The drive to Gdansk from Lublin is the least of my favorite drives though: Good Grief! The traffic is terrible! Gdansk 271 miles (which should take you approx 4.5 hours...) but due to traffic it takes 8 hours! 8 hours of traffic and road repairs. Poland joined the European union and they are preparing for the Euro cup next summer. The European union gave them money for road repairs in preparation for that blessed event! Everyone knows road repairs don't happen after the snow flies... and so every road from tip to toe is torn up and being loved on... It is beyond frusterating! I better be here to see the end of that! :) It is said that Warsaw has the worst traffic in Europe... and we had to go through Warsaw to get to Gdansk... and then from there the country is wide open. mostly farm fields. Though it isn't horrible, it was my least favorite drive of all the places we've visited in Poland thus far. I was completely entertained when Mr. Mecham pointed out a new bridge structure which was being made and my eyes went directly to the construction worker who was picking a snuggie right there for everyone on the busy road to view. But I was most entertained only 30 yrds later when a full grown man stood on the side of the road and relieved himself... not trying to shelter himself at all and was close enough to high five! I am talking so close and so obvious that we could tell he had taken his B vitamins that day. I was laughing my head off! So hard that I didn't have time to snap a photo which I would have done if I had my camera out!
Of course all the great little churches are awesome though!
And we found a cool little town to tour that was only 20 minutes outside Gdansk.
Once in Gdansk we unloaded the car and went straight to the town center. It was getting late and we were hungry. We didn't have time to figure out where good Polish food was so we ate Subway. And then we headed back to the apartment so that we would be fresh for the next day. Town center at night was like candles on a birthday cake... It was so fun to see.
My camera didn't take good night time pictures though.
Saturday morning we ate breakfast and then went back to town center. We were specifically told to do 4 things:
1) climb the St. Mary's Cathedral
We were promised that the view was worth the burn... And it was!
(2) go to Westerplatt (where WWII started)
(3) walk down Amber Alley to shop
(4) Check out the ship yards where communism fell.
(This is a little memorial to them, though it isn't in the ship channel, obviously, but rather on the side of the road.)
However, on our map we could see that we wanted to do more than 70 things! NOT ENOUGH TIME! We will be back in Gdansk though. I started a wicked trend by requesting a vacation of that kind for my birthday... and so the boys both requested that same trip for their April Birthdays! :) Surely when Grandparents get here we will go back.
1) St. Mary's Cathedral: This place is amazing!
Home of the oldest Brick church in the world... built in the 1300's.
We climbed 416 stairs to the top of this building... thighs burned... and we could see clear over Gdansk and the Baltic Sea! OH WOW! We were high!
Second to that view were the artifacts inside. The paintings were breathtaking!
This clock is a dream come true!
2) Westerplatt. The Polish army held off the Germans for 7 days here... this is where WWII began! It is an incredible story of their bravery and hard fight! I can see why everyone wanted to own Poland. The German's wanted their sea port.
This little skipper sang to us while we took the 40 minute boat ride out to Westerplatt. Bless his heart. The sign advertising the boat ride said, "only tour in English, German and Polish" and we thought that sounded great! However, the entire tour was in Polish and the skipper sang in Polish. But I understand if you drink polish Vodka then you could order it in the bar in any of the 3 languages. AWESOME!
old fortifications on the side of the port going into old town Gdansk. Clearly these people were battling for their rights to this ship channel for a loooong time!
Bailey by a blood stained fort at Westerplatt.
Nate and Coley in his new WWII soldier hat at a Westerplatt fort.
The boys were in HEAVEN at this spot! McKay could hardly take it all in... the very grounds where WWII started! He found a helmet of a soldier that was being sold for pennies. Crazy that we were there.
3) Walk down Amber alley: This was for Bailey. Shopping! Amber is prevalent in these parts... and so it is quite inexpensive also. Bailey found some cute Amber charms and we adored all the amber jewelry and souveneirs. What a place! I was shopping not taking pictures... bummer.
4) The ship yards where communism fell:
There is a story! The Russian's were going to raise the price of meat. The Polish workers said they would strike if they did! Then they did it! It was unheard of for people to strike in communism but they had had enough! Then the Polish people started calling the shots! And that is where it all happened... And I think it is so cool that they had the guts to stand up for their freedom!
Looking back at Gdansk from the shipyards
ship repairs are quite amazing to see. They cranes that lift them out of the water are monsterous and the ships are enormous!
