Łódź…
Spent two wonderful days here. Arrived from Warsaw on Friday afternoon and took a taxi to Damian’s house (the cousin of Kate, from Warsaw). He and his brother and I spent some time getting acquainted, then at around 10 pm went to meet Marcelina, the waitress that James and I met while in Albufeira, Portugal. We agreed to meet in the town center and so it was…the name of the bar excapes me, but it was massive with there floors and packed with people. Damian and I met up with Marcelina and went for a drink at a quieter pub. I had a typical Polish drink made with vodka with a special grass…something like that. It was good, but this would prove to be the less painful of my partakings in Łódź tradition!

 
Half the crew from the evening…notice the “art”  ha ha!  Bushi…or Baltimore on my left…I don’t think he even has a real name…eh, Bushi?  ;)
From there, back to the first place for a little more “atmosphere”. Then…there’s a tradition in Łódź. It goes like this: before the evening gets really going, everyone buys a bottle of vodka and heads to the central gas station to sit on the cement wall and drink vodka. I thought they must be kidding, but sure enough, we come walking around the corner and the wall is just littered with the night’s empty bottles…these people drink vodka like it’s beer. Really.
So, in about 2 degree weather we sit and, between the three of us, finish off the bottle of polish vodka called Absolvent. I think it’s a Polish word meaning grappa…which is an Italian word meaning that which tastes rather bad and makes for a vicious headache the next day!

After the bottle of rubbing alcohol is done, we go back to the first bar to meet many of Marcelina’s friends. This girl, it turns out, is like the unofficial mayor of Łódź and knows just about everyone, everywhere we go. So, I make a ton of friends and the night was terrific.

Me with bottle of “death” and Damian holding the cups…

Hilarious…Marcelina…met in Albufeira, Portugal.  …it’s a little COLDER now!  Notice gas station in background…

Sat. Woke up early and went for some lunch with Marcelina and her brother Maciek (pronounced like “magic”). Saw the old city a very small amount and took a good tourist photo or two. Visited a funky, independent movie theater called Lemon (only, in Polish)..definitely something 99% of tourists would miss alltogether. Very cool place.

Sat. night started at my new residence, Maciek’s house. We learned that the state between New Hampshire and New York is called “vermin”….with a polIsh accent… Ha ha. Played some guitar and of course, there was the vodka again. Everyone sang along to a song or two…even in Poland where I was told that no one appreciates live music! Ahem.

Luckily, we skipped the gas station tradition and went straight to a small club called Coffees and Toffees for some dancing. By the end of the night, I’m pretty sure I knew 20 people. It was like being out at home, where it’s impossible to walk from one end of the bar to the other without stopping 15 times to say hello to people. It was great…then out into the rain for a taxi…
Spent the night at Maciek’s house and went this morning for breakfas…perogies!!! so good!

They took me to the train station…again, parting is such sweet sorrow.

Was a great weekend with amazing people everywhere I looked. Marcelina and Maciek were too kind and really gave me one of the best couple of days I could imagine in this small-ish, industrial town. Endless thanks to them for their kindness and generosity!