Gail was sleeping soundly this morning, finally, so I let her sleep in until the last minute before breakfast ended.
We dropped our laundry off. For 50PLN ($13.50) it will be ready and waiting for us tonight.
Back to the train station where we found platforms 3 and 4 hidden on the side. We are taking the small regional line, SKM out to the beach town of Sopot, about 11 km north of Gdańsk.
It was really windy this morning, threatening rain, but then it calmed and the sun came out. Now, on the train, we make sure to sit on the shade side of the car.
The guy across from us pulls out a stinky sandwich. He has in earbuds, so he can't hear himself smacking his lips as he chews loudly.
I want to puke. Seriously.
No stinky food on the public transportation.
Off the train at Sopot, we walk into a cute beach resort. It would be fantastic beach on a hot day, all wide and sandy. Today, warm when the sun is out, cool when it drops into the clouds, it is still a nice area.
There is a cute shopping street, pedestrian only, leading from the main church down to the beach and pier. Tree-lined, with old homes and modern buildings, it is a nice walkway. We feel far away from Gdańsk.
There is a weird building that looks like it is melting, with a coffee shop on the bottom floor. Very cool architecture.
To the beach.
The Molo is the main attraction. That is the pier.
We paid our $2 admission fee and walked through the turnstile. It stretched out before us, full of people yet wide enough to feel spacious. It is in really great shape, in fact a couple guys were busy replacing a slightly imperfect board. This is not an amusement pier like Santa Monica, nor a glassed exhibition pier like Brighton, England. It's a long walking pier with lots of places to stop and sit.
In fact, it is the longest wooden pier in Europe, at 511.5 meters.
We went all the way out, stopping for a selfie at the very end.
On the way back we decided it was time for a glass of wine.
We stopped at a cafe along the pedestrian zone for said glass of red. I had a small appetizer of fresh shrimp in butter and wine.
It started to spit a drop of rain (literally, I was hit by all of three drops) thus fulfilling the 60% chance of rain prediction for the day.
Gail went shopping in Rossmann for bandaids and baby powder while I sat and had a cappuccino, people watching and typing this for my blog.
Upon returning, Gail decided she wanted ice cream, and there are Lody shops everywhere. Lody = ice cream.
Reminds me of Creedence Clearwater: Oh Lord, Stuck in Lody Again.
When we were tired of the little town, we hopped the train back to Gdańsk and bought a cinnamon trdelnik (TUR-DELL-NICK) at the stand down by the covered mall. We had these in Prague and loved them. Hot, thin and soft, covered in cinnamon and sugar. A great snack on a cool day.
Any time is a good time for trdelnik.
When we got to our room, our laundry was washed, but not dried. So we set out looking for a laundry to dry them. Another little frustration here, but that is part of travel. Actually, I am a little bent out of shape right now, frustrated by the guest house.
I'm gonna vent. You can skip down to the red STOP below if you don't wanna hear it.
First, our room, number 4. If you look on the website, it has big windows facing out to a tower, the town hall. Not any more. Someone is building right next door and the windows are sealed up. Now there is one window facing out at the brick wall of the cathedral. We like windows. We like the light and views. This was a disappointment. So the room was not exactly as advertised.
And, they are currently working on the cathedral renovation, from about 7 until 18:00. Grinders and compressors. Not to mention the pounding on the other side of our wall for the new building.
And, though they accept credit cards at the Gotyk, they ask you to wire a deposit. The wire cost me $35, plus the exchange rate from my bank is not good (like it is from the credit card - straight across) so that was another $3. Then, I paid for the rest of the room by credit card. She asked me if I wanted to pay in PLN or dollars, I asked for PLN. She agreed. But when I got the charge, it was in dollars… again at a poor exchange rate from the bank (as opposed to Capital One credit card) which added another $15 to the bill. So the room ended up costing me an extra $53 over the four night stay. Had I factored that into the $94 a night rate, (350PLN) it makes the cost $107.25 a night instead, not such a deal anymore.
Sure, they did laundry as advertised, for a 50PLN ($13.50) fee, but it was wash only, not drying. So we wasted time walking to a laundry and paid again to dry our stuff. Again, small annoyance, but more time and money out of pocket.
No coffee in the room. You can get a cup from them for 5 PLN at night, but I like coffee early in the morning... and the gingerbread they advertise? Not for years now.
STOP
While waiting for the drying, we had excellent shrimp bisque and wine at a little wine bar, The Rotterdam, deep on a side street.
Overall, we like Gdańsk. Might find a different place to stay, but we like the city.
But it is time to move on.
Tomorrow we head to Toruń for gingerbread, then Warsaw for two days and a night.