Zabłocie (Beyond the Mud)

We spent this Sunday town-based. We ate a hardy meal at the local Bar Mleczny (ala diner) on Grodzka (the quintessential cheap homemade food stop that prices its food on how much it weighs). I had the Ukrainian borsch (barszcz ukrainski), a rissole with stewed carrots and peas (duszona marchewka) for a main, which was all washed down with freshly squeezed carrot juice (sok z marchwi). My nails have been giving me grief lately. Michal had żurek (a soup made out of fermented bread things – don’t ask – it is tangy and very tasty), and the Hungarian hash-browns (placki ziemniaczane po węgiersku), a salad made out of three types of cabbage (red, white and sauerkrauted) and celery root, also followed with freshly squeezed carrot juice and an apple cake (szarlotka).

Filled with the required starches and vitamins (hidden deeply amongst all the boiled crap) we headed off on our bikes exploring Zabłocie. This is an industrial area of Krakow on the river which is being gentrified. The old mills and bread factories are being converted into lofts. But the speed with which it is all happening is hardly mindblowing, so the area was suitably grey and depressing. What I noticed though is that the commies used to take trees into account when erecting factory zones. This was definitely a plus, since the horrible architecture is nicely covered by big oaks and pines. It is a pity that the developers of new business parks are not as green orientated when it comes to camouflaging their ugly concrete slabs.

After five hours on the bikes, with arses sore a plenty (first riding of the season does that), we popped the bikes on the tram and went home.

This Trabant was photographed for its excellent leather bonnet straps. How secure!

Marketing at its most imaginative: “Cheap coal” followed by the telephone number.

This truck is always parked on Starowiślna. Wonder what the owner does during the summer time...