Already the Christmas lights are going up – and on – in Warsaw. Leaving my hotel on Friday I had a great opportunity to watch the installation in Plac Powstańków. Here they are, decorations slowly moving towards domination of the town centre.
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12monthsinwarsaw 
These kind of ‘decorations’ make me shiver, and in all sorts of ways, and not only due to seasonal chilliness. They’re so stiff for one thing. So uniform. Give me a string, or several, of fairy lights strung about the place, and that makes me much happier. Is it cold out there now, Meg? We seem to have some Baltic winds over Shropshire just now, which is making me grit my teeth at thoughts of heading over the field to the allotment. Got to go though – lots of stuff to add to the compost piles. Happy Sunday!
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Snow predicted for later in the week, but you could count on the fingers of one foot how often the weather forecast’s been right. There’ve been a few sub-zero mornings. I’m slowly learning how to dress for cold-combat. Alpaca socks are a must!
As for lights, I’m a bit of a fan in one dimension. Each street has a different design, and they don’t seem to be repeated next year, at least not in my limited experience. To me they’re just fairy lights on a larger scale. And I must confess anything that provides light is welcome now that we come home from pre-school by torchlight. However, my socialist soul revolts a bit. I’m sure there are many people who’d benefit from an injection of funds. I heard a horror story about fungus-walled public housing the other day, and I keep encountering homeless men on the buses. In winter they can keep warm this way.
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We briefly lived in a little Hampshire village where local residents display a Christmas tree in a bracket fixed to the outside of their houses. Over 300 trees are displayed and it looks really lovely.
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A far cry from the Warsaw extravaganza, which is a civic rather than a personal act. It certainly provides a heap of employment. I saw my third street lit up on the way home this evening – each street a different design.
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I hope to visit the Mousehole lights this year – they are quite special.
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I noticed ours are nearly up but hope they don’t get turned on yet, way too soon, but I’m still sad when they come down!
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I’m kept entertained looking at the differences in different streets. The big light-statues aren’t up yet, or the giant Christmas tree. I hope I’m game enough to take the twins down Nowy Świat. They’re getting pretty good at holding my hands.
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Our decorations are being put up…too flippin early, I think!
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When do yours come down? Late January for Warsaw I think, so the effort of putting them up pays dividends. But I suspect they’re not very eco-friendly.
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Should be 12th night, but they usually hang around a bit longer…
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I too growl at Christmas merchandise & decorations at the beginning of November — all so very commercial, to drive sales. Is consumerism a driving force for all this in Warsaw? Or is it more religious?
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But this is only lights! No merchandising involved (or is there?) I’m not a shopper, so I don’t know whether the shops are in swing yet. The carp ponds aren’t in Carrefour yet.
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Aha, i love the growing tradition of lights in the winter darkness — here though the relentless push to buy stuff is already in full swing
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I do love them once they’re switched on but I’m not in any hurry for Christmas. 🙂
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It will be a very sad one for you. I surprised myself by really liking their excess when I was here at Christmas a few years ago, and doubly delighted by the delight of kids. I have few Christmas responsibilities, so I don’t mind it approaching at the speed of a lightning. In all other respects I’m a bit of a Ms Scrooge.
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I have a Mr. Scrooge sitting on the settee beside me 🙂 🙂 But I have to be nice to him because he bought me a laptop for my birthday and he’s busy setting it up for me. I’m too inept to do it myself. 🙂 It’s only tiny and inexpensive but the old one is even more of a dinosaur than me.
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May you have a long and blessed relationship with your laptop. I wished you happy birthday with a post: have you seen it? Otherwise you might think I ignored the date of your irruption onto the world stage!
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Oh, Meg- I’m sorry! The weekend was busy and I only spent enough time online to answer all the lovely greetings and write my Monday walk- which I’m still doing, and the walks are still coming in! Yikes! Be over to yours soon 🙂 🙂
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Don’t apologise. I wouldn’t have mentioned it, except i didn’t want you to feel neglected on your special day.
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I did feel a tad neglected, after I got texts from Gilly and Jude, but now that I’ve seen this I feel mean. And it’s not as though you don’t have a busy life 🙂 Wet Monday hugs, darlin! Not walking but will meet the girls for coffee later.
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I’d never neglect you, no matter how busy life is.
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I love Christmas and Christmas lights. It’s interesting to see the process of them going up. I can’t imagine those workers untangling 2km of fairy lights lol.
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They have put them early this year. Like your last shot a lot!
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