Ogrody SGGW

Early in April, the Warsaw University of Life Sciences informed of opening its green areas to visitors. Hoping that some nice recreational premises, akin to locked-up Natolin palace gardens, are finally available for wider audience, I ventured there on Good Saturday.

First piece of advice – if after reading this review you still decide to pop over there, do not try to get there by car. Apart from environment-related reasons, there is nowhere to park in the vicinity of the venue. I cycled there. To the right – approach the provost’s office – one of landmark edifice of SGGW campus.

Entrance to the recently opened gardens is just behind the building, through a narrow gate hidden between shrubs. One you walk past this and stroll down the marble stairway, to will behold the entire greenery area. A sort of tiny – isn’t it?

Once fully inside, you can take a trip of our lifetime, which will be a 200-metre amble around a dirty pond. No colourful flowers to behold, no birds singing, no other attractions. The place is shrouded in greenery and barely touched by humans and that’s it.

Having left the area quite quickly I cycled down the Warsaw escarpment to Wilanów and turned right into ul. Rzodkiewki, for the first time in my life I put my feet into that area and do not regret.

Having sneaking through posh part of Wilanów and having crossed ul. Pałacowa which runs towards the back entrance to the afore- mentioned Natolin palace I rode through empty fields. Still within boundaries of Warsaw, yet it felt like 20 kilometres from the capital in a rural back of beyond.

Heading home, I reach the northern end of ul. Gąsek, which is one of several spot in Ursynów where time seems to have come to a standstill some time ago. In a distance, a man, probably in his 70’s, walking briskly towards Powsin.

I am certainly in favour of keeping recreational areas open to everyone, yet boasting of it and making a grand ribbon-cutting opening was a bit over top in this particular case.

Cycling

Last year’s purchase of the new bike was spurred by the ridiculous theft of the previous one rather than by sheer intention to upgrade. More than a year after first sitting on a saddle of the new bike (I have already replaced the original one with a more comfortable part) I can claim it is a no-frill, but not low-end bike. Despite the price of less than PLN 1,000 the quality is decent and except for self-loosening saddle screw (I need to carry a wrench along), its reliability is beyond reproach.

Having come into possession of the new bike, I have resolved to make use of it more frequently. Last year problems with spine were the main hindrance, yet over the winter I exercised regularly in the evenings and have managed to overcome aches.

Spring came late this year, with cool April bringing weather rather unconducive to enjoyable cycling. Warmer days of May have made up for this, but the true beginning of serious adventure with cycling fell in the second half of that month.

On 21 May I cycled 49 kilometres, from NI to Kabaty than rode a few circles around Las Kabacki, took a stopover in Powsin, pedalled to Konstancin, hung around and ate out there, returned to Kabaty and then on to NI. The terrain was flat, temperature was near +20C and I did not feel much tiredness. Next day I could not tell I had covered a quite fine distance pedalling.

On 11 June, after the holiday break I ventured to Wawer to check out the cycling routes in the district’s forests. I took a train from W-wa Jeziorki to W-wa Śródmieście, than changed it for a Deblin-bound service and hopped off the carriage in W-wa Międzylesie. Mountain bike trails in those forests are relatively easy, yet require more skill, fitness and power than cycling on a flat asphalt. 43 kilometres covered there (I could add 6 kilometres to and from W-wa Jeziorki station on top) could be named a bumpy ride and I felt them much more in my legs and spine than the previous trip, but the next day I felt like a new man.

On Corpus Christi after a short ride to W-wa Jeziorki and train travel to W-wa Stadion my actual trip began next to the National Stadium. From there I rode to Nieporet and then beyond the town to find a quite desolated shelter for a few hours of sunbathing. On the way back I dropped in on local McD restaurant to fill up my stomach and then cycled back to Warszawa Srodmiescie station (the worst part of the ride was the ascent up steep ul. Tamka) to catch the return train. In total I covered 82 kilometres and did not feel much fatigue in the evening, nor on Friday.

