Christmas in Warsaw doesn’t necessarily mean noise, light, parties and shopping – when the snow hits, peace and solitude can be easily found without ever leaving the city limits…
Christmas in Warsaw doesn’t necessarily mean noise, light, parties and shopping – when the snow hits, peace and solitude can be easily found without ever leaving the city limits…
A seething mass of humanity during the summer, the smart boulevards that run alongside the left side of the Wisła empty in the winter to provide soothing relief from the grinding racket of the city centre. This portrait of emptiness feels more emphasized when a soft mist veils the pathways. Through gaps in the fog, the sense of loneliness is more complete when ice floes glide gently past – the thick, surrounding murk has you thinking you’re starring in your own private Joy Division video. And forget not the other side – left untouched by the modern world, the brambly, frosted woodland is a pleasure to crunch through.
Warsaw’s streets look magical under a fresh frosting of snow, but a little less so under a gooey slosh of gritty gunk. But there’s no shortage of parks that remain pristine through the highs and lows of winter. Skaryszewski with its frozen lakes and wide boulevards is a prime example, likewise Saski Gardens, with its Roman-style water tower peering over the snowcapped treeline. Of course, these pale in comparison to the imperial pomp of Łazienki’s palaces and follies, but also recommended are the smaller historic parks such Ujazdowski – complete with a romantic humpbacked bridge – Krasińskich Gardens and Park Wilsona. Coated in whiteness, do these really outrank Park Agrykola which stares right up to the Baroque era Ujazdów Castle. Walk up the zig-zagging pathway and warm yourself inside – the CSW contemporary art gallery housed within makes for an interesting cultural interlude.
Can’t get out to the countryside? Then Warsaw has a series of timber estates to prowl through, the most famous being the Jazdów settlement by Ujazdowski Park. Built to house engineers reconstructing post-war Warsaw, today its muddy paths lead past quaint timber chalets occupied by NGOs. Labourers working on the Palace of Culture found themselves holed up in Osiedle Przyjaźń inside large log cabins made from dismantled materials from a German POW camp, and this too is an atmospheric walk. Finally, visit Bemowo to check out the inter-war Boernerowo quarter. The picture of pastoral bliss is completed by the woods just north – if you’re lucky, you’ll meet elk, deer and other heroes from the animal kingdim.
Photographs by Karolina Sabik (instagram.com/karolka_sab_photography)
