We have been driving our motorhome Vanni, around northern and eastern Europe for the past few months, and are now in Poland. Our last stop was in Poland’s beautiful Masurian Lakes area, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Leaving there, we drove north to Sopot, one of Poland’s Baltic Sea beach resorts.
 |
| Marg at the lovely beach in Sopot, Poland |
Finding a campsite right by the beach in Sopot, we parked Vanni beside lots of Polish people who were on their annual beach holiday. Then, after settling in at the camp, we cycled into Sopot township for a look around.
We followed the path/cycle-way that joins the three neighbouring towns of Sopot, Gdynia and Gdańsk. The three towns sit close together along the Polish Baltic Sea coast. The coastline between all three, forms 10 kilometres of lovely pristine beach, with soft yellow sand and clean (but cold) water.
 |
| Amber stone, Poland |
This whole area is known as the ‘Amber Coast’ because of the large quantities of amber that have been found here. So, while in Sopot, we bought a piece of amber attached to a wine stopper. Although not the highest quality amber, it has gorgeous colours and will remind us of this lovely area.
Amber has been mined along this coast since the mid-19th century, and Baltic amber is considered to be the best. The amber is formed from sap that oozed out from a forest of conifers about 60 million years ago in the Baltic Sea area. The sap eventually hardened into translucent amber-coloured lumps.
 |
| Marg in vibrant Sopot, Poland |
Sopot township is very vibrant. We saw people everywhere, cafes and restaurants full, and rollerblades, bikes and scooters zipping by. Everyone seemed to be having a good time. We people-watched for a while, then cycled around Sopot admiring its historic architecture before heading back to camp.
The next day, we cycled out looking for a supermarket as we’d run out of supplies. After cycling for ages finding nothing open, we learned that it was a public holiday for a local saint, so all shops were closed. But we did finally find a small market shop open, bought a few essential supplies, then cycled many kilometres back to camp.
 |
| Lunch beachside in Gdynia, Poland |
A few days later, we followed the cycle track to neighbouring Gdynia, a bigger town with a port and lovely beach. We had a nice seafood lunch sitting beachside, watching people having a great time in the sun. After lunch, we visited the marina, the seaside boulevard, and the destroyer Blyskawica which is the oldest preserved destroyer in the world.
The weather was great and the temperatures nice, so next, we tackled the longer ride into Gdańsk - which we made slightly longer by missing the turn off and having to cycle through the industrial part of town!
 |
| Architecture and port in Gdańsk, Poland |
But we were well rewarded once we arrived in Gdańsk, as this city delighted us. There are so many attractive buildings. It is full of cobbled streets, markets, beautiful architecture, amber shops, impressive red-brick buildings, and cafés.
The third and largest of the three neighbouring cities on this coast, Gdańsk (also known as Danzig in German), is an ancient Hanseatic (league of merchants) city. It sits on the Motława River and has a lively port, lots of monuments and historic buildings, and is very, very vibrant. We loved it.
 |
| Beautiful architecture in the townhouses on the Royal Way, Gdańsk, Poland |
The architecture along the Royal Way is particularly beautiful. The Royal Way was the route walked by King of Poland when visiting the city in the 14th century. The townhouses along the route were occupied by the wealthy of Gdańsk, such as the merchants, bankers, and politicians. The houses were beautifully adorned, and were designed to show off the owner’s wealth.
The King’s route begins at the Upland Gate, continues through the Golden Gate, then follows Long Street and Long Market to the Green Gate. An important walk for the King back then; and done in the name of collecting tax!
 |
| The tiny bottle of Gold Wasser from Gdańsk next to our Austrian Alps shot-glasses |
While in Gdańsk, we bought ourselves a token of this lovely city, which was a little bottle of the famous local liqueur called Gold Wasser which supposedly has little flakes of gold in it. However, we found it to be rather rugged, and even though the bottle is only 12 centimetres tall, it still sits on our shelf ¾ full.
We did a big supermarket shop before we left the area, but there was a dire lack of good quality fresh vegetables. This was a problem for us throughout the Baltic States and Russia too; apart from the lovely fresh veggies in the Riga Market in Latvia, we have had great difficulty getting nice veges.