More trips to be taken over the next weekends.

Long-distance cycling still is a novelty for me. Except for one trip taken with a friend during holidays in 2005, I would go out to cycle for an hour or two to ride up to 20 kilometres. My first rides this year reached 30 kilometres but the resolution to cover three-digit distance during one day is a goal achievable by the end of July I suppose. If 82 kilometres in flat terrain have not worn me down, 100 kilometres are within reach.

I already have some places in mind that would become destinations of my bike trips this year. The very distance from Warsaw must not be an obstacle. Koleje Mazowieckie allow to carry bicycles free of charge in their carriages (to the right, my bike fastened with a wheelchair belt in a W-wa Wschodnia-bound double-decker), so all spots lying not further away than 100 kilometres from Warsaw can be reached by train and then by bike within one day.

So as long as circumstances, weather, fitness and equipment permit, make the most of summer weekends and indulge in leisure activities that brings out lots of joy!

Berlin calling

Took a nearly spontaneous trip to Berlin in the last days of May. I had had the intension to visit the capital of Germany for many years, yet I must have lacked a proper incentive to get my act to together and venture there. Actually, I was first inspired to travel to Berlin around the age of 15 when I was fascinated by U2 music, where the theme of many songs was the very capital of reunified Germany, besides another inducement came from watching “Wings of desire”, a film by Wim Wenders, shot in 1987 in West Berlin. And it has been the unbidden desire (further on it in some time) that spurred the very decision to book the accommodation in the capital of Germany and try to catch the climate of the city, in the meantime taking a break from everything and everyone.

A resident of Warsaw has basically three options to get to Berlin.

Firstly, by plane. The only airline operating flights between Warsaw and Berlin is Air Berlin (Lufthansa Group). One can choose from around four flights per day, while the price of a return ticket may reach no less than PLN 400, or even lower if you opt for cabin-luggage-only rate. In terms of travel time, the superior option.

Secondly, by passenger train. The services between Warsaw and Berlin are run by Deutsche Bahn and PKP Intercity. The journey lasts nearly six hours station-to-station and costs less than EUR 100, if the former carrier is chosen or I do not know how much if tickets from the Polish train operator are bought, since they are not available online.

The drawback of the options above is that you cannot make any stopovers along the way (something I have planned for my journey) therefore I had chosen to get there by car. On the way to Berlin I popped by my friend in Poznan and spent a few hours with his family, on the way back I took a detour via Wroclove. The benefit of such option might be the cost per person, increased with the number of passenger of board, another drawback is the fact you need to find an accommodation with parking space or pay for a  hotel garage (getting about Berlin by vehicle would be a crass stupidity) – after all a car is a liability as well.

While dropping in on Berlin, it is definitely worth to take an S-Bahn train to Potsdam. The ride last less than an hour and brings the opportunity to stroll around a picturesque, well-preserved palace and garden complex. While I visited the site, the sun was scorching, temperature was reaching +30C and though the weather was taking the gloss off the spirit of the place, the scent of magnificence and history was felt in the air.

The sites on my trail around Berlin were nearly all linked to the history of the city, especially to the period when Berlin was split into two cities separated by the concrete wall, being the symbol of divided Europe. To the right – East Side Gallery, a fragment of the wall on the eastern bank of Spree river which has been redeveloped by graffiti artists, although with far lower degree of freedom than e.g. at the wall of Sluzewiec horse race track in Warsaw.

Such border markings are present in many places in Berlin, however since post-border premises have been quickly developed, had it not been for the markings, you would not have told where the wall stood. To the right, a marking in Gedenkstaette Berliner Mauer, a commemoration site located in northern Berlin in the middle of the housing estate, where the wall used to tear the city apart.

Unlike Warsaw, Berlin has not cracked down on communist symbols as fiercely as Warsaw did in early 1990s and as it senselessly continues to do. To the right, I am standing at the intersection of literally Karl Marx Avenue and Paris Commune Street (unthinkable in Warsaw, even though both the philosopher and the Paris Commune had nothing to do with felonies of communism committed in the twentieth century).