We spent a lot of time down by the King's court shopping and eating... and we even ran in to some American's who were passing through that port on their cruise! It was so nice to talk to friendly American's in our native tongue. Then we met up with the missionaries and took them to dinner at the only Mexican restaraunt in Poland! We are always impressed with the missionaries here. We could have spent a month just down town. We barely skimmed the surface!
Took this picture for the Dillards! We thought of you a hundred times this trip! Wished you were here to go out with us at night! The town looked like Downtown Disney to us. I think Mr. Walt might have come here before Disneyland was built. You guys would LOVE IT!
Mckay
Neptune's fountain outside the King's court.
arch way going out of town.
The shopping was awesome! The mid-evil swords were pretty shweet. souveneirs in these parts were spectacular!
I had a cartoon of the kids drawn up. It took this artist 20 min. Then I thought about how Dan the man Speakman needs to move to Gdansk and draw pictures of all the tourists! :)
we stayed true to Kabob Saturday tradition... these ones were really good.
we love tipping the statues in the town square. They always do a funny pose with you after you tip them. Nate kissed her hand and then she suductively waved goodbye to him! Sooo funny!
Coley took his turn with a statue... not as gutsy as his father.
King's court. I loved this spot in town center.
clock tower
Gdansk post office.
Sunday morning we got up really earlly and went to Sopot to walk along the beach and rub our feet in that soft lucious Baltic sand. It was down right COLD sand! We saw tons of Jelly fish and tried not to step on them and wowed over the majesty of the swans flying in to the beach.
Nate and kids on the pier overlooking the Baltic. As a child I dreamed to visit this place.
while walking out on Europe's longest peir, two of these beauties flew right over our heads and landed on the water.
The lighthouse made me think of mum. I miss her.
Nate didnt have the time to take off his shoes and rub his feet in the sand like the rest of us... He is was way ahead of us with our shoes when we hit the jelly fish swarm on the beach and had to tip toe through all of them so that we didnt get stung. I guess we will learn to stay with old papa some day.
weird looking jelly fish...
the sand was so cold it made our legs ache at first! But that wasn't going to stop us! We can't wait to see what its like in the mid summer!
On the ride from Sopot (where the beach was) back to our apartment to get ready for church, Mr. Mecham was pulled over by the policja and given a breathelizer test. Thank heaven that at 8:30 in the morning he was sobered up for church! He claims it was his first breathalizer ever and we swear it is just because we have no clue how to get around this crazy town!
We hit sacrament mtg where Elder Garrett translated beautifully just for us... and then headed out for our 8 hour drive home.
Favorite comment of Sunday award goes to Bailey:
"It felt like real church except the part where I couldn't understand anything and I was really bored."
Then we took a little jog to Malbork to see the mid-evil Teutonic Knight castle. It was... pretty much... crazY HUGE! We laughed at the thought that our children were romping on the castle grounds on Sunday afternoon.
We didn't see that one coming!
Then Nate paid off a bum (they are begging all over) to leave us alone only after he told him that "as you can see I have 5 of my own mouths to feed." Then he gave him 2zt which is equivalent to less than $1 and we left. Bless his generosity!
Remind me, if I ever try to do it again, that I HATE driving at night in Poland. 2 lane, narrow roads isn't fun! The people have a little shoulder on their road, like back home, but they use it for walking on, and pulling over and also if somebody wants to pass then they flash you and you drive along the side while they pass going up the middle of the two lanes of traffice. Which means that you not only have to be looking for the guy behind you who is passing you, but also if there is somebody driving head on into you and if you need to drive down the side then you better be sure you don't hit the pedestrian all in the dark while driving 100 kmph. It is death grip on the steering wheel... and you better take your anxiety medications atleast 1 hour prior to departure. HOLY MOLY!
We ate McDonalds on the way home. Public notice: McDonald's here is better than in America. Sorry. But it is still McDonalds and I think all McDonald's food makes you feel bloated and gassy and should be served with a double dose of Pepto. I don't want to eat that again...
Dear Gdansk,
I am in love with you. You are beautiful, full of history and romance that would touch any heart. I have dreamed about your architeture, fountains and churches, that Baltic sand and the diving swans, those beautiful colors and cobble stone paths every day since I left your side. Your wisdom from the history you lived is breath taking! I love that you named a park after President Ronald Reagan! You are daring with the bravery displayed in the shipyards and vicious with the stand off at Westerplatt. It is an understatement to say I am impressed. Italy has nothing over your majesty. I will be back.
Ever in Love,
Becky
1 comment:
That organ was so cool. Did you indulge? :-)
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