In love with Czechia

In 2023 and 2024, on occasions of residing in Wisła, but not only, I have visited Czech Republic a few times year. The Poland south-western neighbour is a country to be either loved or disliked. With each next venture there, I belong more to the former group and with each next trip I see more reasons to fall in love with the country.

I am fond of the country's residents, straightforward, cheerful and laid back. As many Poles, I find their language hilarious, yet with time it gets intuitive, hence despite many false friends, I find it easy to communicate with a Czech, when each of us uses their mother tongue.

Unlike Poland, Czechia is not a flat lowland. Its landscapes and undulating and much better looked after than in Poland. While outside towns the nature beckons, in towns public and private spaces are clean and tidy.

The country can boast of infrastructure friendly to anyone. Elderly, disabled, parents with prams, cyclists, pedestrians - they all have it easy to move about in the public space, whereas motorists are none the worse off it.

Czechs are more keen to take moderate physical exercise as a pastime activity. Stats show 55% of Czechs do regularly at least one sport, in line with the EU average and 20 percentage points more than in Poland. Sadly, my compatriots are third from the bottom in the ranking of most physically active EU nations.

The friendliness of the country spurs fertility. Atheist Czech Republic, where abortion on demand is allowed, has fertility rate between 1.70 and 1.80, while in catholic Poland it recently declined to 1.16.

Czechs tend to spend more time outdoors, including eating, drinking and socialising. Prices at eateries and bars are much more affordable than in Poland. A half-litre beer or a glass of wine for less than the equivalent of 7 Polish zlotys, or a decent lunch with a beverage for less than the equivalent 40 zlotys are easy to find.

We took a trip to the southern neighbour again, for the long weekend. We both had an intense time at work, which prevented us from extending it, so we drove out of Wisła on Thursday morning and returned on Sunday.

Our first stopover was in Pustevny, some 100 kilometres from the Polish border. We hiked through the forests and had a lunch at a beautifully preserved former mountain hostel.

The next stop was a town of Roznov, with a nice market square and a viewing tower overlooking the town. From there we headed for our lodgings in Luhacovice (a sanatory resort).

The region is not as full of vineyards and cellars as the southern Moravia, but still you can find plenty of them. Here, we pass some windowless wine storage huts, on our cycling trip (75 kilometres covered on two wheels on Friday in heat reaching up to +34C).

Given the strain, the heat and distance of over 30 kilometres from our accommo- dation, we resolved to return to Luhacovice by train (our bikes hung on racks similar to those in Koleje Mazowieckie trains). Another thing I adore in Czech Republic is that the country does not leave its citizens car-dependent. Each and every village has a few buses a day running, while the train we boarded connected Luhacovice and Prague, the service runs every two hours on weekdays!

The very spa town of Luhacovice dates back to the nineteenth century and is a heritage of Austro-hungarian realms, with superbly preserved pieces of architecture erected before WW1.

On the second day we took a round trip from Bzenec which is a centre of wine-growing industry in Zlinsky kraj. A three-kilometre ascent to the winery proved rewarding.

The next trip to Czechia is quite unlikely in 2024, yet looking forward to the next voyages in 2025.

The hottest July ever in Warsaw?

Though worldwide July 2024 could have broken all records, in Warsaw, despite the prolonged heat wave, it was not the warmest since records began, just the second-warmest. Despite being more than 2 Celsius degrees warmer than 1991-2020 average, with mean temperature of +22.1C it ranked beyond July 2006 (+23.5C), but ahead of Julies in: 1994 (+22.0C), 2021 (+21.9C), 2010 (+21.9C), 2018 (+21.4C) and 2014 (+21.4C).

Some stats typical for winter timelines:
- month-time high: +35.3C on 10 July 2024,
- month-time low: +12.0C on 31 July 2024,
- the warmest day: 10 July 2024 - mean temperature of +28.0C, vs. all-time record of +29.2C set on 8 August 2015,
- the coldest day: 3 July 2024 - mean temperature of +17.2C, mere 2.5 Celsius degrees below long-term average for the entire month,
- number of days with maximum temperature above +30C: 9 (in the second half of the 20th century number of such days over an entire summer stood at 5),
- number of days with maximum temperature above +25C: 25.

The only record broken in the capital of Poland was of the highest night-time low ever. On 11 July temperature did not decline below +23.4C, vs. previous record of +22.2C set on 9 August 2015. While in Wisła, on 28 July I experienced another tropical night, with a low of +25C. Had an awfully shallow sleep then...

