You fuck off!

There is a particularly tedious tramp that frequents the main train station and pesters travellers for change or cigarettes or anything else that they are willing to part with. In the evening he is often to be seen swigging vodka and singing patriotic songs, or being chased by one of the kiosk or cafe owners after having pissed too close to their premises. I once saw him being batted over the head with a frying pan by one fierce looking waitress... it looked liked a scene from a slapstick comedy.

Rushing for a train and at the end of a stressful day, I was in no mood when he duly accosted me for a few bob and told him in English to fuck off, at which he turned on me and shouted "You fuck off!" It's not like me to be so rude, and I only speak English when I'm tired and usually in a situation where it's unlikely that I'd be understood. The tramp's reaction (and diction!) surprised me, so much so that I slung him a couple of quid before boarding the express to Warsaw.

The Great Dictator in the old town square.

Pin-up Girl always knows what's going on in Lodz and invited me to an outdoor film screening. The recent heatwave has subsided somewhat and it was a little cooler as we parked Esmeralda close to the makeshift auditorium in the near deserted old town square.

We settled ourselves behind a down&out who was already slumped in oblivion, I always feel sympathy for these poor souls who have a hard time of it. The programme started with Roman Polanski's first film Two Men and a Wardrobe which he shot while a film student here in Lodz, an allegorical piece and surprisingly violent, it portrays a harsh world (he filmed it on the coast in Gdansk) devoid of benevolence or tolerance. I took the wardrobe that they haul around throughout the film to be their gay love which many are threatened by and react against. He makes a brief appearance as a very young thug (he was 25 but looks 15).

The main feature was Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator, his first talkie and one I had never seen before. It was about 10pm by the time it started and we were glad we had thought to bring pullovers. We both enjoyed the film immensely, I've never laughed out loud at a Chaplin movie before, having always preferred Buster Keaton or Laurel & Hardy, but this really was quite marvellous with some wonderful sequences. Released in 1940 before the States had entered the war and the horrors of the holocaust were really known, it saturizes Hitler, Goebbels, Mussolini et al, and bitterly condemns fascism and the Nazis - referred to in the film as machine men with machine minds. Bearing in mind Britain's earlier appeasement and the US's continuing neutrality, this was an important film of the time and one which Chaplin made off his own back despite opposition from United Artists among others.

There will be more Chaplin showings every week at the same place to which all I hope to attend.

Common sights on country roads.

Extremely drunk men staggering along the grass verge.
Short square babuszka's in overcoats and booties.
Youths in three's standing smoking.
Statuettes of the Virgin Mary in blue and white adorned with a garland of ribbon.
Teenage girls sitting in bus shelters.
Elderly people on bicycles.
Crosses with flowers where people have been killed.

A weekend in the country.

I went with a couple of pals to spend the weekend at my country retreat. Lola packed a picnic and we set off with Molly and Daisy in Esmeralda for the leisurely one hour drive.

On arrival we had to pick up the keys which I'd forgotten from the last owner in the next village. His name is Yatsek and I was almost relieved that he wasn't at home. Stout and jolly, he is a Falstaffian figure and invariably surrounded by at least half a dozen children. I have visited them a few times and they are exceptionally nice. I am plied with vodka the moment I enter the house and his voluptuous wife, who never sits down, and with one or two snivelling infants swinging from her, scurries back and forth from the table with armfuls of bread, sausage and gherkins, stopping only to gulp vodka. Wyborova or Zabrovka is consumed ferociously, one shot after the other, followed by mouthfuls of the locally produced nosh.

The grubby, and equally tubby offspring, are well trained. They encircle us, gazing in wide-eyed-wonder as the adults get increasingly loud and incoherent. Every so often the wife will issue a command at which one of the little urchins will rush to obey. The moment a bottle is emptied, one of the pot bellied girls grabs it and scampers off to another room only to return with a new bottle which is plonked down between us. Yatsek sits at the head of the table, and with his fat thighs spread wide and constantly adjusting his balls, he ragales me with local stories and country life. I plan to get a couple of bicycles so then I can whizz over to his house when in the vicinity.

Everything needs doing at the ruin Yatsek sold to me. It is a big project and one I'm in no hurry to begin. The floor is rotten, the walls are crumbling and all the buildings are roofed in asbestos. And yet, in such a beautiful setting, forest on all sides, and only an hour from the city... how can one complain?

