Twice in two weeks business has taken me to Łódź. Walking from meeting to meeting gives me a chance to capture the city's unique atmosphere which is created by fascinating late-19th century architecture in various states – from sad dilapidation to thoroughly renovated and all points in between.
Below: tenement (kamienica) on ulica Kilińskiego - neither a ruin, nor yet renovated, just getting on with providing local folk with housing.
Below: the impressive Poczta Polska buildings on the corner of ul. Tuwima and ul. Kilińskiego (right). Further on up Kilińskiego (far right), two new office blocks, Brama Miasta ('City Gates') A & B.
Below: there's not enough time or money to make Łódź perfect… But one day, one day…
Below: street corners yield new perspectives. Architecture from the time when Łódź was the westernmost (and fifth-largest!) city of the Russian Empire. (Larger than Łódź were only St Petersburg, Moscow, Warsaw and Kiev.)
Below: night falls on Łódź, and with it a light sprinkling of snow. Most Poles are aware that Łódź's ul. Piotrkowska is Europe's longest shopping street, but ul. Płk Jana Kilińskiego is even longer at 6km (3.75 miles) – though lacking in the retail experiences of which the better-known thoroughfare can boast. However, something tells me that once the railway tunnel under Łódź is complete, Kilińskiego will get a huge boost. But first, city authorities will need to give the unrestored tenements, shops and offices the necessary facelift to attract buyers and tenants. "Build it, and they will come."
Below: a short walk from TVP 3 Łódź studios, where I was interviewed about Polish-UK trade., to Łódź Fabryczna station. [With TVP Info now out of PiS hands, it's no longer a bash-the-opposition party propaganda outlet, so I feel entirely comfortable to return to the air on this channel.] At the station, I check train times and discover that my journey from Łódź Fabryczna to Chynów will only take a minute longer if I go via Radom rather than Warsaw. In either case I'd have to change trains at Łódź Widzew... As I've never travelled to Łódź to Radom (via Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Drzewica and Przysucha), I decided to do just that.
Below: the eastern end of the platforms at Łódź Widzew station. Now properly modernised, with the old footbridge replaced by a tunnel, a full-width canopy over the central sectors of the platforms, and refurbished waiting rooms. Not a bad place to change trains - even in the snow and frost. It's a 19-minute wait for the
Kociołek InterCity express, which runs from Poznań to Lublin via Łódź Widzew and Radom. Ideal. [
Kociołek - literally, 'small cauldron' or 'cooking pot'.]
Below: Radom station's modernisation included a new name (Radom Główny, to distinguish it from a slew of brand-new stations with the 'Radom' prefix), new platform canopies and a Scottish Restaurant. I must say I'm a fan – I shouldn't be, but I like ordering from a touchscreen, paying by card, having the meal delivered to my table, and having a standardised menu across Poland. Having said that, I gave it a miss, having eaten a hot meal with craft ale in the Wars buffet car on the InterCity train from Łódź.
Below: it's still there!
Plener – no longer an alcohol shop, as it was back in 2016, but now a 24-hour shop. That happens to sell alcohol. [The English language lacks words distinguishing 'day' and '24-hour period' – in Polish these are
dzień and
doba respectively. So -
sklep całodobowy can't be rendered by a simple English phrase.]
Below: Warsaw-bound Koleje Mazowieckie train on Platform 1, Radom Główny station, waiting for the off. The old Tsarist-era wooden building has been left in place as is and is at odds with the rest of the modernised station.
The train reaches Chynów… and I've not seen the southbound train passing. Turns out it was late - I was almost home as it passed the end of my road. So a double win of returning via Radom rather than Warsaw! [However, it must be said that because of my annual Warsaw travel card, the journey via Radom ended up costing me 7.13zł (£1.40) more than with a change at W-wa Zachodnia. And a propos of small sums of money, my annual land tax for Jakubowizna for 2024 will be 272zł (£53.23) - for a house on an acre of land. Not enough! I'd happily pay more to Gmina Chynów for the services it delivers!]
This time last year:
We're all on one spectrum or another
This time last year:
Qualia Compilation - playing with Lego
This time three years ago:
Onto the frozen pond
This time four years ago:
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2 comments:
Long life to round-the-clock alcoshops in PL :)
Good to know there's somewhere open throughout the night!
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