Parthemores in Poland

I will make my best attempt to explain this situation in an organized matter, but you will soon see that “organization” didn’t actually factor in at all.

There was a parking lot, a 10’ brick wall, and a road that ran between our apartment building and the building in front of us.  They were all, in a word, terrible.  The parking lot was entirely dirt, and looked like the surface of the moon, with huge (6 feet across!) potholes.  Between the parking lot and the road was this decrepit wall, most notable for the large pile of junk running down the length of it.  It was a pretty sad sight.  Many people remarked that it was weird to have such a terrible area between two nice apartment buildings.

But, when we returned from our cruise, we found the entire areablocked off, and lots of heavy construction equipment moving dirt. 

For the next few weeks, we watched as they prepared a beautiful section of road, complete with nice brick sidewalks.  They completed everything but the asphalt.  However, this new section only extended halfway down the job site, where it just…ended.  Then, one day, they just packed up their machinery and went home.

After a few days, we found out why.  Another work crew came in and began digging a trench to lay some cables.  This included not only tearing up our sidewalk, but also digging a trench right through the brand new road work.  Whoops.

This has resulted in a parking nightmare.  Luckily, we have a parking space in the underground garage, so we haven’t had any problems.  All the cars that were in front of the building have since moved farther down the parking lot, into the commercial area.  This is also one of the few places you can park for free, so lots of commuters park here and then hop on the nearby tram.  This results in not only some creative parking jobs, but the occasional maze to weave through when we try to leave.

Adding to the problem is the new building next door.  The building isn’t completely finished, so there are plenty of workers parking their trucks out front.  But there is one section that is already open for business:  the court.  They didn’t bother to open up the parking garage, however. 

There are signs for the new court on the main road already.  And guess where the arrow directs them?  To the overstuffed parking area!  We have already seen a few people wandering through the construction zone, looking for the court. 

On the plus side, this has been a major revenue stream for the city.  With very limited legal parking, many people just park illegally and then receive the dreaded boot. Also, our local bakery now sells beer again!  We assume this is to accommodate the construction workers’ lunch break.  “That was a tasty piwo.  Well, back to the bulldozer!”

It has been interesting to watch the inefficiency.  What are they going to do next?  Maybe the better question is what aren’t they going to do next?