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Blog of that guy who’s wandering around. 📸

  • Kacper Ogień

    A visual artist. His posters can be found on the streets of Łódź. You can find him on Instagram.

    I accidentally discovered the Surindustrialle café-gallery, but unfortunately haven’t been inside yet

    I accidentally discovered the Surindustrialle café-gallery, but unfortunately haven’t been inside yet

    About an hour before this photowalk, I was at the dentist because almost my entire lower wisdom tooth crumbled in the most annoying way, leaving behind a shard of enamel that was stabbing my gum like a spear. I got numbed in two places, he did a filling and cut out a piece of the gum. It’s only a temporary fix — I’m supposed to come back in a while to get the tooth completely removed. I thought it would be hard to focus on the walk, but it really wasn’t — I had a nice time wandering around aimlessly.

    There are a ton of those little faces in Łódź (like in the pic below, top right corner). They seem really simple, but they’re super distinctive and eye-catching. I’m really curious who’s behind them, and if they can be found anywhere outside Łódź.

    Now this one’s easy. I mean the image below, top right corner again — the guy with the “broken” nose. The black-and-white comic style of Krik Kong, a street artist from Gdańsk, is easy to recognize.

    You can find a lot of posters around Łódź by Kacper Ogień. I really like his style — those thick painted lines, expressive and bold, combined with slogans that make you stop and think.

    I had no idea this place even existed. I came from Plac Wolności (Freedom Square), walked into ul. Legionów (Legions Street), and turned into some courtyard, where I saw a bunch of plants and sculptures made out of metal.

    On the sign, I read that it’s a combo of a teahouse, café, and art gallery called Surindustrialle. I started taking pictures of everything that’s set up in the courtyard outside the entrance to the place. There’s so much stuff there, it took me a moment to take it all in.

    While I was taking photos, a guy came out of the place, so I started chatting with him and found out two things. First, that there used to be even more stuff in the courtyard, but they had to move some of it because of renovation works happening in the neighboring library building. And second, the café used to be open all week, but now it’s only open on weekends (Friday 4:00 PM–10:00 PM, Saturday 12:00 PM–10:00 PM, Sunday 2:00 PM–9:00 PM). Sadly, it was Tuesday when I was there, so it was closed, and I still haven’t seen the inside.

    I did some snooping on Surindustrialle’s Facebook and found out a few things: you might run into a duck and a goose there, they serve lemonades, waffles, chocolates, and teas, and they’re completely alcohol-free. Also — sadly — they’re going through another rough patch in their history. I really hope this place survives, because cities need these kinds of initiatives. I’m planning to swing by this weekend, grab some tea, and snap a few photos of the interior.

    There’s a beautiful piece near Pasaż Róży (Róża’s Passage), a sphere made of hands. Sadly, I don’t know who made it, so I can’t link anything, but it blows me away every time I see it.

    And another poster by Kacper Ogień (above, bottom right corner).

    That guy walking with the dog (below) — we talked for a bit, about his husky girl and our husky boy, Zefir.

    Over a week ago I wrote that I still hadn’t caught Maniak Pizza open — that food truck with those weird pizzas that come with cone handles. Well, on this walk I finally did! I love those pizzas!

  • Kacper Ogień

    A visual artist. His posters can be found on the streets of Łódź. You can find him on Instagram.

    The day I bought a Nintendo DSi + Broken Sword 1 on the Super Pocket

    The day I bought a Nintendo DSi + Broken Sword 1 on the Super Pocket

    What I love about pocket-sized handheld consoles is that they can tag along on totally analog adventures. I just toss one in my pocket, pack a few things in my backpack, and head out for a few hours, wandering wherever my feet take me.

    I grew up in Gdańsk, a big city on the north of Poland, by the sea, but now I live in a tiny village in the center of the country, near a much bigger city—Łódź. (I wonder how you guys imagine pronouncing that name, given that three out of its four letters are Polish special characters.) Since I’m on a three-week vacation, yesterday morning I packed my Hyper Mega Tech! Super Pocket into its case, grabbed my backpack, and hopped on a train to Łódź from a station in the next village over.

    I spent the whole day aimlessly wandering around the city, taking photos—because I love it. Łódź is super photogenic, a city full of contrasts. Some parts look sleek and modern, while others feel straight out of a gritty post-apocalyptic game, falling apart in the most atmospheric way.

    The weather kept shifting, and when the sun was too bright, the Super Pocket’s screen became unreadable. But when clouds rolled in or when I was indoors or on the train, I played Broken Sword 1 & 2 from the Evercade cartridge. I adore this series—especially the first two games. I replay them every 2–3 years (sometimes more often). And I’m having an absolute blast playing my favorite adventure game on a pocket-sized console.

    The controls felt weird at first since it’s a point-and-click game, meaning you have to move the cursor with the d-pad. But they added some handy shortcuts: pressing Y moves the cursor to the inventory bar, X jumps to the topic bar, and holding L1/L2 slows the cursor for precision while R1/R2 speeds it up. After about 15 minutes, I got used to it, and it felt OK.

    Out of all handheld versions (excluding the Android one—I don’t like gaming on my phone), this is simply the best. The Game Boy Advance version was heavily simplified and lacked voice acting. The Nintendo DS version was a Director’s Cut with extra story bits, but again—no voice acting, which is crucial for the atmosphere of this cult adventure. I wish the Evercade cartridge had the Director’s Cut version, but having full voice acting on a pocket-sized console makes up for it!

    I also brought Indie Heroes Collection 1, 3, and 4 (sadly, I don’t have 2—it’s unavailable in Poland). Small indie games are perfect for quick gaming breaks between city wandering. But in the end? I got so hooked on Broken Sword that I didn’t play anything else.

    This whole experience made me realize how freaking awesome it is to have a handheld console with licensed cartridges. It also made me realize we desperately need a Super Pocket 2—with a slightly bigger, preferably OLED screen for better outdoor gaming.

    During my wandering, I visited three different small local video game stores. One focused on modern consoles—PS5, Xbox Series, and Switch—which I wasn’t in the mood for. But the other two had a ton of Nintendo DS games. I’ve always wanted a DS but never owned one… well, scratch that—I didn’t own one. Because I found a white Nintendo DSi in one of those stores, the Irydium at Placu Wolności 9, in great condition at a great price. So yeah, I bought it. My first DS ever. And I’m already in love with it. It’s such a shame Nintendo doesn’t have a dedicated pocket console in the current generation—it would be amazing!

    To wrap up the day, I hit up a pub, had a craft beer called Triple Smiles in Polish (a nod to the ‘smiles in Polish’ meme), and played Professor Layton and the Curious Village on my new DS. (Fantastic series, by the way!)


    PS: That was a really great day. I highly recommend you try something similar! I’d love to see your photo diaries of city strolls with your handheld consoles.