Discovery of the century - Gdansk!
Discovery of the century - Gdansk!
Dear passengers, our plane made an unsuccessful landing attempt, we will go on the second circle and try to land again. What does "let's try" mean? Landing is not allowed on the second lap. When the pilot begins to reassure passengers, convincing them that they should not worry, it becomes really dumb. At first, the flight was quiet, without turbulence, until it came to landing. Retracting the flaps, turning the turbines into afterburner mode, the aircraft shrouded in clouds abruptly changed the angle of flight from landing to takeoff. In the cockpit, one could hear how the thrust in the turbines changed and the vertical speed began to increase sharply, fortunately for passengers marked “positive”. A growing overload was felt through the body, and behind the porthole, oblique clouds were rushing at high speed. I agreed to return back to Kyiv, but without any second landing attempts. The clouds turned out to be fog over the runway, it's good that our pilot realized this in time, and landing with a raised nose allowed the plane to easily make a dangerous maneuver. After 40 minutes they gave the go-ahead for the next attempt. Across from us was a man filming his first flight on his mobile phone. He felt better than anyone because he probably didn't know that something out of the ordinary was going on. When the pilot did make a successful landing, everyone really applauded him sincerely, I thought that even someone would carry a bouquet of flowers to him now. When I got off the ramp, I was happy to be on the ground. ; border-width: 0px; margin: 0px" />
Flowers for the pilot!
Upon arrival, we were waiting for an endless visa check, we were about fifth in line and stood for about 50 minutes. An officer with a clearly inoperative fingerprint scanner scanned each hand of the arrivals for five minutes. Moreover, some of them were eventually sent to an additional board in a separate room. The officer didn't want to face the fact that the scanner simply didn't work. We also had a grandmother in front of us, who flew to visit her son and did not shoot the hollow for how long and where exactly she flew. She was translated by a nearby girl who, apparently, saw English only in pictures. I wanted to help, but it would have looked even dumber. After several dozen repetitions of the phrase “I came to my son, ” the officer finally believed in her goal. The scan of my hands took a couple of minutes, but Dasha's prints were scanned for more than 10 minutes. After that, we were sent to a separate room for an additional scan. The chief officer, having looked through Dasha's passport, admired the number of our travels and took fingerprints.
Our hotel was on the outskirts, and in booking I found out that there was no reception and the access code had to be requested in advance. After writing a message to the hotel to send me the code, we went straight to the center. It was necessary to solve the problem with backpacks, so as not to drag them. Although they are light, they are nevertheless an extra burden. The solution came, of course.
After eating in a restaurant, before paying off, we asked to leave our things for storage until the evening. The waiter happily agreed, and we left her a tip. Everyone is happy! Moreover, we now have an incentive to return to the cafe for dinner. The mood was uplifted. I also wanted to talk about the kitchen. We sat in the vareniki, which had an assortment of vareniki for every taste.
We set ourselves the goal of trying all kinds of this delicacy in three days. In Gdansk, ice cream is sold on literally every corner, which is actively in demand. Our dessert was predetermined.
Of course, not our Gourmand, but the portion is spectacular.
On our tablet, many places that need to be visited in the old city were marked, but when you get into it, your eyes literally run up where to go first. The map with the route, we put aside. Here, even without a route, it was clear that we would have to walk well. There was a feeling when you see a beautiful back street, you want to go to it, on the way you turn to another attraction, from it to the third, and in your head there is more and more a list of places that you liked along the way.
The first 30 minutes were enough for Gdansk to become one of the three most beautiful cities in Europe that we visited. To be honest, before the trip, I imagined a small town. And here the work of art is built.
We have not yet reached the main canal, the photo from which is featured in all guidebooks, but we already like the city. Moreover, we constantly had something to eat, I love gastronomic tours. In the meantime, the hotel manager came to his senses and sent me an SMS with the door code, but we were in no hurry, it would be possible to check into the hotel at night. For the first two hours we walked with our mouths open, discovering more and more new streets for ourselves. One of them, Mariacka, made me especially happy.
