There are a lot of yummy bakeries and treats in Poland. The one next to our Airbnb is one of the fanciest we've seen. We stopped for coffee and Dave also indulged in a raspberry mouse / cake thingy that came with a syringe-like thing that is used to pour raspberry juice over the breakfast dessert.
After a final 'Gdansk is so cute,' we packed up and headed to the Sopot, a popular resort town on the Baltic Sea. As you can see, it was the perfect day to spend at the beach. We're at the start of the longest wooden pier in Europe. The white expanse behind us is the rainy Baltic Sea.
Of all the places to post terrorist attack how-tos, I thought this was an interesting choice.
I'm sure Sopot is lovely when the weather is the same. There was an interesting 'crooked house' and fun (when it's sunny) activities and shops.
I'm also a fan of the walrus bike racks.
The rain didn't stop us, and we continued to the Hel Peninsula to ensure we got our fill of rainy beach towns. Just outside of Sopot we drove through the forest and there was a huge cemetery. I didn't get a photo, but it was an interesting mix of beauty and spookiness. At each entrance to the cemetery (there were a few) there was a tent selling flowers and candles, which seemed rather, well, odd to me. The country is very, very Catholic. I've seen a ton of nuns here. Also on the way to Hel there was a huge parade / processional of people carrying shrines, signs, and pictures of Jesus and Mary. Every once in a while, the shrine people would break into a little dance.
Hel is a cute beachy town (no, not as cute as Gdansk) and the restaurant where we ate lunch was nice and festive.
I tried another Polish drink - beer with juice and a straw. The concept of beer with juice could be tasty, this one was not. It tasted like cough syrup was mixed with the beer - not my favorite.
One thing I'm continuously surprised at is the number of cocktails at every restaurant. No matter how small or basic the food menu, there are long cocktail menus.
We walked around after lunch and had some coffee and cheesecake. I've seen a lot of cheesecake in Poland. This one was dryer and more crumbly than what I'm used to. I think I need to try more to see if that's the Polish way or if it was just cheesecake from Hel (ha!).
Slightly different standard names on tourist gifts than we see in the US.
While driving back along the peninsula, Dave and I tried to figure out where we'd head next. Yesterday we thought we'd go to a resort town on the coast, but after a rainy beach day we had our fill. Sadly, tomorrow's weather will also be soggy by the sea. After examining a few different routes, and changing our minds a couple times along the way, we decided to head to Malbork, home of the largest castle in the world (by surface area). It was very rainy on the way there and was great to finally settle into the hotel. Looking forward to exploring the castle tomorrow.
Highlight of the day: The gas station has plastic gloves you can wear while pumping gas and/or washing your windshield. Genius! Why don't we have these (and the fancy Torun toilets) in the US?
