World Identity TRIPS is a new series to explore identities of cities and their people – live and directly – a bit like a journey diary if you like. Our first TRIP took us to Poland’s capital Warsaw.

Since the last time that I have been here, in 2007, it feels like a lot has changed. Warsaw has turned into a vibrating city full of young creative people who are motivated to move something. Many new clubs and cafes opened, as well as designshops, bookshops and art galleries. In front of the palace of culture (a controversial building which was a gift from the Russians in the 50s) a new museum for contemporary art will be built soon. TRIPS is presenting you six different artists from Warsaw:

1. KRZYSZTOF PACHOLAK

The first artist I would like to introduce is Krzysztof Pacholak, a photographer, culture animateur and author of sozio-cultural projects. He has been living in Warsaw for several years and says, that each day he gets more addicted to this city. Krzysztof likes construction sites and the wilderness along the Vistula, the river that goes through Warsaw. I think he makes really nice photographs, not only of construction sites. Please visit multicontrast.blogspot.com

2. PAN JAREMA

Jarema Drogowski is a visual artist and graphic designer from Warsaw. He paints and draws in his studio and produces street art in form of stickers he then applies at new places he finds in town.
www.panjarema.com

3. CENTRALA

Centrala is a platform where “individual quests converge around common goals.” It is a collective of a bunch of people from different fields working together on projects that range from architecture and installation to furniture- and graphic design. According to Centrala, most of their designs never leave the studio, however occasionaly, something gets built on their ideas.
www.centrala.net.pl

4. TYMEK JEZIERSKI

Tymek Jezierski is a draughtsman, illustrator and poster designer. He lives and works in Wola, a part of Warsaw where – according to Tymek – you’ll find places that look if they hadn’t changed since the war. Here is also his favourite bar to hang out. He and his brother Jakub form the design studio Brothers in Arms.
www.tymekjezierski.com

5. MONIKA KMITA

Monika Kmita is a photographer and philosophy graduate from Wola, a part of Warsaw. I think she really makes brilliant photographs, so please have a look at her websites –
spotsofmymind.blogspot.com
monikakmita.carbonmade.com

6. DOROTA HAWELKA

According to her description, Dorota is doing the last strip of MA Studies in Professional Translation and Interpreting (German, English, Polish) and is further a post-graduate-to-be of the European Academy of Photography in Warsaw. I hope she will soon send us some pictures of her special place! :) The World Identity TRIPS will be archived in a new sub category. (See menu on your left.) Dorota’s website: mamarazzi.posterous.com

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Name of place:
Lisbon

Where is it exactly:
Lisbon is the capital city of Portugal as well as the westernmost large city located in Europe.

How do you get there:
I’m sure you’ll be able to find it  =)

Why is it so special for you:
New city, new people, new atmosphere .. my first time in Lisbon started like almost every trip does .. me trying to observe and enjoy this place as much as possible .. in the end I remain with an overload of information and impressions .. being at home and tired of traveling I give myself a break .. a couple of days later I look at hundreds of pictures and sort them out until there are about twenty left .. this is then my personal selection of the best moments, gorgeous people and special places ..

It is a pleasure to share my selection of special places in Lisbon with you!

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Name of the place:
Ursynów

Where is it exactly:
The southernmost district of Warsaw (Poland), heavily built up with grey concrete tower blocks. The neighborhood was considered to be the bedroom of Warsaw, now it is slowly changing. I live here for some years. Many interesting places, for a walk. Near the last metro station “Kabaty” concrete blocks vanish into the forest. On the other side of the street there is a mound, reaching over the buildings tops with a good viewing point. Very few places to drink good coffee.

How do you get there:
You can go by metro or by bus from the center, it takes 15 minutes by metro. In buses, because of heavy traffic, you can dwell for eternity.

