Going to Gdansk

Since the photo of Sharon and me catching 40 winks has become viral, I may as well start this blog post with the journey from Warsaw to Gdansk.

We were all up early in order to get ourselves to the Central Train station in Warsaw for our journey to Gdansk. We had ordered taxis the night before that picked us up at our condo and drove us to the station. A quick hit of coffee at the station and we made our way to Platform 2 for the 2 hour journey through the Polish lowlands, the moraines, and the descent to the Gulf of Gdansk. The journey was very pleasant and obviously relaxing!

The weather in Gdansk was much cooler than the previous days in Warsaw had been. We came prepared for the cooler weather and for the rain that we anticipated.

We arrived at the Gdansk Train Station around 11 and had straightforward plans to catch the 100 bus to downtown, enjoy some lunch, then head to our Air B&B for 1pm. The entire route for 100 lasted about 20 minutes and before we knew it we had made our way completely around the entire loop and were back at the train station. Some conversation between Sharon and the bus driver yielded a lot of confusion, the end result being that we got off of bus 100, walked about 200 metres down to the bus 100 bus stop and waited about 20 minutes for the same driver to come and pick us up so we could start the entire 100 route loop all over again! This time, we decided to get off of the bus and actually head into the town. We walked along the main square until we found a Polish Milk Bar. A milk bar is a cafeteria style restaurant that traditionally sold dairy products but has expanded its menu. They are popular with locals and offer cheap food. Kim and I shared a crepe platter that included cherries, strawberries, and apples and was passable. Calvin and Sharon both enjoyed fish. Abby and Arlyn also shared the crepe platter. Cafe Neptune was recommended in Arlyn's guide book. It may not be a place that we visit again but it was a must to experience eating at a Milk Bar in Poland. As always, it was a great place to sit outside and enjoy the hussle and bussle.

After lunch, we took a twisty turny walk to our accommodations. We had to walk up a number of flights of stairs in order to find door 20 where our host’s mother met us and showed us around our home for the next couple of nights. There was a lot of Polish and hand gestures to explain the different features and aspects of our acommodations. We decifered most of it, I think. There was three floors in our new home with narrow winding steps between the floors. I am sleeping in the room on the uppermost floor, Abby and Arlyn are sleeping one floor down, Calvin and Kim are in the living  room and Sharon is bunking in the kitchen!

Once we settled in and took a we break from the morning travel, we headed out to explore the town. There is a bakery directly across the street from our place and we stopped to pick up some Polish doughnuts and treats. We walked toward the town centre where Calvin and Abby got a couple of ice cream cones and we were off to the Tourist Information Centre to pick up a map. The employee thought that we were from England (I guess based on our classy accents).

We wandered through the square where kids were blowing huge bubbles that were being picked up by the wind and carried over the tall buildings. Next we wandered along the river where we watched a pirate ship dock. Gdansk is known for its amber. There are street vendors everywhere selling jewelry and all things amber.

As it was a damp and rainy day, we looked for an indoor(-ish) activity to complete which led us to St. Mary’s Church, and imposing building in Gdansk. Arlyn thought that it would be great to head to the top of the tower to get a view of the city and we all agreed. The first part of the stairwell up was a narrow spiral staircase. Arlyn lasted about 10 steps and then had to turn around due to a fear of heights. Kim, Calvin, Abby, and I decided to continue the quest for the top. The narrow spiral stairs lasted for about 200 steps. It was a terribly knee knocking journey. At the end of the spiral stairwell there were some bridges that we needed to cross in order to get to more stairs. These stairs, at least, were the more traditional steps that we are all used to and traveled the outside of the four walls of the square tower. We were able to look down the square tower to the tops of the bells that, thankfully, did not toll while we were there. In total, we climbed 405 stairs in order to get to the top of the church tower. The last little bit of stairs was more like a ladder in its steepness. But the view  from the top of the tower was worth every single hair raising step. We were able to get a 360 degree view of Gdansk. Although it was a bit rainy and misty in the distance the view from the top of the tower was spectacular.

