Day 2 25/11/07 - Poland

Gdansk

Highlight

• There was a small selection at breakfast, which was good so I didn’t get too full.
• It snowed in the morning, though only lightly, so the landscape was speckled in white
• We got a tram to Central station, and discovered all the bread shops located underneath, and the roaring trade they were doing.
• Started our city tour of one of many many brick churches, which everyone was going to for mass.
• Went to the “Road to Freedom” exhibition, which was an excellent display of Poland break from communism, which all started in Gdansk of course. The exhibit was made all the more poignant when you realised that it wasn’t that long ago.
• Met a very nice Polish guy when we were walking on the street, who talked to us about his life in Gdansk and helped us to find our way. He worked for some company with dealings with America so his English was quite good, and he displayed his pride in his town.
• We certainly attracted a bit of attention as we were the ONLY Chinese in town.
• Docks area to see the memorial to the fallen protesters and “the gates” where the dock workers separated themselves from the rest of the authorities.
• Down Long Lane, the old town, which had been completely rebuilt, and was very much like Munich.
• Lots of amber and jewellery stores, who display their wares on little tables out on the street.
• By chance, met an Aussie from Brisbane. They were part of an expat community who were out and about preaching Jesus to us and even gave us a copy of Awake!
• Lunch was a great find. It was a little pub situated below ground. It was full of people and the food was cheap and tasty. I just didn’t get the pictures of male naked bums that was hanging everywhere?
• Walked around the Marina, saw some unrepaired ruins of WWII, which were really the only remnants you can see from the war.
• Viewed “the crane”, but didn’t pay to go in, and the boats.
• Got tickets to go to a concert (Chopin of course!) at the concert hall.
• Climbed up the hill to a cemetery (with a cross of course) with great views over the city, which we actually managed to cover most of in one day.
• People eat very early here. We were there at 5pm and some people were already finished. The venue today was a perogi specialist, and I have to say, their perogi was very very good indeed. I was really tempted to try the perogi dessert but I was too full.
• The concert was in a small hall, but it was classy, and lots of kids go too. The pianist was excellent for a small hall in Gdansk. He even gave us two encores. He played a mixture of Schubert and Chopin.

Food

• La Petite Hotel breakfast:
  • raspberry yoghurt
  • muesli with pineapple
  • boiled egg and mango
  • cheese
  • ham
  • bread and breadstick
  • sausage
  • curried egg
  • apple juice
• paragon fiskanlny (fried donut with apple filling and icing sugar) (1.80 PLN)
• <>lunch:
  • zurek (sour soup) (4.5 PLN)
  • bigos (stew) (10 PLN)
• forest fruist chocolate (.9 PLN)
• <>dinner:
  • mushroom soup in rye bread (12 PLN)
  • pierogi with cabbage and mushroom (17 PLN)
  • pierogi with game (22 PLN)