Part VIII - Last few in Gdansk and and the airport as my hotel

Just witnessed our World Cup hosts being wiped off by Germany like bugs on a windshield. Whew. That was a match and a half..and it’s not even over yet. Emotions running high. Neymar and Silva are sorely missed.

(A/N: 0:7. This is surreal.)

(A/N: Half an hour later. Germany’s in the finals, 1:7. Am looking forward to seeing all the bad memes tomorrow morning when I wake up.)

Watching Germany hammering Brazil to bits was one huge emotional rollercoaster, accompanied by the whooping shouts of the other spectators in the halls, and my roomie’s quips on the horrified/elated expressions of the audience in the arena. Oh gosh golly. Will attempt to focus on the task at hand.

As mentioned in the previous entry, I took the 15:28 bus back to Gdansk central station. And what do you know, they have wind turbines here, exactly the same as the ones in Scandinavia.

When I got back to the city centre, walked around ul. Dluga for a bit, and bought some of their soft ice cones - which are the best I’ve ever tasted in my life. This country never fails to surprise me, and I am of the staunch opinion that one’s life is not complete if one has not tasted a Polish ice cream.

 YUM! I didn’t take a picture of the ice cream since my hands were too full, so had to make to with the big plastic uneatable one outside the shop.

The ice creams are incredibly cheap as always, 5 zloty for a medium sized one and 6.5 for a large one.

Found a fairly nice place to have dinner, and these are some of the best potatoes I’ve ever had in my life.

Took bus no 210 from Gdansk Glowny to the airport after dinner, which cost 1.50 zloty (again, LOVE the cheap transport) and took around 40 minutes. My flight back to London was at 6am the next day, and I figured that I’d just kip in the airport, since the timing was just too bad. I don’t like being outside after a certain hour.

I’ve never actually had to wait in an airport overnight for a flight, and for a first timer, this one wasn’t half bad, and I do see myself doing this again in the near future. Gdansk airport was very nice, and the wireless was free, although negligible, and not provided by the airport itself, but by one of its shops/sponsors/clients. You just have to keep clicking till you find one that works for you - in this case, ING. I found a seat next to a power outlet, and used my tablet for about four hours whilst waiting for it to charge.

I have a love-hate relationship with these flight announcement boards - I’m always hurrying to some boarding gate or terminal when I’m looking at them, but when I see the names of all these cities and destinations, just waiting for me, my heart floats away.

The lights in the airport began to darken, and since it was 12, I decided to get some sleep. I found a VERY comfortable spot in a coffee shop.

The sofa was made out of plush white leather and it was one of the most comfortable surfaces I’ve ever had the pleasure of lying on. I actually managed to get in about 4 hours of real sleep here (a lot more than I did when I was flying to Copenhagen), complete with my earplugs and eye mask.

No one told me that Poland could get this cold in July though, and I woke up at about 4, shivering. When I got on the flight at 6, my breath formed a white mist. That's how cold it was. 
The airport had begun to fill up at this point, since the check-in desks were opening. I looked up, and saw that my flight was ready for check in, so I bade adieu to my freezing sofa and went off.

Goodbye, Gdansk airport!

And that was pretty much it - I got on the flight at 6, arrived back in London after two hours, took a shuttle back to central London, and was back in my room before 10am, safe and sound.

Poland’s probably my favourite country so far. Sometimes it’s so hard to judge places, because they’re so different, but if I’m going to go with the “feel-good” factor per se here, then Poland takes the crown and cherry. Everything about it was just so right, from the food and the people and the scenery to the transport and the hostel. You name it, they nailed it. Poland completely and utterly surpassed my wildest expectations, and I highly recommend this lovely, severely underrated country to the intrepid explorer. I know I’m certainly going back.

Abject apologies if this entry comes across as somewhat vague - am still reeling in the aftermath of Germany’s resounding victory, and for some reason I’ve been feeling really lethargic recently. That coffee earlier on in the evening worked, but not as well as I hoped. Am probably experiencing post-holiday, pre-dissertation blues. I want to go back to the Continent ASAP.

Will be moving my old stuff over during the next few days/weeks, but it’s really time to focus on my dissertation, so will have to hold off Europe entries for the time being. Do expect to see posts on England, though, since I plan on visiting Stonehenge and Warwick Castle in the next month or so, at the very least! And now, if you will excuse me, am off to read some biting reviews of the Brazilian side’s crushing defeat. They’re going to be talking about this one for years to come. The funny thing is that these pundits probably can’t kick a ball to save their lives, but that’s okay, because they build their happiness money on the torment of others Brazilians.