Frequency and duration of heat waves and accompanying violent thunderstorms clearly signals the anthropogenic global warming is accelerating. Idiots will tell you heat record for Poland was set in 1921 (behind all doubt it will be beaten within a decade). I will remind the recent cooler-than-average summer in Poland was in 1993.

Mankind's activity makes things worse, not only by dint of general CO2 emissions. The very methods of combating the heat only intensify it. Air conditioning is becoming prevalent. The reason why A/C efficiently cools air down is that it blows out warm air outside an interior. City centres full of office buildings are hotter not just because paved areas and edifices absorb heat. They also get large portion of hot air blown out by air conditioners.

If you wish to find out more about the mechanics of this viscious circle, I recommend reading an excellent article on oko.press website (no paywall).

The article mentions a solution considered by Vienna authorities to pump cooled water from Danube river into the city's heating system pipes. I lack knowledge to evaluate energy efficiency of such solution, but it impresses me as an alternative to energy-consuming A/C.

It seems solar panels are the best fix for the heat, as their output is the highest when sun shines intensely and the need for cooling interiors is the highest. Though the electricity is green (if you leave out the entire life cycle of a PV installation), air-conditioning fuelled by sun energy still pushes heat outside (meaning you are better off at the expense of those not so fortunate).

Despite being aware of negative side effects of using air-conditioning, I blissfully take shelter from the heat in the cool office (where A/C would have been turned on anyway, so my contribution to heat blow-out is marginal). To get there I ride the underground and grumble about mayor Trzaskowski not ordering air-conditioned rolling stock.

While I will withstand the heat as long as it is not deadly, I fear of my parents' (mum aged 74, dad just turned 75) health. Heatwaves will be taking some burden off pension systems. In Poland mortality seasonality so far reached its low in summers (between 6,000 and 7,000 deaths weekly) and highs in winter (around 8,000 deaths weekly). Albeit spikes caused by heat waves were visible, they did not reshape the overall picture. As summer gets hotter, this is sadly likely to change.

Air-conditiong will become prevalent in our homes in near future if we are to avoid partial withdrawal from normal functioning in summer months. In spite of being familiar with its negative side effects, I will not shun it when furnishing my next dwelling, yet will do my best to minimise the environmental impact of keeping my place cool.

Off to Wisła again on Friday. The next post in three weeks.

On decay, decline, decadence

While popping by Fesitwal Słowa im. Jerzego Pilcha in Wisła we visited one of several temporary bookshops' stalls to come by a book for our friends' three-year-old son. As the purchase was finalised, a cordial seller handed us another book, Taśmy Rodzinne, by Marcin Marcisz. The book's cover is quite conspicuous, as it resembles a cover of an E-180 VHS tape. In June I indulged in reading books borrowed from a local library, while the gift book, which appeared anything, but precious (why would somebody want to give it away?), waited its turn on my bedside table.

Watch out! Several spoliers in the content below. 

The novel is bloody fucking sad and slightly chaotic, as the family story is told from the perspective of a 31-year-old son, but at times also seen with his father's eyes. A reader drifts between the present and the past, as numerous retrospections bring back the bleak family history.

Characters of the book used to be beneficiaries of the transition into a free-market economy in early 1990s. Father of the family was one of those who had both courage and luck to seize opportunities given by the nascent capitalism. The price to pay was working nearly 20 hours a day, yet trading in Western goods fetched large margins which helped him grow rich quickly. His family soon became the new elite, or actually the (despicable?) nouveau-rich of that era.

As retrospects depict the daily life of the family in late 1990s and early 2000s, earning and spending money looms as a main purpose of their life. Stuff bought for money seem to fill the emptiness of their life. The characters become typical thoughtless customers who buy things they do not need to impress people they dislike. Consumption becomes a goal itself, instead of facilitating reaching true goals.

Like in every family, if you scratch beneath the surface, you will find some dirty linen the author deftly washes. Here the father, being only breadwinner (his wife and mother of three children only looks after the offspring and is aided by a couple of housekeepers) not only dislikes his family. If they infuriate him, he loses his temper and beats sons to a pulp. The family has to balance dependence on and fear of the man who makes money to keep their standard of living.

The wholesale trading business which fetched extraordinary profits in the 1990s and 2000s grew large. Its scale required more prudent management. Besides, competition from large wholesale chains and discounter retailers began to hammer nails to its coffin. Now imagine the family, accustomed to high standard of living, suffers a shock when the money, hitherto in abundance, runs out. 

Family father, the breadwinner, considers two options: either a suicide, resembling a heart attack behind the wheel and subsequent collission with a tree, or a lonely escape to a distant country and starting out from scratch.

