After a warm, sunny summer, it's hard for us to accept that the days are getting shorter and colder. Still, the colourful, autumn landscape is a gift from nature, that created autumn to reward us and make up for the upcoming empty and cold winter and the long waiting for spring that in Poland lasts for about half a year. Amazing landscapes, extraordinary impressions, fewer tourists, perfect, warm weather without heat and these beautiful, red-orange-yellow landscapes this is in short what Golden Polish Autumn has to offer and a description of how it attracts tourists and travellers to Poland especially in September and October.
When you ask the Poles what “Golden Polish Autumn” means you can hear such answers: “Golden Polish Autumn is red, yellow, golden leaves on the trees glistening in the sun.“, “Golden Polish Autumn is an aura resembling summer.”, “It's beautiful, sunny weather, colourful leaves and fruits: apples, pears, plums, nuts ... “. You can clearly see that it evokes only positive associations.
The colourful metamorphosis is taking place slowly, and the leaves change from the most delicate to the vivid shades. First, single trees lose the green, and then whole clumps of trees. In the grand finale of the performance, gardens, parks and forests are burning with all the colours of autumn. Here and there, only the green of spruce, pine and juniper trees is visible. Larch, the only one among coniferous kin, joins the ranks of disguises, losing needles as a punishment. Even evergreen shrubs produce colourful berries, unable to resist the temptation to attend the carnival. The autumn colours are complemented by heathers: white, yellowish, lilac and dark purple, which create a colourful carpet.
Golden Polish Autumn the counterpart of Indian Summer in United States is truly spectacular event. In the States it is rather red in Poland golden shades prevail. It is a period of unseasonably warm, dry weather that sometimes occurs in autumn in temperate regions of the northern hemisphere during September to November. The shaping of Indian Summer in Central and Eastern Europe (including Poland) and southern Asia is decisively influenced by the South Asian (sometimes East European) Anticyclone, which weakens in the winter. The astronomical autumn starts on the 22nd of September, Golden Polish Autumn usually lasts for 2 to 3 weeks but its date is not as fixed as its astronomical counterpart. It depends on the number of frosts, whether September was dry and warm or wet and cooler. If dry, trees turn yellow faster and leaves may fall as early as November. However, if the last month of summer was cooler and rainy, trees have more supply to hold leaves until late October and mid-November. The air temperatures are usually around 15 degrees but in the south of Poland they can rise as high as 25 Celsius degrees. Much also depends on the local climate and altitude. It is known that autumn comes faster in the mountains, at the latest, in the lowlands and plains with a mild climate.
There is also no better time than autumn to visit Polish vineyards. It is the time of harvesting that tourists can take part in. Every year the map of Polish vineyards grows by new places. Today you can find them almost everywhere - from Lubuskie, Lower Silesia, Lesser Poland, Świętokrzyskie, to Subcarpathia. Polish wines quickly gain a brand, and in tasting they often outperform competitors with much richer wine traditions. Vineyards are also perfect places to admire all colours of autumn.
Autumn can be associated with blight, rain and endless colds. It may or may not. Golden Polish autumn is the time when you can capture the extraordinary richness of colours in the world around us. We invite all tourists for a walk through this fairy-tale world. Early in the morning, you will see spider webs dotted with numerous drops of dew like pearls. They refract the rays of the waking sun, creating wonderful rainbow reflections. The gentle rustle of leaves dancing in the wind will soothe nerves torn by contemporary civilization. Let yourself "think colourfully" following the pattern of autumn colours.
Author: Agnieszka Szwedzińska
Date: 30.09.2021