Karl Marx Strasse was the thoroughfare of East Berlin, designed and built in the spirit of megalomaniac architectural style of 1950s. The place reminds of locality of Marszałkowska Dzielnica Mieszkaniowa in Warsaw. As I have learnt from information boards, in the early 1990s the buildings were dilapidated, yet the city took the effort to restore them to original state (rather not glory), so instead of erasing the bleak history of Berlin, next generations are meant to remember this used to be a capital of communist Germany.

Another such example, a Soviet War memorial in Tiergarten Park, less than half a mile from the Brandenburger Tor. Actually such sites are hidden in many Polish cities, including Warsaw (east side of ul. Żwirki i Wigury) and Wrocław (between Al. Wyścigowa and Al. Karkonoska).

Close to the very centre of Berlin is the Holocaust Memorial (Memorial of Murdered Jews in Europe) erected in 2005 and paid for by the government of Germany. 2,711 stone blocks symbolise the number of pages of Talmud. The very fact such place can be found at the very heart of Berlin proves well Germany is not afraid of speaking of its past sins and apologising for them.

Topography of Terror, an open-air museum in turn reminds of the dark period of 1933-1945 when Germany was under the rule of Nazis. This shameful heritage is presented in full light, with no understatements and no attempts to justify the evil. Germans can be proud of having atoned for its country’s sins and thus have set themselves free of the burden of history.

Not far lies another place which bears testimony to differences in approach to history by Germans and Poles. Checkpoint Charlie, the most famous border crossing in torn apart Berlin. The blood-tainted site is now surrounded by two fast food restaurants and if you turned around you would spot a pink pipeline. It is worthwhile to visit an open-air Soviet bloc museum, bringing close the dramatic history of the eastern side of the Iron Curtain.

The TV broadcasting tower, over 300 metres high is the highest landmark in the capital of Germany. For everyone fond of watching the world from above, this is definitely a recommendable attraction, since a lift, running at average ear-clogging speed of 6 metres per second carries you to an observation deck (price: EUR 14 before discounts).

To the right – one of many shots taken from the viewing platform (I must confess I found the open-air one in Frankfurt superior). My compact Olympus bought five years ago and used currently only during holiday trips has been up to the mark, as for its class. The optical 12.5x zoom gave the satisfying quality of the close-up photo, needless to say the photo contains details not visible by human eyes from such distance. Note the large green area, the Tiergarten park, a place in the centre of Warsaw I would miss.

Berliners can boast of developing the banks of Spree perfectly. The river and the city have been brought into one and river banks are excellent leisure spots, with several restaurants and hang-out areas.

After driving around 300 kilometres around German motorways, I confess newly-built Polish ones lie far ahead the legendary German motorways. On the way there I got stuck for an hours in a traffic jam on a modernised motorway ahead of Berlin; the inner bypass of the capital is plagued by dense traffic (although it is a motorway, three-digit speed in kmph is out of reach) and by traffic jams during rush hours. To the right, somewhere near Dresden, while driving from Berlin to Wroclove. Tip – if you take this route by car, avoid DK18 between Olszyna and A4 motorway in Poland. Wroclove-bound lanes made of concrete slabs of this dual carriageway date back to Hitler and perhaps have never been repaired. Outcome – maximum speed of 80 kmph at times is too much.

Then I spent another day in Wroclove, recharging batteries and roaming around my beloved places. Those, by all accounts, were the best moments of the trip. Here, at the fountain park next to Hala Stulecia, my feet soak in water, my body basks in the early-June sun. Moment taken and made perfect, worries shelved.

Took a tram to Plac Grunwaldzki then and march towards Ostrow Tumski. Passed by Katedra Św. Jana and headed towards Most Tumski, being also called the bridge of lovers who hang there padlocks with their names. School trips seasons was at its height, so the side effect of visiting the place was enduring the gaggle of teenagers.

