#Early morning foggy Gdańsk | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

aphysicsstudentabroad-blog · 7 years

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Gdańsk and Gothenburg

A view of Gdańsk.

In late November and early December, I made a few weekend trips with good friends to Gdańsk, Poland and Gothenburg, Sweden.

Flights were cheap, so my friend, Yusong, and I traveled to the small city of Gdańsk for three full days. This allowed us to explore the streets slowly, to browse through the amber shops, try many foods, and see one fascinating museum, without too much of a rush.

Gdańsk is a city that surprised me; firstly, I felt a connection to this place. Partly due to the fact that a majority of my ancestors came from Poland, and therefore Polish food and heritage is well loved by my family. Probably just me being swept up in the fun of traveling, but I felt at home there and will certainly return

A few highlights were, of course, eating two nights in a row at a restaurant specializing in stuffed potatoes and trying strawberry stuffed perogies. There is something utterly addicting about potatoes and dumplings. And most definitely when they are combined into the classic perogie with fried bacon and onion.

I never expected sweet, strawberry perogies to taste so good.

Gdańsk streets are lined with thin, coloured buildings with curved roofs, and more amber shops then you can count. Every street has something unique, whether it is a street named “Beer Street” or left over patios from before WWII. This small city is so rich in history, culture and sights. My favourite part of this trip was learning more deeply about the history of Poland, and its role in WWII and the fall of the Eastern Block. This city saw the beginning and the end of the most tumultuous period of the 20th century. The beginning of World War II started with the invasion of Poland and the attack on the civilians of the Polish Post Office in Gdańsk. The Polish trade union, Solidarność (Solidarity), was founded in Gdańsk and was the impetus for anti-communist movements all over the Eastern block. At the site of the European Solidarity Museum, the fall of the Eastern Block began.

The colourful Gdańsk buildings.

Left over patios from the bombings during WWII.

Gdańsk shipyard and the location of the European Solidarity Museum.

Mariacka Street, home to the many amber shops.

This city has a past marred with hardship and hope, and it will always be a city filled with history needing to be learned. Unforeseen insights like this, is what I adore about visiting new places without expectations.

In the midst of the end of semester crunch, Alessa and I bussed up to Gothenburg to experience its Christmas activities, including yet another Christmas market. Gothenburg is located 230 kilometres up the west coast of Sweden from Lund. It is best described as an industrial city, with its shores lined with large cranes and factory buildings. Its more cultural streets are paved by cobble stones and inviting doorways to cute shops and cafés, with the odd church tower peaking out from the orange roofs.

Industrial waters edge of Gothenburg.

Starting our trip off, we walked along the waterline, looking at the more industrial part of town. From there, we made our way toward a hill, walking through the Haga District and past the Fish Church, in order to gain a better view over the city.

The Fish Church, where you can buy all the fish that your heart desires.

The orange roofs of Gothenburg.

From here we headed toward the shopping streets of Gothenburg, stopping at the Saluhallen (an indoor market) to try the many samples of Christmas cookies, cheeses, meats and other foods. Finally, when evening rolled around, we boarded a boat for a canal ride to the Christmas Market at Liseberg Amusement Park. We listened to the history of Gothenburg as we ate pepparkakor and sipped on glögg (gingerbread cookies and Swedish mulled wine) while floating down the canal, toward Liseberg.

Liseberg from the canal.

Early the next morning we took a brisk walk up a hilly community near our hostel, to find Masthugg Church. It was so foggy that we couldn’t see the city view from the church, or even the full church tower. Despite this, it was a nice way to wake up before eating a dinner plate sized kanelbullar at Café Husaren.

The delicious kanelbullar.

The many other gigantic Swedish treats that Café Husaren was selling.

To end this lovely weekend I raced home to have Christmas dinner and a Secret Santa party with my corridor mates. It was a very merry Margaretavegas Christmas.

Christmas decorations set up in Margaretavegas by my corridor mates.

Tack så mycket och vi ses!

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