May Day

The other day a friend I know from school expressed some kind of nostalgia regarding the Labour Day parades held all over Poland every May the first until the Polish white eagle regained the crown. She said she'd rather enjoyed the festive day and tried to boost my memory of the day one year when we, the girls from our school,  marched through the main streets of the town dressed in white tops and red mini skirts, colours of the Polish flag. Well, I can remember other 1st of Mays, but not that one... Did I not make it to the parade then? Well, maybe...

HERMES expands in Skarżysko!

Going back home last night I saw extensive works at the extension of the shopping centre called 'Hermes'. No wonder, everywhere in Skarzysko the opening of popular clothes chain H&M has been heralded to commence today, on the last day of April. Some four decades ago, in mid-seventies I think, the original Hermes was open, the first department store in this town. Crowds were storming the shops on the day. After queuing for hours, lucky ones were going out with purchases not available elsewhere daily, if at all.

The building itself occupied, and still does, an empty plot of land on the corner, facing a block of flats with some shops downstairs, one of the complex  from the 1950s. I remember a neon depicting the mythological patron of commerce atop the edifice. It caught the eye and added colour to the surrounding greyishness of the town.

My earliest memories of this piece of land are not that clear, but I think I can recall the sight of some shrubs and bushes, maybe trees and surely, untamed grass, when I looked out of the hairdresser's window waiting for my mother. There were small, mostly wooden private houses with gardens surrounding the little 'wilderness'. If you didn't have your own garden, you'd buy flowers to decorate the flat, straight from the flowerbed. An elderly lady would pick for you the ones you chose. Lilies of the valley were the pride of a dark wooden house front garden facing a little cobbled street behind 'the wilderness'. (Most of Skarzysko streets used to be cobbled then).

Now nothing is left of these charming dwellings. They are replaced by high rise blocks of flats, parking places and more shops. The extension of Hermes is built in the place of the three remaining houses. The oldest, wooden one housed some sort of private business. It bordered with a villa surrounded by wall topped with pieces of broken glass for protection. I always thought it was cruel on birds... Further on, there was a bigger red brick detached house, one of my students lived there, a very nice and clever girl. I wonder where she is now...
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It was after 9 p.m. when I heard terrible bangs. Was it the beginning of WW3??? No, fortunately not! Only fireworks to celebrate the opening of H&M!

Well, my own day was not without a bang, either. I banged my head badly against an old wooden clock that hangs above the sofa which I moved in order to sweep behind it. Frozen veggies had to be applied on my temple, the very same packet I use for the knee. I'm getting a good use of it, that's for sure!;-)

Good night!

Where was it raining this morning?

A friend working abroad was greeted by rain on the way to work early this morning. He sent the evidence:

Immigrant workers are delivered to the building sites in ancient buses

Was it raining in England, Poland or anywhere in Europe, no surprise, but it's a place you wouldn't expect precipitation. I suppose there'll be some folk who would guess where the rain was captured. And what weather conditions did you wake up to? :-)

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In reply to the above pictures, 'our man' in Chicago has just told me about the recent floods in The Windy City. 'Our' biking path area has turned into a pond, same about a small park north of The Loop. As the ground was still frozen, the water had nowhere to go. A man was seen water skiing attached to the car in one of the roads towards Highland Park!

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And below is the progress of spring in Skarzysko registered after a fortnight:

What's up in Skarzysko?

My friend whose home is Skarzysko, where we both grew up, has told me about some recent initiatives in the field of culture.:-) Yesterday he attended a percussion workshop at the nearby Wachock cultural centre where I once had a pleasure to introduce on stage my great friend - Alan, the Ripon hornblower at the time. He blew the ancient instrument for the audience gathered to celebrate The Wąchock Festival, like he did for many years performing the centuries-old duty. Alan preceded the current watchman whose website can be visited here: http://the-ripon-hornblower.webs.com/ Alan has so many stories to tell about his many years of service.
Back to Skarzysko and Wachock, though. Picking me up from the airport, my friend had to forgo an evening jazz concert at the Skarzysko Town Cultural Centre which followed the workshop.
However,  tonight there is a different concert to enjoy: a gospel one. It closes a gospel workshop which took place in our hometown. I may go to it, who knows... :-)
I simply don't get it when people say they are bored, there is nothing to do where they live. You just need to look around, there is plenty going on and if nothing suits you, start doing whatever clicks your heels!

And here are two pictures related to my return flight with Mr Ryan:

Captured at Ciampino airport

Mr Ryan's on-board menu (see brackets)

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I'm back from the gospel concert. It was nice to see so many people come to the event. There were a hundred and fifty people in the quire on stage, all obedient to Peter Francis, a black gospel singer from London who took two days to prepare the concert with them.

My respect goes to a young beautiful woman called Sylwia who organised the whole event!

Across The Apennines

Today we travelled across Marche, Abruzzo and Latium and it's a pity the sun was hiding behind clouds.

Away from the tourist hordes in Italy

In Ascoli Piceno  we thought we'd find shelter from all the tourists, but it was not the case. The town turned out to be full of Italian tourists and the main town square was bursting with life from dawn till small hours. The  elegant beauty of the piazza and the fame of the Art Deco cafe attracts crowds.

However, the nearby seaside was quiet, definitely still in the state of an off-season snooze.

An Iroquis tree trunk by the sea in  Marche, Italy

We couldn't see much of the nearby Teramo, the rain got in the way.

Wet weather prevented us from exploring the wilderness of nearby countryside.

We only looked at it through the car window which was disappointing as I really wanted to encounter a chamois - the Apennine Mountain goat-antelope. Well, in Oman I wasn't lucky either, I didn't see a single local mountain goat-like creature, despite extensive cross-country travels with eyes wide open....

Emperor Hadrian's resting place visited

Walking around Castel Sant'Angelo was the highlight of our last day in Rome. Going around the cylindrical structure, up and down the stairs and into the central chamber required strong legs and comfy footwear, beware! :-)
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I've been trying now to add some pictures, but they got stuck.  Will try again.

As you can see, only one successfully landed here so far. My camera shot a pigeon waiting for a nibble above cafe tables beneath the angel atop St Angel Castle. The power of wings!;-)

Here you can see another angel, in the lower court, near the papal apartments, as at one time the mausoleum was adapted to function as a pope's residence.

A special passage way was constructed atop the high wall to link the castle with the Vatican. It proved useful at the times of danger allowing the pope to escape unseen and get refuge at the stronghold.

Here you can compare the original walls with the later outer ones:

More of Florence by buses!

Like in Rome, we chose to sight see Florence by double-decker tourist buses. It was a good move. A day-ticket entitled us to unlimited travels on the three routes of the tourists buses as well as public transport.We would never see so much on foot. 

j