s main train station. Also built during German times, it has been nicely restored recently:
\n\"R000347\"<\/p>\n

13_19<\/strong>
\nInside the station, I boarded my train to Warsaw:
\n\"R000353\"<\/p>\n

13_20<\/strong>
\nFour and a half hour later, I arrived in Warsaw. Walking to the metro station to go to my hotel, I passed the ugly, Stalin-era “gift” to the people of Warsaw, the Palace of Culture and Science:
\n\"R000358\"<\/p>\n

13_21<\/strong>
\nAfter checking in at my hotel, I took the metro to a caf\u00c3\u00a9 near the offices of the leading Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita, where I had an appointment with a journalist who wanted to interview me about counterfeit goods. The newspaper is located in one of Warsaw’s new business districts. This is very much the new Poland that has emerged from the ruins of Communism following the liberation in 1989:
\n\"DSF8857\"<\/p>\n

13_22<\/strong>
\nI spent the rest of the day walking around central Warsaw, starting at Plac Zamkowy (Castle Square). The royal castle was completely destroyed during World War II and was reconstructed during the 1960s and 70s, a national project of great symbolic importance. The Sigismund Column dates from the 17th century:
\n\"DSF8893\"<\/p>\n

13_23<\/strong>
\nPosing for Mom:
\n\"DSF8879\"<\/p>\n

13_24<\/strong>
\nA somewhat unusual sight in Poland. Public displays of affection are not common:
\n\"DSF8881\"<\/p>\n

13_25<\/strong>
\nA police riot van appeared on the square; I asked one of the cops about the reason for their presence. He told me that it was a preventive measure, in case some of the many tourists imbibed too much and caused trouble. Indeed, booze is cheap in Poland compared to, say, the UK, and there are certain kind of tourists who take excessive advantage of this price difference:
\n\"DSF8892\"<\/p>\n

13_26<\/strong>
\nIn the evening I walked past the presidential residence on Krakowskie Przedmie\u00c5\u203acie street. I hope to be part of the vote in 2025 that will oust the current occupant of the building, President Andrzej Duda who supported the previous right-wing PiS government that lost power in October:
\n\"DSF8901\"<\/p>\n

13_27<\/strong>
\nI ended my walk at a large square overlooked by J\u00c3\u00b3zef Pi\u00c5\u201asudski, Poland’s first leader following the restoration of the Polish state after World War I. At the other end of the square is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and in the centre there is a monument to the 96 Polish politicians and officials who died in the 2010 plane crash near Smolensk:
\n\"DSF8977\"<\/p>\n

13_28<\/strong>
\nTuesday was the time for work. I was in Warsaw to speak at a conference arranged by the main Polish business association, to be held in a facility in a neighbourhood called Praga. I picked a hotel about 10-15 minutes walk from the conference facility. On the way I admired this huge mural, promoting the lottery:
\n\"R000361\"<\/p>\n

13_29<\/strong>
\nPraga is an old working-class neighbourhood, today rapidly gentrifying. The Targowa Conference Centre is a good example. What used to be the inner courtyard of a tenement is now the main hall of the centre:
\n\"R000378\"<\/p>\n

13_30<\/strong>
\nThe conference got under way, and Edyta, the president of the Polish Patent Office, gave the opening address:
\n\"R000377\"<\/p>\n

13_31<\/strong>
\nOne of the panels during the conference, including my Polish colleague from the OECD, Piotr (on the left) and Cezary, a senior manager at Amazon in Poland (next to Piotr):
\n\"R000380\"<\/p>\n

13_32<\/strong>
\nIn attendance was also a former trainee in my office, Olga, who now works for a law firm in Warsaw:
\n\"R000381\"<\/p>\n

13_33<\/strong>
\nI was flying home Wednesday morning, so after the conference ended at lunchtime, I had the rest of the day to explore Warsaw further. I concentrated on the Praga neighbourhood. This is a typical courtyard in Praga, with a small shrine, something one does not see in other parts of Warsaw:
\n\"R000366\"<\/p>\n

13_34<\/strong>
\nGraffiti celebrating the 100th anniversary of Poland’s independence:
\n\"R000370\"<\/p>\n

