We docked in Gdynia and woke to poring rain. So we geared up and headed out for our adventure.
We were pretty soaked after 15 mins of walking.
But our back street walk to the train station paid off with a random boar sighting.
There were three moms and five babies.
The walk was seriously wet with the path being covered with water at times but it just added to the adventure.
We finally arrived at the station and Lily was absolutely soaked through. I had forgotten how useless the maroon rain jacket was.
So while Greg bought train tickets Lily and I found a new rain coat and threw the useless one away- good riddance.
The new jacket was enormous and went past her knees which actually made her very happy - more protection. The purchase also included two random bags of caramels which we enjoyed while waiting on the covered platform.
After our 20 minute train ride we arrived in Gdansk and Natali stepped in as guide since she had done all the research for this day of the trip.
Deluge Targ is the Main Street through Gdansk.
In spite of the dreary weather and the less than stellar pictures due to the weather we all loved Gdansk right way. The main city, or central historic area was so lovely.
We walked through the Golden Gate on our way to Deluge Targ, known as Long Market or Royal Way. These old prisoner holdings were put to good use on our way through the gate.
We learned that much of Gdansk was destroyed by allied, mostly Russian, bombing at the wend of WWII so much of the old town has been rebuilt in it's own unique style and I loved the look they gave the city.
Everyone was thrilled to get out of the rain and thankful for the coat room to hang our wet things when we arrived at the City Hall Museum. We were disappointed that the tower was closed because of the weather but we enjoyed drying off while we explored the museum with its incredible stair case.
The wood work on this door was incredible. Greg stopped and took a picture which was so reminiscent of my childhood with Grandpa Dame taking picture of doors in historical homes that I had to laugh.
Do you want a rat statute on top of your credenza?
Putting back on our rain gear we headed into the beautiful streets with a quick and disappointing bakery stop (Natali loved the poppyseed cake that she had read was a must try - but she was the only one).
We weren't sure why but this little arch was counting the number of people that walked under it, Andrew had to walk through a few times.
Even the newer parts of town blended into the motif of the rebuilt old part of town.
We made our way through the beautiful streets on our way to the pierogi place Natali had researched.
Anyone thirsty?
The Stary Meyn Pierogarnia didn't disapoint. We didn't have to wait long and were accommodated at a huge table.
While we waited to be seated Emily and I found this lion fountain and Andrew messed around with Lily's hood.
Our waiter was invaluable as he guided us through the menu and offered suggestions. A pierogi is a filled dumpling that is boiled or baked. We tried some baked...
some boiled,
and some boiled then fried (most of us agreed these were the best ones).
We got several different filling and dipping sauces as well as some tasty bread as an appetizer.
We had to wait 40 minutes for the dishes but we all agreed it was worth the wait (and no one was complaining about free wifi and a dry place to sit).
The only disappointment was the we probably should have ordered a bit more because Andrew was still hungry and Lily didn't love them as much as everyone else so she was hungry too. We promised to find a snack further down the road and headed to St. Mary's Basilica.
We were grateful the tower wasn't closed and we began our journey.
The rain intensified but the kids still enjoyed a cold smoothie while we walked.
and a warm Oreo chimney cake. We waited in the rain far too long for this dough on a stick to bake but the kids were very happy so worth it in the end, and at this point what is more water?
The rain did make it hard for everyone to wipe the Oreo crumbs off their faces which was quite amusing.
We exited the old section of town through this arch which is the backside of The Crane built between 1442 and 1444 harbour crane, water gate, and served as part of the cities defense. In the 16th and 17th centuries Gdansk was the largest port in the area and traded with much of Europe, the crane was most important during this time.
We still had lots of places on Natali's list to visit so we booked it over to the famous Post Office, one of the spots where WWII broke out and employees attempted to defend the facility. Unfortunately, the museum was closed so we just enjoyed the architecture and headed to the amber museum.
On the way the kids saw a bung of cats on the other side of this fence but as they approached the cats ran to shelter.
A little cove out of the rain with cat beds and everything. We named it kitty church, since the building was a church and it made some of the kids very happy after the disappointment of the post office.
The line at the amber museum was long, everyone looking to get out of the rain. We did the math and decided it wouldn't be worth the money for how short of time we would be there so we headed back into the rain and back to the boat.
Might as well play in the kiddy water park when you are already soaked through.
By this point my hiking boots were filled with water and they stayed dry. much longer than everyone else tennis shoes.
Many of the kids shoulders and arms were wet through their rain coats and all of our pants were soaked through. The rain hadn't taken away from the magic of Gdansk but we were all ready to get dry.
On the train Greg wanted to show off his three dry spots before he sat down and the moisture spread.
Getting off the train we knew we still had a 20 minute back street walk to the harbor. We wanted to catch a bus to the harbor but failed and in the process there was some miscommunication and disagreement which led to Greg taking off on his own longer but drier path. I told the kids I was going with Greg but they wanted to stick to the original path so they took off on their own. The rain had intensified again and the sidewalks would wash out in waves when cars drove by, but as long as you could avoid that the path Greg and I took back to the boat was mostly free from puddles. We made it to the boat just behind the kids. Greg and I chose to shower, dry off, and warm up missing the formal dinner but catching the buffet instead and the kids dinned without us. I was just happy to be warm and dry.
We were lucky to have two different trivia events that night and met some new friends, Sueme and Susie from Malaysia and Ireland. We teamed up for both nights and even with an impressive 7/10 we didn't win the prize. The Disco Night show was actually one of our favorites with great costumes and music that had us singing and dancing all night.
Steps: 21,265
Flights: 48
Interesting facts:
The first shots of WWII were fired in Gdansk.
St. Mary's Basilica is the largest brick church in Europe.
Gdansk is known as the "amber capital" of the Baltic Sea.
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