Further on foot to Wyspa Slodowa, a gorgeous hang-out for students and teenagers, for meet-ups with friends, dating and sipping wine or beer. The place is illuminated by late-afternoon sunlight. Temperature is ideal, just slightly above +20C. For some reason, Wroclove is the only place outside Warsaw that feels like home.

Towards the end of my trip, the market square, lively place, full of tourists and open restaurants. I have been there so many times that this spot beckons less than other beloved sites, but if you drop in on Wroclove, not turning up here is a shame.

Spent the second half of fortnight-long holidays at home, catching up with meeting friends I had been hanging back on seeing, ticking off items from a list of overdue stuff to handle and trying to figure out what the future holds. Since situation on the front is quite dynamic, I am holding back from saving this for posterity. Once it clears up whether it falls apart or keeps going, I will keep a record of burning hot spring I have experienced in 2017. Unquestionably, the holidays drawing to a close were my best since 2014. Hope the ultimately best are still ahead.

Out and about

The spring of 2017 will likely go down as chilly and wet. The current weekend is the second one this spring (after the first days of April) when both on Saturday and on Sunday temperature neared +20C and sunshine was not sparse. While the weather was not high, outdoor did not beckon, unlike this weekend.

The first stopover during my short (20 kilometres or so) bike trip yesterday was the site of airplane crash in Las Kabacki. I visit the place each year around the anniversary of the tragedy. This year’s is a round one, it has been already 30 years ago. Oddly enough, most people hanging around, sitting about, praying or contemplating silently the memorial plaque were youngsters, who just like me have not had the chance to remember the day Il-62 crashed into the forest.

On my way towards leisure park in Powsin. I am heading east yet meet quite few fellow cyclists, runners and pedestrians on my way. Though the weather is conducive, lots of people are either too burdened by duties put off until weekend, or simply too lazy to get up from their sofas and take a few breaths of fresh air. Sadly.

The clearing on the southern edge of the forest is one of favourite hangouts for barbecue aficionados. Weather permitting, one can come across scores of people either burning bonfires or making barbecues, indulging in Poles’ favourite sport (grillowanie) and the place is filled with smoked and characteristic smell of grilled meats.

Having turned up at my destination I spot several traces of boars’ activity. Looks like flocks of wild boars ventured here when few humans were around and digged around the grass. Disturbingly, boars in droves are not afraid to approach humans’ dwellings and might attack if incensed. My mother, while walking to her spine rehabilitation classes in Konstancin on Friday, was surrounded by a flock of boars who fortunately only looked around (at her standing still) and ran away.

Klubokawiarnia is the focal point of the leisure park and a spot where visitors coming here for more than an hour can sit back, have a drink or a snack. I must plea I don’t know whether lunches are served to whet appetites of hungrier guests. Comparing to how it looked in 2009, little has changed. The place has its spirit and a whiff of modernity is absolutely redundant if the spirit to be nurtured.

The amphitheatre where concerts are played on Sunday afternoons, also a popular dating hangout for teenagers from Ursynow, Wilanow and northern parts of Piaseczno. In the foreground, my bike, I have had it nearly for a year, replaced a saddle to add comfort to my backside, had it overhauled (or rather serviced) before the high season and after overcoming ailing spine (though I stay cautious not to overstrain it), I can enjoy longer and longer trips (this year I intend to take at least a 50-kilometre day tour).

The further from densely inhabited district of Ursynow, the fewer individuals one can run across. Here, on the south-eastern corner of the forest one would sooner have an encounter with wild deer (heaven forfend!) than with a fellow human. While cycling there I felt a bit guilty, as if I trespassed someone’s home.

