Bilbao Spain

In between our Sits in Hereford, England and Poitou-Charentes, France, we had a couple of days open so we chose to visit Bilbao on the northern coast of Spain. Barb had read about Leon Spain and bars that served complimentary pinxtos, pronounced pink-saws, served free at bars when buying a glass of wine. Pinxtos are similar to tapas and popular in northern Spain. Various toppings are usually served on top of a piece of bread with a toothpick to keep it all together. Our dear friend Bob G. taught us how to have “app and go’s” (going from place to place and sharing appetizers) when snacking and drinking in Asheville so we knew it was a fun style of eating allowing us to try different foods. Also, neither of us ever thought we would be able to travel to Spain so we found a cheap flight and off we went to Bilbao for two and a half days.


We took a night flight into Bilbao and enjoyed a cab to our hotel down curvy mountainous highway roads to the flatland of Bilbao. The lights of the city looked very appealing. Our hotel was in the heart of Old Town but it was late so we unpacked our stuff and thought about what we might see in the morning.

As we exited our hotel in the morning we walked into beautiful old town! There was a nice energy from the many people walking on the pedestrian cobblestone walkway. To the left was a road with several buses and I saw train tracks I later learned were for the tram taking people around the city. We opted to walk toward the courtyard admiring the tall buildings on both sides of the walkway. We passed a couple of side streets with gorgeous old buildings with seating and canopies in front of some of them. We saw an opening a short distance from us and in a few minutes reached an open courtyard with many seats around small tables with huge umbrellas advertising the name of a restaurant directly in front of the seating areas.

Pintxos

We went into the closest restaurant, Bizuet. It was a narrow store with a row of tables and a counter filled with plates of pintxos, tapas, on two tiers with a section of small plates stacked with a spoon and a packet of sugar. There were a half dozen people seated at the counter and a few others scattered in the remaining seats. The man behind the counter was very busy working the cash register and setting fresh pinxtos in front of the customers and removing empty plates and coffee cups.


I perused the selection, cold fish omelette on French bread, fried octopus ball on top of salmon and French bread, ham and cheese on French bread and many others some with creams, cheeses, meats, fruit, you name it, both sweet and savory. I requested “Dos cafes y un con leche.”, perhaps a grammatical nightmare but understood and probably appreciated. The second worker behind the bar looked at me briefly then quickly turned to the coffee machine and began the process. After getting the café started he briefly explained he would bring them to me.


I went outside where Barb was seated at one of the small tables with an empty chair waiting for me. I explained the food situation and suggested we, I, select a couple and be ready for any type of food because it was difficult to discern what made up all the choices. She said she would trust my choices and anything would be ok to try.

We saw the many tiny terraces off the apartments above the stores and thought how nice it would be to get an AirBnB there and have coffee looking onto the scene we were in. Barb said she felt she was on a movie set. The town took her breath away. It was during that first encounter Barb declared she was in love with Bilbao. Oh, I almost forgot. Directly behind the seating area is the Santiago Cathedral, from the 14^th-15^th century.


Within moments our coffee arrived and we both sat talking, drinking delicious coffee and watching the many people flowing by between us and the store fronts. There were young people arm in arm, old couples, families, people being helped in wheel chairs, and dogs all to the backdrop of constant chatter, mostly non-intelligible words. An old man added to the entertainment of people watching by playing an accordion of pop tunes singing in Spanish. All of the tables eventually filled and the people ate pinxtos, drank beer or wine and, sometimes, non-alcoholic beverages, usually the children. It was a great people watching venue.


I eventually went back into the Bizuet and selected a couple of pinxtos, octopus and cheese, ham sandwich and the cold fish omelette. Our waiter brought them out with another round of cafes and we thoroughly enjoyed them.

Old town appeared to be built around the court we sat in with streets radiating to a main road. There were side streets down as you walked out toward the main road surrounding the center of Old Town some with smaller courtyards set up similarly to where we were. We walked around feeling safe with the many people out and about.

We stopped back at our lunch stop for some wine and more food when closing time, 10p, sneaking up on us. We paid our bill and headed happily to our hotel.

