After a cramped and uneventful journey we arrived and were incredibly relieved to be greeted by a bracing wind as we stepped off the bus. A welcome change from relentless heat and constant perspiration. We made it to our hostel with minimal fuss and got to making our beds. A quick nip down the local Biedronka to pickup dinner (chicken and pepper fajitas with rice (how we hadn't had them on this trip yet, I don't know!)) we were pretty much set for our evening.
We woke up the next morning and were greeted by an always appreciated free breakfast. Unfortunately, the hostel had no clothes washing facilities and we were in desperate need of a fresh tshirt or 2. We headed for a laundrette that was recommended by the receptionist at the hostel. She told us it would be good and cheaper than the one they use, fantastic! After quite a trek through the old town (nothing like some sightseeing while carrying your dirty underwear in a bag) we found the elusive pralnia. It looked like a place where all the hotels take their sheets to be washed, with stacks of bed linen and ladies folding sheets. But, they happily accepted our 2 small bags and informed us it would cost 56pln (£9.50), which is extortionate compared to what we had been paying. Being desperate though we had no choice and reluctantly agreed. With that wash load off our minds we headed back to the hostel for a quick pit stop then straight back out to see the sights of the old town properly. Gdansk is another sprawling city, with its suburbs stretching for miles (as we would soon learn) but fortunately everything worth seeing is situated in the centre. We headed first for the huge Church of St.Mary, as we had already passed it twice going to and from the laundrette. We then took a stroll down to the riverside to enjoy all the boats heading up and down, the impressive structure of 'The Crane' and the river Motława itself. We turned off the river and beaded up the Main Street of Gdansk, Dluga Street, which is pedestrianised, flanked on both sides by cafes, souvenir stalls selling amber jewelery and street performers entertaining the tourists. We stopped for a moment to look at the fountain of Neptune but decided against a photo due to the swathes of tourists standing around it. Proceeding down we eventually came to the Golden Gate, which is part of the old city fortifications. By this time, we'd worked up a hunger, and headed back towards the river to pick out a place to have some lunch. We made for the opposite side and picked the only one going, as it was significantly cheaper and had much better views over to the main promenade along the river. After dining on the Polish staples, pasta and a chicken sandwich, we sat and enjoyed the sun, watched the world pass by, while we drank some good, cold Polish beer. The hours flew by, so we made our way back to our hostel to drop our things off and head to the laundrette to pick our fresh clean clothes up.
When we dropped them off we said we needed them today and they gave us the time of 8pm to go and pick them up. We got there for half 7 in the hope they'd be done and we could get back for dinner. Wishful thinking. They hadn't even started our washing, infact the bags were still sitting on the floor, untouched, like they had been completely forgotten about. Needless to say we weren't impressed. Even less when the man behind the counter said they'd be ready in an hour, maybe tomorrow. No chance my friend! We need them today we told him with more than a slight hint of anger in our voices. We sat and waited patiently while the lady washed and dried both bags and then folded them for us, not wanting to leave incase they closed the shop with our clothes stuck inside. 2 hours we had to sit there, eventually getting our clothes and heading home at half 9.
The next morning, with my now skin tight t-shirt on (we should have found a self service laundrette!) we decided to have a nice relaxing day, in preparation for a very busy and tiring one we knew we were going to have the next day. We simply strolled around taking the occasional photo here and there. The tuna, pasta and sweet corn we had to dinner probably being the highlight of the day.
We were up early to get some breakfast, keen to start the day off. We'd chosen to finally rent some bikes and utilise the extensive cycle routes to go to a town called Sopot 14km away. After a slight struggle, we found the bike rental place, which was more of an alleyway down the side of a shabby kebab restaurant. We signed our forms, then he asked for the money, obviously. It came to 80 zloty, so I took two 50 zloty notes from my pocket in order to pay him. He was rooting through his wallet to find a 20 to give me as change but pulled out a hundred instead and then seemed to think that I had paid him that 100 zloty note and then preceded to give me 20 zloty change on top of that! Despite being half 10 in the morning he did seem slightly tipsy, I put the money back in my pocket, thinking that he'd notice his mistake by the time we got back with the bikes and we'll pay him then. He took us down his alleyway to collect the bikes, passing through a gap in a fence leading to an unlit barn. Charlotte and I were apprehensive to enter but we did. I couldn't see a thing and Charlotte could only see shadows, there was hay covering most of the floor like it was used to house animals. I whispered to Charlotte "is there anybody else in here" and felt quite reassured when she said "no, just us 3". We collected the bikes, covered the assault course back out to the pavement and we're ready to depart.
We had hoped to hug the coastline as we made our way to Sopot but took a wrong turning and were on the main road out of town, which fortunately had a constant cycle path next to the pavement. After a few wrong turns and diversions we zig zagged our way into town, finding the gold sandy beach along the permanently chilly Baltic Sea. We also found the elusive coastal cycle path and followed it until we hit the main square of Sopot, which is right opposite its main attraction, it's pier. Sopot pier is the longest pier in Europe but actually isn't that impressive at all. You can't ride bikes on it, can't walk dogs on it and you can't fish from it. On top of that it is closed between 11pm and 8am and it had an entrance fee! I'll stick with wonderful Worthing Pier thank you very much. We continued along the coastal path until we reached the end, finishing on a secluded, sandy beach, with views right along the coast back towards Gdansk. We toyed with the idea of carrying on to the city of Gdinya but with our backsides already rather sore, we turned tail and started to head back. Keeping to the coastal path all the way this time, we reached the end and tried to find the Westerplatte Monument. We did eventually, but there was the Vistula River between us and it, so we took a few snaps across the river and headed on our way. The Westerplatte Monument commemorates the Polish defenders of World War 2. Westerplatte was where the first battle between Polish and German forces occurred during the Invavsion of Poland. All we needed to do now was make it back to the centre of Gdansk, which was slightly tricky, as our map didn't cover where we were. Through instinct and keep the famous Gdansk Shipyard, where the shipbuilders and Lech Wałęsa had formed the first non-Communist trade union in the Soviet Bloc and contributed to the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe , on our left hand side, we eventually made it back into town via some seriously dodgy looking neighbourhoods (we seem to have a knack for finding them). We returned our bikes and were greeted with "good trip?". "Lovely thank you" we replied and were on our way at a speed before the heavies came after us. Charlotte was keen to make the point "what comes around, goes around", I'm sure the bonus of not paying will come back to bite us on the bum, Karma some would say.
The rest of our evening was spent resting our tender backsides and packing for our mammoth coach trip the next day.
My brother, Rob and Charlotte's co-worker Iwona were full of praise for Gdansk before we arrived and we were not disappointed.
Up next, is our final stop in Poland, Kraków.
James and Charlotte
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