Week 8
08/25 - 08/28 | Gdansk
Welcome to the land of the free. The Free City of Gdansk, formerly known as Danzig, is a cute little port town (next to its sisters Gdynia and Sopot) with a curious history. Historically, the city has been inhabited by mostly Germans, and in between the world wars, it was actually a self-governing state (though the Polish government had special privileges in its administration). I was immediately struck by the resemblance of this place to Copenhagen and Amsterdam. Architecturally, many of the buildings are slightly more German versions of the Dutch style, narrow buildings one would find in the capital of the Netherlands. Meanwhile, the layout of the city along the river reminds one strikingly of Denmark’s capital.
I spent some time wandering through the main thoroughfares of Gdansk in the afternoon and paid a visit to its WWII museum. This is a massive complex that you could easily spend all day in, but I just hit the highlights (and it still took me about 2 hours). It is located in a curiously-shaped (roughly prism-like), modern glass-and-steel building just outside of the main town, and is certainly worth a visit on a trip to this city, but requires some mental fortitude to enter (as one might expect of any WWII content in eastern Europe).
Afterward, I took a taxi up to nearby Sopot for a tour of another quaint seaside village. Sopot definitely has more of a posh, vacationer’s vibe. Its main street feels entirely like an artifice created for tourist pleasure, and the pier and the beach are littered with vacationers, not locals. Prices also reflect this town’s focus on tourism. That being said, Sopot is quite picturesque, and it’s filled with fountains fueled by salty spring water—it’s said that breathing the air near these fountains can lower your blood pressure and help you to relax (thanks to evaporated salt, presumably).
After my tour of the town, I went for dinner at a spot recommended by my guide with a couple of girls who were visiting from Krakow. We settled onto a table right on the beach and enjoyed some delicious, fresh seafood (at unfortunately high prices for Poland). Since it was a Friday night, we then decided to explore some of the three cities’ nightlife, and took a taxi back to Electrician’s Street in the shipyards of Gdansk (though apparently Sopot is also famous for its late-night attractions). We initially paid for entrance to a club with a well-lit dance floor and seemingly good music, but after staying for 30 to 45 minutes, we weren’t feeling the DJ and the space remained pretty empty. Fortunately, I befriended a couple of Polish girls who told us they intended to go next door to 100cztya (and invited us along). This turned out to be an amazing decision. We entered into a place that turned out to be a massive, mostly outdoor version of Szimpla or Instant in Budapest. Myriad bars, food trucks/stalls, art exhibits, dance areas, DJs, etc. — it has everything you could possibly want or need in a massive, sprawling space that sits right at the base of the Gdansk shipyards. We thoroughly enjoyed playing games (like ping pong), having some late snacks, chatting, and dancing the night away.
The next day I started off with a walking tour of Gdansk (surprise!). I got a better picture of the city’s history and importance (especially pertaining to the start of WWII—Gdansk was actually specifically targeted by the Germans so they could incorporate it into the Third Reich thanks to its large German population, about 90%), saw some of the main sights (including the fountain of Neptune, a symbol of the city, and the famous amber street with a bunch of vendors selling…you guessed it), and even got to watch the midday astronomical clock show in the main cathedral.
After the tour, I had a traditional lunch at a milk bar (well, a quite touristy one, so perhaps not the most traditional) and took the rest of the afternoon for some personal errands and to avoid the spat of rain that appeared as lunch was winding down.
Later on, I joined on a Nazi Terror tour (literally branded as “fun for all ages”…not sure who was writing the copy for this one) around sunset and circumnavigated the perimeter of the main town all the way out to the shipyard, where the tour ended. The throughline followed the contrasting lives of a Polish boy and a German boy living in the city during the war and demonstrated how locals weren’t treated much better than Jewish people by the Nazis, which is incredibly saddening when looking at the population of the country as a whole.
I finished my evening off by wandering around the harbor among the pretty fairy lights strung along ships and restaurants, and took a ride on the “Gdansk Eye” (actually called the AmberSky Wheel…they really like their amber here). Though Gdansk doesn’t boast an impressive skyline, it was quite pretty to see the main town and shipyard from up above. Plus, we got to go around the wheel 4 times, which was absolutely worth the price of admission. Unable to sleep afterward, I ventured out to explore the nightlife of the main town (it was a Saturday after all) and managed to find a club that played Latin music (Cubano). I was very happy to be able to practice my salsa skills for once in Eastern Europe, and I went home very tired and very contented.
My last full day in Gdansk (which I extended from my original plan—I needed some time to reset and recover to prepare for my next travels, and also I felt like I hadn’t spent enough time in this place) started off quite slowly. I slept in and took the morning to journal, meditate, and work on this blog.
In the afternoon, I wandered around Gdynia and the nearby beaches. The moody weather, the wildlife of the Baltic seaside, and the general vibe gave a relaxed, somber energy to my explorations. I was not impressed with Gdynia—the town itself seemed a bit too urban (and not in a good way) compared to Sopot and Gdansk, and the harbor was nothing to shake a stick at. I think Sopot and Gdansk are where I’d spend my time on a return visit, and I’m glad I didn’t set aside more time for Gdynia. I went back to Sopot for dinner (more seafood) before attempting to catch a pub crawl leaving from main town Gdansk. Unfortunately, I was late, and it had started raining, so I couldn’t find the group and instead ended up having a quiet night alone to watch some WWII-themed TV shows before retiring early.