.jpg) |
| Marg at Marienburg Castle (UNESCO), Malbork, Poland |
After shopping, and with the fridge and freezer full, we drove south to Malbork, famous for the ruins of the large and wonderfully intact medieval castle known as Marienburg Castle. On its completion in 1406, it was the world's largest brick castle in Europe, and the largest castle in the world by surface area.
This region was once called Prussia (loosely, north-eastern Germany and northern Poland). The Teutonic Knights, a Catholic military order, were prominent in Prussia from the 13th to 16th century, and built the castle in Malbork as their stronghold. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and we enjoyed a long look around before moving on.
 |
| Inside the cavernous Świecie Castle, Poland |
It was getting late by this time, and we needed to find a campsite for the night. So following a tent symbol on our map, we found a family-run campsite beside the ruin of the medieval Świecie Castle. The next morning, we explored the castle and found it interesting, then walked into Świecie and found a café for lunch.
Back at camp later a Czech family arrived, and seeing our Czech car registration, they gave us a friendly wave. We left Świecie the next morning, but not before getting a big wave from the Czechs, and big hugs and kisses from the lovely woman campsite owner to farewell “her New Zealanders”.
 |
| Marg at Brama Monastery Gate, Toruń (UNESCO), Poland |
Our next stop was Toruń, an attractive historic city built on the banks of the Vistula River. It has an intact city wall with several historic gates, which we explored. Toruń is famous for retaining its original medieval urban layout and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Inside the walls, we found a beautiful and well preserved medieval old town, and walked around it for ages admiring its historic architecture. A highlight was visiting the house that Nicolas Copernicus, the father of modern astronomy, was born in.
 |
| The 13th century Leaning Tower of Toruń (UNESCO), Poland |
We also visited the 13th century Leaning Tower of Toruń (leaning because it was built on soggy ground), the wonderfully gothic red-brick Old Town Hall, the Granary, the Holy Mary Cathedral, and other interesting places. Later, we stopped at a restaurant and had a very tasty lunch, discovering that it had won awards as the best restaurant in Poland.
After a lovely visit in Toruń, we returned to Vanni ready to move on. We arrived back just in time to beat the parking warden, as our metered time had run out. Marg indicated we were just leaving and he waved us on….so we didn’t linger!
 |
| Marg in historic Płock, Poland |
Then we drove west to Płock, another city built on the banks of the Vistula River. It is one of the oldest towns in Poland, having a 1000-year history. For a short period at the end of the 11th century and the beginning of the 12th century it was a residence of Polish kings.
We had a walk around this picturesque city visiting the old town, its 12th century cathedral, Płock Castle, and the Vistula River Pier which is built parallel to the line of the riverbank instead of out into the water. After a good look around, we drove toward the Vistula River to cross it and drive to Warsaw, the capital of Poland.
 |
| Płock’s bridge before rain and Marg on Warsaw’s bridge several days later |
We crossed the Vistula on Płock’s Solidarity Bridge, the longest cable-stay bridge in Poland, on a grey afternoon. But by the time we reached Warsaw’s Świętokrzyski Bridge which we had to cross to reach our campsite, it was teeming with rain, dark, and the roads were afloat and dangerous……then, when we tried to turn onto the bridge, we found it closed!
So, we drove for ages around Warsaw in that torrential rain looking for a way to cross the river. Then Leigh found another bridge on the map. It would add several km to our route, but after driving across three lanes of traffic in rotten conditions, plus another 30 stressful minutes, Marg got us to the camp safely. We settled in for the night, very relieved to be off the treacherous roads.
a.jpg) |
| Old Town Market Square, Warsaw (UNESCO), Poland |
We cycled across the Świętokrzyski Bridge to get into Warsaw a few days later, and it was all ok. We found that Warsaw is amazing. After 90% of it was destroyed in WW II, it was reconstructed faithful to its origins, and has become a UNESCO World Heritage City. We were looking forward to learning more about it. However, we were stopped before we even left the campsite!