As I grow older, I learn to cherish more the days in spring, summer and early autumn when I do not have to toil away in the office. Clement weather is something one should make the most of, so on such days, I attempt to confine staying indoors to absolutely essential time dedicated for house-related duties which I could not handle over the working week. Some people enjoy themselves on parties on Friday or Saturdays and then spend a large part of a weekend fighting a hangover. What a waste of life! Given a choice between night-time revelry and day-time leisure outdoor, I would opt for the latter for most of weekends (some partying is essential, since a human cannot be bodily fit but socially dead). Actually while working long hours Monday to Friday, a decent dose of physical exercise over the weekend is essential to keep an office worker and let them recharge batteries.

Looking for a summertime hangout

While being a visitor to far-flung places, I usually am enchanted by proximity of summertime leisure spots for locals. Easy to discern such places when pop by an specific area for a while, but you pass them by several times, such venues do not impress you… Why?

When summer is at its height, the weather is fine and you are staying in town, only sinners and layabouts pickle at home. Nearby places of leisure should beckon and the temptation must not be resisted. For those living in the southern suburbs of Warsaw, I prepared a short guide to local tourist attractions – places “within a stone’s throw” being a good location to spend summer afternoons.

Las Kabacki – huge forest within southern borders of Warsaw. From where I live you can get to several entries to it in several ways: by car (not recommended), by bus (also not my favourite), on foot (kind of far away, especially if you happen you walk in +30 heat), or by bike (most recommended).

Key advantages: proximity, trees give shelter from the heat.

Key disadvantages: range of activities is confined to: walking, running, cycling; the very latter is prohibited on many paths, crowds of people on Saturdays and Sundays…

Powsin – when saying this you may mean either botanic garden or leisure park. The latter is more popular among inhabitants of southern Warsaw districts and can be easily reached by 519 bus (provided the routes have not been changed), by wide and popular cycling path running from Wilanów, by car and on foot. The most preferable way of getting there is of course by bike – not only healthy and pleasurable, but also inexpensive and not time consuming and spares you the problem of “where to park my car”.

Key advantages: good place for a date ;-), gives shelter from heat, lots of bars and possibility to do sports, feels like being on holidays.

Key disadvantages: from my where I live, kind of far away, but for migrants living in their mortgaged apartments in Wilanów – ideal…

Konstancin sanatoria park – the town where my grandparents live has a specific micro-climate, making even over +30C heat more bearable. The phenomenon of slightly cooler spot is noticeable all over the year. During winter thaws snows linger there much longer than in Warsaw or Piaseczno. The park and tężnia have been refurbrished quite recently and have become popular with locals and Varsovians. The destination can be reached in same ways as previous ones (take 710 bus from Piaseczno or from Metro Wilanowska terminus).

Key advantages: good place for a date ;-), fresh, humid air, gives shelter from the heat, many cafes and restaurants around.

Key disadvantages: crowded to the limits at times, cycling in the park is not impossible, but being considerate to comfort and safety or pedestrians requires you to take off your bike, kind of expensive if you want to eat out a lot.

Pond in Mysiadło – well, the nearest spot to my home, just 1 kilometre (to the right, shot on 1 May 2012). There was a time when local authorities wanted to invest in a place and turn it around a magnificent outdoor leisure centre. The pond was meant to be cleaned up, including the floor, where you could find rubbish dumped there back when PGR Mysiadło was in operation, sand was meant to be dumped to the shore, some more benches put up… Plans were ambitious and eventually have been given up. The place is now only a hangout for local pissheads, teenagers and anglers. Actually almost everyone who sits by the pond has the same goal in mind – boozing. Not recommended. And given virtually everyone sees in the pond area a booze-up venue, plans to revitalise the place will be hard to pursue.

Górki Szymona – allegedly the pride and joy of Piaseczno. Maybe I am biased, but if the town in which I spent first seventeen years of my life has anything to boast about, I’m a Dutchman. I ventured there last Sunday to check out how the place where I would go with my parents some twenty years ago looks and, unsurprisingly, little has changed.

To the right – the standpipe is where it was in 1994, I recall well my father developed a habit of parking his Fiat Uno next to it. Only the trees are higher, the road running towards the place has not even been tarmacked… In the background – a chap (was not a pleasure to cycle past him, the odour could not be captured by the camera) pushing a rubbish cart – fits the place perfectly.

