I had originally planned on visiting Poland on my return trip from Anatolia to Scandinavia, but on a hazy night in Prague I changed my mind: I was going to go to Warsaw from Breclav (612 km's away) rather than Bratislava (82 km's away). My reasoning seemed sound at the time.
In all, I stayed in four Polish cities, visited 3-4 others, and I wish I had visited a few more on top of that. My route was pretty inefficient and roundabout, but I wouldn't change a thing based on how much I enjoyed my time in the country. Here's hoping this inspires you, dear reader, to also visit Poland.
Warsaw
My first stop after leaving the Czech Republic was not the first big town near the border, Katowice, nor was it the old royal city and best destination city in Poland, Krakow. No, my first stop saw me skip right past both of them to the centre of the country, Warsaw. Why you might ask? I had a bro date. Neil, who I met in Prague, was heading to Krakow and then Warsaw, and we agreed to meet up in Warsaw after I spent a few more days in the Czech Republic.
Warsaw is a sprawling city and over 95% of it was destroyed during the Second World War. After the war the Poles rebuilt their capital as faithfully as they could. Pictures and paintings were used to reconstruct old districts and the building facades, but the buildings themselves were built as cheaply as possible - from rubble, loose stones and concrete. The whole city feels a bit fake and superficial, but the people? That's something else entirely.
When you consider Poland's tumultuous history, much of it makes for harsh reading for the people of Poland and their ancestors. The country has been invaded and partitioned time and time again, and has had more foreign rulers than domestic over much of its history. The country has repeatedly seen the worst of every European war, and in going to Poland I expected the people to be closed and unfriendly - doubly so in a city which had been flattened like Warsaw. This is not the case. Polish people are maybe a bit shy, but they are incredibly friendly and outgoing once you get them talking. They also sure know how to party.
I spent three nights in Warsaw which is about three nights too many considering what most people told me when they heard I was going there. And, if all you do there is see the city, one day is probably enough. But, if you go out of your way to befriend Polish people or if you have a couple of nights out there - the city is brilliant and well worth a bit more time.
The city exudes history and I can't recommend taking the free walking tour enough. Highlights include seeing the statue of the most famous Swedish King of Poland, Sigismund; a very plain looking Royal Palace; the birth place of Marie Curie; a statue of the curious symbol of Warsaw - a sword & shield wielding mermaid; the house of one of my favourite composers, Chopin; and one of the most famous symbols of Polish resistance, a little boy with a machine gun - all within 5 minutes of each other. I'd also recommend the Warsaw Uprising museum which covers Poland's resistance as a country, and specifically Warsaw's rebellions, against the Nazi invasion and occupation over the course of World War II.
Gdansk
One of the destinations I most wanted to visit on my trip through Europe was not Gdansk. In fact, I'd never heard of it before (more on this in a minute). But, one of the places on my must see list was the largest fortress in Europe and the home of the Teutonic Knights, Malbork Castle. Malbork is a mere 63km from Gdansk, but doesn't have much in the way of cheap lodgings, so I chose Gdansk as my place to stay. This proved to be very fortuitous as Gdansk is a great city and I really enjoyed my three nights there.
I had been in Gdansk for about five minutes when two other hostel guests (Luiz from Brazil and Flo from Switzerland) invited me to go out with them and a local musician and his girlfriend who they'd met the night before (Wojtek and Katja). I, of course, said yes. In fact, I spent much of my time in Gdansk with Luiz and saw Wojtek every time we went out.
The first night we went out to karaoke, which thankfully Luiz didn't tell me about ahead of the fact, or I might not have gone. As it turned out, I'm glad I went. There's nothing quite like watching young Polish men belt out off key Polish rap while severely inebriated. There's also nothing quite like hearing Wojtek, suddenly and unexpectedly, belting out pitch perfect Ave Maria, in perfect Italian, causing the entire open air bar to fall silent during his performance and to break into raucous applause immediately after it.
My second day was spent being a tourist: doing the free walking tour; climbing the cathedral tower; walking along the canals; and most importantly - going to a milk bar for the first time. It is a long standing tradition to have cheap cafeterias in Poland dating back to the turn of the twentieth century. Today they are subsidized by the government to keep that aspect of Polish culture alive. By the end of my time in Gdansk I was hooked on the cheap and delicious meals, even if I had to wait in line for almost 20 minutes.
My third day saw me achieve one of the goals of my trip through Europe - I took the hour long train ride to Malbork and visited the beautiful red brick castle there. As a place I wanted to visit beforehand I knew a bit about the history of the castle and the area, but my visit there really opened my eyes. More heads of state had visited this little out of the way town than I would have imagined, from the Polish kings who used it as a residence to Napoleon and Hitler.
I also learned that Gdansk had at one time been the seat of the Teutonic order until they finished the castle at Malbork, and that the coast of Poland and Lithuania had the largest raw amber supply on the planet. Some of the amber jewelry made there over the years is stunningly beautiful. It only added to my appreciation for an area I, criminally, knew so little about. I also realized I'd heard quite a bit about Gdansk before, when it was the capital of West Prussia, and was known as Danzig. Who knew?
My only regret about my time in Gdansk is that I never went to Hel. There is a small spit of land which stretches into the Baltic directly north of Gdansk, which also marks Poland's northernmost point, known as Hel. It is the place to go for fresh fish and beautiful old cobbled piers. While disappointed to not go to Hel, I did manage to make it to the nearby town of Sopot.
Sopot is a beach town and a student town all wrapped up in one. I was there the night after the final day of exams and the night life was spectacular. The entire main square was full of partying students at 1am when we got there and every club was filled to capacity right until 6am. It's quite a surreal experience to have a delicious zapiekanka at the end of the pier while watching the sun come up and trying to remember you're on the north coast of Poland.
It was with some sadness I said goodbye to Luiz and Gdansk and headed back to the south. I had hoped to catch up with a university friend of my sister's in Posnan, but he proved unresponsive to Facebook messages and emails. Instead, I turned towards the UNESCO Heritage city of Torún on my southward route back towards Krakow - what would turn out to be the favourite city of my entire journey so far.
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