This is probably the most beautiful place in Europe. Stone dragons hung to drain rainwater from various decorative balconies, openwork railings everywhere, lots of flowers and cute details.
As for flowers, this city has completely turned my worldview about how flourishing a city can be. And hundreds of cozy, constantly filled cafes.
How did we even end up in Gdansk, if I had no idea about its existence a couple of months ago. At one point, I noticed the news about the new Vizeira route from Kyiv in time. Since the route was just opened, the first tickets were sold very cheaply. I had to make an urgent decision about an unplanned trip. While Zayets and I went through photos and reviews of Gdansk in about ten minutes, the auction tickets for August were already sold out. I started booking them for September, Dasha at that time quickly went through other available dates. I entered the registration data for the purchase at a record speed. Apparently, I'm not the only one who followed the news in the world of air travel. By pressing the "Pay" button, we get our cheapest tickets in the history of air travel - 996 UAH (36 euros) for two in both directions. Cheaper in hryvnia, we had only Budapest, but at the rate it was more expensive.
After the last trip to Krakow, friends asking: “Where next? ” wondered when the next country was also Poland. They are harsh promotions, but we have never had such a thing, so that twice in a row to the same country. We have already been twice in countries that call themselves the capital of amber, but the prices for amber products in such countries were almost more expensive than gold ones. It seems that the capital is still Gdansk, because amber can be mined at least on your own in the city fountain.
It didn't look very attractive from the outside, but it was worth trying and the instincts of treasure hunters woke up somewhere inside us. Entertainment is free, whatever you find - all yours, it was a lot of fun. It was a day off, everyone had a full rest.
While someone was looking for treasures in the fountain, some league of superheroes was walking around the city, a drunken group of guys were driven on an electric car, among which there was even a penguin man, a street orchestra began its program in the arches of the old city.
A blue sky overhead, no more hints of morning mist. The trip was an impromptu format, we were faced with a choice, wait until dark and take a walk around the night center, or go to the hotel, which is located on the embankment line and admire the Baltic Sea. It seemed that we would be in the center more than once in three days, but the route developed in such a way that we would only miraculously find ourselves in the center. We tried to book a blah blah car to the authentic city of Torun, but drivers with perfect reviews ended up simply canceling their trip or rejecting the application without explanation despite their instant confirmation option. At the railway station at the box office, they tried hard to shove Intercity for 50 euros, and the woman was very indignant that we asked to sell us tickets by ordinary electric trains with transfers. Without looking at the screen, she stood her ground that the price there was the same as at Intercity. I had to delete the town from the plans, or rather, shift it in case there was absolutely nothing to do.
After having dinner in a cafe familiar to us with pancakes under salmon and two portions of regular dumplings, we still went to look at the night city. It was no worse than daytime, and the illumination of the giant Ferris wheel attraction was also pleasing. We lived on the outskirts, away from the center. We had to go by tram for about 25 minutes. We were in for a little adventure. We had an access code, but our hotel was not at the address, or rather, its address was not in place. We searched for our Amber studio for a long time, studying in detail the nooks and crannies of the street. At some point, we found Amber house, hoping that the search was over we entered the code, which was successfully rejected. Luckily, a guest was in the hotel. The girl said that in the morning she faced the opposite problem when she got to our hotel instead of hers. She described to us in detail how the building we needed looks like and what kind of brick it was built of. I already thought that she would continue to tell the story of who built it and when, but she did not go into such details. Finding the building of our hotel, unsuccessful attempts to move in did not end there. Room numer 5 ended up on the fifth floor without any code entry devices, and the door, which had no handle, was very mangled in part of the lock. It looked like a zombie was trying to bite off a lock. All this action took place in complete darkness by the light of flashlights on the fifth floor of a residential building. Yes, it was not for nothing that this hotel cost almost three times cheaper than the others - 50 euros for three nights. What to do is not clear. We went to inspect the "hotel" further. There was a combination lock on the door with number one. Well, there is nothing to lose, let's try to enter our code. And he came! Behind this door was the kitchen and six more doors. The same code, as the SMS said, unlocks all the doors and it also came up to our room number 5. And what, conveniently, if you want to visit - just dial the same code. Our room was essentially a converted balcony. Many in the reviews complained about the cold, in our case, on the contrary, it was hot in the room. The procedure for finding pillows and getting towels was more abrupt than getting amber in the fountain. At first it seemed that we drove into some kind of hole. But in the end it was a really good decision in terms of location and price. Everyone, sleep!