An excited German couple in their motorhome, caught our attention. The guy visited us wearing a New Zealand (NZ) T-shirt and said that his son had met a NZ girl while in China, and that they had married and now live in Germany. Later, he called his son to tell him about us, then he showed us his ‘special’ NZ cap – we found it all very lovely!
 |
| Leigh at Marie Curie Museum, Warsaw (UNESCO), Poland |
Eventually, we had a 15 km ride along mainly marked cycle tracks to get to Warsaw’s nowe and stare miastro (new and old city). We found parking for the bikes, then walked around for ages, seeing many of the main sights, with a highlight being our visit to the Marie Curie Museum – clever woman.
We also visited several churches and museums, and enjoyed seeing some of Warsaw’s monuments including one to King Zygmunt III Waza who moved Poland's capital from Kraków to Warsaw in 1596, and the Little Insurgent statue honouring the children who served as messengers and frontline troops in WW II.
 |
| Ghetto line, Warsaw (UNESCO), Poland |
When the Nazi's invaded Poland in WW II, a ghetto was built in Warsaw where more than 400,000 jews were placed to live. Most of them died later in an extermination camp. We found it very moving when we saw a brass inscription in the pavement indicating where the Warsaw Ghetto was located from 1940 to 1944.
We wandered Mila Street and the Umschlagplatz areas which were part of the former Ghetto. Now-days, it is a peaceful area. In 1944, when the Nazi’s tried to forcefully remove the last prisoners from the Ghetto, the Polish resistance movement fought the Germans in a bloody uprising.
 |
| Warsaw Uprising monument, Warsaw (UNESCO), Poland |
We saw a wonderful monument commemorating the Warsaw Uprising. A huge number of people were killed fighting against the Nazi’s in that rebellion. It lasted for a very long 63 days.
We also saw numerous plaques and photos around the city, showing that this part of Poland’s history is not forgotten. We found it a very sobering experience but were impressed by the way people remember the uprising, and celebrate it with pride.
 |
| Top: Kanoni St and Barbican. Bottom: Castle Square and Royal Route, Warsaw |
We visited the city several times, visiting Kanonia Street a quaint triangular shaped courtyard with lovely historic houses and a large bell from the 17th century, the round medieval Barbican Bastion and the citadel, the Old Town’s Castle Square and many other pretty squares, the Royal Castle, several grand palaces, and some ornate churches.
A highlight was a stroll along the Royal Route, a series of connecting streets that link Castle Square to Wilanów Palace which was the king’s home. The connecting streets are absolutely full of architecturally grand buildings, many now used as embassies and ministries.
 |
| Colourful merchant houses in Poznań, Poland |
After a good long break in Warsaw, we moved west to Poznań. It is among the oldest cities in Poland and apparently was once the first capital of the Kingdom of Poland. Although it is a large commercial city, it has a lovely old town centre which we found to be a pleasant surprise.
We wandered around the Old Town finding lots of historic buildings and sights there, including the Royal Castle, Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, St Stanislaws Church, the Library, the Grand Theatre, and more.
 |
| Marg in Old Market Square, Poznań, Poland |
Our walk took us through the attractive former market-place (Rynek), and town square with its beautiful houses, the renaissance town-hall with its 61 m-high clock tower and goats that pop out and butt heads at midday, and the Kaiser Wilhelm II Castle.
We also visited Frédéric Chopin Park, and “Cathedral Island” (Ostrow Tumski) in the middle of the Warta River, seeing the 10th century Poznań Cathedral which is one of the oldest churches in Poland and the oldest Polish cathedral. After an enjoyable wander around, we bought some veggies at the local market then headed back to Vanni to drive out of Poland.
 |
| Leigh at Frédéric Chopin Park, Poznań, Poland |
We have spent about 38 days travelling in various parts of Poland, and we like this place a lot. It is very green with towns having plenty of parks, and clean due to the focus on rubbish re-cycling, heritage is valued, and people are very friendly and helpful. We are looking forward to coming back here next year.
Now we are driving west to Germany, but you can read about that in the next blog.
This blog describes part of our 6-month motorhome trip around north-eastern Europe, which began in Prague.