Guggenheim Museum

On our second day in Bilbao we decided to walk the mile to see the Guggenheim museum of modern and contemporary art. It was commissioned by the king of Spain to be built on the decrepit area of the port of Bilbao to bring the area back to its prior stature. The pre-opening of the museum was attended by over 5,000 people and the museum architecture being praised as one of the premier buildings of our time. We wanted a destination to see more of the city.

As we walked, we noticed the buildings were a seemingly well thought out combination of old and new all blending into a picturesque city. We ventured out during the heat of the day so we tried to navigate by traveling, as much as possible, in the shade between the buildings. I noticed the temperatures ranged from 75 to 92 degrees along our route with the difference being the shade. There was light traffic and some people on the streets but we both felt safe and enjoyed the beauty of the city. The restaurants and bars were all inviting and we stopped a few times to relax and enjoy a drink and all were welcoming. There were green spaces with benches and shade and the terrain was level.

It was a stark comparison between a “decrepit port area” and its appearance today, clean, vibrant with buses and a tram stopping frequently by the museum. The museum is fantastic and like nothing I have ever seen and striking difference from any of the architecture, modern and old, in the rest of the city. The bridge that spans the Nervion river appeared to have a modern and whimsical feel complimenting the museum.

We admired the museum from the outside before making our way back to Old Town. We didn’t take the same route home because Barb’s internal compass knows where we have to go so we make decisions on a street by street basis. Our return trip was as enjoyable and impressive as the first half.







Bilbao is a city of 350K with a heavy flow of tourists. We would love to go back and enjoy more of the city or perhaps find a smaller city in Spain offering a smaller, more local flavor. Spain is definitely on our radar to visit again!

Cheers!
John

If you would like to see more of Barb's photos of Bilbao, just CLICK HERE

What We’ve Done, What We’ve Learned

While the overarching idea, rent our home in the states and stay rent free traveling Europe and elsewhere by Pet Sitting for a year was very appealing and financially sound, we still had to overcome some obstacles - physically moving all of our belongings from place to place, coordinating schedules for Sits while identifying and organizing the different modes of transportation, balancing our budget and finally, enjoying the experiences of our lives.

Etta in France

A critical component for us to be able to travel six months in Europe is Pet Sitting. Pet or House Sitting is when homeowners, going on holiday (vacation) or a business trip for days or weeks, open their home, rent free, in exchange for feeding and attending to their pet’s needs. So, for feeding and playing with animals, we live, temporarily, in homes located in towns and cities throughout Europe meeting some wonderful people and experience things we never thought we would. Since the animals are not on life support requiring 24/7 care and we are not trained veterinarians, we are able to venture out in the area for hours at a time while our furry friends sleep, oblivious to our brief absence. Fantastic! Although the Sits with our new furry friends has been rewarding and memorable, the purpose of our trip was to experience people, places and things.

Since we are in our 50’s, with me closer to 60, moving our 40 pounds of luggage between the six Sits (so far) and four additional stops, almost always via multiple transportation modes in three months has been challenging. Luckily, Barb is a determined person and devoted partner and does her fair share of the physical moving and I have been able to provide any extra muscle when needed. We learned to shift as much weight to our backpacks for the ground transportation since there is no size restrictions and distribute it into our handbags when flying. This has helped tremendously. We realized the difficulty of moving our luggage as we made our way to our first hotel in London but the impetus for change happened boarding our plane on Flybe airlines. I still recall the feeling of angst as I entered our plane’s fuselage, each with our 20 pound backpacks and seeing the overhead not much bigger than a bread box realizing they would never fit. During our next Sit we worked on a solution. Just recently we received our collapsible handcart that should help even more.

The coordination of the dozen or so Sits we will probably need for the six months in Europe have been handled perfectly by Barb. She applies for Sits, always mindful of available time slots in our schedule, arranges interviews and makes sure I look somewhat presentable when we have a Skype call. As far as the travel arrangements, Barb must have travel planning in her DNA or blood because she has always done that in our relationship and has been fantastic on this Adventure. I’ve watched her sit in front of our laptop with her eyes glazing, toggling between many different screens for schedules for trains, buses, airlines, hotels and their cancellation policies, Google maps for walking distances from terminal to terminal to hotel, and other websites. It’s too much for me to comprehend and since she enjoys it and skilled my input would just muddle things.