On the second day, we decided to explore what was there in the neighboring two cities. The cities are located at a distance of 17.5 km from Gdansk along the coastline. By the way, it's time to finally get to know the sea. During yesterday's festivities in the center, it was not possible to get to the sea. The morning was so overcast and foggy that the color of the sea almost merged with the sky.
The most interesting thing is that the embankment line is very similar to the Sri Lankan one - a paradox! A native Pole approached us. Having found out that we do not speak Polish, he told us different stories from life. It was informative. It's cool when you understand a language in which you can't speak a word. After a five-minute conversation, we moved on. There was a bike path along the embankment. We both had the idea that it would be nice to rent bicycles. Fortunately for us, in five minutes the thoughts materialized, and we were already riding bicycles. Rent for the day cost 40 zlotys (10 euros). I didn’t have to leave anything as a pledge, as I understand it, everyone simply has bikes and no one is going to steal them.
The rental manager gave us a lot of useful advice, at one point I realized that she was speaking Russian with us. I was a little upset, because I thought that I already understand Polish so easily. The bike route Gdansk-Sopot-Gdynia is very, very picturesque. Here you will have forests, and parks, high cliffs above the sea, fun descents from the mountains at high speed, a lake with an island and many more interesting things.
The coolest thing on the route was a long forest, through which the same paved path ran. It was impossible to drive in a straight line all the time, because there was always something very picturesque on the sides and it was impossible not to turn off the path. After driving the first couple of kilometers, I had to go back and change the seat, as it was too narrow for me, and the road was expected to be long.
On the way, from time to time I came across free bicycle workshops - racks with a set of tools and a pump. Our first stop was in Sopot. We were given a chain with a key, so that at any time we could park the bikes. Where to park them is not always clear. We chose fences that are as similar as possible to bicycle racks. The truth was constantly haunted by the thought, what if they were taken away by some kind of tow truck. The old part of the city is quite small and obviously loses to the beauty of the route between the cities. There was a long line in the city at some cash desks. It turns out that the main attraction here is the longest pier in Europe, which for some reason everyone really wanted to go for a walk. The price was about two euros per person. We did not really understand the essence of entertainment and did not waste money. Such piers come across quite often, but the type is not so long and free, but why do you have to pay for it, and there are a lot of people who want it. As the saying goes, “For every product there is a consumer”. After spending about an hour in the town, we set off on our way. Meanwhile, the sky has already turned clear blue and the sea has acquired its color.
The road became more and more beautiful and picturesque, at one point we simply arrived at a dead end.
On the one hand, the beach, on the other, the mountain and the forest. Bicycles to the parking lot, and themselves on a hiking route through the forest. We thought at first to go there on bicycles, but it was not clear for sure whether it was possible to ride a bicycle along these routes. The forest was big and dark.
It seems that the trees did not grow that densely, but the light was shaded. Many forest paths led to panoramic sea views from high cliffs.
We walked through the forest for about an hour. Returning back to the parking lot, we drove towards Gdynia.
On this trip, it was convenient that we were constantly monitored by GPS. True, he brought us to a dead end an hour ago.
There was a bike path along the main road towards Gdynia, mostly downhill. At one of the sites there was a display with a counter of cyclists who had passed during the day, we were about three thousand.