Part VII - Frombork Cathedral

I was just reading through my old posts yesterday, and was appalled by the amount of typos I found. Oh, dear. Well, at least I found them.

The weather in London has been simply horrid for the last few days, and I love it. My heart sings whenever I see heavy grey clouds overhead. Of course, I only enjoy bad weather when I’m indoors. I also think that I’m drinking far too much coffee.

I did a teetotal of all the pictures that I have left, and I’ve got two entries left, including this one. I went to Frombork on the second day, the town where Nicolaus Copernicus did most of his work on astronomy, and where he was finally laid to rest.

I don’t think there’s a train to Frombork (not when I looked it up in London, anyway) but there was a direct route by bus. I had enquired at the bus station the day before, and they told me that there were two buses a day. I took the 9:50 one from Gdansk Glowny, and arrived there at around half past twelve. The journey cost 19 zloty, and was fairly enjoyable, as far as bus journeys go. I bought the tickets from the bus driver. Ha - when I remember my first sojourn to the Continent and all that meticulous planning and pre-booking, it seems all so distant to me now. Now I go along with the flow. I do think it’s a good idea to plan ahead where and when you want to go, or to have a general idea at the very least, but it’s not completely necessary to work it out to the last minute. And for some of these central and eastern countries, you really can’t do that, since they don’t have websites or other pre-booking facilities available. I miss travelling ever so much.

When I arrived in Frombork, the sun was still shining, but there was a patch of ominous grey looming up behind the cathedral. And, ah, the cathedral, where Copernicus is buried. The bus stopped right in front of it, and it’s huge. It’s on a hilltop. There’s no way you can miss it. Again, it was blown to smithereens during the Second World War, but restored to its former glory.

I know that this picture has endless blue skies, and yes, I cheated by putting a later picture up, because at this point, the clouds were seriously photobombing me. I decided to go to one of the restaurants right across from the cathedral and wait till the clouds had drifted away. And have lunch, in the meanwhile.

Not at all shabby, the restaurant.

And I was provided with a very good view of the cathedral.

The menu was Transylvania all over again - only this time, rather than Dracula steak, we have Astronomer’s dessert.

I ordered an iced espresso because travelling really takes the stuffing out of you.

And Polish meat rolls, which were very delicious. The sauce was cream of onion and very savoury.

In the meantime, the clouds descended upon Frombork and the skies split open, releasing a colossal deluge, the likes of which I haven’t seen ever since I left tropical Taiwan. The rain and thunder was terrific. Less amusing was the fact that it went on, and on, and on, effectively stranding me (and quite a few other tourists/patrons) in the restaurant. The wifi there was free, but it was starting to get very dull nonetheless, waiting for the rain to abate, which it did not. It was like waiting for a pot to boil, and we all know what happens when you watch that.

After around two hours of hiding in the restaurant, I decided that I was sick of being indoors, and that I would go outside nonetheless. I charged out resolutely, and made for the cathedral, and at first it was miserably freezing and wet, making me question my sanity and the wiseness (or lack of it) of my decision.

But then the sun broke through, and I saw this.

It was like finding an oasis in the desert, and I was able to gaze upon the full glory of Frombork Cathedral, in all its summer splendour.

I walked on, basking in the sun that comes after the rain, and the leafy shade of the trees. It was a very pleasant walk up to the cathedral.

The main entrance of the cathedral.

The main building of the cathedral.

The other side.

And I’m already beginning to see Copernicus all over the place.

The Planetarium which he worked in. This was also destroyed during WWII, and this is a modern reconstruction.

I enter the cathedral. There a large coffee machine adorned with the image of..Copernicus.

I paid (can’t remember the price but it certainly didn’t cost more than 5 zloty) and went in.

My view of the cathedral upon entrance:

And a majestic statue of Copernicus.

Further on in.

And finally, the moment I’d awaited.

The tombstone of the great astronomer himself.

It was quite daunting, and extremely thought-provoking. I stayed there for some time before leaving.

The statue of Copernicus that stands guard in the town he lived and died in.

I caught the 15:28 bus back to Gdansk, and arrived there at 17:00, but I’ll talk about that in my next and last entry. Till then, the final resting place of Copernicus seems a good place to leave you.