I had a final, half-day in Gdansk, which I spent getting coffee and exploring the Solidarity Museum—a history of resistance to and the end of communism in Poland. Located inside a modern building meant to evoke the shipyards of the city, I found the museum incredibly picturesque (in an urban, steampunk kind of way), content aside. If you visit, make sure to walk around the archives on the upper floors, which are concealed by glass doors and make for a beautiful place to get lost.
In the afternoon, I took a train back to Warsaw and had one last meal of pierogis before boarding a night bus to finally leave Poland. Goodbye, motherland, I will miss you, and I will be back for you soon.
08/29 - 08/30 | Vilnius
After what was hopefully the last night bus of my trip (now I’m in train Europe), I arrived at 6am to Vilnius bus station. Fortunately, the cafe at the Scandinavian-feeling cafe at the train station was open and I was able to take a breather before heading over to old town for a walking tour at 10:30. It was a brisk but clear morning, and I didn’t think to prepare for what should’ve been an obvious eventuality—sparse thunderstorms. As I made my way through the city, I took shelter at a few points to avoid spats of rain which came as quickly as they melted away. Just like NYC summer storms.
Right as our tour was scheduled to start, the rain picked up again, though it held off for most of the rest of the day (aside from a few scattered showers). Trekking through the drizzle and the cold, we made our way around the moody streets of old town and I was struck by an odd mix of Scandinavian and Eastern European feels. We saw beautiful Baroque style churches, decorated with quirky religious symbology (the creators were still culturally Pagans and so built a lot of Pagan iconography into their work). We saw the picturesque halls and courtyards of Vilnius University. We even saw a weird wall filled with paraphernalia of Lithuanian writers, notably, a pair of dentures.
After a break for lunch, we visited some of the old communist relics of the city, including the old-timey village of Šnipiškes. This section of the city is filled with all-wooden houses, some of which even lack running water and electricity. Because Soviet housing policy allocated multiple people into a single home, the houses are owned by section, and it’s nearly impossible to do renovations that significantly alter the buildings. It’s wild to see this mostly undeveloped, wild piece of community in the heart of a city like Vilnius.
My afternoon and evening was spent roaming around the quaint old town at sunset, watching street performers, and feeling the pulse of the city. I even stumbled on some Cuban salsa dancers in the park, and I danced a while with them. I like this place. It’s calm and Scandinavian in its sense of refinement, but the people are extremely friendly, open, and happy.
My second day in Vilnius started in the rainy district of Užupis, which is now a bohemian area for artists and students. On April 1, 1997, the district declared its independence from Lithuania. Residents set up border patrols on the bridges entering and exiting the neighborhood to stamp passports, distributed their own currency for exclusive use within the district, and even wrote a constitution (which contains amendments such as “a dog has the right to be a dog”). They were aware of the irony of this date of choice, and it’s celebrated every year in Užupis.
I then spent some time dodging rain at Vilnius University and in the Museum of Freedom Fighters (in an old KGB headquarters, complete with a prison and execution chamber in the basement). I also paid a visit to Lukiškes prison, which is famous as the filming location for the Soviet prison camp in Stranger Things 4. Nowadays, it functions as a live music and festival venue, though the filming areas are probably only accessible on private tours. These were some cool solo exploration opportunities. I feel like I got to see a more local side of Vilinus by escaping the old town a bit, and I really enjoyed walking around this city. There’s just a good energy in the air. I will certainly be returning.
08/31 | Riga
Baltic #2 incoming. I took an early (7:30) morning bus to Riga and spent some time in the morning exploring the old town on my own. It felt taller, darker, and more adult than Vilnius did, slightly more picturesque, but also slightly more imposing. I stopped at a few local cafes to sample the delicious coffee culture here and cure my lack of sleep with a bit of caffeine.
My walking tour then took me around the old town and gave a historical background, per usual, to the sights and sounds of the city. My favorite historical insight was the famous Powder Tower—an old military defense tower that was left unfinished on its inside wall since the defenders reasoned the fort could never be attacked from the inside courtyard. The wall was finally completed in the mid-1800s by a German fraternity that purchased the tower for use as a frat house. They acquired the building for pennies on the dollar and found a treasure trove of bird droppings inside which they sold as fertilizer, and used the profit to renovate the entire place, including installing a nice staircase and fixing the wall. They don’t make fraternities like they used to, do they?
The rest of the day was another freeform time to wander around the streets and immerse myself in the local culture and feel of the city. I liked Riga. The Latvians struck me as a bit more relaxed than the Lithuanians, who were (on generality) a bit more enthusiastic and emotional (at least by Nordic standards) about things. The Lithuanians were also more competitive, especially when it came to friendly competition with the other Baltic states. But overall, I found both populations to be surprisingly open for the northern European stereotype, with a healthy sense of directness and honesty that comes from eastern Europe.
I spent my evening socializing, playing games, and teaching people about astronomy in my hostel. Not a life-changing, memorable, local experience, but a break from late nights spent out and around the city, or on overnight transit. I still managed to stay up far past my bedtime, but I, per usual, don’t have qualms about this. Viva la vida.