In which we peek into Poland.

Once upon a time when I was young and foolish, oh roundaboot two weeks ago, adventure fetched me and whisked me off to foreign lands. This adventure started off with three fellow countrywomen, an unnecessarily long bus ride, a surprisingly short voyage through the skies, and slightly disconcerting but also hilarious dealings with Poland's public transportation system. But before we juice those details, you might ask, "Why Poland?" to which we might/would most certainly reply, "Why not?". We'd never been there and there were cheap plane tickets. Weiter!

After arriving in Gdańsk, our first well-informed attempt to get from the airport to the city turned out to be not quite well-informed enough and sent us on the right bus in the wrong direction away from the city. Luckily for us, an Angel-Hearted Local took pity on the silly tourists by informing us of our mistake and inviting us to get off the bus with her in the middle of nowhere, where she walked us to the bus stop on the opposite side of the street and cheerily informed us that the next bus would be there in about half an hour to take us in the right direction. We thanked her profusely and then proceeded to chuckle at ourselves as tree branches dripped on our heads and the golden streetlight glow closed in and protected us against the foggy darkness. Half an hour came and went, as did the proper bus, with us on it.

Our scavenger hunt for our hostel started at the central train station and went relatively successfully, ending with the grand prize of one of the nicest hostels I have ever had the pleasure of paying to shelter me. The rest of that evening was spent walking around the old town and paying almost nothing for stomach-defying quantities of delicious grub. The other inhabitants of the streets that night provided the opportunity for many a creeper photo. I must admit, when I think "POLAND", I don't automatically think "ROMANCE", but MY! It was getting a little steamy out there.

 No, I have no shame.

 

The next day was one of wonderful wandering. We awoke to sunlight, and once having gotten over the confusion as to what all the bright stuff was, doused ourselves in it thoroughly. Then it evaporated.

Diggin' the central station composition here:

Our feet first frolicked us out and up to the highest point in the city, where we were pleasantly pleased to find a wedding party perched and photoing. Oh, the sweet sound of cameras clicking!

Note progression of civilization in this shot: footpath, dirt road, highway.

Once descended from the lofty picturesquitude, we sought out a way back to the old town to take in the grandeur of its restoration (and restauration...) by daylight. I have to admit, my weary self was excited, but not particularly enthusiastic about exploring this fine Polish city before arriving there. I think I expected it to be a neat Location, but a neat Location much like many of the other European cities I have had the privilege of exploring throughout the last few years. Once conquering its cobblestones, however, I knew that this had been a false assumption. Other than one very short, very wonderful visit to Prague two years ago, I haven't really had many dealings with Eastern Europe. As it turns out-- amazing, I know-- Poland is very much Eastern Europe. The language itself was enough to pickle my brain, and that in conjunction with a very new kind of atmosphere and feastings for my eyes was enough to put the migration-happy flutterbys in my stomach to flight.

My favorite piece of public art by far was this tree. Its branches were full of peacocks, bloomings, arachnids, mermaids, and just about every other whimsical thing one could ever dream up.

The most remarkable thing about the old town area for me was the fact that it was, in fact, relatively new. Being one of the most important harbor cities on the Baltic, Gdańsk was completely and devastatingly destroyed during WWII. Unlike other bombed cities (ie. Hamburg), Gdańsk was afterward rebuilt and restored back to its original splendor-- at least on one side of the river.

 

The travel crew makes a new friend. Y'know, just another day in Poland.

An excursion inside St. Mary's, renowned to be the largest brick church in the world, captured my heart rather with hidden gnomes than with bigness.

One thing that I noticed in particular was the immense class of the elderly women we passed on the street. I don't know what this says about my usual haunts, but I don't know if I have ever seen so many fur jackets and generally elegant daygarb outside of the theater. I love this photo in particular-- click to zoom!

Amber. Lots of it.

Half of the travel crew had to return to the Deutschland the next day, wheres the other half of us stuck around another day for more wandering, pastry-sampling and general going easy. Rain. Lots of it.

This girl was feeding the birds, tuppence a bag. They were pretty down with that.

The next day found our adventurers back at the airport and surrounded by adorable small children.

Those adorable little children then became beautiful, fog-filled valleys and translucent layers of sunset pink.

And then there was Germany, and all was well in the world. Next stop: Switzerland.