Happy New Year to everyone!

This blog will carry on as Yellerbelly Abroad which I update regularly (and have been doing for almost two years now) with photos of Warsaw as well as other happenings in my life. By all means pop over for a look and let me know what you think!

Many thanks for all your comments and hopefully see you ‘on the other side’…

Thanks again to all the followers and I sincerely hope to be back online soon.

All the best,

Yellerbelly

Considered to be the dish which Poland is famous for, Pierogi is good for all occasions. Whether eaten in a high-class restaurant, in a Warsaw market place cafe with a cold beer, or home-cooked for a few friends – its hard not to tuck in and enjoy them. And as in last night, they can always be washed down with a few vodka shots!

Another evening view of the city centre showing the clock tower fading as the mist descends over the city, bringing with it a winter chill and thoughts of staying indoors with a good film and homemade broth. Winter has its attractions…

Every year we see Christmas decorations on huge buildings, but we rarely think about how they get there and who puts them up. They started hanging them today on the Palace of Culture as it was the first dry day for over a week. If you enjoy climbing high-rise buildings, this is definately the job for you!

(click on the picture for a closer view)

There have been celebrations ongoing today around Warsaw with the President of Poland speaking in Plac Piłsudskiego surrounded by dignitaries and members of the governmental elite.

However, the weather is wet and miserable and the televised events showed umbrellas bending in the wind and plenty of grim expressions. So here’s a much more cheerful image I took on the same day last year; the Polish flag flying in the wind attached to a crane at the Złote 44 construction site (there are now no more cranes here or construction works!).

This is where the Independence Day celebrations will occur tomorrow – Plac Piłsudskiego near the Old Town. At the eastern end of Saski Gardens is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier which has its own eternal flame and 24-hour honor guard. It is one of many monuments erected after World War 1 to commemorate the unidentified soldiers who died fighting for their country.

This is the view from the car park where I leave my car everyday. It was slightly damp and there was a light mist hanging in the air but it was a quite nice view of the Marriott Hotel. The lights on the building flash up and down the building and the top few rows repeat the time and date of any upcoming events that are being held in the hotel – certainly a colourful edition to the city.

A surprisingly temperate day today making it perfect for a morning walk in the park with the boys. Most of the trees have shed their leaves by now and the lakes and woodland floor are scattered with wet, rotting foliage. There are numerous stone bridges throughout the park spanning the interconnecting waterways between the lakes. All are inhabited by large carp and ducks, and red squirrels forage in the undergrowth around them. No matter the time of year, the park is alive with wildlife.

The weather has been atrocious lately – misty, dull days with the sort of drizzle which gets your clothes soaked without you realising it. However, there was a break in the clouds on Friday which gave the chance for these chaps to hang off the side of the Intercontinental Hotel for a while. I know I’ve shown this before, but I haven’t seen this many window cleaners on a building at the same time. Are they moving up or down? I wonder if they sing as they work?