Gdańsk

First stop: Gdańsk! The historical port on the Baltic Sea.


Gdańsk was never on my original plan, in fact I never intended to visit Poland. I knew very little about it before I get to know Karolina properly (as it turned out we both have a penchant for being dramatic). So Gdańsk became my first port of call when I promised her that I'd visit her. But what a pleasant surprise the city has been.

This is what happens when you give your camera to someone else - no nice backdrop. LOL! (NOT MY WORDS. yeap you guessed it!)

A proper touristy picture with the Neptune fountain

Gdańsk is a beautiful city, its colourful facades and old Gothic churches are sure to win any philistine. A walk through the Old Town is just like having a bowl of vanilla budyn, everything is cheerful and tastefully decorated. The green copper spires and clock towers echo that of Prague; the Gothic brick cathedrals' complicated engineering reminded me that this was no cultural backwater. It makes you wonder why there is little mention of Gdansk in our history lessons.

One of the Baroque gates into the Old Town.

The communist past is difficult to escape, the vast expanse of the modernist tower blocks spread all the way to the city limits but it's nothing like the Parisian banlieue (at least on the face of it). But the capitalist present is definitely everywhere to be seen. Carrefour seem to have flourished here big time. It's bloody everywhere.

Gdańsk is part of a conurbation of the Three Cities, along with Sopot and Gdynia. From my limited circle, it seems like almost everyone I spoke to has some sort connection with sailing or the ship industry. Karolina is an obsessive sailor, her cousin is starting a course in shipping communication (I think!) and some guys I spoke to on the train to Poznan are studied marine architecture and now designing ships! Maybe it's my luck. But you definitely can't escape the sea and the ships here - the shipyard cranes are as tall as the tallest spires in the Old Town.

Some elements of traditional Polish architecture seem Malaysian!

Karolina took me to the Gdansk Mosque but it seemed to us abandoned, maybe it's only open during prayer times. But it left us wondering who are these Polish Muslims!? Where do they come from?

Tried Polish food and forgot its name, it's like the Malaysian karipap but filled with sweet stuff (just like all Polish food!) and boiled rather than deep fried. Yummy.

All in all, I was impressed by Gdańsk and definitely recommend everyone to put it on their Eurotrip itinerary.

Ihsan

p/s: more photos of Gdansk + Gdynia as well as photo captions coming soon, internet here is incredibly slow!