The Adventure

I arrived in Gdańsk, Poland at 5:30 in the morning. I decided this was too early, so got back in the train and took it to the end of the line, getting some extra sleep. Then, I took the train back and disembarked in Gdańsk around 9:15. The train station was immediately a sight to see. As I walked around, the streets were pretty much empty. I realized later that this is probably typical for Poland on a Sunday morning. In fact, I realized at one point that if there were I church inside which I wanted to see, I wouldn’t be able to because they were all hosting masses. I guess I could have joined. Anyway, as I walked around I saw so many cool buildings that none of them really stand out in particular. It was just overall a very picturesque city. Shortly before 10, I arrived in what I believe to be one of the more iconic areas of the city, where there are streets filled with strips of colourful row houses. Many of the homes even had artwork and intricate designs on the outside. Other than in Prague, this was the only time I had seen anything like this.

As I wandered around some more, I just kept seeing more and more cool churches and other buildings. Around 11:00 I went into a nice mall for a bit of a break, but the interior of the mall was cool too. The bottom of the building had water running through it with plants all around it, and even an arched brick bridge crossing over it on the bottom level. As far as malls go, it was very cozy. I ended up seeing even more aesthetic parts of the city in the afternoon, including a smaller but still fun love lock bridge. Not much later, I decided I was going to walk to the beach on the Baltic Sea. Then I realized the beach was further away than I had thought, so I hopped on the closest train and took it north for just a little. This was about halfway between Gdańsk and Gdynia; I don’t know if it’s technically considered part of either. I realized there isn’t really much to do at a beach in the winter, but it was still nice to get a view of the Baltic Sea for the first time. It was around 2 in the afternoon when I left, and just kept going on the train. I had a long journey ahead of me back to Malmö.

Highlight

It’s really hard to choose a highlight in Gdańsk. As I said, the whole city was so pretty that it all kind of blends together into one aesthetic memory. I guess if I had to decide, I would say that the colourful houses were a highlight, though everything around it was equally enjoyable. My recommendation would be to take in the city as a whole if you visit, rather than focusing on just tourist attractions. Every street corner has a surprise, something pleasant to see. Some of my favourite pictures that I took in Gdańsk are of buildings that I have yet to identify and/or don’t seem to have any major significance.

Cost

Gdańsk was the most random place you could imagine for me to try KFC for the first time. However, that is exactly what happened. Apparently, KFC is really cheap compared to other food places, at least in Gdańsk. I got KFC for both lunch and dinner, coming to $16.51 CAD or 46.98 PLN.

Concluding Thoughts

As far as cities I visit go, I would say Gdańsk was the most picturesque. It didn’t really have any modern feel to it at all, and kind of felt like stepping back in time to a place where every building was crafted with care and attention to detail. Places like the mall that I visited were a bit further removed from the historic and aesthetic centre, which stretched on in every direction. I believe Gdańsk is actually quite a large city, area-wise, and I only had enough time to explore a bit of it. A lot of travel-related content comes across my feed on Instagram, and since this trip, I have seen many videos talking about a hidden gem, either in Poland or in Europe in general. I always know they’re talking about Gdańsk before the reveal. As a whole, it was one of my favourite cities to visit, so I would highly recommend you visit too.