My Polish Street: Przyjaciół

I’ve lived in three places since I’ve been in Poland, gradually moving further out each time. My first apartment was smack-bang in the centre of the Embassy district on a street called “Przyjaciół”, the big red X on the map below (click to enlarge).

I moved into this apartment after having lived in the Sheraton Hotel [...]

My Polish Street: Anatomy of a Polish ‘burb

The suburbs of Poland are chaos theory applied to residential development. There is absolutely no rhyme or reason to explain what has transpired other than to assume it has been an out of control free-for-all, first come first serve and do what the hell you like. So astounded was I by this mess that I recently visited a town planning department cunningly disguised as a guy who wants to build something armed with a secret voice recorder. Here is the transcript of our meeting:

My Polish Street: The Ballad of Pani Basia

I don’t remember the first time I saw Pani Basia, but I do remember the last. She was sitting on a battered chair on the pavement outside my building. Blue lights and paramedics were standing by, hands on hips. It looked like she’d fallen again. I didn’t see her fall, but then I didn’t see her fall the first time. We just found her on her back, struggling, for all the world like a cartoon turtle, except the splash of blood from her head wasn’t funny.

My Polish Street: Polish Graffiti

Polandian Theme Month is a cunning invention that does away with the need for me to think up a new idea every week. This month’s theme is My Polish Street, which has the double advantage of providing a framework for a series of devastatingly incisive posts on modern urban Poland as well as eliminating the need for me to walk very far to take pictures. Today: Polish Graffiti.