365: Food or fitness

Where on earth I found the will-power to go out for a run this morning I will never know but I found it somewhere and I'm now back home and waiting for my breathing to settle back to normal. I think I was trying to figure out a logical pattern for the day after my Skype lesson 0700-0800 turned out to be a no-show. Did you know that for Skype lessons only the top half of the body needs to be dressed. (But for God's sake remember not to stand up.) :).

Bruce Tulloh's zero to hero chart that I showed in my last blog is OK for the younger man, or woman, but I don't think it's quite as good for the more senior plodder like me. It suggests that at the end of week 1, having run for 1 minute and walked for 90 seconds and repeated that 8 times, then it is all right for the next week to run for 2 minutes and walk for 1. Thanks for the suggestion but I don't think so. You're changing both variables at the same time. I found that running for 1 minute and then walking for 1 minute repeated 10 times is a much more suitable transition and more suited to an unfit person like me.

Back to the main reason for running - my predilection for food and drink. Living on my own for most of the time, what and where I eat and drink is down to me. Since I started teaching, back in 2008, I've slowly got the hang of this cooking 'business' and, when I have time, I like to 'dabble'. Here is a picture of yesterday's lasagne. Yes, I know it could almost feed the five thousand but that's what freezers are for.

During the week I sometimes call in for a big boy's breakfast at Galeria Wypiekow. They do a very nice breakfast (three fried eggs, with ham, cheese, tomato and a couple of rolls and butter thrown in for good measure). No wonder I have to run to burn off these calories. I was there last Thursday and impressed by their Easter decorations.

Last night I was motivated by WWF's "Earth hour" to turn off my computer, and indeed all electrical devices (apart from the fridge/freezer), half an hour earlier than usual in a forlorn bid to help save the planet. I do realize, of course, that such a gesture can only succeed if everybody does it and the chance of that happening can be expressed as a round number. Who remembers the exhortation "if we each save a little, we'll all save a lot". I suppose the opposite would be "if only a few of us save a little, it won't make a blind bit of difference".

The breathing has returned to normal. Time to shower, and dress both halves of the body, before Dorota arrives for her English lesson and finds me inappropriately clad. Enjoy the rest of Palm Sunday. Here is a picture of the painting by Pietro Lorenzetti entitled "The entry of Christ into Jerusalem"

                      

            

364: Spring has sprung

According to the latest issue of SAGA (Sex Annually, Generally August) magazine there are three dates that are used to suggest Spring has arrived. The first is meteorological spring, based on temperatures. That is 1st March. Then there is the more familiar astronomical spring: this year March 20th is the day the earth's tilt on its axis is neither towards nor away from the sun. Thirdly, Solar seasons are based on how much sunlight there is: the first day of solar spring was February 1st. 

I would like to contribute a fourth: the day I put on my running shoes after the winter! Today, to coincide with a rare morning off, I donned running shoes (and various other items of clobber) and ventured out onto Warsaw's streets. My last run was on 31st October so it was back to the very beginning of this fitness chart. I very much doubt that I will be at 30 minutes running, no walking, after 8 weeks but surely I'll be a few steps nearer returning to a reasonable level of fitness.

 I was in London a couple of weeks back and, to ring the changes, I decided to use the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) for part of my trip. This is a modern, driver-less, system that runs on rails to many parts of East London. Here are a few of the pictures I took on my journey from Lewisham to Bank.

What else has been happening. Not very much. 16 lessons this week - meeting myself coming back. Would have been 17 but yesterday evening's lesson was cancelled. Thankfully I shall still get paid for it as if it had taken place. I plan to take some time off on Saturday and go to see the new action film London has fallen. What a bonus that many foreign films here are shown in the original language with subtitles in Polish. The other bonus is that I get a concessionary rate by virtue of being (a little bit) old.

To finish, naturally enough, the Spencer Davis group singing "Keep on Running" from 1965.

363: Teutonic efficiency. Fact or fantasy?

I'm just on the way back to Warsaw having spent a nice long weekend relaxing in Cologne. I had a raging toothache for the first two days but I guess that would have been a problem wherever I was. Thankfully it has abated, at least for the moment, and, with luck, will hold off until I get back to Ramsey next weekend. Paracetamol and prayer seems to have done the trick. More about the prayer in a moment or two. I flew from Warsaw to Düsseldorf with Eurowings, which I think is Lufthansa's budget airline. A pleasant enough flight. Then a train from Düsseldorf to Cologne. The train was ten minutes late. Difficult to believe with all we have heard about German efficiency. And the return train this morning was 30 minutes late! While I'm talking stations it is time to mention the possibility of setting up a bike rental business. At least I won't have to worry about putting my initials on the bikes.
Getting back to religion I  decided to visit the cathedral. In December, when I was here last, there was only time for a quick whizz around the outside. Spectacular though it is on the outside, the interior is even more breathtaking. Until now I'd always baulked at taking pictures inside churches, thinking it showed a lack of respect. But finally I gave in and did what everybody else was doing. After snapping away I spent a few minutes in quiet reflection in one of the pews. And now my toothache has gone!

