Skip to content

my comedy flight to warsaw

i had a good flight to warsaw (what seems like weeks ago now – in fact it was!).
at heathrow the pilot came on the intercom and said “well, we’re all on board, all the bags are loaded and we have a take off slot all confirmed, so we should be away on time. although, me saying that is usually the kiss of death. i’ll let you know if anything changes”
kiss of death !!! not what you want to hear from a pilot
a few minutes later he was back on “apologies, but one passenger has failed to turn up so we’ve got to unload his baggage. i told you it would be the kiss of death”
kiss of death !!! again !
the flight was fine, but just as we were in the last few seconds before touching down in Warsaw and everyone was in the ‘try not to look too worried’ mode, we suddenly accelerated like mad anf flew up in to the sky again. it was a bit of a shock.
apparently we had to abort our landing as a helicopter was in the way. fair enough, but a bit worrying at the time.
070829_850_img_4682.jpg

i love you tesco

i accidentally took kezia’s emergency cuddling label thing with me to Poland. so i thought i’d show it a good time.
my favourite thing about this thing is how it says ‘tesco’ as large as the ‘i love you’ letters.
070902_850_img_4811.jpg 070902_850_img_4812.jpg

choppers parking only

at last, somewhere to park your raleigh chopper
070902_850_img_4844.jpg

fashion show

070902_850_img_4853.jpg

a cray super computer

070902_850_img_4823.jpg

an office

070831_350d_img_3432.jpg
i went through the wrong door in a museum and ended up in an office. it was a bit of a time-warp so i grabbed a shot

warsaw camera fair

i went to a sunday morning camera fair in warsaw before flying home. no one really spoke english making discussion on the finer points of photography tricky. i got the shop keepers to right prices down on a piece of paper for me, then i’d convert to pounds and check what things were selling on my favourite online camera shops (and ebay) via my mobile.
in the end i convinced myself to buy nothing, but i had fun wandering around looking at Germand and Russian antique cameras (alongside all your modern stuff).
070902_850_img_4806.jpg

the end of a building

070901_850_img_4775.jpg
070901_850_img_4777.jpg

fantastic travel company window display

this made me chuckle. i think it’s a travel agents shop which does holidays and tours of different places. but the little toy train track in the sparse window display has broken track and the whole thing has seen better days.
didn’t really install much confidence
070901_850_img_4771.jpg

bollard teepee

070829_350d_img_3274.jpg

dead bench

070901_850_img_4774.jpg

slug rolling an apple

070901_850_img_4761.jpg
you might have to click on this to admire it properly !

people on a bench

070829_350d_img_3231.jpg

mannequins

070901_850_img_4770.jpg

walk, don’t walk

070829_350d_img_3260.jpg 070829_350d_img_3258.jpg

dog sign advert

070829_350d_img_3268.jpg

plants on the move on a trolley

070828_850_img_4672.jpg

the key to a different perspective

070910_850_img_4961.jpg
i take a lot of photos from a low angle. and here’s a good example showing the difference between an above picture of a lost broken key and a low angle version of the same thing.
to get the low angle picture i set my little compact camera to macro mode and centre point focussing, place it against the ground, and point it in the general direction of thing i’m photoing.
i usually end up taking 4 or 5 shots to get the thing i want to be in focus, with a fair bit of chimping at the time to check.
the worst bit is standing up again as i’m usually wearing my heavy backpack with laptop and various heavy documents.
the crouch is usually worth it though.
070910_850_img_4960.jpg
so there you go. you probably knew all that already.

the marriot hotel warsaw

070829_350d_img_3297.jpg
i stayed on the 38th floor of the marriot hotel. that was quite high.
070829_350d_img_3296.jpg
it had a terrific view of the sunset. pity about the window reflections seemed unbeatable due to the double glazing.
070829_350d_img_3355.jpg
070829_350d_img_3360.jpg

polish guide to scotland

i spotted this book in a polish kiosk window and i thought i provided a nice link between our recent holiday in scotland and my few days in warsaw. i like links like that.
070829_850_img_4685.jpg