»Piotrkowska Street: #1 priority! Longest shopping/restaurant/bar street in Europe, virtually closed to auto traffic.

»Off-Piotrkowska: Open area extending off the lower/Southern end of Piotrkowska. More bars, restaurants, music, grassy terrace, and of course Las Palmas—a favorite spot of Patrick and his Poland family & friends. Evenings in Polish summer are absolutely beautiful: being so much closer to the Arctic Circle than...Kansas City for example...means sunset/dusk lasts extremely long, and evening temps are perfect. Result: nothing beats Polish summer evening outdoor dining & cocktails (annual tradition: endless pina coladas for Patrick & Iza (his soon-to-be mother-in-law))

»Food & drink: Guests from Poland: you of course know all the wonderful options. Guests from America: some of you know pierogi and kielbasa. And Belvedere vodka (wódka). What you likely haven't seen are duck blood soup, blood sausage, fish jelly, poppyseed cake, cherry (or plum, etc.) nalewka, or someone sitting at a bar at noon on a Tuesday doing the Polish tradition of a bite of raw pickled herring, "chased" by a vodka shot, chased back by another herring bite. That person was Patrick, on his first Poland visit (we have silly video proof, if you must see it...). Be adventurous when you're here! And give that intimidating herring-vodka-herring combo a try at the wedding.

»Manufaktura: Former textile plant turned into a large shopping mall that wraps around a massive interior open space with sand volleyball, ice cream vendors, indoor-outdoor restaurants, and Pijana Wiśnia cherry nalewka...hot or cold.

»Łódź zoo: Marta & Patrick (and their niece Inka) absolutely love the zoo! So you should too. If you go, do the virtual reality Bahamas shark dive! The zoo is a few kilometers away from city centre. *Patrick is internally laughing as he writes this, wondering how many of his friends & family will troll him for sometimes betraying the Imperial system, but Marta says it best: why multiply and divide things by 3, or 12, or 5280, or 7.68423, when you can simply do everything by 10s. Hard to argue with logic.*

»Language: Polish is very tricky for a native English speaker. But it's fun to learn (said no English speaker ever besides Patrick). Learn a little before your trip or on the flight, and show off when you're here! People will absolutely love you simply for attempting to use what you know, before you inevitably ask "Angielskiego proszę?"

»Best restaurants: Lawenda, Restauracja Bulgarska, Cynamon, & many more

»Best bars: all of them. Literally.

»Museums/monuments/history: A park across the street from Manufaktura (sidenote: hip new coffeeshop called Szykier right by this park) which was a large ghetto in WWII. Underground bomb shelter bunkers built right before the war remain standing today, with the entrances visible from park walking trails.

»Palmiarnia (palm tree greenhouse by Marta's old work...great walking park nearby too)

Photos