I Like Your Old Stuff Better Than Your New Stuff.

There are so many photos I took last year, I haven't even done the count. Plus the ones I deleted and the ones I imagined I took every time I was in a crowd. Sometimes my ultimate dream is to have a camera in my eye, so I can take the photos I see when I don't have my camera, or it isn't possible with the people there.

So the next few posts are all about photos that I haven't got around to looking at before now. So let's get on that train and head to the next stop. Memory town!
These photos are all from the Multicultural Festival on "the East Bank", "the Far Side" or simply Praga. Something you notice quite quickly about Poland as a whole, especially as an Australian, is the lack of diversity of its people. It is very monocultural in that according to the 2002 Census only 1.23% (471,500 people) see themselves as non-Polish. Ahhh, you might say that everyone thinks they are Polish because they live here, but to be honest, that isn't the case. The highest "non-Pole" groups in Poland are Silesians 200,000 (basically Polish of the South with a funny accent), then Germans 151,000 (basically the Poles but organised), then Belarussians 49,000 and Ukranians 30,000 (both of which at some stage belonged partly to Poland). So, that accounts for nearly 92% of the people from "abroad" in Poland. What it shows is that all these crazy foreigners are people who basically look like Poles as well. The remainder being .1% of the population as a whole. Whereas in Australia, 25% of the population are immigrants, a quarter from UK and NZ, the rest from all manner of countries. So what I am trying to say, it is very obvious here that there is limited immigration.

Phew! What a long winded lead up. To say that a multicultural festival is a great thing for Warsaw! Hooray!

Actually it was in Old Praga, if we are to be specific, which is easily the nicest part of Praga and I really think one of the prettiest places in Warsaw. Just not somewhere I would hang out in after dark. My opinion about Architecture in Warsaw tends to be very much like a fabulous song from a great Brisbane rock/electro/punk band circa 1997. Regurgitator , see that song here, to give you a hint what it is, see this blog post's title.
One of the first things you notice in Old Praga is the buildings. They are, as the name would suggest, old. Also they have a great "new" tradition of creative and varied decoration. You will see some of that in this Old Praga post. Old Praga has become somewhat a bohemian region of Warsaw, I hope that it continues to be like this and improve the area with more art and a safe friendly place to enjoy it.
These little blue folk are really cute and are found at the Western end of Ulica Ząbkowska. They just look like they are made of playdo or plasticine and would be great to squeeze.
The little tacker just looks like someone you actually want to hang out with.
During the festival, there were many courtyards within the old housing blocks being used as performance locations. It gave it a great sense of community, something I tend not to see so much living in Warsaw's Bedroom, as Ursynow is called.
When the old meets the new.
Some Courtyards have great art displays and funky little bars in them too.
Some come in colour too ;)
This is a cool project of local women pictured by a local artist.
And here are two of the women!

You gotta love ladybirds!
A great use for all those bottle tops! I think I need to start drinking more beer.
The Rabbit Hole is a really great bar on a sunny day.
I just love those shadows.

End of Multicultural post Number Jeden (1).