Poland no's [2] [3] and [4]

[2] southern poland. (piaski, sosnowiec)
if it wasn't for the language... would have sworn it was south america. not that i've been to south america. it's just what i imagine it's like. (but with more sunshine, perhaps).

the bars on the windows may be a bit much, since the shop only sells pepsi, coke, drinks, wine and beer. (or so the sign says).

[3] crooked house in warsaw

love this house in the warsaw 'old' town. 'old' in parentheses because this house cannot be more that 65 years old. the entire old town was completely destroyed in world war two (during the warsaw uprising) and rebuilt entirely on donations from the people of poland. it was completed in 1997, although rebuilding started just after the war.

i love the 'dutch' style (well, i call it dutch style) accents on the roof, and the pretty wrought iron bars on the bottom two windows. i never thought window bars could be pretty...

[4] red windows in nikiszowiec

you can't see it on this photo that well (must work on my digital retouching skills), but the windows on the historic 'familoki' buildings in the silesia region are painted bright red. red is a very auspicious colour in slavic cultures. in imperial russia, the word for 'red' and 'beautiful' was one and the same. in silesia, red windows are meant to bring good fortune. although these buildings usually housed/still house low-income tennants and are usually outside of the city limits (nikiszowiec is just outside katowice), they are being beautifully restored (read: gentrified) to preserve their historical importance.