Gdansk - Poland's Port City

After going to Malbork Castle, we went to Szymbark. Szymbark is another summer place that has lots of wooden houses and the longest plank of wood in the world (Guinness book records). There’s also a world war two guerrilla bunker but, most importantly and the reason we came here, is because there’s an upside down house! Everything inside is upside down and you walk around and go upstairs etc.

  

We went on a cold and rainy night so my photos weren’t great but I have some photos my Auntie took when she went there in the summer. Also, the tour is normally four hours but, because of the cold, ours was no more than half an hour. Note: only one of these photos has been doctored!

My last day in Gdansk, we went to Sopot which is a street next to the sea with hotels and restaurants and all that sort of thing, so like Hilary’s but bigger, or Freo but only one long street. Here is a picture of the crooked house on the main street.



Arty - Main Street

Gdansk - The Top Of Poland

Neptune

The next day we set off to Gdansk, which is the city on the Baltic Sea at the top of Poland. On the way I met some more Aunties from my Dad’s side who were very, very friendly and gave me chocolates and told me stories of Mum in college!



Where we had lunch on the way to Gdansk

In Gdansk we stayed with my Dad’s sister and her family. They were the first family we had stayed at that had a house! Poland is all about apartments in the city, which I like because I’ve already lived in a house in Australia, but it was an exciting change! And they had a dog! His name is Rudy and he likes polish sausage and barking to say hello.

In Gdansk we went to the old city and the port. Gdansk is the Fremantle of Poland and is a little older, but same sort of set up with the nice waterfront restaurants and that sort of thing. Definitely a summer place.
 
    


1. A bombed building from WWII - memorial kind of to never forget how the city looked
2. (Crazy) people kayaking in freezing cold weather

The next day we went to Marlbork, which is a really old castle built in 1274. It’s a medieval castle where knights and kings and servants and horses lived. It’s close to the border so it used to belong to the Germans but Poland got it after the second world war.

It was cool to see except it was really cold and the guide had a lot to say and the usually two hour tour turned into three hours and so all I remember is being cold and hungry. But it was still a very big, old and interesting castle!

Unrestored part of the wall

 

The ceilings were really beautiful

 

What the knights wore in the day

 

A cannon



   

 

Courtyard inside the castle walls





Warszawa, Part Two

The second day in Warszawa we went to the museum dedicated to the Warsaw Uprising. I learnt a lot about World War Two and I knew about the Warsaw Uprising but I don’t remember ever going into so much detail. When the Nazi’s invaded Poland, they had a difficult time taking Warsaw. Soldier’s fought to keep the city and the civilians helped them with medicine and food etc.

Memorial to the children who fought in the Warsaw Uprising



Memorial where the Warsaw Ghetto used to be

My grandfather fought in the Warsaw Uprising before he was taken prisoner. Nothing to worry about, he jumped out of the train on the way to the POW camp.

At another museum, I got some pictures of the food stamps that were used while Poland was under communist rule by the Soviets. This stuff I found really interesting because Mum and Dad have talked about it and I understand how life was back then, but I got to actually see the cards!





Mieso (meat) and maslo (butter)



MLEKO = Milk

Chopin’s Tomb is also in Warszawa and the benches have buttons and play Chopin’s music. Very nice touch.  

We also went to a memorial that showed all the places/POW camps Polish soldiers were taken during the war.

I also got to have lunch with my Auntie’s family where there was lots of alcohol and Polish food and raw mince meat with stuff in it which I did not know was traditional Polish food. I did not try some.

Warszawa - Poland's Capital City

In Warszawa we stayed with an Auntie from Dad’s side. Her name was also Anna! It was really great because she knew absolutely everything there was to know about Warszawa!

Warszawa was really interesting because it was practically completely destroyed during the war, so there are reminders of war everywhere. I mean this by memorials, but also by the buildings that are pre war and the buildings that are post war.

The old city, rebuilt and restored after the war.



We went to the old city, which is where the main city used to be. A castle was built next to it with a big wall that went all the way around to protect it. This castle is literally in the middle of the city.

 

There was also a Subway built into an old building and I thought this looked interesting in a commercial-food-company-with-neon-sides-in-a-nice-old-building way. A lot of Poland looks like this.



  

Old looking city with a brand new modern looking stadium in the background. Well done Poland.

The new city is where the President’s Palace is.

Close by is the Lone Soldiers’ Grave which is a memorial to all the Polish Soldiers who have died on foreign grounds. It was a really cold day and these soldiers barely moved an inch, even when we were taking pictures.

Krakow to Warszawa

On our way to Warszawa, we went to the Wielicka Salt Mine. The Wielicka Salt Mine is an underground mine that was used hundreds and hundreds of years ago. Below the ground they miners carved temples out of the salt (so that they could pray before and after work), steps, tunnels and passageways. There are various salt scenes and one is of dwarves depicting miners. All have beards except one and the story is that girls kiss his beard to find a good husband, and that is why it is all gone. Our tour guide was very funny and said, ‘’alas his beard is all gone, but you can get the same results from kissing the tour guide”. And he also said that as part of our ticket price you are allowed to lick five kgs of salt from the walls and floor. I got my money’s worth. Just kidding. One last funny thing he said was that two hours in the salt mine is meant to extend your life by two years, he’s been working there for eighteen years and so should live to about two hundred.

On the drive to Warszawa it was really wet, windy and dark. Driving between cities is difficult and time consuming because there are so many trucks on the road. They’re not as big as the road trains in Australia but they have those containers from ships on the back and most of them are TIRs. A TIR means that it is a trade international route and Poland has these trucks by the hundreds because it is in the middle of so many countries! I saw trucks from Poland, Czech Republic, Germany and Lithuania! Anyway, Poland has lots of small one lane roads so you’re overtaking these trucks every ten minutes and there’s hardly ever just one, it’s two or three trucks in a row! So that is how Poland’s roads look.

On a better note, I had a placek po wegiersku z gulazem for dinner which is my favourite Polish food! It is also Mum’s favourite Polish food so I’m not sure if it’s actually my favourite food or if I call it my favourite because it’s Mum’s favourite BUT I know that I love them. They are a potato pancake shallow fried in oil the size of a dinner plate and then you put goulash on top. Wonderful. You can also make small ones and eat them with sugar or cream and many people like those as well. For me, the goulash makes it. If you’ve never tried one, you’re missing out and when I get home we will make one. Just kidding, I will ask Mum to make one. Moral of the story, dinner was good. The restaurant was also very Polish.