The end of another long dark dirty winter.

The first week of snow back in October is pretty but after six months the novelty has long worn off... Polish winters last forever. There is no drainage on the roads, not even in the city centres. The new streets and highways being constructed with EU funds do have a few drainage holes but the skill or experience of building good roads does not exist here, so despite the new drainage grates, the moment it rains the thoroughfares become rivers and stay like that. Cars and buildings are caked in filth and the streets are awash with muck. Leaping over piles of snow and negotiating paths through thick brown slush becomes an art form. The sub-zero temperatures are also difficult to deal with.

Today we have no snow and a glimpse of sunshine... a sign that the long dark Polish winter might be coming to an end at last.