波蘭羅茲(Łódź): 眼花撩亂的後工業轉型盛宴

圖1: 羅茲壁畫 (photo by the author)

本文首先發表於Matters

羅茲在波蘭是座相對年輕的城市，它可說是工業革命的產物。蓬勃的紡織工業吸引大批人潮湧入淘金，使羅茲一度被稱為應許之地。也因此，大量的工業地景為現代藝術家、設計師以及商家提供了絕佳的舞台。如同我先前的文章所提到的，羅茲的都市藝術 – 尤其是壁畫 – 讓這座後工業城市在相關愛好者間頗富盛名(還是其實只有我這樣覺得?)。我確實是因為巴沃提的孩子才前來，但我也很期待看見其他繽紛、輕盈的作品。但由於數量眾多，我只能有幸觀賞其中幾個。

羅茲最有名的街道，莫過於ulica Piotrkowska(皮歐考斯卡大街)，據說在歐洲是數一數二長的商業街道。

圖2: ulica Piotrkowska (photo by the author)

在這條商業大街兩旁，就有幾幅壁畫。圖3的壁畫，上頭畫的都是與羅茲這座城市有關的人物。圖4的壁畫，則是羅茲最大的其中一幅。圖5的壁畫，則是出現在羅茲典型的工廠建築上。

圖3: 羅茲壁畫 (photo by the author)

圖4: 羅茲壁畫 (photo by the author)

圖5: 羅茲壁畫 (photo by the author)

當然，大部分的壁畫都不在ulica Piotrkowska上，像是圖6(不過這個壁畫離商業大街不遠)，以及我很喜歡的封面圖片(圖1)的那隻鹿。

圖6: 羅茲壁畫 (photo by the author)

但最讓我喜歡的，是由Paulina Nawrot與Ola Adamczuk設計、用來紀念道明會800周年紀念的一系列作品(圖7 - 10)。尤其是圖9與圖10，他們對於藍色的運用，真的是賞心悅目。

圖7: Paulina Nawrot and Ola Adamczuk作品 (photo by the author)

圖8: Paulina Nawrot and Ola Adamczuk作品 (photo by the author)

圖9: Paulina Nawrot and Ola Adamczuk作品 (photo by the author)

圖10: Paulina Nawrot and Ola Adamczuk作品 (photo by the author)

除了壁畫，羅茲也有大量的雕像，但我對於雕像的興趣不大，只拍了一張(圖11)。圖11的小熊叫做Miś Uszatek，是當地動畫工作室創造的角色，自1957年起陪伴波蘭孩童長大。連同Miś Uszatek在內，類似的雕像總共有9個。

圖11: Miś Uszatek (photo by the author)

圖12建築的外牆，由許多玻璃馬賽克妝點而成。其靈感來自創作者女兒的眼疾。天氣好的時候，作品整體效果驚人。

圖12: Róża's Passage (photo by the author)

羅茲除了壁畫的另一個重頭戲，當然就是前工廠建築的變身。其中最著名的例子，就是Manufaktura(圖13-15)，在波蘭是自華沙舊城區重建以來規模最大的整修計畫。

圖13: Manufaktura (photo by the author)

圖14: Manufaktura (photo by the author)

圖15: Manufaktura (photo by the author)

對於都市地景與歷史有興趣的人，羅茲真的是一個非常迷人的地方。期待能有更多的旅人來探訪它(雖然gentrification的負面影響讓人好奇...)。

Der Himmel über Schweden

當我在隆德念書的時候，有一個正在斯德哥爾摩交換的台大學弟，因為想來瑞典南部看看，所以跟我聯絡，希望能在我家當沙發客。後來我記得是接待了他兩天。之後我們再也沒有見過面，僅在臉書上更新對方的消息。

前一陣子，他在美國離開了這個世界。

自從我爸過世，我對於英年早逝這樣一件事情，總是無法接受，甚至是感到無比恐懼。也因此，這個僅僅只有兩天之緣的外系學弟之死，讓我非常焦慮地想知道他究竟發生了甚麼事情。家屬或許基於隱私以及對於往生者的尊重，並未透漏任何細節。所以我只能從底下他朋友的留言，來拼湊真相。

雖然他的朋友們沒有明說，但任何有心去了解的人，都會明白發生了甚麼事。在知道了這個可能的真相之後，有一種難以言喻的感受湧出心頭。那是一種出於意料之外的震撼，卻又參雜了些釋懷之感。

hej! 學弟，你知道嗎? 每當感到無力與憤怒的時候，我總是會試著去想起瑞典的天空以及海洋，因為對我來說那是一種冷冽卻又讓人安心的藍色，然後我似乎就又有了繼續遊戲人間的動力。

最後，希望你在另外一頭，能繼續實現你的夢想，並且守護你最親愛的家人，我在這邊也會好好加油，不讓自己的瑞典精神被德國人給擊垮(?)。

A scorched sun doesn't make any silver lining at all

Vienna, summer 2011

Both Before Sunrise and Before Sunset have been quite famous since they were released in 1995 and 2004 respectively. The way of storytelling based on conversations demonstrates how unique they are and why some people are obsessed with them.

After finishing watching Before Sunrise for the first time, I did really like it.  But what impressed me more was the idea of taking train from Budapest to Paris Lol.  I told myself that I must go to Europe and do the same thing! Well, I mean taking trains across the Continent, not meeting random girl, which is good of course. Anyway, I did fulfill this self promise during my two-year study in Europe. Thanks to Schengen agreement, the good transportation system and interrail pass, I could indulge myself in the ecstasy emerged from all the unrestrained moving. Moreover, the added values of all the journeys were the people I met, the stories I go to know and how they've taught and encouraged me. All in all, PEOPLE, wherever I met or bummed into, are the most supremely beautiful elements comprising my days in Europe. 

