Gdansk, Poland

With Gabi and Jorg - Gdansk

            Tuesday, 21 May 2013 – Today, we had a five-hour tour of Gdansk.  The ship docked at Gdynia, and we took a one-hour bus ride to Gdansk.  Although we had visited Gdansk previously in 1999, it was still interesting to see it again.  We followed our tour guide through the streets of Gdansk and stopped to visit the Church of the Holy Virgin Mary.  This is the largest brick church in Europe and one of the largest in Europe.  Forty percent of the church was destroyed during WW II, but it has been completely restored.


Neptune Monument

            We noticed a few changes in Poland from our 1999 visit.  First of all, we noticed that many of the people were talking on cell phones (just as in the U.S.), as they walk along the streets.  In 1999, most of the young men had almost completely shaven heads, the young women were all dressed in very stylish skirts and dresses, and almost no one was overweight.  This time, the population looked more like typical Americans.

            Right before the ship left Gdynia, the crew announced that our stop at Bornholm/Ronne (on a Danish island) had been cancelled due to bad weather and strong winds, and that we would be stopping at Warnemunde, Germany, instead.  We are scheduled to arrive in port about noon.  That being said, we will not need to get up early again tomorrow morning!

            We joined Jorg and Gabi for dinner, and discussed our plans for Warnemunde.  Costa excursions are available for Berlin (9.5 hours) and Lubeck (8 hours).  Since both excursions would return us to the ship after 9:00 PM, we decided to follow Jorg and Gabi around tomorrow instead.  They’re not sure what they will be doing, but we’re game for just about anything (except bungee jumping).  After dinner, we danced for a little while in the Grand Bar Rhapsody.