Gustible - under the rubric of [$_SELF]

Distressingly, I have hardly blogged at all during the past few weeks (months?). Time to catch up – and present you with the City of Warsaw’s Palace of Science and Culture.
During the course of yet another trip to Poland, I had a morning free and took the opportunity to visit the famed Pałac Kultury i Nauki in the centre of Warsaw. For a mere bagatelle one is allowed to enter the hallowed portals of the Stalinist edifice, and ascend to the heavens in an elevator manned by a not unattractive female operator.

The view from the top is dismal. The city is shrouded in a fog, seemingly cold.

The brick and concrete of the palace revel in the moisture. The passage leads towards a window on the fog.

There are cameras on the walls. Dissipating memories of surveillance. In the corners, where you only see them if you look.

The luscious royal red of the ceiling in the elevator lobby belies the socialist values of the Palace.

Looking over the city I fumble replacing my camera’s lens cover. It falls, and lands on the ledge outside the viewing window. I cannot reach, I need a broom, something, to retrieve it. I speak to the guards – the ones behind the cameras. They shrug, then become belligerent. The do not understand English. Or don’t care to. I use my carry bag to rake the lens cap towards me. I know they are watching me, on the cameras. No-one cares.

Leaving the building, I look back. The wardens are in casual conversation – grouped. I imagine they are talking about what the cameras showed them.

The building is a clenched fist. A stake in hard ground.

I find Warsaw a cold city. Monumental. Not recovered.

Yes, I have a travel tip. The souvenir shop on the ground floor sells very eloquent rubbish. Go and get it.