Winter's Early Entrance

It's not even November yet, and Warsaw got a healthy dose of winter.  It started out as wet flurries swirling about, but by the end of the day, the fat flakes transformed the whole city into a winter wonderland.  I love snow and I hope this a glimpse of what is to come.  I do have feeling that it will all melt in a few days and turn everything into a slushy, muddy, wet mess.

It's coming down pretty hard.

Early in the storm: snow on the bushes.

It's supposed to snow again on Tuesday.  With the start of the snowing season, it means that Poles can resume their on-going war on tire treads.  But, I am looking forward to sledding and snowball fights.

I haven't seen this in a long time: a tree falling onto a car.  The car escaped relatively unscathed.

Snow Time!

(NOTE:  This post was partially transcribed during my hiatus and is now edited and posted.)

Being no stranger to snow (and actually loving it dearly) I always enjoy it when the fluffy white stuff descends upon the city.  It sometimes happen, like this past weekend, when snow overstays its welcome.  

Anyway, this past winter definitely started out strong.  There was snow in November, the temperatures were plunging, and it looked like it's be a long, bone-biting winter.  Now, as someone who has lived in apartments that were in flagrant disregard of inspection and livability laws, I swore that I would never go cold through another winter.  My two last years in school were defined by being hungry and cold.  Oh, so cold.  It wasn't just that the electric heating was never on, and when it was it drove the electric bill upwards of $300, but the general lack of calories made it all the worse.  These days, with free heating, I walk around in my boxers in my apartment.  A howling blizzard may be roaring outside, and the icicles might be growing ever larger, but I sweat sitting down—that's how warm I am.

A 'well-plowed street'.

The winter, however, had not turned out as I had hoped.  By mid-December the snow was in retreated and the horrible reign of thirty-degree temperatures began.  It was more of a muddy brown Christmas than white.

Snow did come and go, but one thing I noticed was the general lack of plowing on Warsaw's minor roads, driveways, and parking lots.  It seemed up the commuters themselves to hopeless grind away rubber in attempts move (I did lend a hand to a struggling truck.)  This, of course, is all part of Poland's on-going war on tire treads.  They won't give up until ever vehicle is rolling around on dangerously bald wheels containing less rubber than a Durex® Ultra Thin Fetherlite®.  (Just a quick note: what a creepy way to spell feather light.  Fetherlite just looks poorly constructed, and I usually go for quality and pride of workmanship in this area.  It's not a purchase to downgrade just to save a few bucks.)

My snowman. The snow was so powdery soft.

The snowy park at night.

What winter turned into: a hazy, slushy world.

Besides the unplowed roads, the sidewalks were left as slick sheets of ice.  Coming from an extremely litigious country, where poking yourself in the eye with a screwdriver is an actual financial option, I was surprised by carelessness of the city to leave such horrendous walkways.  (NOTE:  Some law firms actually employ people to map every single crack on the sidewalks of New York, which are then submitted to the city.  The city can claim that if it doesn't know about the damage on the sidewalks, it can't be held responsible if people trip on them.  So, these mappers make sure that every crack is mapped, just so they can claim that the city knew about the cracks and did nothing (and makes the city financially liable when someone does trip on a crack.)  What a wonderful solution!)  Crampons were necessary to navigate these icy walks of terror.  In some places, sand was scattered or workers with wooden shovels hacked and shoveled the ice, but only on the most heavily trafficked of sidewalks.  Others were left gleaming and treacherous for the less nimble.

Practically a lawsuit in the making

I was a little disappointed with the winter, but then again, I shouldn't complain.  The US got hammered (bummer I wasn't there.)  Plus, I totally missed out on skiing.  Well shucks.  Anyway, spring is here and I have to finish planning my Easter menu.  Plus, I hope the frosts end early this year so I can get my zucchini and watermelon in the ground as soon as possible.

