Visiting Poland
Today I’d like to share photos from my short trip to Poland earlier this spring. Each time I go there I’m amazed at how quickly everything changes there. The country gets prettier year after year. This last decade, since Poland joined European Union, was especially transformational. During my stay I did a lot of strolling around Warsaw but also had a chance to go on day trips with my friend Malgosia to Torun, Sopot and Gdansk. As always my main activity while visiting Poland however, was catching up with friends and family. Everybody is of course busy with life but it’s amazing how much you can squeeze to see and do into a two-week window when you don’t have any other choice. Here are some of my favorite faces I saw during my visit…
Torun is one of the oldest Polish towns. It escaped the damage during the WW II so all the red-brick buildings are authentic medieval Gothic. Besides its magnificent architecture, Torun is famous for two other reasons: as the birth place of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (Mikołaj Kopernik in Polish) and for its delicious gingerbread – (torunskie pierniki). Even though it was a gloomy day and I had just a few hours to explore the old town the visit was totally worth it! Here are two Torun icons: Copernicus (Kopernik) and gingerbread (pierniki)
Copernicus house was barricaded by this group of school kids on a field trip
Lots of history in these medieval walls
After a few hours of walking we stopped at a restaurant for this typically Polish dinner – pierogi and then for a dessert at a local bakery.
While strolling around the old town in Torun I noticed these tiny people statues (below) in totally unexpected places. So cute…
Sopot, the Baltic Sea spa town, was next on my list. This town has always been and still is a resort for the rich and famous. Tucked in between Gdańsk and Gdynia (and one of the Tri-Cities) Sopot still has a small town charm. The totally renovated seafront with the longest wooden pier in Europe, historic Hotel Grand and a nice beach attracts tourists all year long. When we were there the day couldn’t have been more perfect. These two swans in love greeted me at the beach…
Beautiful art nouveau architecture of Grand Hotel in Sopot.
Crooked House (Krzywy Domek) reminded me of Gaudi’s architecture is Barcelona.
I was surprised to see a tractor raking the beach. This was something I remembered from my childhood vacations at the sea side, but honestly I have no idea what is the purpose of this activity. The beach might look cleaner but it isn’t really because the trash just gets buried under the sand. It somehow felt awkward to step on the raked sand, as if I had muddy shoes on a clean carpet…
After spending our morning in Sopot we drove to Gdańsk (Danzig) for the rest of the day. Gdańsk is famous for its long history as well as the birthplace of the Solidarity labor movement that eventually helped overturn the Communist regime in Poland and Eastern Europe. Gdansk was totally destroyed during the WWII but the Old town was meticulously restored and can now be admired in its old glory. Neptune Fountain is a popular meeting point in the center of Old Town…
The bronze statue of Neptune made at the beginning of the 17th century is the oldest secular monument in Poland.
St Mary’s Gate leads to one of the most picturesque streets in Gdansk – ulica Mariacka. Now lined with artisan amber jewelry shops it’s a must-see for visitors. I loved the the ornate old terraces and stone dragon water spouts.
After a full day of walking I took high speed Pendolino train back to Warsaw. These trains were introduced just a year or so ago, so I was excited to experience the ride. Here is the main train station in Gdansk.
And below are a few more photos, this time from Warsaw.
I loved to see how many more people use bikes in the city. There are bike paths everywhere and even special stop lights for bikers!
For many years Warsaw had just one subway line, but they recently opened the second one. With lots of traffic on the streets this was my favorite way to travel in Warsaw.
And here is a car (called Maluch) that was considered the dream family car in Poland in the 70’s. As you can see there are still a few left around today. Can you imagine an 8 hour summer trip to the seaside with a family of four and several pieces of luggage in it?
I hope you liked looking at all of the photos and if you still want to see more I invite you to see my older posts about previous trips. Enjoy!
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