Bydgoszcz

This time, we use google translate, write our breakfast order on a scrap of paper, and give it to the staff at the Touristy Milk Bar. Three scrambled eggs (4.9 zł) and two fried eggs (2.6), kefir (2.2), juice (2.9), bread roll (.9), bread roll with cheese (3.1) - all for 16.6 zł. On the way to the station, I get a nice latte for 9 zł - about twice the price of a beer. And then, we almost missed our train. Because of the town names on some of the cars, we didn't realize that we looking at our train till after the whistle blew. We made it with seconds to spare and settled into a 2nd class compartment for 8. No-one else joined us for the trip to Bydgoszcz (bid-gosht).

Gdańsk Główny Train Station (with a McDonalds)

We arrived on time, jumped on the #71 bus, got out, walked past the Hotel Logan by 200m, asked for directions, and then found it easily. The first room had two single beds but that was willingly changed. I can't remember why we chose this $31/night place but it'll do. The staff are very friendly and helpful. The bed is dodgy with a hint tobacco smoke. 

Either bus #51 or 58 will take us to the city so we grab one (3.2 zł each) and look for dinner. There weren't a lot of places open on Sunday but we found Pizza Soprano and had a delicious 30cm pizza for 18 zł. Another patron came over and helped us with the Polish menu. The one outside was bilingual but we didn't memorize it. We walked back to the train station and took the bus back to the hotel.

This morning, since we're a fair way from town, we had breakfast at the hotel. For 12 zł each, we had a loaf of bread, many slices of meat and cheese, toasted meat&cheese sandwiches, yogourt, and coffee. With our 5 zł map in hand, we take a circuitous route along the canal, over a bridge that used to be for trains, watched fishermen with 10 metre fishing poles, along a path by the tracks and eventually to the train station.


    I wanted to see the roundhouses below, but they are not visible from any road.

Then we just wandered, looking at shops, the local market, interesting buildings, a great pet store with gorgeous aquaria etc., until lunch. And btw, you can't pee for free at McDonalds. You have to use the number on your receipt to open the door! The public loos are only 1 zł. We had a huge lunch of goulash dinner (13.5 zł), soup (4.5 zł), fried chicken dinner (13.5 zł) and real cold milk (1.5 zł) at a bar mleczny. The dinners came with potatoes, beetroot salad, cabbage salad, and sauerkraut.

We walked to the modern Opera Nova, across a little bridge and into the old town (Stare Miasto). At the tourist office, we found out where the bus station was. They also suggested we take the bus to Toruń rather than the train as the bus station is right in town and the train station a good 2 km away in an industrial area.

Note the angled walls for more strength

McDonalds - they're everwhere

Then disaster: my fantastic brand-new Tilley hat had disappeared. One moment it was on my head, then it was gone. We retraced our steps but it was hopeless. Someone in Bydgoszcz has no idea what they've found. Another 4½ weeks in Poland without it will be tough. I'm almost inconsolable. When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping. There's a Tesco of all things - and a bottle of decent Bordeaux is about $5. Wow! We stop in half a dozen shops on the way to the bus and buy a litre of milk, some cream cheese (which turned out to be cottage cheese), some Norwegian smoked salmon, some really good coleslaw, and a whole cake with jam and custard and almonds. I lost track but the whole lot was less than $10. That will be dinner.

In the middle of that food shopping, Clarisse found a second-hand store with a variety of baseball caps. For a whopping 5 zł, I buy an FC Barcelona one (made in China of course). At least now I won't have the sun in my eyes for the rest of the trip.

Gdansk Zoo; Lechia Gdansk v Podbeskidzie

What a great day. As promised, the Bar Mleczny Turystyczny. opened at 9:00. We had an order of two fried eggs, a bowl of excellent mushroom soup, 2 rolls with cheese, and a bottle of cherry juice for a whopping 10 zł. However, the milk bar had neither milk nor coffee! Then is was off to the train station to book tomorrow's tickets to Bydgoszcz (bid-gosht). Good thing we had cash (84 zł) as they didn't want a credit card at this wicket (in spite of the Visa sign).

Getting to the zoo was simple - a tram to Oliwa and 8 minutes on a bus to the zoo. 18 zł each for entrance - but you had to pay 2 zł for the toilet once inside. It's not a bad zoo but nothing special. At least we had a decent lunch (no McCrap) - cheeseburgers for 7 zł. The best thing was watching the camels mating, The female sat down on the ground and four males took turns servicing her. All the while, she looked totally bored. (SFW)

The it was back on the bus and then the tram. Against Clarisse's advice to go all the way into town to get the tram to the stadium, I decided we could switch trams part way. We found eventually found the other tram line, missed the tram by 30 seconds, and ended up walking all the way to the stadium. It's quite a sight - a huge torus holding over 43,000 covered steeply-pitched seats.

