Several weeks ago I traveled to Poland with Joasia to continue the discovery of her homeland. This would be the fourth time we’d traveled to Poland, but we had been in and around Warsaw twice before, and that city left me not too exited to discover the rest of what Poland had to offer. The city is large and bland and uninspiring, which is not surprising considering destruction that was visited upon the city during the second world war. Only a very small part of the old city still remains, which is actually quite cute. But the rest…
When Joasia asked me if I wanted to go to the mountains a couple of years ago, to visit the mountains around Zakopane and Kraków afterwards, I wasn’t so enthusiastic. I was really glad she convinced me, because it was breathtakingly beautiful. Despite this experience, I still was a little reticent when Joasia suggested we go to the north this time, to visit Gdańsk and the coast of the Baltic Sea. Of course, I should’ve known better, because northern Poland turned out to be as beautiful as southern Poland.
Gdańsk itself has a beautiful city center, very reminiscent of Amsterdam because of the trade along the Baltic Sea by the Hanseatic League. Though it was a little bit too touristy for my liking, it had its charm and we found some great places to eat. We visited Malbork Castle by train, which interesting and impressive. But I was really blown away when we start driving along the northern coast, towards Łeba.
We made sure to drive along the small country roads, through tiny villages and the wooded countryside. When we finally reached the coast, it was a stunning mix of beach, dunes, forests and lake side meadows. The forest was quiet, and we even saw a wild deer, the dunes were pretty popular with visitors, but the beaches were very empty, despite the weather being rather nice.
Another very successful trip to Poland. The country is so incredibly large that I’ve now seen some very different countryside from the mountains in the south to the coast in the north. I’ve learned more about its long and turbulent history, and I am starting to understand Joasia and the Polish people better as a result of it. I’m looking forward to the next region to discover, and what I might learn about my partner as a result of it.