Why is it so special for you:
It is easy to get lost here. Ursynów is like a labyrinth. When someone is visiting us, he often cruises around, searching for the right block. All looks the same! When I walk there with my girlfriend, she also very often looses her way and thinks she is in a different place. Our kids are growing up here in this kind of schizophrenic place. On one side you have these concrete tower blocks – on the other side you have fields, forests and a small river and so called soc-romanic churches. (the architectural mix of social realism and Romanic.) It is a very strange place! Now we have a dog and teach him some tricks, because he also has problems with finding the way back home :)

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Name of place:
Caletta di Cala Domestica

Where is it exactly:
Continuing beyond Buggerru south is the beach of Cala Domestica, one of the most beautiful beaches on the island of Sardinia, with fine sand and white. Encased in a magnificent fjord between the limestone cliffs, also includes another beach (pictured), called the cove, which can be accessed through a tunnel dug by miners.
Until about 60 years ago was the port of shipment of minerals from mines in the area.

How do you get there:
The west side can be easily reached by a path that leads to a watchtower against the invasions of North Africa who then carried out up to 800 robberies and raids on the island.

Why is it so special for you:
It ‘a wild place, alternative never too popular and is spectacular to go when the wind blows the mistral that blows the sea and makes it threatening.

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Name of place: 
Cala Goloritzè

Where is it exactly:
It is located in Sardinia (Italy) in the Municipality of Baunei

How do you get there:
The cove is accessible only by sea from the beach of Cala Gonone and Santa Maria Navarrese, or via an overland trail from the plateau part of Baunei namely near Golgo. It ‘can leave the car in a parking, the beach is approximately one hour’s walk through an old trail used by charcoal burners in the past and now called in the sixth of the ordinary.

Why is it so special for you:
This is one of the most beautiful and famous bays in the entire Mediterranean, became a national monument and celebrated mainly by virtue of turquoise waters, due to the flow of some underwater springs that let you drink the sea water and the beauty some marble rocks smoothed by time. The beach is dotted with small white pebbles and is made even more special by the famous arch towards the sea and the imposing spire of Punta Goloritzè, must for all climbers.
It ’s a lovely place and requires a great workout when you walk back because the altitude is high, but also deserves to be because the inland route is beautiful, age-old oaks and natural cork and many other surprises.

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Name of place:
Poetto’s beach

Where is it exactly:
Cagliari is the main beach at the southcoast of Sardinia, that stretches about eight miles from Devil’s Saddle up the coast to Quartu Sant Elena. The Poetto is also located in the western district of the strip between the beach and the salt Molentargius.

How do you get there:
The beach is easily accessible from the city in 10 minutes by car

Why is it so special for you:
This shot was taken immediately after a violent storm on very strong gusts of wind, a moment of sunshine illuminated the sea is made magical environment.

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Name of place: 
Light under the sea

Where is it exactly:
Coast of Orosei in Cala Mariolu and Goloritzè, Sardinia, Italy

How do you get there:
Accessible by boat from Cala Gonone (Dorgali) or Santa Maria Navarrese south.

Why is it so special for you:
The depths of the Gulf of Orosei are among the most beautiful and transparent in the Mediterranean, often by boat dives recklessly trusting in a shallow sea is rather easy to run into depths of 30 meters.

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Name of place:
Sandown

Where is it exactly:
Isle of Wight, England

How do you get there:
From London go to Victoria station and take the train to Portsmouth, then the ferry till Ryde (they run every hour). You can either then get the train to Sandown or a bus, takes 20/25 minutes to go there.

Why is it so special for you:
This is the best beach of the isle of Wight. I have been walking there just before going to Bestival in Robin Hill Country Park to enjoy the best music, the best artists and the best fancy dress party of 2010!

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Name of place: Home

Where is it exactly: West coast of Finland, city called Kokkola

How do you get there: Just fly to Helsinki and take a train to Kokkola :)

Why is it so special for you: I have lived here almost my whole life and last summer i bought it from my father

The couch is a special couch in my home. It is special for me, because this is the place where my girlfriend told me that she will move here with me

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Name of place:
Cala Comte, Ibiza

Where is it exactly:
North of Ibiza island, 10 minutes driving from San Antonio town

How do you get there:
By car, bus (from Eivissa center or San Antonio) or taxi (if you are lucky enough to get one during the busy season)

Why is it so special for you:
The best sunset of the island, the wonderful clear water, the magic atmosphere around a unique place. Incomparable!

