First Taste of Gdansk & Sopot

A revolutionary apartment block

Zaspa as the sun goes down

I and another volunteer, Anneke, trained to Gdansk where we were picked up by our first host family. The next day our host mum, Magda, took us to the pier at Zaspa, Gdansk, and along the beach. The craziest thing that I couldn't get over was the fact that there was SNOW on the sand. Those two things just don't go together for me.

Yes, it's snow...

Because both of our high schools that Anneke and I are teaching at were on winter break during this time, I only had to work twice a week, at the kindergarten, and Anneke came with. On one day during the week then, the two of us went into the Old Town of Gdansk to explore. It centres around one main street, ul. Długa ("Long St.") with smaller streets around it, as well as a few churches and markets. About halfway along ul. Długa is Neptune's Statue, a tall fountain with a figure of the god in the centre, his trident poised, ready to strike.

Old Town, Gdansk

Wondering around, we came across a bridge with padlocks hung all over it's wire mesh railing. A little later, we found ourself on the river's edge, where the maritime museum was situated and some old ships were docked.

A few days later Anneke and I went on another little exertion, this time to Sopot. We walked up the pier, which I absolutely loved. It's all made of wood, which gives it this old-Hollywood feel, like you're in a movie or something. The street leading to the pier is also the heart of old Sopot. Even a=on this cold and rather dreary winter's day, Sopot had a summer sense, a seaside sense, even amongst the shops at the other end of the street.

Sopot - home of the longest wooden pier in Europe

An old hotel right in front of the pier

The main street of Old Sopot

A curious thing we found on our walk to the pier was the 'crooked house' - aptly named for an exterior structure that has not one straight line in it. The interior was a little bit of a letdown - a sixties-looking arcade - but it did have a bar/club on the top floor would I wouldn't mind hitting up in the future... :P

Directly opposite the crooked house was a small, narrow street. Above it, strung between two buildings, was man in brass tightrope walking. There weren't any wires or supports holding him apart the one under his inanimate feet. It was amazing. We wondered what would happen in windy weather...

Love,
Addie xoxo