We did learn a valuable lesson on over committing to our hosts. Between our second and third Sit we had to leave at 3:30AM in Ward End, England to meet our third host in Edinburgh, Scotland by noon. We took a taxi to the airport, flew to Edinburgh, caught a tram into the city to get the keys for our AirBnB, then a taxi to meet our host and finally an Uber to our AirBnB. That was a grind but we did it and since then we make realistic commitments with adequate time between Sits.




After three months of traveling we are reasonably satisfied with our expenses relative to our budget. We still need to be aware of our budgetary constraints but also want to enjoy these experiences. Since we travel to locations based on the Sits we have been to places we never heard of so we never considered them as a place we would want to go. Our third Sit, Edinburgh Scotland, was such a place. After reading a travel book and doing a little internet research the city size was adequate, it had mass transportation, we could easily walk to places and their temperatures would be a high of 75 degrees. We stayed there for one month and saw a good portion of the city and it far exceeded our expectations and we would love to return. Another time we had four days before our Munich Sit so we selected Gdansk Poland because it was exotic, for us, and the flight was reasonable. Our research indicated the temperatures and cost of living was reasonable. Since it has a population of 450K we knew there would be activities we enjoy. We loved it! We could just as easily traveled to popular locations and had fun but I can’t imagine they would be more memorable than Gdansk. We knew the budget could be doomed by rationalizing expensive travel and hotels to popular but out of the way places by the phrase, “We should spend the money. We deserve it and this is a once in a lifetime opportunity!”

Pintxos 

I think people, friends, bloggers, writers, recommend places because they enjoyed them, of course, but they probably don’t have the same expectations of places or the same interest as us. Those suggestions are a good place to start but a decision should only be made after some introspection and research. Also, books or the internet should be taken as generally accurate. For instance, Barb found a blog that described a city in northern Spain having a style of eating and drinking that appealed to us, bars giving a free tapas with the purchase of a glass of wine. We enjoy eating small plates of food, going to bars and drinking wine or beer so we planned a trip to Bilbao, Spain. Well, the city was fantastic and we loved it but we didn’t get any free tapas. My point is if we had expected free food we would have been disappointed. We did expect bars to serve small plates and they did and we thoroughly enjoyed our meals and experience.



Sometimes we like to take the “On-Off Tours” of cities. It’s a way to see some of the city and identify sections that we would like to see. We took one of those tours in Munich Germany with the plan to stay on the bus for a complete route identifying stops we would like to go back to on the second time around route. I used the map provided to make note of interesting places. While listening to the guide and seeing the areas I filled the map with notes and asterisks on stops that were places we think would be worth going to. So, we finished the route and decided to go for lunch and discuss what we saw. There were several places on my map I made notes about and two with asterisks. As we read the tour bus brochure we realized we paid for the three different tours so we agreed to try one more tour after lunch. By the time we approached our last stop on that second tour I had made notes on five stops with asterisks next to three. Then we saw the Marienplatz, looked at each other and agreed this is the place to go. Well, two weeks in Munich and we went back to the Marienplatz every time we took the train into the city. Barb and I had a great time in all of our visits to the city but we can’t say we saw anything but one small section. I think most people judge their experiences on cities they visit based on what they have done, makes sense. So, if I tell a person Munich is a great city and we had fun I am actually describing one small section. The converse could also be true if a person tells us a city isn’t worth seeing. My point is if you adhere to limited guidelines based on your desires and a city meets them, it’s probably a place to explore.

I think seeing most of the world class and popular cities would be a great experience but I question if it is worth spending the extra money when you can go to a place you may never have heard of for far less and have a comparable or more memorable experience. Also, cities are not monolithic and are made up of several or many sections each possibly providing different experiences so unless your wants and needs match the personality of the person doing the recommending, you should do you own research and decide if you want to visit.