His wife plunges into depression when she cannnot afford to buy all material joys of her life.

The children discover money does not grow on trees, but also are forced to learn the art of saving and resisting temptation to indulge in consumption.

The lifestyle inflation is the prevalent phenomenon I observe all around. I realise why it is so tempting, but I have never fully comprehended it. Lavish spending has never taken my fancy, it has never killed my sadness, it will not fill emptiness in my life. For many people it makes up for deficiencies, it is a goal itself, rather than a tool which helps reach goals.

In my professional life I met several businessmen, owners of companies with nine- or ten-digit annual revenues. Three record-high costs of making ends meet for such businessmen and their families were between 2 and 5 million Polish zlotys per month. But my sample was confined to cases where a company was in trouble and banks called for financial contribution from its owner, hence their net worth was analysed. My jaw drops open, as I would lack ideas what to spend such money on. In turn my workmates' jaws drop open when I say if I had some spare 10 million zlotys, I would not buy a more expensive car than the one I currently have.

Just now I realised I have not shared the outcome of keeping a very detailed record of my income and spending in the entire 2023. I had resolved to do the exercise upon realising I have no idea what my cost of living are. I will not disclose my earnings and other non-financial income, nor how much I managed to put aside last year, but my spending will be revealed. I broke down my expenses in a matrix into recurring or one-off and into obligatory (those absolutely necessary) or discretionary. The former consisted of dwelling upkeep and bills, nutrution, health-related, household chemicals and car maintenance (though it could have been given up). The latter included socialising, travels, culture and all other pleasures and whims not essential to get by. My average monthly spending was PLN 5,522, of which obligatory monthly expenses averaged out PLN 2,969. It seems a single male with no dependants, no mortgage, living in his own flat a driving his depreciated, yet reliable car could eke out a living in the capital of Poland for less than PLN 3,000 per month.

The old Polish adage od przybytku głowa nie boli (literally: affluence does not cause a headache) does not actually hold true, which is superbly explained in Michael's post.

Off to Wisła for the next two weekends and the working week in between, so next post due in early August.

Centralny Port Komunikacyjny - plans not abandoned?

The mega-airport along with accompanying infrastructure was one of the flagship megalomanic projects of the PiS government. Soon past the election most people hoped the project would be discontinued, sunk costs farewelled and the very concept consigned to the dustbin. Since the development was a serious one, a decision whether to carry on with it had to be substantiated. The government hence summoned up an audit committee and while onlookers expected it to bring to the light the nugacity of building a huge airport, the outcome of its works suggested the project is to gently modified, not given up on.

Having gotten familiar with it, I still have no idea why a huge Frankfurt-like airport makes economic sense in Poland, especially since similar undertakings are in early operational phase or contemplated within less than 500 miles away from it (Berlin, Hungary).

The railway component of the venture, though commendable, remains just an addition to the airport hub project. The recently unveiled CPK concept involves construction of high-speed railways between main cities in Poland (2 hours by train from Warsaw to Poznań, Kraków or Wrocław is what I expect), but it remains unclear to me, whether the very airport will be properly connected with a fast railway with Warsaw and Łódź. If not, the major alternative to get to the airport will be the already congested A2 motorway, which is planned to be added one lane in each direction on the Warsaw – Łódź section. I realise driving this road already is a nuisance, but during the modernisation period it will become a nightmare. On top, one should ask a question, whether investments in road infrastructure are that appropriate, especially since a huge stride has been made in last 15 years in that area, while spending on railways was relatively neglected over that period.

The government’s plan to upgrade Chopin and Modlin airports parallelly to the CPK construction sadly lacks coherency and does not seem the most prudent way to spend taxpayers’ contributions.

I fear if the airport indeed becomes a hub, it will spark off a spike in low-distance connecting flights, the biggest evil to the planet, as carbon dioxide emissions per kilometre flown are the highest on such journeys. While the climate change concerns begin to have only bigger impact on our lives, developing a mammoth air transport hub goes exactly against the flow. If a human should ideally travel by plane once in three years, or only once a year, in a bare-minimum scenario, how come this undertaking can stand to reason?

I wonder what prompted Mr Tusk to change his mind. Whatever the arguments are, they should be disclosed to the public and backed by numbers. Albeit for the climate-related reasons all forecasts pointing at increasing number of passenger flights year by year, seem at best misplaced.

Skoda Octavia, three months on - vehicle review

I wrote about my motivation to fix myself up with a new car in January 2024, then shared my very first driving impressions just after picking it up.