Soon we arrived at the central park in Gdynia, where we easily found a parking lot. We walked around the town itself for about an hour, enjoying the atmosphere of vacationing tourists. The main concentration was on the beach. The city center is quite cozy, but against the backdrop of the beauty of the route we have already traveled, it is just a city.
All the beauty is in those forests and parks along which the bike path ran. The return route, judging by the map, was along the beach. The road was quite interesting. Cranes of various shapes protruded from the water, cyclists on one wheel juggling with skittles rode towards the meeting. Sometimes there were couples on pedal cars. After driving a couple of kilometers, we ran into steep steps. The Russian-speaking guy was asked if there would be a road there. He gladly wanted to tell how to get to Gdynia, and when he found out that we were going to Gdansk, he became sad in surprise. At the top, there was a path leading to a forest. This forest turned out to be the one through which we walked on foot, on the other hand. Basically had to drag bikes up. Lonely rays of the evening sun shone through the trees. It will be getting dark soon, and there is at least one more forest to pass ahead. Oddly enough, but even in the forest, the GPS showed us where to go. We got out in a completely unfamiliar place. The tablet pointed us to go to a completely unknown wilds. Or take a steep detour. At first we rushed through the city from the mountain, from which there were excellent views of the city itself. Then the paved road turned into a path, and we again rush through the forest along the fence with barbed wire. Behind the fence of the barracks. Where the navigator led us was known only to him. But the main thing is that everywhere there was a path. Judging by the end of the path in the form of a several-meter cliff, those barracks did not expect our presence at all. But we left clearly on the city highway Gdynia-Gdansk. But the forests were somehow more familiar to us, at the next turn we turned into a network of parks. And they were already rushing along the roads known to us. Our whole route took ten hours, the bikes had to be handed over before 21:00. Handing over bicycles, we asked the woman what we should do tomorrow. To our surprise, she had a route ready for us for tomorrow, though not on bicycles, but on trams and trains. She also solved the issue with the night transfer to the airport. She also exchanged money at a mutually beneficial exchange rate. As a token of gratitude, I can only recommend her bike rental opposite the 48th entrance to the beach in the Brzezno area. Cool, I love trips in which you can form a route as you go. Too bad it doesn't work for long trips. For dinner, I wanted something exotic. We ordered Flounder's fish for salmon dumplings.
Flounder turned out to be just as delicious as I imagined it when watching a cartoon about the Little Mermaid. More recently, we enjoyed Shaun the Sheep in one cafe, and now Flounder. Too bad there was no Sebastian crab on the menu. In the morning we planned to go to the center after dinner, but after a ten-hour route we did not want to go far from the hotel. Since we were drawn to the forests, we even went to some woods at night. The beds in our hostel were far from the most comfortable, but we slept soundly after such an active day. True, at six in the morning I had to get myself up to turn off the alarm clock... in the kitchen... not my own... Unfortunately, the owner of the phone slept even more soundly in one of the rooms.
When traveling, it is very important to save time on breakfast. Finding a cafe and having breakfast is sometimes quite problematic. The most ideal option is a hotel with breakfast or take provisions from Kyiv with you. In this hotel we had the second option. After breakfast we went to Oliva Park. Since the park did not impress us, I will not go into details. The park is small and nice, but unnecessarily far from the city.
There is a cathedral near the park, in which various mechanical sculptures play along with their instruments while playing the organ. We just got to the moment of the game. There was a train stop not far from the park. Therefore, we had a quick and tasty meal in poppy and went to the city of Malbork.
Malbork
The city is an hour's drive from Gdansk. He earned his recognition as the largest castle in Europe. Moreover, the central station is almost more beautiful than the castle itself, although it is much inferior in size.
From the station, you had to walk through the old town. The city turned out to be cozy too. Around Gdansk, all the towns turned out to be somehow cozy) Entrance to the castle costs eight zlotys (2 euros). At the box office there is a group of guides offering their services. But here the main thing is not to get into their networks, because the coolest entertainment is an audio guide. They are issued at the box office for free, there was also an audio guide in Russian. The male voice begins to tell about the history of the castle, indicating the place where he will be waiting for you to continue the story.
