Sunny May Monday - almost ideal to visit Oronsko CRP (Centre of Polish Sculture)

A proper May morning -  the sun is shining, birds are singing, trees are getting greener and flowers are blooming. Pity it's a day after the five-day long weekend, not the beginning of it.

Here are some roadside snaps taken on the way to a beautiful park in Oronsko:

And now pictures of the park - home to The Centre of Polish Sculpture where an eminent 19th century Polish painter had his house:

I simply adore the sight of richly fresh green basking in the sun:

There are many sculptures in the park:

 If I remember well from my visits in rather distant past, the blocks visible in the distance form a combination of sculpture and poetry,;by taking different routes, you can discover different meanings of the text 'written' on them:

I was glad to see the pond filled with water again. It was empty at the end of September last year.

 As usual, something was exhibited at the chapel, but it was locked at the time of our visit.

 

Can you see three matches in front of the trees?

So many pictures already, but I've got to show you Jozef Brandt's house and orangery hiding in the park. The man was a famous painter who chose Oronsko for his home.

Jozef Brandt, the owner, is looking towards his house:

 

 The orangery houses temporary exhibitions showcasing the works created here, at the picturesque centre:

You can leave the park and carry on your journey to Warsaw or Krakow, or you can stay at The Sculptor's House Hotel in this fabulous park. If it's Monday, you cannot enter any of the indoors exhibitions nor Josef Brandt's stylish house, thus an overnight stay is a great option. Besides, staying in Oronsko you will charge your own batteries. It is said that the place emanates powerful spiritual energy, so called 'Oronsko chakra'. 

(Should you have some time, you may like to read about the most famous Polish chakra here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wawel_Chakra and have some laugh at how a legend is born.)

Whatever you do, enjoy!:-)

On taking snaps

Today I came across a text about people who are 'addicted' to taking snaps of themselves with their mobile phones and putting them on all sorts of social websites, especially constantly updating their Facebook profiles. The point is to make yourself look as glam and seductive as possible, celebrity-style. The fad is even spreading among kids younger than ten.

Well, many people I know criticise me for taking too many (in their opinion) pictures of places or architectural details which they think meaningless and a waste of time and resources. They are free to think so, but I still adore being able to preserve the sights which capture my attention so I could get back to them or share.

The dreams of enjoying meals al fresco with the family and friends on my ample size balcony couldn't be fulfilled due to unfavourable weather over the weekend. Yesterday I I took pictures of the street it overlooks.

Throughout the day the sun shyly peered out through the clouds and disappeared for the night in red glow giving hope for better weather at long last.

Lack of smiles not unnoticed

There is something I keep noticing in the public spaces of a small town in central Poland. Not only that some strangers do not show slightest friendliness to one another, but they often go past you as if you weren't there at all; going ahead and almost forcing you to give way. There are also those who put on a hostile facial expression when getting nearer. In a supermarket you sometimes have to almost lean against the shelves when one of them, or a couple, are 'on their mission'.

Constitution of May3 according to Dwurnik

Poland has been deprived of sun this long weekend. Another cold and rainy day has gone by. The country's constitution, the second oldest in the world,  was proclaimed on the 3rd of May two hundred and twenty-two years ago, four years after the American one and a few months before the French one.

Here is the event in the painting of Edward Dwurnik, a contemporary Polish artist:

Baby's shoes above the entrance

'When the baby's grown out of their shoes, they hang them above the door (for good luck)', I heard in  a moving  BBC programme about deserted pueblos in Mexico: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22368598.