To the right – for a short moment I forget I am mere three miles from home and imagine I’m holidaying. There’s a lake, there’s a pier, an angler on the other side. Behind me someone has pitched a tent and its dwellers are eating breakfast.

To the right – the sand-covered hill, why and wherefore this place is named the way it is named. In my childhood it was the place most ‘tourists’ would lay their blankets and towels. Nearby was a sandy shore and swimming baths.

To the right – I tried to cycle around the pond and ride through a wide footpath. It is the only place in the whole area that seems to have a spirit. Finally I did not dare to cover the whole path by bike and turned back. I have to confess I did not feel safe there in broad daylight.

This is the essence of Piaseczno – I feel safer in Warsaw late in the evening than in Piaseczno on a Sunday afternoon. On my way to Górki Szymona I was accosted by four tanked-up hools trying to deprive me of my bike. Fortunately the incident ended just with an exchange of “pleasantries”. Local authorities also want to revitalise the area and attract not only locals by letting a private investor build a guesthouse. I doubt those ideas ever prove successful.

Key advantages: proximity (less than half an hour by bike for me to get there), there’s water out there

Key advantages: not sure if swimming there is safe, whether the water is clean, no other attractions around, no snack bar, etc., shady spot…

So if this is not the right direction, next weekend, weather permitting, I plan to check and document the progress of works on the Southern Bypass of Warsaw, from junction Puławska to so-called Grande Canale, the least advanced section of the road.

Early May long weekend – from sociological standpoint

1 May (Labour Day) and 3 May (Constitution Day) are bank holidays in Poland. This favourable alignment of non-working days almost each year gives an opportunity to extend a weekend preceding or following those days and take longer holidays. The majówka has already become a well-established annual tradition since the Constitution Day was reinstated over 20 years ago, while Labour Day, the paramount festival of the working class in PRL, remained intact as a public holiday.

Customarily, most schools and universities do not hold classes, many offices close, public transport vehicles run according to weekend timetables. In a word, in the first days of May Poland runs into a standstill, or at least is ticking over.

Many people decide to go on holiday at this time, as by taking a few days off they may extend their time off-work for up to 9 days. Many do this because they have no choice, either because they need to look after their children, or because their employer forces them not to come to work. Lucky are those who may voluntarily come to work on working days in the middle of the long weekend. The customary daily routine is that you come slightly later, go for a longer lunch and knock off earlier. Little is going on in the office, nobody pesters you with e-mails, phone calls and at the end of the day it turns out your efficiency rises and within 5 hours your output is equivalent to what you manage to do on a normal 9-hours working day – you can sit back and catch up with overdue tasks. For this reason I hardly ever take days off during long weekends. It simply doesn’t pay off, I even draw a lot of pleasure from going to work on such days. The atmosphere is quite specific and I must say everyone likes this feeling of being laid-back.

If you aren’t at work, there are several popular ways of spending the early May long weekend: going to holiday resorts (seaside, lake district, mountains), spending it in own or friends’ allotments, or on outdoor activities near your dwelling. This year I feel sorry for those who decided to holiday away from home, as the weather, unlike last year, is awful. Temperature below 20C, sparse moments of sunshine, yet rainfalls in abundance. Only today sunshine fought away clouds and Poland was basking in spring pre-heat.

The key outdoor form of entertainment in the last 20 years in Poland is making a barbecue. People from all walks of life keenly indulge in this form of leisure. No matter if you have a big garden, an allotment, a balcony or go to a park, no matter where you live, how much money you have, how old you are, preparing grilled staff and consuming it gives pleasure to almost everyone, except for some neighbours, sick of inhaling accompanying smoke. This year weather has not been conducive, as it settled clement at the end of the weekend, but today I finally bothered to inaugurate the barbecue season…

From what I observed over those days:

1 May 2013 – lots of people working around their houses – painting fences, cleaning cars, tidying up garages, mowing lawns. This is not a Church holiday so nothing holds them back from physical work which is considered inappropriate on Church holidays. Trains run half-empty (I boarded one in Warsaw, after getting sweat during a bike ride – air was very humid and I decided to take a rest and let the train carry myself closer to home). On my way I noticed few people on bikes, those I ran across were usually fathers with children.

