Blogs from Lódz, Lódz Province, Poland, Europe

This years anniversary break was always going to be problematic. ? We believed that James was still going to be in the midst of his GCSE's and the week was oversubscribed at work so we were limited in what we could do. The initial plan was to stay in the UK and began looking at Kent and North Wales. Amazingly everything we looked at was either booked up or very expensive so back to the drawing board then. ? Next thought was to check the departure boards at East Midlands Airport for inspiration. Lodz leapt out at us - somewhere we haven't even heard of but we knew we liked Poland from previous visits. The Lodz flight was approx £30 so all good, until we realised there was a flight going to Warsaw at the same ... read more

First step the hardest one? Welcome all to my little shack of geographic discoveries!! No matter how far, how high or how deep you strive to go, the sole fact is, every journey starts with the decision to make! And quite often, this mental act proves the greatest obstacle to overcome! I have pondered a prospect of establishing a codified statement of those little and those a bit bigger journeys of mine for some time now… Whereas travelling beyond the geographic boundaries have always been integral to my psyche, then the writing was something I shied off. Not sure why. Perhaps because I do treat sojourn as a really personal experience? Either way, I decided to give it a go. I hope history will absolve me! ;-p Thus, keep your eyes peeled, for there will be ... read more

I'd heard that weddings in Poland were not like the average wedding so wasn't too sure what to expect. Many of the usual traditions we have here in Britain are not standard over there but instead they have many more of their own traditions! One thing I was sure of there would be lots of vodka and lots of dancing! In actual fact Gary and Milena's wedding far surpassed all our expectations Stan, Sharon and I arrived in Lodz along with Pam and Fred (Stan's sister and husband) on the Thursday before the wedding. We were all booked into the Ibis Hotel in the centre of town in close proximity to the Cathedral and site of the reception. In a short space of time we bumped into Dave and Claire (my brother) who'd travelled all the ... read more

Time well spent with relatives. Longest cafe, shopping street in Poland, Piotrowska Street. Holds large Jewish memorial as most of Europes Jews in WWII were transported to the Lodz Ghetto before being packed onto the cattle cars bound for Aushwitz. Sunday 29th was the 30th anniversary mass for Barbara's mother in a 12th century church in Zarnow the place she is laid to rest. Here also in the cemetery are buried Barbara's grandfather and his two brothers (along with whole families who were gunned down during daily life in WWII). ... read more