On 23 June 2024 the car's odometer hit 5,000 kilometres, which means it took me exactly 90 days to cover it, but my Skoda app tells me on 54 days (i.e. 60% of the period) the car sat idle in my garage.

Besides, 80% of the current mileage was reached in long-distance travels:
- from Poznań where I picked up the car to Warsaw (300 kilometres),
- to Sieradz to my in-laws (400 kilometrs there and back),
- to Kraków (600 kilometres there and back),
- to Wisła and to Czech Republic a few times (1,200 kilometres there, around and back in total),
- to Wisła again (800 kilometres there and back),
- to the seaside (700 kilometres there and back).

I am undeniably impressed with how spacious the car is. Four tall adults can travel in superior comfort, the boot is capacious as hell and does not compare to any SUV. I do not regret the surcharge for the double floor, coming in useful when carrying heavy and large pieces of furniture. The wisdom of Skoda designers who have equipped the car in plenty of functional stuff has taken my fancy too. I have not managed to check out only one of them - the heated windscreen, as I was reluctant to park the brand-new car in the open air for a frosty night in late March, while having a garage at my disposal.

I have not made full use of the engine's dynamics, primarily since first 3,000 kilometres are still the period of running-in, but also due to environmental reasons and minding the safety of other road users. Maximum torque is available from 1,500 rpm and for smooth driving you need revolutions below 2,000 per minute. For outside-town travels, the gearbox does a perfect job. The sixth fear can by upshifted safely at the speed of 85 km/h and if you decide to cruise at such speed, fuel consumption below 4 litres per kilometres is within reach. 2,000 rpm on sixth gear are reached at the speed of 115 km/h, which means slow motorway driving is economical too.

In terms of fuel consumption, it averaged out between 5.0 and 5.5 litres per 100 kilometres over the period in review, with record-low 4.4 on my way to Wisła on Corpus Christi. I drove 100 km/h on tempomat, somewhat uphill, with aircon on half of my journey. Had I driven the other way(a but downhill), with no aircon, the car could have consumed less than 4 litres.

Octavia IV (I managed to order a pre-face-lift one, some PLN 20,000 cheaper than a post-lift version) is two generations younger than my Megane. One feels the difference in terms of noise inside (the old Renault is much louder) and in how it is spiked with electronics, which may irritate and at times goes bonkers. Despite those small drawbacks I am generally satisfied with the new vehicle and I hope it will serve me and my family for several years (I target two decades in use).

To the Polish seaside, 2024

Last minute booking proves a cost-effective travel strategy (unless in high season) if you want to grasp a decent, yet cheaply-priced accommodation. We did it the previous Friday and thus found a three-night stay for mere PLN 400 for the two of us (the dog free of charge).

For the sake of convenience, we chose Sztutowo by Zatoka Gdańska bay, which is one of the nearest seaside spots from Warsaw - mere 325 kilometres from Ursynów, door to door.

Sztutowo is a nefarious example of public transport deprivation, with a journey to Gdańsk Główny train station by two buses lasting at best 4 hours and 33 minutes, longer than a door-to-door journey by car. Driving-wise the S7 section between Czosnów and Płońsk under reconstruction is awfully unfriendly even for a seasoned driver. I somewhat feared my quarter-a-year old car (a review next week) would get a first damage from one of fellow insane drivers (had one near miss), but fortunately it returned home in one piece.

Given the timing of our foray a week before the onset of school holidays and non-resort character of Sztutowo, we stayed far from the groan and enjoyed charms of nearly empty beaches.

In the nearby Krynica Morska to which we travelled by bikes on Monday, precincts and beaches were already full of people on a working week day still before the high season. While Krynica Morska is not a recommendable destination to find a place, the R10 cycling path running to it is utterly breathtaking.

Sztutowo is known for being a location of a nazi concentration camp between 1939 and 1945. On the somewhat rainy Sunday I cycled to the local museum to have an encounter with the traces of one of lousiest atrocities in the history of the mankind. Realising what happened there is not equivalent to being confronted with the testimony thereof.

Albeit the very journey there and the accommodation were cheap, eating out involved forking out loads of money for the horrific restaurant receipts (paragony grozy) a lunch for two (a sizeable portion of fish, French fries, a set of rawness, beverage) was the expense between PLN 120 (pricey, yet still reasonable) and PLN 160 (too pricey for non-resort location and pre-high season). With most tables occupied, I presume with eating out not particularly affordable for an average Pole, the local market remains in a balance, especially since holidaymakers tend to be less thrifty.

Check out also the coverages of previous trips to the seaside in May 2022 and June 2021.