A minor point and possibly contradictory, is when you are considering saving a euro or two by taking a sleeper train through Madrid, Spain to a destination to avoid a hotel cost. We had that very situation and quickly decided to pay the additional euros for the hotel in Madrid even though we would only be there for part of day. Since we would be going through Madrid anyways why would we not want to see Madrid! This decision to spend the additional money in a city we didn’t research as opposed to sleeping on a train through a world class city was a wise one. (Note: That trip planned through Madrid fell through when we landed a Sit in Amsterdam Netherlands!)

Cheers!
John


Note from Barb: John expressed really well the thought process of how we have been traveling these last 3 months, our expectations, challenges and logistics of meeting every Sit. I am truly lucky to have such a wonderful partner to share this journey with. It can be stressful at times and it was a LOT of work just getting to the point of boarding the plane to Europe but we have said over and over and over again, it was worth it. We have met incredible people which we hope to stay in touch with and maybe host at our home, visited places I never dreamed of and have collected so many wonderful memories.

Hereford England

Our fifth sit was in Hereford, England. Hereford is a town of about 70,000 people and our hosts lived a few miles or a quick bus ride from the center of town in a nice community of friendly people.

We cared for two dogs, Sye, a sweet old soul, and Ruby, a rambunctious puppy our hosts saved from a difficult situation and were working diligently to help her adjust to a normal life. The house was probably built in the 1800’s with a roomy master bedroom and bathroom.

Sye

Ruby

A nice gift!

Our host presented us with fresh cut flowers, local ciders and jam and also veggies from their garden. The garden, yard, was a cornucopia of foods and flowers with ample room for the dogs to play. Our favorite was the apple tree in the front garden. Katherine, our host, said it was the last of a grove of trees that once filled that area. I am not a fruit eater although I’ve had hopeful thoughts of eating healthier by consuming more fruit, but I have not been successful. I have eaten some very tasty apples especially in Western North Carolina that is home to groves of them. But the apples from this tree were the best I’ve ever eaten! They were crispy with a little sweetness and a tinge of sour. I had at least one a day and the tree was colored two-thirds by green leaves and the remaining third by those red apples.

I took the bus to downtown Hereford to get groceries, have my beard trimmed, have a couple of pints at the Kings Fee, a cup of coffee from a food truck and just to look around. Barb had injured her foot so she stayed “home” with the pups and watched her new best thing- Jamie Oliver on the tellie. While waiting on the bus there was a nice man there that explained the location of grocery stores and the particulars of the bus times, drop offs, routes and ticketing information. He was far more helpful than the internet. I told him I wanted to go to Lidl’s and he agreed that was the store to shop because they have the best prices but there was also a Morrison’s across the street. Within a short time the bus pulled up and we both got on. He sat in the first seat near the front of the bus and I took the next one next to a young guy with a headset on. The bus was almost filled and trip in took about 20 minutes with no stops until we were just about downtown. I was hoping to see a sign for Lidl’s but wasn’t have any luck but at one of the stops the man I spoke with stood up turned his head toward me and gave me a nod so I took my cue and got off. He waited for me and explained where I could pick up the bus for my return trip back and the times to be at the bus stop.

There were several restaurants with some diversity of ethnic foods, some pubs and a variety of places to browse. I found my way to Lidl’s behind the KFC and next to the bus station, across the street from the train station and their competitor Morrison’s. I bought all of my groceries and waited for the bus at the Kings Fee by having a couple of pints of Carling.

Crown and Anchor

While we enjoyed our stay in Hereford our favorite memory will have to be the people, our hosts and the patrons of the Crown and Anchor restaurant pub that was literally two doors from our sit. There was a “beer garden” in the front consisting of 10 picnic tables and free standing tables with benches with umbrellas over each one. The building looked to be built in the 1800’s painted brilliant white with the wood beams in black. Inside there was dining room of about 20 tables to the right, a small sitting area just inside the door, usually with men talking with pint in hand and just beside that was the bar with a smaller dining area. Each time in the people in the waiting area greeted us and usually talked to us about our stay in Hereford.