On 1 May few people take part in marches staged by leftist organisations. Instead of claiming the rights of the working class, Poles prefer to relax. But if, for ideological reasons, someone would attempt to scrap the Labour Day, they would all in unison stand up for this bank holiday, for their right to have a long spring weekend.

2 May 2013 – traffic is sparse – on my way to work I get fed up with unhurried drivers and… am in a luck not to be caught by a police patrol, or by a speed camera. Having got off the underground I stroll past desolated streets to my office. At half past three I knock off and cadge a lift from my workmate who lives in Ursynów. Thanks to her favour I get to my car within 20 minutes – the traffic is blissfully sparse, although not as sparse as on bank holiday – this indicates shopping generates much of the traffic volume... Then I head for Konstancin and while I’m driving, heavens open. I feel sorry for numerous bedraggled cyclists I spot there.

3 May 2013 – rainfalls cease around midday. In the afternoon I set off to Piaseczno. I pass by few people as I walk to my hometown; traffic on the roads is anything but dense. The humans I come across come basically from two groups – either parents taking their children for a walk, or alcohol addicts on the lookout for a liquid which would quench their thirst. On the market square I observe a patriotic celebration taking place. Runners are getting ready to a Piaseczno – mile race. Most people sticking around are again parents with children. Credit to them – at least they want to familiarise their offspring with the history (40% of Poles don’t know what event we commemorate on 3 May, is unaware of circumstances in which the constitution was passed, or mistakes it for independence day…). The upbeat observation is that almost all cafes and bars are open – if you want to eat out on a national holiday, you won’t have troubles finding an eatery. The downbeat (or, why?) observation is that all off-licence shops are opened and in front of each you can see a gathering of drunkards (I was accosted by one of them, insisting I lent him 2 PLN). Besides – humans almost disappeared, Piaseczno again appears abandoned.

Swimming pool, which I visited three times during the weekend was anything, but full. The better for me, on Saturday morning half of the time of swimming I could enjoy the whole track at my disposal.

Today, while cycling from 10 a.m. until midday, I spotted no more than 20 other bike-riders, including an admirably fit “grandpa”. The man, I estimate no younger than 70, while overtaking me (I cycled some 20 kmph) asked how to get to the [brand] shop with sports stuff and having received instructions accelerated and rushed forward. The chap’s fitness was enviable.

Crowds were somewhere else… The picture which emerges from the jumble of observations above is gloomy. Given that

- an average Pole can’t afford to spend the long weekend away from home, unless at their family’s,

- number of cars parked outside houses and living blocks was no lower than on ordinary weekend,

- few people were out to the streets and traffic was sparse,

- on 1 May and 3 May shops were closed (unless their owners, their families or employees with contracts not governed by the labour code stood behind the counter),

- no crowds could be spotted in the places of leisure,

- half of Poles do not read a single book in a year,

the facts above lead me to a dejecting conclusion that an average Pole spends the long weekend sitting or lying in front of TV (or computer) screen and this gets me down. I’d prefer my nation to be more open-minded and this can be achieved by spending more time outdoors and in places other than supermarkets and shopping malls. I’d prefer my nation to be fitter and without walking, swimming, cycling or working out this can’t be achieved.

Or maybe I’m just picking on. Everyone should rest and relax the way the feel is best for them. Doctors advise people whose lifestyle is sedentary should choose pastime activities involving physical exercises. After spending most of the week behind my desk at work I can’t imagine myself sitting more than I need before my laptop or lying in bed and watching TV (I hardly ever do this). Spring beckons and young body cannot resist it!

