Polish Seaside

Main street in Gdansk
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I just got back from a long weekend in Gdansk which is the main seaport for Poland. This is the city were the Solidarity movement started that ended communism. It also has one of the largest ship building ports. The city has a lot of World War II history attached to it also. We stayed with some friends of Ania’s so they were able to take us around and show us the local sites.

The first stop in Gdansk was the main street. The city’s buildings look very close to Amsterdam in a way. It building is a different color and they are close together. Then we climbed the city hall tower to get an overview of the city. Then we saw the lift they used during the middle ages to unload ships. After all that we had lunch down by the canal where they were serving fresh fish. To finish our tour of Gdansk we headed out to Westerplatte which was this first battle of WWII. There are some bombed out barracks and a monument showing the location. It was time for some fun as we went go-carting in a parking garage. It was probably the most fun go-carts I have been on. They were so fast and the track was challenging. I bet they got up to 40+mph. I know they wouldn’t allow go-carting like that in the states. Driving them was like being on the endge of total chaos. We were off to Gdynia where we were staying. After a snack we headed to Sopot for the night. It is where many of the famous people in Poland hang out. There are many bars and clubs in the little town. After a fun night of hanging out with the Polish it was off to bed.

The next day we went out to Hel peninsula. It’s a narrow stretch of land that sticks out into the Bay of Gdansk.

Middle ages port lift
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The next day we went out to Hel peninsula. It’s a narrow stretch of land that sticks out into the Bay of Gdansk. We walked around the port and saw an exhibit of sea lions. Then we head to the newly opened old military base. There we saw many underground barracks and gun post. It was cool to climb some of that stuff which was used during WWII. We finally made it to the beach and you could see the open Baltic Sea. I started to walk the shoreline to find amber. It is very common in this area. Ania bought a little bag of amber that you put with strong vodka and you make an elixir that is suppose to cure many aliments. After a full day in Hel we went bowling for the night. It was a very nice bowling alley but the Polish aren’t too good at the game.

Looking for amber
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On Monday Ania and I back to Sopot to do some shopping and walking around. We walked the longest wooden pier in the Baltic. After lunch we decided to take the long way home and walk the beach. Soon after we had to jump on our train back to Krakow.

Tomorrow Ania is taking me to a castle and I hope to see some European bison. Then on Thursday I am finally getting to tour the Tyskie brewery, one of my favorite beers. Then on Friday we are off to Croatia for a week to relax by the seaside. I hope everyone is enjoying their summer.

Check out Prague and Gdansk pictures: http://photos.yahoo.com/moose127