Cleaner, greener

I am not sure I have visited a big city with this much green space. Sprawling parks are everywhere, sometimes on both sides of the street. Knowing you have a place to hang out has such a humanizing influence, and Europeans have always been better at grasping this. The adjacent photo is from Na Ksiazecm Park, and the duckweed-infested pond is called an "animal watering hole" on Google Maps. Every bus I have seen here has an announcement on the side: "Jestem elektryczny" (I'm electric!). Just look at what Paris has done in the five years since I last visited. It is basically kicking out private cars. Preservation of open space is a great start ― good for our souls, good for the environment and the hotter summers that may await.

Below is the "Unity" monument by sculptor Jerzy Kenar. It was a gift to Warsaw by the Polish community in Chicago and stands in Marshal Edward Smigly Rydz Park. I saw a little girl climbing over it today.

A waffle with whipped cream at Lazienki Park. (The "L" has an uphill line through it, meaning it produces a "wah" sound ― "Wah-zhyen-kee.")

Fosa Park, on the Citadel slopes.

Stefana Zeromskiego Park, off Woodrow Wilson Square.

Also in Zeromskiego Park. The bubbling, burbling sounds are Eurasian blackbirds. Fieldfares are making the typewriter noises.

While passing through Agrykola Park today, I learned all about the Polish sprinter Ireny Szewinska, a seven-time Olympic medalist who held world records in the 100-, 200- and 400 meters. I suspect she trained on the track behind this fence. Did she dope? Let me run that through my 1970s Eastern Bloc calculator. ...

Probably.