Gdansk: Overview

Gdansk was easily my favorite city we visited. We stayed in a hotel right in the middle of the city and everything was in walking distance. We were about a two minute walk from the water and less than a minute from the Royal Way. Every street you ventured down was lined with picturesque buildings, though like Warsaw these were reconstructed after the war. We also had no classes in Gdansk so, apart from a couple museum visits, we were on vacation.

As a bonus, we happened to be visiting Gdansk during the time of their St. Dominic’s Fair, an outdoor market that dates back to 1260. Every where you turn the streets are lined with booths and shops selling things like breads, sausages, souvenirs, and Gdansk’s trademark amber jewelry. My favorite section was a few streets that sold a plethora of antiques and was basically just a huge yard sale. Suffice to say I spent a lot of złoty here.

In addition to Gdansk, we were also only a quick train ride away from the seaside city of Sopot. On our free Sunday a group of us decided to go to the beach so we hopped on a train and arrived about twenty minutes later. We stopped by a Spanish festival for lunch and then travelled down to the water. The streets were bustling with people and the beach was even more crowded. We managed to find a spot close to the shore and proceeded to spend the next four hours or so alternating between tanning and swimming, probably the best afternoon on the trip.

With restaurants everywhere you look and a street literally called Beer St there was no shortage of places to go out to in Gdansk. We went to a Thai restaurant, a Mexican restaurant, a restaurant where every meal was made of potatoes, and, of course, a wonderful Pierogi restaurant. All the food was delicious, all of the beer was refreshing, and the longs walks along the water at night were beautiful. Gdansk is a magical city and I can’t wait to go back.