Photos top to bottom: 1. Laura talks to the librarian in the American Room at the Gdansk Public Library. 2. A pickling kit (?) at the farmer's market. 3. A statue of Marian Rejewski of Enigma decoding fame. He was from Bromberg, modern-day Bydgoszcz. 4. Eye-catching suspension bridge over the Brda River. 5. Detail of building in Stare Miasto (old town).
Sister Laura often brags of being "older and wiser". There may be something to this. She was a bit skeptical about leaving our bags in the hotel room with unreliable door access. Nonetheless, we went out for breakfast and a short walk. Found the public library (dogs also allowed in Poland libraries) and the American Room where English conversation classes meet and folks learn about American culture. It's the only place we've seen a "pride" flag posted in Poland.
We returned to Soul House Hotel only to find the worst case scenario: locked out of our room, no one picking up the reception phone, and our prepaid train scheduled to depart in 35 minutes. We wasted 20 minutes figuring out how to get someone in this digital hotel to open the door. Then we grabbed our bags and hustled to the nearby Glowny (central train station), arriving with 5 minutes to spare. Then we discovered we were waiting on the wrong platform and hustled over to the right place just as our train arrived. Aah.
Arrived Bydgoszcz, Poland's 8th largest city and easily found our beautiful AirBnb. Started laundry. Found a farmer's market 2 blocks away and got peaches and plums, both perfectly ripe, juicy and flavorful. Aah.
Nonna Paola, using advanced map reading skills, turned a 15-minute walk to the river into 2 hours, but that included a Polish smash burger tasting, so don't be too critical. We made it to the old town along the river and had "lody" (ice cream). Nonna Paola thought the apple sorbet was quite good. Aah.
Nonna Laura almost got recruited into the PPS (Poland's Socialist party) by asking questions about a small, vocal gathering in the town square. Nonna Paola dragged her off-stage, so to speak, and the next hour or so was spent leisurely strolling the beautiful riverside park and old town. Charming.
We ubered* home. Aah.
≈===========≈==========
*[Our uber driver was a professional volleyball player for Visla Proline Bydgoszcz.]
Just in the nick of time. Glad you made your train.
ReplyDelete