Apparently yes. While I thought these were just two different names for the same city, apparently they are very different cities, about 45 minutes apart. Our boat docked in Gydnia, and Gdansk, the cute picturesque Polish town that I was looking forward to seeing was a 10 minute bus ride and 35 minute train ride away. Thankfully we found this out the night before our arrival, allowing us time to plan. Unfortunately, the cruise provided us only a map of Gyndia, not Gdansk, leaving us completely blind once we arrived in the correct town. All we knew was that the town was home to St. Mary’s church, the world’s largest brick church, and based on past experience, where there is a church, there is normally a main square with restaurants and shopping. So we set off in search of St. Mary’s.
From the Gdansk main train station, we spotted the highest, oldest looking brick steeple and began to walk. Apparently, Gdansk has numerous old brick churches, all with very high steeples and the first two we found had in fact been completely renovated on the inside and now contained modern shopping centers, which was cool, but not really what we were looking for. After our second miss, we decided to track down a map, which didn’t help much as the St. Mary’s church was not clearly labeled. However, being resourceful, and using our powers of deduction, we some how found the appropriate direction and stumbled upon the main attraction, St. Marys. After 30 minutes of searching, and 5 minutes of appreciating, we continued on our tour of the town and found the anticipated quaint pedestrian street with, surprise, plenty of restaurants, cafes and shops. And the more we explored, the more we began to fall in love with the town. The feelings of relief (we finally found the town center) and awe (I still really love Polish towns with their brightly painted narrow houses and buildings) were only enhanced by the perfect polish lunch of pierogis and barszcz soup in a great restaurant off the main square.
Once again surprised by our ability to navigate a completely new town, in a foreign country, sans map, I realized that I am beginning to get the hang of traveling. I was looking forward to testing out my skills and ability in Oslo next.
Museums visited – 0, Churches visited – 1
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What, no mention of Jason purchasing 6 crystal goblets and 2 crystal candlestick holders, just on a whim, without knowing who he'd give them to? (Hmmm...maybe you speak of this in a later blog when you mention his extra 15kilos of luggage.)
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