Adelaide's Postcards: A little bit more Gdansk & a Warsaw Weekend

The Gdansk shipyards

Me looking like a red marshmallow in my Antarctica jacket - oh, in front of the Gdansk skyline

On Wednesday after school this week, one of the teachers, with her husband, took me to a few places of historical interest around Gdansk. First was to a fortress or something that you could see across the river, then to a hill up behind the train station in Gdansk. There are some old bunkers in (on??) the hill, well as a sculpture of a wavy red cross erected in 2000 to bless Gdansk throughout the new millennium.

My favourite part of the Gdansk skyline are the cranes you can see in the shipyards. To me, they're synonymous with Gdansk, and when I see them, they not only embody all that Gdansk is, with it's economic growth, it's ties to the sea, and it's function as Poland's trade gateway to the world, but it also symbolises a bit of Gdansk's past.

A beautiful church in the Praha district of Warsaw

King Zygmunt III Place

Then last weekend I packed my bags and headed off to Warsaw. It was great to see a lot of the Gap Fam again (most of us are placed in the Warsaw area), then on Saturday morning I had little wander through Warsaw's Old Town. The thing I love about the buildings in this Old Town is the proportion that have painted facades - especially the ones that look 3D but aren't, or have pictures related to what is sold/ goes on inside that building. But really, I love them all.

Warsaw Castle

I walked along the Old Town wall, past some beautiful churches, found the statue of Marie Curie up on a hill gazing down onto the Vistula and then past a dry fountain - the sad truth of winter. While walking back along the Vistula, I came across an AWESOME park bench that was sculpted to look like water pipes, and then the two front legs looked like taps that were gushing water, so the lower half of the legs was clear. It was such a good idea of a memorial of the guy that was standing over it.

While in the Old Town I also found a really awesome cafe called To Lubie (means 'I like it' in Polish). They do a kick-ass hot chocolate, amazing desserts and cakes, a really cool old-fashioned tea that they put rose petals in.... just basically everything on their menu looks good. Seriously, if you go to Warsaw, make sure you go there. And arrive hungry. You can thank me later...