 There were only a few 1000 there as this was only between the local Lechia Gdansk and the almost-bottom-of-the-table about-to-be-relegated Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała. The home team went down 2 goals but finally scored to lose 1-2. Both teams need to learn how to pass the ball.



Don't follow the sign to the tram when you leave the stadium. After a 10 minute walk, I knew we were going in the wrong direction. Backtracking, the tram stop was 5 minutes the other way. Guess what? We just missed one. The delay meant that we probably missed the crush and therefore got a seat. We were back in the hotel by 18:30 and then back to our favourite Wild Perogie. We shared two different pork dishes, one sliced sirloin with chantrelle sauce, the other a rustic, Polish-style roulade. And the chips were from real potatoes, not those horrible frozen things that our hotel served last night. With wine and beer -- 84 zł + 10 for a tip.

For dessert, we picked up two huge chocolate confections (like rum balls without the rum) for 5.2 zł. *yum*

Two hours later, I think this blog is up-to-date.

Our Not So Beautiful Laundrette; Not So Good Dinner Either

What a day! It started well enough: heaps of scrambled eggs, rolls with cheese, coffee, hot milk, OJ for a mere 25 zł at the Neptun Bar Mleczny. It was cloudy and rainy so we hung around till just before noon. The hotel confirmed that the laundromat near the University of Gdansk did still exist so hopped on a tram to Oliwa. We got the wrong tram but figured out where we were and walked the kilometre to the laundromat. There we were told all the machines were busy and we couldn't leave it and pick it up tomorrow because they were going to be closed. This in spite of telling our hotel that they were open Saturday. She suggested their branch in the Manhattan Mall. On the tram again - to the wrong mall. Back on the tram (same ticket - they're good for an hour) to the right mall - where we found the Hydro Salon - one of the only two laundromats in Gdansk. In spite of the instructions and help from another patron, we still managed to screw up and waste 20 zł. Someone is supposed to come and give us a refund at 18:00. With two loads of laundry (the machines are teeny tiny) finally churning, we head out for a very very late (14:45) lunch. Huge kebabs slathered in garlic sauce are a mere 10 zł (2/3 the price of a load of laundry) and really help our mood.

Now we are hopefully awaiting someone to refund our money. A few minutes after 6pm, a young man shows up, reads the Polish translation of our tale, chats in English for a moment, and willingly returns our 20 zł. Back onto the #6 tram and we're back in the hotel before 7pm.

Too tired to go restaurant hunting, we break the rules and decide to eat in the hotel's. Big mistake. Clarisse's chicken and walnut salad comes with both walnut shell pieces and the tomatoes which she had asked to be excluded. My flounder, not deboned, was cold and greasy. It was so bad that I sent it back uneaten. That's the first time in my life I've done that. The waiter was apologetic, didn't charge us for either dish, and gave us free cheesecake for dessert. So the whole bill was about 30 zł. We did leave him a nice tip as the kitchen's incompetence wasn't his fault.

Tomorrow has got to go better than today :-)

Mostly Malbork-bork-bork

Jacobson's was ok for dinner, but almost the same price as the Wild Dumpling, we won't return. It certainly was a restaurant for Polish tourists, possibly because they could keep their bottle of vodka under the table. Zurek, farmer's pie, a deep-fried chicken roll and two beer came to about 70 PLN.

Thursday morning started badly: the Neptune Milk Bar, supposedly open at 7:30, wasn't. So it's off to the deli for more rolls and cheese and sausage. A decent coffee at the train station was 10 zł, surprisingly expensive. The train (23 złl return each) was 'milk run' stopping a dozen times before reaching the town of Malbork. I did spot a hawk landing in a field. There are no signs to the castle, but given its immensity, you couldn't get lost on the kilometre walk. It's 39.5zł each (about $14), including an iPod audio tour in English. If you speak Polish, you get a human guide. Both iPods were faulty but willingly exchanged.

As I said, the place is huge. Please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malbork_Castle for details. After a couple of hours, we turned more rolls into lunch, supplemented with our little jars of mayonnaise and dijon mustard. All it needed was some wine. Two more hours (including a half-hour in the new Amber Exhibit and we were saturated with Teutonic history. We caught an earlier train back than planned and got a slightly different tour of the flat countryside. Just as Canada is ripping up its old railway lines and selling the land off for a song, Poland is expanding its rail system. Everywhere, new pairs of tracks are being laid and stations are being expanded.

