Hello Everyone,
We went on another tour of a different part of Poland this weekend. We went to Lodz, which was a lot of fun. I was sure it was going to be exhausting (we don't get much down time to just sleep), but it was pretty worth it. We went dancing with our Polish friends, Piotr and Szimon (sorry if I spelled your names wrong, guys) the night before, so we were extra tired and not exactly enthusiastic to take the train to a new city. However, the train ride was relaxing and we made it to Lodz in no time. Lodz is the second largest city in Poland and once had a large textile industry. It is also home to one of the largest, if not the largest, Jewish cemetery in Europe. This cemetery was our first stop. It was beautiful. There were a mix of new and extremely old gravestones. The cemetery is still open to burials, so many parts of it were well kept. Other parts, however, were extremely overgrown and broken. It was almost as if the gravestones were part of the greenery in some places. The trees had completely taken them over with leaves, ivy, and moss making them green and organic looking. There is conflict among the Jewish community as to whether or not these areas should be cleaned up. The overgrowth is a clear indication of how Jewish life was completly eradicated as a result of the war. Following the visit to the cemetery we saw the Museum of Cinematography featuring great posters of Pola Negri and other famous movie stars. We went to a restaurant, Greenway, for lunch after that. Greenway is part of a chain of vegetarian restaurants in Poland. Lastly, we visited Manufactura, which was formerly a textile mill. Recently, though, it has been converted into a modern mall. There is a large sand pit for volleyball and a playground, as well as many stores and restaurants. The look of this place is very cool because there is a lot of glass and other modern architectural attributes overlayed onto this really old, brick textile mill. So, the weekend was pretty good, but I'm really exhausted. School and the work load from it have started to accelerate, which is becoming somewhat overwhelming- but there are only 11 days left.**Photos (thanks Molly): Lodz Train Station, Jewish Cemetery, Manufactura**
We went on another tour of a different part of Poland this weekend. We went to Lodz, which was a lot of fun. I was sure it was going to be exhausting (we don't get much down time to just sleep), but it was pretty worth it. We went dancing with our Polish friends, Piotr and Szimon (sorry if I spelled your names wrong, guys) the night before, so we were extra tired and not exactly enthusiastic to take the train to a new city. However, the train ride was relaxing and we made it to Lodz in no time. Lodz is the second largest city in Poland and once had a large textile industry. It is also home to one of the largest, if not the largest, Jewish cemetery in Europe. This cemetery was our first stop. It was beautiful. There were a mix of new and extremely old gravestones. The cemetery is still open to burials, so many parts of it were well kept. Other parts, however, were extremely overgrown and broken. It was almost as if the gravestones were part of the greenery in some places. The trees had completely taken them over with leaves, ivy, and moss making them green and organic looking. There is conflict among the Jewish community as to whether or not these areas should be cleaned up. The overgrowth is a clear indication of how Jewish life was completly eradicated as a result of the war. Following the visit to the cemetery we saw the Museum of Cinematography featuring great posters of Pola Negri and other famous movie stars. We went to a restaurant, Greenway, for lunch after that. Greenway is part of a chain of vegetarian restaurants in Poland. Lastly, we visited Manufactura, which was formerly a textile mill. Recently, though, it has been converted into a modern mall. There is a large sand pit for volleyball and a playground, as well as many stores and restaurants. The look of this place is very cool because there is a lot of glass and other modern architectural attributes overlayed onto this really old, brick textile mill. So, the weekend was pretty good, but I'm really exhausted. School and the work load from it have started to accelerate, which is becoming somewhat overwhelming- but there are only 11 days left.**Photos (thanks Molly): Lodz Train Station, Jewish Cemetery, Manufactura**
2 comments:
I opened the blog this morning and was so happy to see the weekend update....the cemetary reminds me of the one featured in the end of the movie Schindler's List. Can't believe you only have 11 days of your trip remaining.
Miss you. Suz XOXO
Hi Lee,
I'm visiting some friends in Akron with Linda Hoffman and checked your blog and shared it with them. They thought it was very cool. I loved the description of your weekend which sounded so interesting. The pictures are great too. Any luck in finding your camera. We had a big section in the Sunday Free Press Travel section about Krakow with pictures of the salt mines. I saved it for you. Enjoy all of your remaining days. love, karen
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