Archive for April 12th, 2008
Anyone for more poles?
Can I just say that I’m getting sick and tired of these damned things!
Warsaw city hall, parking enforcement department, have clearly been treated en-masse to a sex-mad orgy of bestiality, sado-macho and goodness knows what other depravities funded by Jacek Polemeister who’s company produces and installs these skinny barber’s poles. Photographs were taken and copies have been distributed to all with instructions that they will not be released to the media providing that orders for at least 300 poles a week are placed with Poles R Us Polska Sp z o.o.
It’s getting hard to move in the city without falling over these bloody things and they are getting on my nerves! I mean, what’s wrong with the UK system of yellow lines, for example? People know where they can and can’t park, they are not visually disturbing and pedestrians don’t have to practice the 100m hurdles before going out for a walk around the city.
They’ve even put, I don’t know, must be 50 of them on the pavement outside our osiedle. There was nothing wrong with our road, or our pavement. We managed very nicely thank you for years without these sodding poles, so which dung-pile of stupidity decided we needed them installing now?
Anyone wishing to visit us should now allow an extra 20 minutes to find somewhere to park.
To be clear. This rant is not just because they installed them at home, they have been there for a while now. This is because they genuinely do keep appearing all over the city, usually in the most stupid places imaginable and hardly ever installed correctly, i.e. vertical, in a line, well painted, finished bases. The ones in this photo are about as good as you’ll find.
The problem with physically preventing people from pulling up on the pavement is that you then create even more traffic problems because those who would have liked to stop there for a while, and take the risk of getting a ticket, now have to carry on driving around in circles until they can find somewhere a poleless section of pavement. Yes, I said pavement, because Warsaw has circa 20% of the proper parking spaces it needs so pavements have always been, and still are, important.
In my opinion, the right answer (given that more parking spaces is out of the question), is something like yellow lines and more people to issue tickets. Not more poles!
Prague spring
Spring has arrived in Prague, looks like they are about 2-3 weeks ahead of Warsaw in terms of green stuff.
Once again there was limited time between the business meetings but I got a few shots. Weather was mixed but there was some nice sunshine at times.
I’m always surprised at how nice the centre of Prague is to walk around, or would be if you could remove the hoards of tourists! It is perhaps the most tourist friendly city I know and packs a lot into a small area making it easy to see everything from a series of walks from your hotel. If you need to see it all in one day though, you need to be prepared for aching feet by the end of it.
But that’s the curse, isn’t it. It’s so beautiful and convenient, combine that with cheap flights and you’ve got a nice city spoilt by the number of visitors. I’ve not seen Prague at the height of the tourist season, must be complete madness! I couldn’t help noticing the evidence of the plague of lads/lassies drunken weekends away as I spent far too long dodging the vomit stains on the pavements.
Warsaw is not pretty, nor convenient and so it’s not full of tourists. I like it that way!
The drive in from the airport got me wondering about tarmac, again. How did other cities, like Prague, manage to lay flat roads without pot-holes and ruts and Warsaw did not? There’s no question it is to do with the construction of the roads, not the traffic on them, so I assume this was one of those corrupt rip-offs where someone got rich and Warsaw got shitty tarmac!
I stayed at the Intercontinental, don’tcha know, but to be honest even at the corporate rate (for some reason always more expensive than if you just called them up on the spur of the moment!!) of €235 / night and an “upgrade” to a superior room, the view of the giant metronome on the hill from the bedroom window was not enough to compensate for the high price.
I’ve not yet stayed in Prague with the family, but we need to do that soon. I’ve noticed a couple of hotels during my wanderings that are on my list of places to try out when we do go there, thought they might be of interest to you too:
The IronGate Hotel & Suites is a very short walk from the old town square and just about every other main attraction. It looked good enough for me to walk in and get a brochure and it seems you can get a deluxe suite for the same price as an Intercon box. It has a very nice courtyard for breakfast or coffee.
