Old habits are hard to break. Our daily routine is pretty set. One of us is up around 7 am, if it is cold we stay under the blankets until about 7:30, then I get up and make coffee, and warm a cup of milk for Ton. After I am done with that I go for a short walk or I empty the cassette for our toilet and fill the water, to give Ton some privacy to get ready for the day. After she is ready she prepares breakfast. If we are moving on I take the dishes to wash while Ton starts to organize the interior of François for travel. When I get back with the dishes she puts them away while I unhook the electrical cable and put it away. If we are on a normal travel day we are usually on the road by 9:30. If we are in a hurry because we have a long drive we will dispense with breakfast and have sandwiches, that gets us on the road before 9.
I had gotten up early to watch the Timbers play Kansas City at 4:30 in the morning, fortunately they won. The game was over about 6:30 so I climbed back into bed for a bit, but at 7:30 I was up making coffee. We kept telling ourselves we weren’t in a hurry, because it was only about a 45 minute drive to our new campground and technically you are not supposed to arrive before noon. But despite everything our routine could not be stopped and we were on the road at 9:30. We arrived at the campground about 10:30, but the manager just sent us off to find a place.
We got an early start into Gdansk, and were in the old town before noon. Gdansk had gotten great reviews from everyone we knew who had visited it, but we were still surprised about how nice it was.
Most old towns in European cities are centered on a central square, usually called the market square. The pattern is pretty much the same, a town hall, a market building, some impressive homes that used to belong to the wealthy merchants, and in most of Europe (but not Poland)the most important church.
Gdansk does not follow this pattern, there is no central square, but a wide long street called the Long Market. The street is about a mile long and has all of the same buildings (again except the church), just stretched out over this stretch of road. We enjoyed the change of pace. The town was very busy as it was a glorious Sunday to be out, and a lot of the locals were enjoying their town with the tourists.
It was a great day to people watch and take photos and we enjoyed joining in with the promenade. Unlike in the summer when the foreign tourists arrive today the crowd was mostly Polish. After going up and down the Long Market we headed over to the main church one block away.
St. Mary’s Church is said to be the largest brick church in the world. However, a few years ago we visited the Cathedral in Albi France where we were told it was the largest brick church in the world. We aren’t sure which is larger but we can vouch to the fact that they are both immense brick buildings. Like a lot of the churches in these parts, St. Mary’s has alternated between being a Catholic Church and a Lutheran Church. Today it is Catholic, and when we stuck our head in there was a Mass underway so no pictures of the interior.
Gdansk is a port city and today is a large commercial port and ship building center. The city is built around the Vistula River, and a tributary of the Vistula called the Martwa Wista. The center of the city has several islands that are also full of historical buildings. It gives it an Amsterdam like feeling to me, but instead of canals it is branches of the river.
Today was intended to be a check the city day without a set agenda. It turned into a real fun day of wandering, people watching, and trying local delicacies. Over the course of the day we had another Milk Bar lunch, stopped in a nice brewery, and visited a coffee shop in the converted home of a rich guy from the 18th century.
On the way back to the campground we decided to extend our visit by a day as Gdansk has a lot more to offer. We have not begun to explore the history of the city including it’s role in the downfall of the Soviet Union.