There was snow

Season Change and First Snow

I'm used to the season slowly fading into each other.  The four seasons are each distinct, but they shift rather gradually.  Here, they shift immediately.  In September, I woke up one day and the air temperature had dropped fifteen degrees and the trees were shedding yellow leaves.  Then, these past few weeks there was an abrupt change from 55-60º days to days in and below freezing.  Last night was the first real snowfall.  Wednesday night, it snowed a little, bit it only stuck around on people's cars.  It's like someone flipped a switch; the changes were so sudden and swift.  There was no melding of the seasons, just one morning it was summer and the next it was fall.

The final harvest of the year.

After many weeks (months really) of procrastination, I finally cleaned up on the balcony.  My glorious jungle, my main achievement of the year, my proudest monument, had wilted and died.  I was harped on constantly because I didn't want to clear away the scraggly tomato vines the covered the place.  I finally buckled down and cut out the vines, clearing away what fruit still clung to them.  The tomatoes are placed in the kitchen, and probably will be made into a sauce (most likely for gnocchi.)

But the snow is here (about an inch or two) and I can say I am pleased.  I hope it sticks around for Christmas, because I do love a white Christmas.  I, and many other Varsovians, went for a Sunday afternoon walk in the woods.  The trails had mostly turned to mud, but if you walked on the virgin snow it gave that satisfying scrunch.

People trudging across the fields in Kabaty.

For the season, I thought I would share a nice little tune called Shchedryk, better known (in Anglo Countries) as Carol of the Bells.  It's actually a Ukrainian New Years Carol that was given new lyrics (the original lyrics are about a sparrow flying in and wishing the master of the household a lucky year.)  Eastern Slavs don't really celebrate Christmas at the same time as the Western (due to a different liturgical calendar).  But Christmas isn't the main holiday of the season, New Years is.  It's as if the roles were switched: Russians and company are visited by some Santa (Father Snow or whatever) on New Years; they get presents then and the main celebration takes place of Christmas, which is a scaled down affair.  It's not just that they have Christmas in January, it's also that the Soviets tried to stamp out religious holidays and promote more secular ones instead.  Regardless, below is a very nice carol.

A Walk in Łazienki

Yesterday, I took a stroll to the Royal Baths. It's a full circle for me, since I first came to them in 2006 in the dead of winter (also in the evening.) I find them more enjoyable in the winter, covered in snow, since the people that usually come are smartly dressed and there are far fewer of them than in summer. The downside is that the botanical gardens are closed.

Some lovely couple asked me how to get to Belweder, which I was obliged to give. As a man, I naturally derive pleasure from two sources: A. Getting to a destination without asking directions (doubly if the route is inadequately marked.) B. Providing directions to others (especially when you're a bit of a stranger there yourself.) I was patting my back about it all the way around the pond.

There is no lack of fowl in the Baths this time of year. Aside from the common pigeon, the ever-present peacocks, and the ducks, many other birds are making noise in the canopy of the trees. I must admit, since I'm in Europe I do miss the call of the chickadee. Maybe some other bird in the Tit family (yes, there is a family of birds call tits) can fill that small, fluffy void. The birds that are citizens of the park show little fear to humans and meander right up to them in search of a meal. They make the swans and geese in the Boston Public Gardens look shy and bashful. A pair of ducks and some pigeons saddled right up to me, looking for a handout (I disappointed them, I'm afraid.)

One of the couples strolling along the paths.

From the Palace on the Lake.

Feeding the some of the many peacocks. The woman and child were as brightly colored as the birds.

A Small Bit of Winter Wonderland

The recent late-winter snow blanketed the city in about three inches of wonderful whiteness. I took a small walk around and snapped a few shots (nothing too amazing; don't hold your breath.) But the sun was shining; the wind was blowing; the day was beautiful.

The Palac.

Warszawa Centralna (the most beautiful building in Warsaw.)

A snowy park.

Some middle school.

Pre-Spring Whiteout!

The snow is coming down thick here and has reduced visibility substantially. It's not terribly cold outside and I don't expect this wonderful stuff (I'm a big fan of snow) to stick around very long.

The thing is, I wasn't here for most of the winter, which I heard was terrible by how cold and by how much snow they got. When I came here, it was near 60º and balmy; what was left of the snow disappeared within forty-eight hours of my arrival.

Anyway, here are some shots.

Right before I entered hyperspace.

A cozy warm feeling.