The climb down was no less hair raising, especially when we returned to the spiral section and the last 15 steps which were rather ladder like as well. Sharon and Arlyn were waiting at the bottom for us and said that our facial expressions were very similar to all of the other patrons that had completed the climb and descent.

I chose to sit for a bit and wait for my knees to stop knocking. As I was recovering, I took the time to glance around St. Mary’s church. I guess I often find churches to be a place of contemplation since my thoughts led me to feel amazement and gratitude. Amazement that, only a few days ago I was sitting in my own living room in Guelph and that since then, I had travelled to Toronto, across the Atlantic Ocean, to Poland, stayed in Warsaw, and had taken a train to Gdansk in order to sit in this church that I didn’t even know existed until today. Travel is awesome. I was also filled with an overwhelming sense of gratitude. I felt gratitude for the mere fact that I am fortunate enough to be able to travel the world. I am grateful that I am able to have these new experiences, to wander at will. Mostly, I am so very grateful for the good friends that I have that have truly included me in their family and asked me along on this adventure. I am blessed. And maybe, just maybe that is what a church is meant for - a place where a person can pause, contemplate, be amazed, and feel a deep sense of gratitude.

I was really intrigued by this church. The interior was almost completely white washed which I found odd. There were parts of the church that had interesting displays that seemed out of place in that they were made of wood or were seemingly brought from elsewhere and placed in this church. Knowing that World War II started in Gdansk and that the city had been essentially razed during WWII, I thought it possible that the church had been destroyed and rebuilt and some of the parts had been saved and placed in the new church but I would have to research to find out. Research conducted, here are the results: Construction began in 1379!  It is one of the largest brick Gothic buildings in Europe. The church was well preserved until World War II. During the war, much of the items were removed and its bells were taken for the war effort. St. Mary’s church was severely damaged during the storming of the city by the Red Army in 1945. It was burned, the roof fell in, large vaults collapsed, windows were destroyed, some of the bricks melted, and the floor of the church collapsed. Reconstruction began in 1946.

There was also a really interesting clock that showed all 24 hours on the face, the astrological signs, day and night, and the months of the year. It chimed a couple of times as we were there and the figures of Adam and Eve clanged a bell to signal the time. Underneath of the main part of the clock was another circular face which was surrounded with numbers. We were unsure of its purpose but with research discovered that it shows the calendar of saints. It stands 14 meters high and had been severely damaged during World War II.

We walked down the street to see where we could eat dinner. The place that we chose was delicious. Kim and I chose a Polish beer called Tyskie, which was fantastic. We each selected the Kingdom plate of perogies which included 8 perogies with your option of four different flavours. This was a deliciously fantastic meal. We hit the grocery store up on the way home to get milk for morning coffees and some breakfast items and then back to our B&B for the night.

Thursday morning started with an easy rise to the sound of bells tolling from the Main City Hall. The bells chime every hour. After we had enjoyed our breakfast and prepared ourselves for the day, we headed directly to a bakery across the street from where we were staying and grabbed some Polish donuts, piping hot. We also grabbed coffee from Costa Coffee, which is quickly becoming our favourite coffee chain.

Gdansk is a very pedestrian friendly city and we were able to walk along cobbled streets while enjoying the facades of the buildings, which reminded me of Amsterdam’s buildings. Down the street from Costa was the Amber Museum. As I already noted, Amber is very popular in this area of the world as much has been found around the Baltic Sea. Amber is fossilized tree resin. We were provided with much information about amber in the museum and treated to a collection of “inclusions” which showed amber that had trapped flora or fauna. Apparently, this collection is second in the world for inclusions. There were a lot of examples that we were able to view. But apparently inclusions are a rare thing.

The Amber Museum is housed in the old jail. And so, the amber museum ended and a wee tour of the history of torture of prisoners began. I am not too sure why, but I always find this type of information very interesting. In different cells, we read about different types of torture. We also

saw a cell with a model of a prisoner in it to give us an idea of what his conditions would have been like.

Next up was the train to Sopot, a seaside village on the Gulf of Gdansk. Sopot seems like a very popular area for tourists and locals alike. It was very busy for a Thursday afternoon. Our journey was only about 20 minutes by train and I was put in charge of the map for the day. I guess I got off pretty lighty for map duty as the journey to the seaside was essentially down one street that was really set up to lead train passengers to the pier.