13_35<\/strong>
\nA dog mural with embellishment that says “fuck dogs, cats rule”:
\n\"DSF8924\"<\/p>\n

13_36<\/strong>
\nLocal elections are coming up in April:
\n\"DSF8936\"<\/p>\n

13_37<\/strong>
\nOld bar signs:
\n\"DSF8955\"<\/p>\n

13_38<\/strong>
\nI noticed a bar with a funny name, “W oparach absurdu”, literally “In the fumes of absurdity”. With a name like that, it had to be nice, and it was:
\n\"DSF8950\"<\/p>\n

13_39<\/strong>
\nOn the bar menu, “pierogi ruskie” have been renamed “pierogi ukrai\u00c5\u201eskie”, not an uncommon sight in Poland these days:
\n\"DSF8948\"<\/p>\n

13_40<\/strong>
\nOn Wednesday morning I got out early to take the train to the airport. This is my last photo from this trip to Warsaw, a pedestrian underpass and an outdoor market being set up near the national stadium:
\n\"R000389\"<\/p>\n

13_41<\/strong>
\nBack home, Friday was a day off (Good Friday), so I was able to resume my cycling. In Verdeg\u00c3\u00a1s, there was a small fruit and vegetable market on the square next to the church:
\n\"1040063\"<\/p>\n

13_42<\/strong>
\n\"1040065\"<\/p>\n

13_43<\/strong>
\n\"1040067\"<\/p>\n

13_44<\/strong>
\nIn the afternoon, I went to the centre to watch one of the four Good Friday procession taking place around Alicante. I chose a procession that started in the Bas\u00c3\u00adlica Santa Mar\u00c3\u00ada and wound its way in the narrow streets towards the town hall and beyond. I first passed by the town hall to see it decorated for Easter:
\n\"DSF8980\"<\/p>\n

13_45<\/strong>
\nWhile waiting for the procession to start, I had a beer in a bar near the church. This woman, in conversation with another woman, had a very expressive face:
\n\"DSF8985\"<\/p>\n

13_46<\/strong>
\nAs the time approached, large crowds assembled in anticipation:
\n\"DSF8988\"<\/p>\n

13_47<\/strong>
\nFinally, the procession arrived:
\n\"DSF9006\"<\/p>\n

13_48<\/strong>
\nThe procession moves slowly and stops once in a while so that people can admire the image of Mar\u00c3\u00ada being carried. While stopped, these young girls did what young girls would do, chat:
\n\"DSF9002\"<\/p>\n

13_49<\/strong>
\nThis is what everyone is waiting for, Santa Mar\u00c3\u00ada de la Soledad, grieving the death of Jesus:
\n\"DSF9028\"<\/p>\n

13_50<\/strong>
\nMy wife’s birthday was on Thursday, so on Saturday we had the party at our house. My contribution was to make all the food–an Indian spread on the request of my wife and our friends. Here she is with Assumpta and I\u00c3\u00b1aki, two of our good friends:
\n\"DSF9034\"<\/p>\n

13_51<\/strong>
\nMariluz, in animated conversation:
\n\"DSF9040\"<\/p>\n

13_52<\/strong>
\nDalaal and Nereyda:
\n\"DSF9043\"<\/p>\n

13_53<\/strong>
\nAfter a couple of hours of chatting and drinking wine and having nibbles, it was time for the serious food. I had made a vegetable curry, a lamb curry, a chicken curry, tarka dal, accompanied by an onion salad, yogurt mint sauce and various pickles and chutneys:
\n\"DSF9045\"<\/p>\n

More photos from Wroc\u00c5\u201aaw are here<\/a>, and from Warsaw here<\/a>. I also have a separate gallery dedicated to the Banksy exhibition<\/a>, and finally, there is also a gallery from the Good Friday procession<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I began the week in Wroc\u00c5\u201aaw in Poland, visiting my sister, then on to Warsaw for work (the actual purpose of my trip to Poland), and then home to Alicante in time for my wife’s birthday. 13_1 When I woke up on Sunday, I looked out from my sister’s apartment to see the early light […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":4205,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4289"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4289"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4289\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4295,"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4289\/revisions\/4295"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}