It's weekend, time to move your a**e

And in the summertime there’s no excuse for not doing so.

Back to work from holiday on Wednesday, after a short shake-down, I got back into the swings of things in the corporate world. Working in front of a computer and sitting in the same position a few hours a day is hardly ever conducive to keeping fit. Sitting in the same position on the first day turned out to be tiresome for me, and on my way back home I somehow remembered I have a card (also paid by my employer) that enables me to enter thousands of sport centres all across Poland, so why not use it… After sorting out things with the card (first one came with a spelling error in my surname, therefore invalid, had to be replaced) it was a sin to keep it unused for two months in a wallet. Financial incentive proved to be the best incentive…

I decided it would be nice to return to swimming. I used to swim a lot back in times of middle school, but at the age of 15 I was forced to give it up due to circumstances beyond my control, what in simple words means I had a severe allergy to chlorine (added to water in swimming pools for… yes, maybe you know for what reasons?) – my whole back and face were covered with rash and seared. I tried to return to swimming in pools two times and allergy relapsed. So from the beginning of my studies I would only swim in lakes during holidays, last time in July 2009. But after all, why not give it one more try? In the worst case the skin would sear for three of four days and then the pain would be gone.

I decided the best facility to visit would be the town sports centre in Piaseczno (a partner of an issuer of my card) where I can use the swimming pool totally for free. I chose to go there early on Saturday in the morning, to avoid droves of people that turn up there as soon as small hours are over. I arrived there at 6:50 a.m. and at that, for many, ungodly hour six tracks of the pool were occupied by some eight people, so I had one track for myself. The facilities haven’t changed much since the times when I used it often (and lived 50 metres from there). I swam for forty five minutes. Upon covering the distance of 150 metres I felt my heart and lungs were telling me I wasn’t fit enough. Unabashed, I carried on and, to my surprise, after swimming over one kilometre I felt much better than after 150 metres. As I was leaving, there were even fewer people around than the time I was coming in.

Until now the allergy has not made itself felt (may farewell to it be ultimate), I didn’t forget how ‘one does it’, just like in the case of cycling, swimming is a skill one doesn’t forget, just at the beginning I had some minor problems synchronising all body movement and breathing in air above water and breathing it out under water.

As I walked back home the dearth of people in the swimming pool reminded me of game theory. I wondered how many people would have to think ‘I’ll come earlier because there’ll be fewer people’ to throng the place. Apparently the temptation to sleep early on Saturday morning is much stronger than the desire to enjoy swimming without shouting children and teenagers and having to share a track with a few other people… Most people go for sleeping.

Swimming a sport has some advantages that have to be underlined:

1. you can’t get sweat,

2. most muscles work when you do it,

3. you can easily keep fit, or bring youself back fit, without running risk of overstretching yourself,

4. doesn’t require high financial outlays – of course not everyone can go to a swimming pool for free, but charges aren’t that high (ask me how much an hour costs and I’ll plead my ignorance), but compare it to skiing,

5. you can do it all year round, although in the winter when you wear a lot and have to dry your hair carefully it is a bit of a nuisance,

6. is an alternative to gym (but slower) method of body building .

Later yesterday I tidied up the garden after recent rainfalls and washed the car, so I had a very reasonable dose of physical exercise. Today in the morning I felt a bit sore thighs, arms and nape, but now the ache is gone. I planned cycling around 15 kilometres today in the morning, but the weather has put me off. Around 8:30 a.m. it was damn hot (some +25C) and air was terribly humid. I was soaking with sweat before putting my backside on the saddle, so the trip was assigned the “put back” status. As it turned out later, morning was the time when the chance to cycle could be taken. After 10:00 a.m. stormclouds set in from the west and around 11:00 a.m. rain lashed down. Clement weather doesn’t wish to come back today, but may it come the next weekend – I’d be glad to see sunshine and warmth (around +20C, no more than +25C in the warmest moment of the day).