As I previously noted, I am visiting Poland and participating in the European Travel Agent Forum as a guest and speaker on a Culinary Panel. Alas, there is always a price to be paid for agreeing to participate in a travel agent forum and even more so for a FAM (or familiarization trip), but at the same time one cannot lose sight of the appreciation for being given the opportunity to travel and to meet potential suppliers that might be of value to your clients. It is with this appreciation and the price I must pay for this opportunity that I write this article.
Eric Goldring, of Goldring Travel,
was a Panel Member at the European Travel Agent Forum
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But in addition to these one-on-one meetings, there are two lengthy presentations per day…and one lunch where I participated in the Expanding Your Business with Culinary Travel panel along with four other folks. Two were those suppliers I had truly hoped to meet and two were exactly why I do not like or endorse “food and wine” tours, but rather “culinary & cultural” ones.
Not far from our hotel was Cafe La Ruina i Raj; a truly enjoyable sort of hipster funky restaurant that was totally unexpected. Colors, unique signs, flags from many nations and the LGBTQ “nation” along with 1970’s classic rock music coupled with friendly service, an eclectic menu and young Polish patrons made us both say, “This could easily be in New York City.”
First up: Caipirinhas! I mean, “When in Poland…”. (Ironically, it was six years ago to the day that I had my first one; while on a Seabourn cruise Bar Sao Paolo in Ilhabela, Brazil.) It was then a very tasty pho and then Banh mi followed by a somewhat Turkish dish, but this night made with goose rather than beef (probably left over from Saint Martin Day). Everything was delicious. It was an unlikely, but rejuvenating, end to my Poznan, Poland experience.
There were, from what I can tell, three major factors that made the next two days so frustrating:
- Traveling with agents that really do not “travel”, but rather use FAMs to get cheap vacations;
- Traveling to a city that really has not enough to warrant two days there, no less drive hours to get there; and,
- Traveling with a guide that, while a fairly nice guy, really wasn’t very good.
Let me explain…and begrudgingly relive it.
The hotel is located across the street from a “palace” (mansion) and former textile factory built in the mid-1800’s now known as Manufaktura; a truly beautiful and huge facility that has been turned into an enormous and striking indoor/outdoor shopping mall with over 300 shops and restaurants.
Manufaktura – Lodz, Poland |
Our first stop was for a very late lunch at Galaicja, a very nice Polish-cuisine restaurant quite near the entrance to Maufakatura. After some local Polish cheese (nice, but not noteworthy) and beetroot pickled herring on a dark bread (delicious!) I tried both a Sour Soup and a thick Beetroot Soup (again delicious and though different in texture brought back memories of my childhood having borscht on a Sunday evening). This was followed by a very good pork sirloin with a variety of pickled salads coupled with a local dark beer (the first beer of note since I arrived).
We then toured a very small area of Manufaktura, including a small, but interesting, textile factory museum. The guide had early on mentioned the former creator and owner’s name; which I picked upon on “Israel Poznański”, but said nothing more. Eventually, as we were about to leave the facility that he said he “obviously” was Jewish…but never mentioned what happened to him, his family or all the Jewish workers that kept the 80 thousand spindles over twelve building operating. Breathe…and Never Forget!
(I subsequently did some research – though there is more to do – and challenged the guide about the history of this important Jewish family. Later on he would discuss another textile magnate and he, again, didn’t mention that he was also Jewish until I asked. As for how the families lost their huge facilities and mansions it was asserted that it was due to a downturn in the cotton textile market in between World War I and II. I’m not so sure that is the whole…or much of…the real story.)
Well, as I am sure you could surmise, the next day wasn’t better. After a very nice breakfast at the Puro Hotel, our day started at 10:00 a.m. (or really 10:20 a.m. because certain members of our group just don’t show up on time…ever). We had a bit of drive around town and then were taken to a new, and very empty, train station. I’m talking no trains and no people. And I am asking, “Why???”
Lodz, Poland’s new – very empty – train station |
It was then off to the Centre of Science and Technology and planetarium. Now, you might think this would be a quick walk-around, but nope. This was over two hours of wasted time walking around a brand new children’s museum established in an abandoned powerplant. My bonus: We had to sit through a 30 minute “3D” video meant for children that wasn’t very good, was a few years old…and was British? Huh?
It was at this point I really started to get angry…and it clearly was showing on my face as the guide kept asking me if I was all right.
We then drove to the other abandoned textile factory that is slowly being repurposed into small craft shops, galleries and offices. Our tour was not of any businesses (other than the small tourist office souvenir shop…because certain travel agents were upset there were no shopping opportunities), but rather a literal “walk around the block”. Believe it or not, we were running over 45 minutes late for our lunch (and our much anticipated escape from Lodz a/k/a 1.5 hour drive to Warsaw), but due to travel agent demand we stopped at the downtown tourist office so they could do some more shopping.
Worth a mention is the attempts at street art that Lodz is pushing as a cultural development. Basically, some not very good art has been painted on the walls of abandoned, collapsed or otherwise rundown buildings. I do appreciate they are trying to create Lodz to be more of an artist’s colony – an homage to its history as Poland’s film industry past (also Jewish, but again never mentioned…until pressed that the Jews owned almost every movie theatre and movie set) – but it really came across to me as more akin to lipstick on a pig.
One of the best examples of Lodz, Poland’s street art.
I believe the girl’s sad face pretty much says it all.
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Finally something good: Lunch! We were taken to a small, family owned, restaurant named Restauracja Gargoly. The family and staff were wonderful and the food…and there was a huge amount of it…really, really, good. From beef tartar and pate to a super-fresh salad to excellent chicken soup with freshly made noodles to huge pierogis (the best I have had!) and pork sirloin, I was quite happy.
Unfortunately, because we were running so late, the ability to really sit and enjoy this true Polish cuisine was rushed…and made worse when – though knowing we were very late and had appointments in Warsaw – a couple of the travel agents insisted on having a coffee. I would say, “What the hell were they thinking?” but at this point I knew they were not thinking of anything other than their selfish immediate wants.
We were finally off to Warsaw, Poland…almost two hours late and now in rush hour traffic in the rain. Will we make our planned Chopin concert? Only time will tell.
A closing thought: I did take the opportunity at lunch to nicely challenge our guide as to why our time in Lodz, Poland was so sanitized of anything Jewish. The short answer is that his instructions were not to focus on the past, but on the rebirth of Lodz. While we did have a bit of a discussion as to why it is impossible to properly look to the future without remembering and understanding the importance of the past, it was clear that it was time to yet again: Breathe…and Never Forget!
Interested in traveling to Poland? Please give me a call, drop me an email or send me a Facebook message!
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