Beer Garden

Our first meal there was an absolutely delicious burger served to us by one of the owners. Our next visit in for a pint one of the men said, “You must be the Americans my wife spoke about waiting on the other day.” We told him we loved their place and the townspeople were very fortunate to have a place like this to visit. While we were enjoying our pint outside he brought us a small booklet on the history of Hereford during the second World War when it was used to make munitions for the allies. Our stay was only for a week and time passed quickly. The Crown and Anchor was one of the main highlights of our visit.

Cheers!
John

Munich

When we visit unfamiliar cities or towns of any size we like to take a tour to see if any section or streets appeals to us. Since we’ve been in Europe the “City Tours-Hop-on-Hop-Off” have been perfect. So on our initial trip into Munich, Barb found out where that tour company starts their tours and we took the train to the city center. The tour cost about $23 each but we were entitled to three tours and an English audio tour. The bus showed us Nymphenburg Palace, Olympic Park, the English Garden, the historic Old Town, Odeonsplatz and many others, about 19 specific places and general information about Munich. Our strategy is to take one full route, identify potential places of interest and take the next bus to those locations at no additional cost. We were directed to a bus immediately across the street from the bus tour building so we hopped on and listened to the stories and information and saw a clean, beautiful and vibrant city. I made some notes on the tour map of places that might be fun to go back to.  After the first tour, nine points of interest, we decided to eat some authentic German food. We didn’t want to walk too far so we could get on the next route. Looking around we saw a Subway, a sign that indicated what was probably Lebanese cuisine, the Best Kebabs & Pizza in Munich, Ruff’s Burger and Taco Libre. Plenty of delicious looking ethnic food but no sign of any German fare. We opted for Taco Libre and split a carbonated lime drink and a scrumptious quesadilla for about $10.50. Disappointed but definitely satisfied.

The pedestrian area at Marienplatz

We saw the bus for the next tour and hopped on, plugged in our earphones and enjoyed the next sites. I had a couple of places marked on my map as we headed to the last stop before getting back to our starting point, Marienplatz. There was a very large pedestrian area busy with people walking and sitting under umbrellas in front of restaurants and cafes. We also saw a few German cuisine restaurants so I looked at Barb and we both agreed this was our stop. As we got off the bus Barb said the Viktualienmarkt, outdoor market, was in this area. We headed for what looked to be a bar with the front sliding doors wide open to a few tables in front looking onto the pedestrian area. As our luck would have it we were in a restaurant/bar that serves beer from the Paulaner brewery. I ordered a pilsner and Barb ordered a similar beer called the Furstenburg, she had to for our friend Ryan Furstenberg. As we drank the beer Barb turned on her cellular trying to locate the market and deduced it must be behind the huge building across the walkway and talked about making our way over there, after finishing our second beer.


As dinner time was upon us we went to one of the first German restaurants. It was busy with diners all sitting at long tables. With no hostess, find seats, ask if those spots are available and sit down. The harried smiling waitress rushed to our table and asked if we would like the English menu. She came back with it showing each item has a three digit number, placed a small pad and pen on the table and asked if we would write down our selection and she would be most grateful.


In short order we had our beers and no sooner toasted to our good fortune when the food was brought to the table, a plate of sauerkraut, boiled potatoes and five small “vurst” of different types and a basket of pretzels. The food was exactly what we wanted and it didn’t disappoint.

Rathaus-Glockenspiel

As we left the restaurant Barb pointed straight ahead of us across the pedestrian walkway and said the market should be somewhere in that direction. There were businesses and many people to our left and an old building to our right. We headed toward the right. We passed through some arches into a huge courtyard surrounded by large building one being the Rathaus-Glockenspiel. The building dates back to 1908 and every day at 1100 and 1300, dolls high up on the building, reenacts dances in tribute to a 16^th century Duke with a dance of hope and encouragement. There were many people and businesses and we saw the stairs for our train home. We meandered around down one street and another looking at people and the different stores. As we turned one corner we noticed tops of tents across the street from us. Barb said, correctly, “I think that is the market.” Although we had no idea exactly how we got there it turns out it was exactly on the other side of the building Barb initially indicated.
The market was quite large with many tents of merchants selling wine, cheese, flowers, produce, prepared foods from sushi to brats and beer. In the center of the market were huge chestnut trees and dozens of picnic tables with the backs of each bench seat abutted against the one behind it with rows in between sections of the benches.

