Have you seen this place before?

Off to Pole Mokotowskie again for my early-ish morning stroll. And guess what? It is in no way repetitive of my last stroll in Mokotów Field. I walk by a different route to start with, past a prison with rolls of barbed wire on high walls; a mural of bird people; apricot colonnades warmer than the sun; a collection of Polish eagles, looking justifiably cranky; and my first close up encounter with a lime tree flower. On the way into the park, I read the information board, and establish one immutable goal: the Statue of the Happy Dog. I wouldn’t say no to the fountain either (although as it happens it says no to me.)

I share the path with a balding man about my age roller-blading,  a banana in one hand and a plastic bag for the peel in the other. He laps me a few times, and then I spot him on a wider pavement executing circular turns backwards. There’re two gollolopy dogs, one black, one latte, each holding a bright yellow tennis ball in their jaws approach me hopefully. In a great grassy space, a couple of men lie on their bedding, with a small bright red charcoal barbecue waiting to cook breakfast. Birds sing, joggers pad, bikes and rollerblades whoosh and the air is full of the slightly sweaty smell of elderberries.

I move off the cement paths as often as I can onto slightly muddy tracks through unkempt grasses and patches of forest, once a white trunk gleaming in a slant of sun against dark green foliage. A snail wanders across in front of me, travelling at about the same pace as I am. There are chunky statues, fungi, flowers and grasses, and look! there! – the life-size happy dog.

Today I was daring. The photos in this post were all taken with my iPhone. The only way I could insure the fulfilment of intention was to leave my camera at home. Thank you, Gilly,  for inspiring me to take the plunge!