Another one is the U Zlatych Nuzek, which is located on the island between the castle hill and the old town square ‘under’ Charles Bridge’ so to speak. It’s an ideal location to hit one side one day and the other the next and I was tempted to investigate it by the power of my aching feet having attempted to do everything in half a day!
So. Here a few more snaps from this visit, you can find these and more more in the gallery.
Catchy tunes
There are a couple of “folk” tunes I really like and wanted to place them on here so I can find them when I need a fix! You may enjoy them too, of course.
The first is from Czech, over 30 years ago. The main performers are Ivan Mladek (singer) and Ivo Pesak (dancer) and it is called “Jozin z Bazin” (Jozin of the Swamp/Bog).
Here are the lyrics in English, as best I could find and with some tweaks of my own:
1. I drive my Skoda 100 to the camp in Orava
So I hurry, take a risk – go through Moravia
The monster lives there, comes out of the bog
Eats mostly Prague citizens, its name is Jozin (Joseph)
Chorus: Jozin from the bog creeps through swamp
Jozin from the bog gets close to the village
Jozin from the bog sharpens its teeth
Jozin from the bog bites, strangles
To defend against Jozin from the bog, who could imagine, you need a plane with fertiliser
2. I was driving through the village on road to Vizovice
The village mayor greeted me, said to me while drinking Slivovitz
‘The one who will bring Jozin dead or alive
gets my daughter and a half the National Agrarian Farm
Chorus: Jozin…
3. I said: ‘give me a plane and fertiliser, mayor,
I’ll bring you Jozin, I see no trouble with that’,
The Mayor helped me, in the morning I went up in the sky
The powder from the plane fell perfectly on Jozin.
Chorus:Jozin from bogs is already covered with fertiliser,
Jozin from bogs is escaping from bogs,
Jozin from bogs turned to stone,
Jozin from bogs, here is his end!
I laid my hands on Jozin, I am already holding him,
Any money’s good, I will sell him to the ZOO.
Here’s a brilliant Polish rip-off that’s a lot of fun too. It’s called “Donald’s Dreaming”, political satire aimed at Mr Tusk.
The next is from Finland and is called “levan Polkka“. Here performed a cappella by the group Loituma in 1995. The song is sung in Savo, the Finnish dialect of eastern central Finland.
Here are the lyrics in English.
The sound of a polka drifted from my neighbor’s
and set my feet a-tapping oh!
Ieva’s mother had her eye on her daughter but
Ieva she managed to fool her, you know.
‘Cause who’s going to listen to mother saying no
when we’re all busy dancing to and fro!
Ieva was smiling, the fiddle it was wailing
as people crowded round to wish her luck.
Everyone was hot but it didn’t seem to bother
the handsome young man, the dashing buck.
‘Cause who’s going to mind a drop of sweat
when he’s all busy dancing to and fro!
Ieva’s mother she shut herself away
in her own quiet room to hum a hymn.
Leaving our hero to have a spot of fun
in a neighbor’s house when the lights are dim.
‘Cause what does it matter what the old folks say
when you’re all busy dancing to and fro!
When the music stopped then the real fun began
and that’s when the laddie fooled around.
When he took her home, when the dancing was over
her mother angrily waiting they found.
But I said to her, Ieva, now don’t you weep
and we’ll soon be dancing to and fro!
I said to her mother now stop that noise
or I won’t be responsible for what I do.
If you go quietly and stay in your room
you won’t get hurt while your daughter I woo.
‘Cause this fine laddie is a wild sort of guy
when he’s all busy dancing to and fro!
One thing I tell you is you won’t trap me,
no, you won’t find me an easy catch.
Travel to the east and travel to the west but
Ieva and I are going to make a match.
‘Cause this fine laddie ain’t the bashful sort
when he’s all busy dancing to and fro.
I need to thank Pawel for introducing me to “Jozin z Bazin” and also to Mini-Mini kids TV for introducing me to “levan Polkka” via this funky version from Holly Dolly!