The beer garden

I went to a small booth with the sign “Bier”. The building may have been 10’X15’ with a small gate and turnstile to direct the flow of customers. All the signs were in German but I was able to understand “.51 L ‎€ 3.9” over the first window and “1 L ‎€7.6” over the second. It wasn’t difficult because on the counter were glasses of beer of two different sizes. I picked up two of the half liter and moved to the third window with the man with a wooden change box on the counter quite worn from sliding change coins out for the many customers. He spoke to me in German, I handed him the ‎€ 10 he passed me my change and said “Danka”. There was always a line there every time we went to the market, sometimes with 8 people sometimes with 20, but it never took more than a few minutes before I walked away with my beer.


I found Barb at the table sitting next to some people with a scrumptious plate of food. We toasted to our good fortune and took a sip. There were hundreds of people sitting in and around the picnic tables, old, young, some dressed fancy, mostly dressed casually. Some had their meals served to them from the surrounding merchants, others brought Tupperware filled containers or pulled from plastic bags bought from a market merchant but almost everyone seemed to have beer. We loved it!

The beer festival

On one of our visits to the Viktualienmarkt beer garden, we sat next to a couple from Munich. Wolfgang and his wife lived near Viktualienmarkt and came to the market about 3 times a week. Over beers we talked history, politics, Germany and the US. They asked if we would like to go to a Wine festival. Of course! So the 4 of us left the beer garden for a short walk to the wine festival. The festival was packed. Wolfgang turned to us and asked if a beer festival would do. Of course! We took a bus and ended up under the famous Angel of Peace to a wonderful festival. More beer, German music, a good sized pretzel and we were enjoying the festivities. When it was time to go, Wolfgang and his wife accompanied us back to the train station. We said our goodbyes and headed back “home”.

To see more of our photos from Munich, click here for Barb's photo's.

Cheers!
John

Little Bear

We arrived in Munich at the main train station. Anna, our homeowner and Mom to Bear, met us. As we drove through the city, Anna pointed out several areas of interests. We were excited to explore Munich!

We arrived at Anna and Mat's home. It is a modern home in the suburbs of Munich. As we started up the stairs to drop off our backpacks in our room, we met Bear on the second floor. Bear is a petite, black kitty. She immediately came over to greet us and I immediately fell in love! Bear has a mild form of Hydrocephalus. Commonly known as water on the brain, Bear sometimes wobbles and loses balance, however, this actually makes her so endearing. She has the sweetest little meow and is just very affectionate.

That night, Anna and her husband Mat took us out for a traditional Bavarian dinner. The restaurant was right in the neighborhood and a nice stroll from the house. I had pork tenderloin and spaetzle, John had schnitzel with roasted potatoes. We ended up eating leftovers for the next 2 days! Wonderful!

The next morning Anna and Mat left on their motorbike for eastern Europe. John and I took the next 3 days to relax and spend time with Bear so she was comfortable with us and got used to us staying in her house. We all got along wonderfully!

We had 2 weeks in Munich and alternated days between staying at the house and venturing into the city. We'll have a post about the sights and sounds of Munich.

Bear was a delight to take care of. She took her beauty naps in the afternoon and in the evenings, John and I would play cards at the dining table while Bear would run up and down the stairs (yes, she may wobble but she is a streak going up and down the stairs!) and venture outside to the patio, always stopping over to the table for pets and scratches.

We had a wonderful time at Anna and Mat's. I'd like to think we made new friends who we would love to see again. That is the great thing about pet sitting, meeting wonderful people and experiencing different cultures.

Cheers!
Barb

Westerplatte

In 1939, 205 Polish defenders on the tiny peninsula of Westerplatte held off about 2600 Germans who attacked them from land, sea and air.

This was the invasion of Poland by Adolf Hitler and ignited World War II.