No sooner had I come back to Taiwan than I realized how much I changed. All the changes should have been blessings. But now they look like courses and afflictions that join forces to torture me. I am not going to dive into the details.  Anyway, I did really miss Europe, and therefore I watched Before Sunrise and Before Sunset the other day again Lol. I was so emotional as soon as I finished Before Sunrise this time. It reminded me of the freedom I have been in pursuit of. Most important of all, it partly exemplified the answer to life I have been looking for. I did find it somewhere and I knew how different life would be if I stuck to it.  


Someone might say that I simply romanticized what I've experienced. Well, I believe that we as human beings somehow usually incline to romanticize the thing we think of as "this is it". Furthermore, the romanticization might become more formidable if this thing is lost or taken away. I think this is the reason why I could partly get what Julie Delpy said in Before Sunset (even though it was not the same with my case) :


 "I was fine, until I read your fucking book! It stirred shit up, you know? It reminded me how genuinely romantic I was, how I had so much hope in things, and now it's like, I don't believe in anything that relates to love. I don't feel things for people anymore. In a way, I put all my romanticism into that one night, and I was never able to feel all this again. Like, somehow this night took things away from me and I expressed them to you, and you took them with you! It made me feel cold, like if love wasn't for me!" (note 1)

Paris, spring 2012

The family and the friends we are close with always want the best of us, and therefore they adopt the so called "positiveness" as the principle to help us out of the difficult time we suffer from. I did really appreciate of what my people have been trying to help me.  But what I need is not only being positive but also understanding my deep dark sides. Wiping out wounds is good. But if there are scars, you have to take different measures since the legacies will stand there everlastingly. If you merely keeping disguising them with "bright sides", it just like a propaganda. This is why I love so much Julie Delpy's saying as quoted in Before Sunrise:


"I believe if there's any kind of God it wouldn't be in any of us, not you or me but just this little space in between. If there's any kind of magic in this world it must be in the attempt of understanding someone sharing something. I know, it's almost impossible to succeed but who cares really? The answer must be in the attempt." (Note 2)



It was this space where I saw my answer.  It was this space where some sort of essential nature was able to transcend both cultural and language barriers.  It was this space where the darkness was recognize! Positiveness didn't make any difference. Why? Because it's not about dark side. It's about me! It seems that so many people simply forget that the silver linings have always come from the back of clouds. Of course bright side does play a crucial  role in tackling problems and in pursuing the ideal lives. However, overwhelming sunshine is not called silver lining. It is, on the contrary, the sunlight  that will scorch the eyes. 


Now I am here. I am in this adorable Taiwan and I suffer more from  solitude than I did during the days in Sweden. I grotesquely lose the ability to feeling the lovely temperature. I am like a crazy, spoiled zombie who bites people randomly. It is so ironic, isn't it? 


But I will keep trying to reestablish the space and then recapture the answer as I have promised. If it doesn't work, I will just leave. I will lust leave...






Note 1: 
Please see http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Before_Sunset

Note 2:
please see http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/368938-before-sunrise-before-sunset-two-screenplays

[遊記] 前言: 我在歐洲逃避現實

從6/24晚上起 至 8/29早上止
5個晚上的夜巴
6個晚上的couchsurfing
12個晚上的hostel
13個晚上的夜車(火車)
15個晚上的朋友家
15個晚上的宿舍(巴塞隆納的summer course)
以及 3個小時的車站(科索沃)

其實不知道該如何下標題:P
也不知道該如何記錄今年夏天這段自我放逐的旅行

前期品質不錯
後期因為使用interrail pass走馬看花
並且因為大量的火車夜車(非臥鋪)
導致品質極速下降XD


總之 就先把行程記錄下來吧XD
以下就依時間序列把所待的地方列出來
之後有時間再慢慢書寫文字吧~
可能是流水帳 可能是...隨便寫XD

阿姆斯特丹, 荷蘭                        (6/25-6/27)
巴塞隆納, 西班牙                        (6/28-7/24)
Ljubljana, 斯洛維尼亞                  (7/25-7/27)
Dubrovnik, 克羅埃西亞                (7/28-7/29)
Tivat / Kotor / Budva 蒙特內哥羅 (7/29-7/31)
Pristina, 科索沃                             (8/01-8/03)
Tirana / Saranda, 阿爾巴尼亞       (8/03-8/07)
Thessaloniki, 希臘                          (8/08-8/09)
Sofia, 保加利亞                             (8/10)
Bucharest, 羅馬尼亞                      (8/11)
Sofia, 保加利亞                             (8/12-8/14)
Bucharest, 羅馬尼亞                      (8/15)
布達佩斯, 匈牙利                         (8/16)
維也納, 奧地利                             (8/17)
蘇黎世, 瑞士                                 (8/18)
柏林, 德國                                     (8/19)
Bratislava, 斯洛伐克                      (8/20)
Basel, 瑞士 / Frankfurt, 德國          (8/21)
Bremen / Aachen, 德國                   (8/22)
Strasbourg / Metz, 法國                  (8/23)
Dresden, 德國                                (8/24)
烏特列支, 荷蘭                             (8/25-8/26)
波昂 / 科隆, 德國                          (8/27)
柏林, 德國                                     (8/28)