Part V: Inside the old town of Gdansk

A heads up: this entry is going to be loaded with photos, because as I mentioned about three times already, Poland is ridiculously and utterly photogenic. I actually think that all of the pictures deserve to be uploaded, but unfortunately that can’t be the case, so I’ve whittled it down to...oh, only twice the normal amount I usually put in a post.

I actually had loads and loads of bad weather during this trip. First it rained all day when I arrived at Copenhagen, then a thunderstorm broke out when I came back from Sopot, and then there was a third thunderstorm when I went to Frombork. But I managed to wait them out (and they usually happened when I was in restaurants) and what do you know, I get blue skies again after all the hullaballoo has passed.

When I went back to Gdansk, it was still relatively early on in the day, and I’d decided to visit Frombork the next day, so the rest of the day was happy G-day. The first place I visited (or tried to visit) was the Wystawa 'Drogi do Wolności' exhibition, which the Swedish couple had recommended me the day before. It’s a museum featuring much of the memorabilia pertaining to Poland during the postwar communist period (1956-1989), but unfortunately, it was undergoing maintenance and therefore was not open. I stood around and took some pictures of it. The museum itself looked very communist-y.

I took a tram back to the main station although it was only one stop, but it was too hot to walk and I had my 24 hour pass, so I figured why not.

And then it was bus no. 100 from there to the old city centre, which was...about 3 stops, but again with the heat and my bus pass.

A large part of the city was destroyed during the carnage of WWII, and was painstakingly rebuilt during the 1950s and 1960s, with a special emphasis on Flemish and Italian influences, while studiously avoiding anything that resembled Germanic, Prussian, or anything that spoke of the Third Reich. The destruction that Poland suffered during the second World War was horrendously devastating. There were 457 Nazi concentration camps in Nazi-occupied Germany, including the infamous Auschwitz, and the death toll of the Polish population, which amounted to 22 percent, which was the highest proportion of any European country in World War II. It doesn’t bear thinking about. I was deeply moved, and impressed, when I walked along the streets of Poland’s rebuilt cities and roads. To think that this prosperous, beautiful country had arisen from the ashes in the wake of the second World War, was very inspiring. You’d have to really be there to see what I mean - to see the cathedrals and the houses all restored to their former glory, the bustling streets and the smiling faces of the people. Poland is the friendliest country I’ve ever been in, as well as Luxembourg. You would have thought that the people here would be more reticent and on their guard, given their history and what their neighbouring countries/states have done to them in the past, but they’re the warmest, most open-minded and accommodating people I’ve encountered as a whole so far. Not to mention the fact that they speak the best English, too.

The old city centre is mainly comprised of Ulica Długa (Long Street) and Długi Targ (Long Market). I think it goes without saying that this was one of my favourite old city centres in all the countries I’ve been in.

The Złota Brama.

Walking in to the Ulica Długa.

Thanks for photobombing every single one of my pictures

It was gorgeous. If I lived in Gdansk, I would come here for a cup of coffee every day after school/work.

The Ratusz Głównego Miasta right at the end of the Ulica (the one with the copper spire), with a gilded statue of King Sigismund II Augustus of Poland on its pinnacle (installed in 1561).

Ah yes, this is a closer look.

Crossing into the Długi Targ.

The Zielona Brama is the red building in the backdrop

The buildings with their Flemish designs and pastel colours are very becoming in the early July sun, and the Zielona Brama in the background finishes it off nicely.

One of the main landmarks of this area is the Fontanna Neptuna, which was built in 1617, but the building in its backdrop was undergoing reconstruction and swathed with one of those ugly green construction nets, which photobombed my picture like nobody’s business, so I’m leaving that out of my collection here.

When you walk out of the Zielona Brama, you’re presented with a stunning view of the Motława in all its noonday splendour.

This was the part where I went “damn..I’ve taken about 120 really good photographs of this place, but I’m only allowed to pick one for my blog!”

The other side of the river.

Oh, the deuce. I think I’ll just go ahead and inundate this post anyway.

They do feature minuscule differences in angle, so that you can see them..from various sides.

Oh dear. I’ve just gone back and looked at my “part V” folder, and realised that there are still about 15 photos I want to include in this entry. Maybe I’d better split this one up as well. At this rate, it’s going to take me forever to finish this!

I really need to wrap this up quickly and get cracking on my dissertation. Time’s running out. It doesn’t help that I spent most of the morning rebooting and debugging my system because my wireless wouldn’t work and I thought my laptop had been invaded by a Trojan, only to find out much later that I’d merely turned off the F8 wireless button by accident. Grrr.

Anyway, toodles and TBC!