One more picture and then I must run for my plane. This just to show that I'm still a long  way from completely conquering my fear of heights. 19 floors is one thing but this, quite another!  I'll have  to  work on it. Give me time.

Back in Warsaw now. I just remembered that yesterday lunchtime I ended up in a place that was advertising a "self-service brunch" for 21 euros. Now I know I've lost my younger sobriquet of "Dustbin Des" but I also know I went up to the counter enough times to come out on top as far as value for money was concerned. I had a hearty soup, several main courses and a couple of desserts. Pig!

362: Fat Thursday & thin building

Today, Thursday 4^th February, is known in Poland as Fat Thursday. Traditionally Polish people stuff themselves with doughnuts before the religious fast begins that is part and parcel of Lent.

Regular readers of my blog may remember that I’m not very good with heights, despite being a frequent flyer. Today was a major milestone in my struggle with this particular phobia. I had a new student coming on-stream. She works on the 19^th floor of an office block. The mountain was kind enough to come to Mohammed (in the Costa Coffee shop on the ground floor) but I knew that if I didn’t climb this particular mountain today then each subsequent week would get progressively more difficult. So, get in the lift and fight the demons. I can report that they were successfully banished. At least for today. Then home for a stiff zubrovka, or two. 

To finish, a classic you tube clip from High Noon entitled “Donut forsake me oh my darling”. Doh!

361: Berlin

My friends Fred & Judith have the following quote on all their emails:

"I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move"  Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894)

I endorse this entirely and last weekend, on a whim, I decided to visit Berlin. Just under 6 hours, each way, on a train and you arrive at the throbbing heart of Germany. The train journeys were fine, much better than on the previous Saturday travelling from Scotland to England courtesy of that nice Mr Branson and sitting on the floor for part of the journey. It's lucky I had a first-class ticket otherwise I could imagine myself travelling on the roof.

Berlin is an old stamping-ground for me, having lived there for two years in the mid-eighties. In those days there was West Berlin and East Berlin and the contrast between them was stark. Arriving by train on Saturday evening and travelling East to West I was struck how much Alexander Platz had changed in the years since the wall came down. A different world. A different me too. Cold War Warrior no longer. No more checking out through Checkpoint Charlie and checking in again when I went back to the decadent West. Now there is a mock-up Checkpoint Charlie with 2 guys dressed as American soldiers and offering to part you with some money in exchange for having your photo taken with them. There's Capitalism for you.

On Sunday I went to the Brandenburg Gate and walked from there to the site of the old Checkpoint  Charlie. On the way I walked past the Trabi museum and a place where tours of Berlin by Trabi are organised.  A convoy of them was just leaving as I passed and the smell of cheap petrol was heavy in the air.

Finally, sad to read of the death of David Bowie. This song takes me back to the late 60s.

360: Epiphany

Today in Poland it is a national holiday to celebrate the religious festival of Epiphany. The Feast of the Epiphany marks the end of the 12 Days of Christmas and is a Christian celebration of the revelation of the birth of Jesus and the visit of the three wise men.

There is a light sprinkling of snow here in Warsaw, rather like icing sugar on a cake. I am pleased I don't need to go out today. I was out yesterday and the temperature was -13 degrees Celsius. I'd almost forgotten what real cold was and yesterday was a salutary reminder.

I was in Golspie, in the North East of Scotland, over Christmas and New Year and it was cold there too. Because it is a small island the UK has a different kind of cold. It is damper and feels as if it is getting into the bones. In mainland Europe it is a cleaner, crisper, kind of cold. Still causes fatalities though. 21 people died in Poland over the weekend during this current cold snap, including 6 who slipped and fell to their death in the Tatra mountains.

Here are some pictures taken when I was in Golspie: 3 from the hills looking out to the sea and 3 from the sea looking in to the village.

Before flying back to Warsaw on Monday I spent some time in London on Sunday with my 'children'. We had decided to take part in a hidden city 'game/quiz/competition/hunt'. I'm not sure how best to describe it but it was fun anyway. Having paid the entrance fee you text 'start' on your phone and receive the first clue by return. This directs you to somewhere reasonably close and gives a cryptic clue as to what to look for. Text the answer to the question and receive the next clue. After a 'couple' of hours including a welcome break for lunch the 'hunt' is over and your knowledge of London's 'nooks and crannies' much improved. Can't wait to do it again. Perhaps next time without the rain!

I had the opportunity to take many photos along the way but contented myself with only one. It goes some way to explaining the Royal Air Force's penchant for staying in hotels while the Army is roughing it under canvas. :)

359: Rhine river cruise

I'm just back in harness after a very enjoyable and leisurely Rhine river cruise. The trip was from Basel up to Amsterdam and the journey to and from those cities was by train from London St Pancras via Eurostar and TGV/Thalys.

Here are a few pics from the trip.

Breisach		The ship. We were almost in the bilges!
This row is Strasbourg
This row is Heidelberg
This row is from the wine tasting day	along the Mosel
The young girl who looked after our cabin obviously had secondary skills!
Cologne cathedral	Windmills at Kinderdijk	The Windmills of your mind