What is Lodz?
1.
(to be pronounced: woodge). Other names (German): Lodtsch, Litzmannstadt. Nickname: The Boat City.
Poland's second largest city. Population 850'000. Located in the very centre of
Known for the Festival of Dialogue of Four Cultures. However, today Lodz is (I dare to say) a Polish monoculture. In its industrial past days, large German, Jewish, and presumably Russian communities were present in Lodz, luckily (or not) leaving surprisingly little, if anything, in Lodz mentality and folklore.
Lodz is to be associated with art, both on its underground and highest levels. Many gifted people, ranging from brilliant film-makers (Kieslowski, Wajda) to superb deejays (chiefly drum'n'bass, but also house, and electro are very Lodz beats) live or have some roots in here.
A grim, postindustrial climate of Lodz's inner city areas is not a myth, yet it actually creates the place's unique atmosphere. In the midst of these hell-on-earth areas shines the bliss of Piotrkowska Street, the city's beautiful thoroughfare and social life centre, surely another Wonder of the World.
Outside its run-down, older central areas, Lodz is a Socialist version of heaven, with huge parks and colourful blocks of flats. Contrary to typical newcomer's fears, the crime rate is relatively low here.
Lodz is cool. Hey, at least, it's not Warsaw...
Lodz is dull for those who dislike discovering.
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