The player itself tracks your route with the help of a satellite and waits for you to approach the specified place. The color display shows a photo of the next point and a pointer in which direction to go, in case the guide's instructions were not clear.
If you wanted to, you could go off the route. The player will continue to follow and tell the story of the places where you are now. Not only is the castle itself about the size of Hogwarts, it is also a marvel of technology. We were so wildly delighted with the tour. The full effect of the presence of a real guide. The quality of the speech was very high and the story interesting. Climbing the highest tower also cost 8 zlotys (2 euros).
The guide took us for about an hour and a half. And somewhere else we wandered around the various back streets and streets after that.
This is really the most beautiful and large-scale castle in our experience. Behind the castle is a long bridge across the river. Where you can stare at one point to digest the culture shock.
We were late for the scheduled train back by one minute, so that we had another two and a half hours to get to know Malbork. We even managed to find the geocache treasure during this time. Dumplings in one of the local cafes were simply delicious, and, as always, with non-standard filling.
Already in the evening we arrived in the center of Gdansk. It is convenient when the train stops near the old city. It was the last evening in Gdansk, we had to enjoy it to the maximum. The night center is very romantic. The only moment - in 12 hours you have to be in Kyiv at work. In this regard, you will not walk around the center for a long time. It seemed as if our adventures were already over, but for some reason our only tram, going to the outskirts, did not arrive for a suspiciously long time. Against the schedule. After about 30 minutes, it became clear that something had gone wrong. With a glance of the tester on the electronic scoreboard, he found signs that showed that some of the trams present would obviously not arrive today, their lines were slightly different from those that were not behind the schedule. Then another and running line suspicious. We checked with the Pole what is written there. There was a break in the line. You need to go to another number, then transfer to the bus. The Pole, fortunately, was on the road. Another number was brought to some industrial zone and dropped everyone off near the bus. The half-asleep bus driver said that he would not go anywhere, go to another stop. We walked about 15 minutes to the next stop at a fast pace. There was no stop at that point. But people gathered and waited for something. Our road to the hotel has already passed the second hour of the time. Neither buses nor taxis wanted to stop. After about 30 minutes, a bus pulled up and took everyone in the direction of the desired area. But even he did not reach the district itself, dropping him off among the night streets. The most interesting thing is that part of the crowd was waiting for that bus for about forty minutes to drive only a couple of kilometers on it. The Pole said goodbye to us, our route was picked up by a tablet, the charge of which did not at all count on night adventures. We walked another 20 minutes to the hotel. Despite the deep night, we found a night shop and traditionally bought ourselves European cheeses. Initially, the plan was to get enough sleep and at four in the morning to go to the airport in a cheerful taxi. As a result, I had to get enough sleep in the hotel, and in the taxi, and on the plane, and in the waiting area. Luckily the taxi driver came to pick us up on time. We got three seats on the plane, which made the way back comfortable. When I woke up, my office was visible through the porthole. It's a pity there was no one to wave from the plane at such an early hour.
Epilogue
Gdansk was the discovery not only of the year, but of all the past four travel seasons. Of all our trips, this particular city exceeded our expectations dozens of times. It was one of the best trips, albeit a short one. But we will definitely be back, these forests... parks. We will definitely someday gather in Iceland and connect it through this city. In the meantime, our three-month visa was successfully rolled back, as was the last turn of my foreign visa, which I managed to fill almost from scratch in four years. It was the first trip of the fifth season, see you soon!
Trip Information
Date of travel: 10.09. 2016 - 13.09. 2016
Trip type: Weekend
Duration: 3 full days
Visa: Obtained on my own for Portuguese travel
Transport: Wizz air
Hotels: Amber Hostel
Excursions: All by yourself
Trip difficulty: 1/10 (very easy)