 

An hour later, we're back at the Dumpling in the Wild for another feast. This time, we start with the salmon tartare (100g 18 zł) and bigos (cabbage and sausage bits) (300g 18 zł). Since we want dessert, we split an order of farmer's perogies (8 for 18 zł). Unbidden, the waitress brings them on two plates, each with a garnish of alfalfa sprouts and parsley. We washed it all down with three half-litres of Tyskie beer. A piece of warm cheese-cake (7 zł) rounded out a wonderful meal for 84 zł plus 10 for a tip. Looks like rain for tomorrow. We need to do laundry and laundromats seem nonexistent. The hotel will charge us over $100 for our 6 days of dirty clothes. We won't do that of course, but I really don't want to do them in the bathtub.

More on our laundry adventure in the next entry.

Gdańsk - visual impressions

We are thwarted in our search for the Turystyczny Milk Bar - it opens at 11:00 - if it's the same establishment, However, after some searching, we find the Bar Mleczny Neptun - very close to his statue.

Two plates of scrambled eggs, rolls, milk and coffee are 20 zł - 1/3 the hotel's buffet (which didn't look that great). After, we walk up the inlet ogling the sights such as

where men in giant treadmills could raise 2000 kg from ship to shore (or v.v.)

Lunch was ham and cheese rolls and sweet pastries - another 20 zł. More walking, more photos, more videos, and more problems trying to upload them.

Dinner (we hope) will be at Jacobsen - just 20m from all the flash over-priced places overlooking the water. Check back - this will be updated later tonight.

All Aboard for Gdańsk!

It's Tuesday morning and farewell to the Ibis hotel. Everything there was excellent other than the flaky wi-fi in the room. The lobby had some nice quiet areas where it worked perfectly however. The tram got us down to the town centre in minutes and from there, it's a short walk to the central train station.
The message board said the train would be five minutes late. On the platform, a young woman in town to pick up her Canadian visa, told us that the announcement said it would be 15 minutes late. It was 20 minutes late. (nice feature - the display monitors told you at which part of the platform you should wait). We splurged on first class (6 to  compartment rather than 8 in 2nd class) and had the whole compartment to ourselves.

Seen from the train window: a rabbit, several pheasants, windmills, fields being plowed and fertilized. one field being sowed by hand, planted forests for harvesting, train cars full of logs, trees full of parasitic mistletoe, little yellow track fixers (like the ones in Shortline), an old widget to deliver water to steam trains, an ibis, and construction of highways, new train lines, and buildings everywhere.

In Kanto, a young couple returning from Thailand assured us that we had changed to the correct platform. Because of the late start, our half-hour wait to change trains was conveniently reduced to a few minutes. This time, we shared the compartment, but only to Bydgoszcz. There were numerous delays on the way but we pulled into Gdańsk right on time. The train station:

The Wolne Miasto Hotel was an easy 500 metre walk. Check-in was smooth and the room is lovely. Photos from 1894 on the wall, a huge wooden wardrobe (with safe), bathroom with a soaker tub, a tiny TV, and excellent wi-fi. (btw, there are free wi-fi spots all over Warszawa and  Gdańsk).


There is an incredible number of cafes and bars and restaurants and after looking at too many, we settle at the Pierogarnia u Dzika or Dumpling in the Wild. The walls are decorated with the heads of wild boar and deer. There is a stuffed boar at the entrance. This might not be the place to bring your vegetarian friends. This time the żurek (11 PLN) comes in a bowl made from a hollowed out round loaf of rye bread. Clarisse liked her borscht (4) but liked my sour soup also. We ordered two plates of perogies - one with traditional pork (17); the other with wild mushrooms (25). Half-litres of Tyksie beer were 8 each for a total of 85 zlotych including a generous tip. (Prices include 8% tax on food and 23% tax on beer).

Once again, no room for dessert as we waddled back to the hotel. Gdańsk is overwhelmingly decorated. Every building has artwork, bas relief, gargoyles, statues, wrought iron, etc. Look!

Divine Food, Walking, and More Food

Food: After perusing tripadvisor.ca for a while, we decide on the Polyester for our first restaurant meal. We order two beer (400ml draft), and two plates of perogies. One set is stuffed with ground meat and topped with fried onions; the other set was stuffed with cream cheese, slathered in strawberry syrup and accompanied with several scoops of whipped cream. The bill was less than 25PLN. Highly recommended.

