My first day in Gdansk was mostly about reorganizing stuff, cleaning, talking with Australians on the camping, surfing.
I went from the camping into a hostel to take a holiday from the sabatical and get a bit closer to the center of the city, since the camping really was fare out. Although did not yet wonder around a lot, I got some first impressions. Above all I noticed that there a lot of cats in the city, a bit like in Istanbul. I know a lot of pigeon and sparrow cities form Switzerland, crow cities from Germany, but cat cities I know only two so far.
The second day was wandering through the city, aiming to replace some equipment that did not work out or I lost in an absent minded moment. This ended in a huge tour reaching much further than the city center. Here I had no problem communicating in english. The people were very helpful and patient with me and my special requests. When they gave directions its ended almost always in a "point landing" and if not, it was probably my fault. On the way from shop to shop I took my time and let the eyes wander. It was a warm impression the city made on me, also because of the weather that was mild and sunny again. I liked the street-art and the buildings ranging from ancient to modern architecture as well as ruins and streets have a lot of character and life in them. I think my mood blended in with the one of the people here; very relaxed.
The tourists are concentrated around Dluga, but already in the parallel streets they mix with the locals... No Disneyland here.
In the eavening, when I went looking for something to eat, I ran into Elizabeth, a marine biologist from Warszawa, whom I met in the morning at the hostel. She is here for a conference but needed a break from the nerdy stuff and so happened to spontaniously keep me company. We found a nice pub in a little street where a fiddler was playing and a very old lady behind the bar drawing beers. So came about the perfect ending of the day.
The third day I wanted to do proper sightseeing, but this remained just a resolution. It was sunny again and this would not let me go into a museum or similar. So I headed for the docks and ended up at a beach. All this time at the baltic sea I never felt like swimming, but today it was just irresistible. And so I lingered one more day, listening from time to time at the polnish phrase book I got the previous day, enjoying here and there and espresso and noticing from time to time that I comleted one or the other circle through the city.
Yes, about the espresso; it is superbe! not as strong as the Italien one, but with an amazing full-bodied taste. Love' it! Somehow I did not expect it, but they really know their sh...
I went from the camping into a hostel to take a holiday from the sabatical and get a bit closer to the center of the city, since the camping really was fare out. Although did not yet wonder around a lot, I got some first impressions. Above all I noticed that there a lot of cats in the city, a bit like in Istanbul. I know a lot of pigeon and sparrow cities form Switzerland, crow cities from Germany, but cat cities I know only two so far.
The second day was wandering through the city, aiming to replace some equipment that did not work out or I lost in an absent minded moment. This ended in a huge tour reaching much further than the city center. Here I had no problem communicating in english. The people were very helpful and patient with me and my special requests. When they gave directions its ended almost always in a "point landing" and if not, it was probably my fault. On the way from shop to shop I took my time and let the eyes wander. It was a warm impression the city made on me, also because of the weather that was mild and sunny again. I liked the street-art and the buildings ranging from ancient to modern architecture as well as ruins and streets have a lot of character and life in them. I think my mood blended in with the one of the people here; very relaxed.
The tourists are concentrated around Dluga, but already in the parallel streets they mix with the locals... No Disneyland here.
In the eavening, when I went looking for something to eat, I ran into Elizabeth, a marine biologist from Warszawa, whom I met in the morning at the hostel. She is here for a conference but needed a break from the nerdy stuff and so happened to spontaniously keep me company. We found a nice pub in a little street where a fiddler was playing and a very old lady behind the bar drawing beers. So came about the perfect ending of the day.
The third day I wanted to do proper sightseeing, but this remained just a resolution. It was sunny again and this would not let me go into a museum or similar. So I headed for the docks and ended up at a beach. All this time at the baltic sea I never felt like swimming, but today it was just irresistible. And so I lingered one more day, listening from time to time at the polnish phrase book I got the previous day, enjoying here and there and espresso and noticing from time to time that I comleted one or the other circle through the city.
Yes, about the espresso; it is superbe! not as strong as the Italien one, but with an amazing full-bodied taste. Love' it! Somehow I did not expect it, but they really know their sh...