Word of the week: Wies meaning village. There is no Polish word for countryside.

Moaning prima donna's and EURO 2012.

Last night I went to the pub and watched Russia lose to Spain in the UEFA EURO semi-final in the pub. I don't usually do football, but enjoy keeping a loose eye on these big European tournaments. I go by the old adage that football is a game for gentleman played by thugs, whereas rugby is a game for thugs played by gentlemen. Watching the footie nowadays, not a minute goes by without the screech of the referee's whistle and a prima donna rolling around on the grass clutching his leg and moaning. The Italians have turned it into an art form. I don't remember it like that when I was a boy and those burly rugby blokes are certainly a lot more manly in a much rougher game.

Understandably, the locals were backing Spain and so had a good night as Spain gave Russia a 3-0 pasting. So the Spaniards will meet Germany in the final in Vienna on Sunday, and no guessing which way the Poles would like the game to go.

One of the Magnus's is driving to Vienna at the weekend with a couple of pals and invited me along. I can't imagine anything worse. They have no tickets for the game and will no doubt end up sleeping in their car. I told him it will be chaotic to which he replied... "Of course, that's the fun of it!" I must be getting old.

The next championship in four years time will be held jointly in Poland and the Ukraine. A few months back it was celebrations all round when the first 500 metres of the Gdansk-Warsaw A1 super-highway was completed. Less impressive was the fact that it had taken 10 years to achieve this feat of engineering - doesn't fill you with confidence for EURO 2012 does it?

In Poland the law really is an ass.

I was saddened to hear that my daily jaunts to the park with Molly and Daisy will become even more difficult now that cycling in the parks is to be outlawed in Lodz. This is the latest in a long list of oppressive and senseless laws that we will have to deal with. As it is, it has been illegal for some time to have a dog - regardless of breed - roaming free... even in the country. There is nowhere in the whole city set aside for dogs to exercise without a lead. I have been fined several times in the park.

I have been fined in the past for washing my car on a public street, this is illegal. It was in my courtyard but one of the neighbours called the police. They arrived and charged me fifty pounds on the spot.

I have been fined for walking across a road when the red man was showing, despite the road being deserted. Cars are allowed to drive through even when the green man is showing, and will tear past you within inches.

The banning of bicycles from parks will come into effect in about six months. The people are never consulted and opinions are never sought. The greenest and most pleasurable form of transport is not encouraged. If I had a big gas guzzling SUV I would be highly regarded and the law would bow for me in every way. That's Poland for you.

The ding-a-ling man.

On the main street of the city, on the doorstep of an empty shop, stands a man in a tuxedo. Tall, thin and gaunt. His hair is almost white and his complexion ruddy. Back arched, heels in and toes out, his sad face gazes into the distance as though he were an awkward beginner in a ballet class. He stands as still and as stiff as a pole. Around his neck is a sign in Polish saying Throw Money and he holds a small brass bell in his hand. He has been in this position for years.

Every now and then, but not often, someone will put a few pence, but not more, into his box. At this he peps up, as though just plugged in, and swivels around on his small platform like a wooden puppet on a string. A series of jerky hand gestures and tinkles accompany him as he comes full circle only to then slump once more into the stillness that has become for him a way of life.

Sometimes in the winter, when it is particularly bitter, he is to be found in a nearby subway. A good set of thermals under his garments must ensure against hypothermia. It is likely that his back gives him trouble by now and he will undoubtedly suffer from arthritis. Unlike the colourfully costumed street acts that ply their trade in busy Covent Garden and other such places, this artist's services are rarely requested.

For a few months he did experiment with a different act. This enactment was centred on a golden picture frame which was held up and through which he peered as though he were a portrait on a wall. When a rare coin hit his box he would turn out a series of animated facial expressions. This diversion from his usual performance did not suit him, and it wasn't long before he reached once more for his trusty bell.

I once noticed a woman, persumably his wife, sitting opposite and watching intently. It was a dark early evening in the bleak mid-winter and the falling snow had settled on him, she was huddled under an umbrella. When I passed by again some hours later, he was packing up, and I watched them walk away through the snow arm in arm.