Vol 2 - Exploring Gdansk

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Today we finally get to explore Gdansk! About the only thing that dragged us out of bed after only getting in a few hours earlier... that, and we had to checkout at 10am.

Ula and Yella had crashed in our room, which meant we had a local guide to start the day. Our hostel was located right beside the Motlawa River, just down from where the Gdansk Crane stands, it’s the biggest crane in medieval Europe and the only one left in the world.

It didn’t take us long to find a yummy cafe on the edge of the river for some brunch. We said good bye to Ula and Yella while they headed back home. After brunch we had a wonder down to the heart of the old town, starting with the Green Gate on the edge of the river, where Royals would stay when visiting the city. The lovely pedestrainised streets provide row after row of colourful old buildings, mostly rebuilt after WWII. We saw Neptune’s Fountain, the town hall, and all the way up the main street to the Golden Gate, the old prison and the Upland Gate – the main entrance to the city building in 1574.

We had a look around the massive St Mary’s Church that dominates the town’s skyline, believed to be the largest old brick church in the world! It was originally built in 1343 and can easily accommodate an immense 25,000 people!

We had a pretty relaxing afternoon soaking up the warm sunshine beside the Motlawa River, before starting a rather long, round-a-bout overnight train trip. The night coach we were planning on getting was not running as it’s Easter, so ended up on a 18hours, 3 train journey via Warsaw to Vilnius in Lithuania....but we got there!

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