What I learned in Gdansk

An almost four-day trip to Gdansk left me with lots of new impressions as well as some new insights. Gdansk is amazing, no doubt about it. And I can only recommend to you all to go and see for yourself. As is the case with every trip I take, there are differences in cultures and new experiences. So here is what I learned while traveling to the Baltic Coast and Gdansk. Yours, Pollybert

1.) You should never check the amount of time it takes from your house to the train station by using the  metro station as your starting point. Because when you then leave at the indicated time you are already late. That’s what happened to me. OMG, I was sweating so hard when I made it on the train with exactly one minute to spare.

2.) The private couchette is the best part of overnight train travel. Beats the trains in Vietnam every time!

overnight train to Warsaw

3.) For an IC train in Poland you need a reservation number for your seat. Otherwise you have to pay extra (so happy that I have blue eyes and know how to bat them; that’s a great advantage in some situations).

4.) Tap water is not served in restaurants. It is sometimes served with coffee (okay, so only once) and then the glass had the size of a thimble.

5.) There are a lot of ice cream shops all over Gdansk. Like on every corner, almost as in Italy. Also waffle shops are all over the city. Mostly they serve both together.

6.) Don’t travel on a catholic holiday to a very catholic country. The masses of tourists were slightly overwhelming. Also I should start looking into festivals and fairs before traveling. The stalls of St. Dominik’s fair stalls ruined a lot of my pictures.

7.) Service charge is sometimes automatically added to you bill. Since it was 10% I was okay. But take care, it’s starting to be like in the US

6.) I have not seen one museum with a well stocked shop. Usually I buy my books here while I travel. Not so in Gdansk

7.) Regular book shops have only a very small segment in English. The shops are huge though and well sorted.

8.) An astonishing number of people speak the English in Gdansk. I wonder how they practice it.

9.) The people of Gdansk must have some Vikings blood in them. Girls were in hot pants and t-shirts while I felt comfy with my light down jacket in the evening

10.) Meat and fish are listed with their weight on the menu.

11.) Apparently it is also a great destination for a trip with your dog.

canoeing with your dog on the Vistula @Gdansk