The main reason for heading to Sopot was to walk along the pier. Molo is Europe’s longest wooden pier. It was built in 1928 and is 515 meters long. The pier juts out into the Bay of Gdansk. We paid a small admission fee and then took out lunch out to the pier and had a windy picnic! After lunch, we continued our walk along the pier. The views were beautiful and it was such a treat to be near salt water once again. Apparently, Sopot is known for its high concentration of iodine. There are a couple of fountains in town where iodine flows within the water. Simply inhaling around the fountains is meant to be an effective treatment for lots of breathing conditions. There is a side route along the pier also where we all walked and then sat on the available benches and simply enjoyed the sun beating down on us. I am sure we all inhaled a great deal of iodine while we were there too.

We walked back along the pier, the kids grabbed a lody (ice cream) and we found the beach access down the way. It was shoes off and down the beach to the water. Toes made it into the Gulf of Gdansk but that was about it for us. The water was fairly cold. So, Sharon and I did some yoga poses. Calvin and Kim worked on a castle. Abby and Arlyn headed down toward the pier to feed the swans.

After a day for fresh air at the seaside, it was time to return to Gdansk. My excellent navigation skills led us directly back to the train station and on to the correct train for our return journey. We dined in Gdansk at a Lithuanian restaurant where Kim and I, once again, enjoyed a Polish beer. We tried dumplings, which are essentially doughy pockets of a variety of goodness. I chose chicken in one, potato and cheese in the second and raspberry and mint in the third. That was what I ordered anyway. I received some alternatives but they turned out to be delicious anyway.

After dinner, Sharon did some shopping for souvenirs and we walked back toward the town centre where City Hall and the Fountain of Neptune is located. Street performers were out in full force. There was a group of dancers, a spray paint artist, and a couple of guys playing large xylophones. On the hour, the City Hall bells began to ring once again. This time, the bells were accompanied by a trumpet playing quartet located at the top of the tower. The music lasted about 20 minutes and we continued to hear it as we walked toward our accommodations.

Our evening ended with all of us curled up on chairs and couches staring at our devices - adding pictures to Instagram, checking emails, writing blogs and the like. Another successful day!

Today, Friday, was our checkout day. We needed to be out by 11 but were gone by about 10, full of coffee and breakfast. Grabbing all of our luggage, we headed to the harbour. Our goal was to visit the Marine Museum. Fortunately, we were able to drop our luggage in lockers at the museum. Our tickets covered the museum, a tour of a ship, a short ferry ride across the Vistula, and a tour through The Crane.

The Marine Museum was a comprehensive look into Poland’s marine past from the Viking era to present day. What I found most interesting was the finds from a sunken tar ship. The items that were recovered, and encased in tar, were onions, garlic, and honeycomb. These items are preserved in time. Next stop was a tour through the first ship built in Poland after World War II, the SS Soldek, a coal and ore freighter. We were able to wander the insides of the ship and read about how Gdansk became an important ship building port. The ferry took us across to see The Crane which is an imposing building in the harbour. Giant man powered treadmills helped to lift cargo and to put up masts on ships.  

After returning to the museum, via ferry, to collect our luggage, we returned to the opposite side of the Vistula, via ferry, to make our way toward the train station, but first stop was lunch. Arlyn found a Mexican restaurant. Inside, Wimbledon was being aired on the TV. It made me laugh to think that I was in Poland, eating at a Mexican restaurant, cheering on a Canadian playing a tennis match in England. Our world truly is a small place. And a wonder.

We caught our train back to Warsaw around 6pm and arrived back in Warsaw around 8:40. A short taxi ride and we were back home. It is funny how a place becomes home really quickly. Tim was home from his flights and we spent a bit of time sharing about our journeys. It was really lovely to sink back into my home bed after our travels. Time to rest up so that I will be ready for the next leg of our adventures.

Gdansk street view from our B&B.

On the Molo in Sopot.

View from the top of St. Mary's Church, Gdansk.

Iodine and sunshine, Sopot.