Poland - one of my Motherlands...

All good stories start with... I have this friend...

RK! Look closely into his sunglasses!

The K family!

But really we do have this friend... let's call him... RK.  Mike's known him for ever! And I guess that means that I've known him for over 10 years or so. Anyway, he is from Poland and for over 10 years we have been hearing these crazy stories about when he used to live in Poland. So we decided it would be fun to go see if these stories were real. And turns out they Are!!!

Gdasnk main street

Church in Gdansk

RK is from a place in Poland that is a lot like Maryland. There is beach, hills, woods and city all in a very close distance. We went to Sopot, Gdasnk and Gdynia. All three areas are real close to each other and full of fun and fascination! Our home base was Sopot because that was in between the other 2 cities. Sopot was a fun little touristy (Polish touristy - not American touristy) town right on the Baltic Sea. We did a lot of eating and lounging around in Sopot (perfect for this 31 week pregnant gal). Then we took a train to Gdansk for a glimpse of the large 'end of the season' market. Lots of history in Gdansk and again lots of touristy things to do.  RK says that Gdansk was started in the 900's AD. They have a huge church that appeared to be constructed out of brick in the 1300's.  The inside was really interesting because the walls were white. We've never been in a church where the walls were so white! I think that was a byproduct of communism since people didn't have the money to paint.  But I don't know for sure.  

From the Baltic Sea looking at Gdynia

After Gdasnk we hit Gdynia. Only about 15 minutes up the road from Sopot. Gdynia was were RK grew up. It has a lot of the charm of the Baltimore city inner harbor (except blue water).  They have a port, an aquarium, tons of shopping and restaurants and an over all fun attitude. 

Gdasnk tourture

Things that we found interesting and challenging in Poland = language and culture! The language sounded like nothing I've ever heard before. Yeah, we've heard RK speak Polish before but it's different when everyone around you is speaking it.  For me picking up French or German is way easier. And the culture... oh the culture! So in England everyone stands in lines (que's) in Poland it's a mass free for all (even if your pregnant or have a baby with you)! Getting on and off the plane was the worst! Mike thinks it's because the average age in Poland is younger than in the states. I don't know what it's from.  All I know is that based on all the places we've been so far this was the first time that we've ever been to a place were there was once communism. And you can definitely see it in the architecture with most things being built with concrete (even light poles). Sky rise apartment complexes that are usually considered 'projects' in the states are great housing in Poland.  It's amazing and fascinating and very Eastern European!

Gdansk Wall Art

Left over Cold War tunnels in Gdynia

PS - The best "Polish" story we have is that while eating at a restaurant Mike tried to put salt on his salad. He couldn't understand why it didn't taste right and it turns out that there was sugar in the salt container.  We all had a real good laugh about that!