Guardhouse 1

 At 4:45 AM on September 1, 1939, the Germans opened fire on Westerplatte. The Germans initially thought this "skirmish" would be over in less than an hour. The Polish army was under orders to hold out for twelve hours until they were relieved, but relief never came. The Germans learned on day 1 how determined the Polish army was to maintain their ground at Westerplatte. The German marines attacked 4 times but failed to break through to the circle of reinforced guardhouses. 

Barracks

Over the next 6 days the Polish army held out at Westerplatte. Meanwhile Hitler invaded Poland in the north, south and west. On September 7, having fought for seven days against enormous odds, the Polish army surrendered.  Surprised at how few defenders there were, the German soldiers saluted them as they marched out into captivity and German General Eberhardt allowed Polish commander Major Sucharski to keep his saber, an extraordinary show of respect. 

Guardhouse 1

Westerplatte is now a memorial. Guardhouse 1, which was the key point of defence against the Germans  is intact with 2 shells from a Schleswig-Holstein ironically propping up the entrance. The inside provides representations of the interior.  The barracks is also "standing", reinforced so that visitors can tour the ruble. There are memorials to the soldiers that fought and died. It is well laid out and well worth of short trip from Gdansk (formally Danzig) to visit Westerplatte.

You can see more of my photos from Westerplatte here.

Barb

Gdansk

John and I had a few days in between sits. We looked at the map of Europe and cheap plane fares. We wanted to go somewhere different, somewhere "exotic" (well, at least to us).  We settled on Gdansk Poland. Neither of us knew anyone that ever visited Poland. Neither of us had ever even thought of visiting Poland. The town of Gdansk sounded inviting and it was a fairly cheap flight from Edinburgh. So off we went!

We arrived in the Gdansk airport around 9:30pm. Most signs were in English which was most helpful! John and I learned 5 or 6 key words in polish so we could at least communicate a bit. My Uber was not working (long story there for another time) so we grabbed a taxi. I showed the driver the hotel address and between her broken english and our polish we arrived at our hotel in good time.

Our hotel was situated on a busy street. Directly across the street was a huge ferris wheel. There were cafes with outdoor seating lined up and down the road. The street was packed with people.

We walked into the lobby and were greeted by name! The hotel employee stated she likes to know everyone that is arriving. We were given a quint little room with all the mod-cons (European for modern amenities). The windows, looking onto the street and ferris wheel, were large and opened in. There was a ledge that you could sit on and enjoy the view.

The first night we didn't get much sleep as the tourists and locals were partying it up until daybreak. We got up and decided to have lunch at a milk bar. A milk bar is a cafeteria style restaurant held over from the communist days of Poland. Authentic polish food. We made the 4/10 of a mile walk over to a popular milk bar. On our walk we passed over the harbor, past beautiful churches, cafes and shops. Lunch was great! Potatoes, cabbage and pork. After lunch we strolled the streets until we came upon one street that was much busier than all the rest - Long Street in Old Town.

Long street is lined up and down with outdoor cafes. There are buskers and tourists eating ice cream. Ice cream seems to be the big hit in Gdnask, everyone strolls along with a cone or a waffle topped with ice cream or just cream and fruit. We spent the afternoon on Long Street, people watching and partaking in drinks.

As we headed down Long Street to find our way back to the hotel, things started to look familiar. As we passed through a small tunnel we realized that we were staying on Long Street! This was great! We were in the heart of Gdansk!

That night we didn't get much sleep as the tourists and locals were partying it up until daybreak.

The next 2 days were spent exploring Gdansk. So many cafes, so many desserts and the milk bar! We discovered that there was an excellent milk bar just doors down from our hotel! We ate there every day for the next 3 days. We also tried street food, we picked smoked cheese cooked up and served with cranberries, delicious! We toured Westerplatte, the sight of the German invasion into Poland that started World War 2. We'll have a post about that shortly.

Those next 3 nights we didn't get much sleep as the tourists and locals were partying it up until daybreak.

We left Gdnask by train heading to Berlin where we would stay overnight to catch a train the next morning to our sit in Munich.

We loved Gdansk and highly recommend it. Speaking polish would be helpful but not necessary as you can get most menus in english and people do speak some english.

You can see many more of my pictures of Gdansk here.

Cheers!
Barb