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Name of place:
Bhagsu Waterfall

Where is it exactly:
A flat rock with a waterfall view twenty-minute climb from Bhagsu village in Himalaya

How do you get there:
Bhagsu village is located 2 km from Mcleod Ganj, near Dharamsala in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The waterfall is a twenty-minute hike from the village temple.

Why is it so special for me:
Rainy season in Himalaya. Morning chill wakes me up. I go out – for my morning coffee and a morning hike. And there it is – this gorgeous waterfall I find totally by chance.  A huge flat stone looks pretty inviting so I decide to take a rest and enjoy the view.  Lush plants around. Buddhist monks wash their maroon robes in the stream billions of meters below me. My head (literally) in the clouds. Next thing I know it’s five hours later. The most perfect definition of meditation.

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Name of place:
Akrata, Greece

Where is it exactly:
This is a small town in the northern Peloponese, Greece, on the Corinthian Sea, a two hour drive west from Athens.

How do you get there:
The town itself is a short drive up into the mountains. The sea is down along the National Road.

Why is it so special for you:
This is the place where my father was born and raised. This is the beach where my father learned to swim. After we moved to the United States, we visited this town yearly in late summer, at the end of our holidays in Greece. The town was very different from where I was raised in the states. Everyone knew who we were; many of us related.  I loved walking through town with my father, where everyone would greet him.  This town helped me realize I had roots somewhere in the world.

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Name of place:
Dino

Where is it exactly:
In Warsaw at the crossing of Zwirki i Wigury street and Banacha Street -
you can’t miss a 4 meter tall dinosaur!

How do you get there:
There are a lot of buses that pass this place

Why is it so special for you:
I was passing this dinosaur everyday on my way to work. Actually I never found out who was putting it there and why. I was watching it and imagining that it was real. I thought what would happen if I met a real dinosaur somewhere in the woods or if these creatures would have come back and started eating the humans. (I was reading a lot of adventure books during this time.)
Anyway I tried to imagine that my everyday problems are this dinosaur and if I could fight the dinosaur I could also fight my problems. The thought was somehow giving me power. 

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Name of place:
Oslo Oil Station

Where is it exactly:
E6 highway  w/ 190, Oslo , Noruega, – right side of the road

How do you get there:
I can explain with words. It was in 2007, and i never returned there.

Why is it so special for you:
That was my first “step” in Oslo. I rented a car and was coming from sweden. i stopped there to buy a drink, then I saw those lights, the sky, and blonde eyes looking to me. we met again three days after in a bar in Bergen, on the east side of the country. nice. Oslo is far away for us, I felt strange and happy.

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Name of place:
Black old bench 

Where is it exactly:
1 Kingsland Rd, London E2 8AA, United Kingdom, Junction – Kingsland Road / Shoreditch Highstreet / Old Street, right in front of the Bar “The Old Shoreditch Station“, opposite of the Tattoo Shop.

How do you get there:
Take the Northern Line, leave at Underground Station “Old Street“. Walk towards Shoreditch Hightstreet, you will find it! 

Why is it so special for you: 
It was the last day before I moved back to Vienna for good, after living in London. On this last day I had a lot of things to do, but when they were all done, I sat down on a little black wooden bench in front of “The Old Shoreditch Station“ – bar. I passed by many times before but never sat down there. 

I ordered a glass of pear juice on the rocks (my favourite non alcoholic drink) and took a deep breath. Finally I could relax and enjoy the short time that was left.

I was sitting there for half an hour or longer, observing the people that passed by walking, in cars or on bikes. It was loud and busy, since it is directly on a busy road junction in East London, but I felt very calm and relaxed, because I knew I did everything I wanted to do in London. This little black bench was the place where I said “Goodbye and Thank you!“ to a wonderful city, to the great time I had, to the nice people I met and to the guy in the Tattoo shop on the other side of the road, where I got my first tattoo.

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