Breakfast didn't work out as planned. The milk bar we wanted to try had vanished (replaced by Dominos Pizza?). However, we found a great little deli with pre-made sandwiches on wonderful bread. We split three; one with camembert, one with egg, and one with smoked salmon (<$5 for all 3). The latte was more expensive than any of the sandwiches.

Around 14:00, we started walking - first along the river until thwarted by construction, then mostly through parks until we finally reached Łazienki Palace - a palace on an island in a lake.

By now, it's almost 17:00 so we head up the steep hill to leave, only to find the gate locked. So we go all the way back down, over to another entrance and climb the hill again. We found the place where we were to meet some internet friends and then looked for dinner. Around the corner was a huge place called Szwejka, jam-packed with students. I think they found us the 2nd last table in a cubby hole on the 2nd floor. What a feast. The zurek, Polish sour soup (8.90), a huge green salad with a slab of warm salmon (17.60), a monstrous schnitzel (13.80), draft beer (4.40), and a small bottle of cider (12.00), was more food than we could eat. Half the schnitzel came home with us. So the meal, with a generous tip: 70 PLN or about $25.

Our timing was great as we met our friends right at 19:00 at a nearby coffee place. We chatted for an hour and then caught the tram (wow, fast, quiet, they all have their own right-of-way) back to the hotel. That's it for today.

Warsaw Tram

First Fotos

Cool Clock

Palace of Culture and Science

Milk Bar Under the Barbican

View from the Central Train Station

Warsaw City View

Warszawa, Fräulein, Warszawa

Getting from the Chopin Airport to our hotel was almost as easy as we thought it would be. We thought the train ticket would get us on the Metro, but it appears that we bought the wrong type of ticket. No big deal. We bought another for the Metro. Check-in was fast; the room is small but well-appointed. Nice bathroom, TV, free wi-fi, an openable window, decent mattress with a duvet that kept us too warm. Nice for $60. From now on, prices will be in złotych (zwo-tik) - about three to the dollar (3PLN=Cdn$1).

After a nice shower, we started exploring the neighbourhood. First stop, a mini-mart for bread and cheese and yogourt. A 560g loaf of excellent rye bread, 70g of cheese and a small yogourt was about 20PLN. That would be dinner as we were still stuffed from all the plane and lounge food. More wandering - found the Wisla river and the Polonia Stadium and a few parks. So far so good. A bit of football on the telly and then asleep by 20:30 --- for 12 hours!

It was gone 9 by the time we left the room for breakfast, trying to ignore the fact it was 3 am in Toronto. We found the Bar Mleczny Pod Barbakanem -  Milk bar under the Barbican. A plate of pancakes with cream cheese, a huge spinach omelette, bread roll, hot milk (no cold), 2 excellent coffees: 25PLN. The food was a bit greasy but meh, so what.  A quick trip to the tourist office (good English) for answers on our ticket problem and trains was useful. The old town (Stare Miasto) is quite a treat for the eyes. Lots of decorations and ornaments on everything. And statues and monuments litter the city.

We bought our train tickets for Tuesday's almost-7-hour-trip to Gdansk; splurged on first class (100PLN each) and no old-fart's 50% discount for foreigners. Darn. We kept walking, found a couple of nice milk bars, and meandered back to the hotel. The main street was closed to private cars and there was music and food everywhere. I think it's the first nice weather (14ºC) for months - huge queues for ice cream at every place - 1000s of people out enjoying themselves.

First impressions: we like Warsaw. Only negatives - lots of broken beer and vodka bottles and some litter. Positives: fantastic affordable public transit, friendly helpful people, great sights - modern glass curvy skyscrapers next to ancient (or reconstructed to look ancient) buildings.

After dinner, I'll try to add some pix to the blog.

Lucky Day

Well, that was far easier than expected. As soon as I asked, a woman graciously gave up her aisle seat so that we could sit together. The food was excellent and the wines reasonable. The seats were not. The so-called horizontal position was actually a 30º slope so one just slid down.

We're in the lounge in Wien (Vienna) killing 4 hours till the Dash-8 wants to go to Warszawa (Warsaw). Boring.

Bloody Aeroplan

We're at the airport. Bloody Aeroplan - we have window seats; one behind t'other. Once on board, I will beg and whimper and see what can be done. 5 minutes!!! Ahhhhh!

Itinerary

Itinerary: (not including side trips) Warsaw, Gdansk, Bydgoszcz, Poznan, Wroclaw, Kudowa Zdroj, Opole, Wieliczka, Zakopane, Warsaw