Tuesday 4 June 2019

Gdańsk travel diary | day 5

Friday 17th May 2019 | 16,024 steps

Our last day in Gdańsk included an early start, because we had to be out of our lovely Airbnb by 10am - so after double checking we'd packed everything, we headed into the old town for a spot of brunch on Długa street. So many groups of school kids were there on trips throughout the week, but there definitely seemed to be more on the Friday!

colourful buildings against a blue sky

After brunch we did the long walk to the train station again, because you can leave your suitcase in a locker for 14zloty (for up to 24hrs) which is amazing. It fit both of our cabin size suitcases in as well as my book and neck pillow, with plenty of room to spare. As a side note, we did this because I thought you could get the train from here to the airport which you can't - but it's a good base for getting a taxi from, especially if you're struggling to book one, as they have a taxi rank there. From the station to the airport our taxi cost just over 50zloty.

As well as a taxi rank, there's a lot of tram stops at the train station. We were heading to the Energa Stadion, home to Gdańsk's football team - we had to get on tram 10 in the direction of the port, and we found the stop easily. However, the tram stop we wanted to go to wasn't on the list on the ticket machine and it took me a while to work out that you just buy a general single ticket. This has to be validated when you get on the tram itself, in a little machine that stamps it. The football stadium was quite a few stops away, but it didn't take too long and it was a fun experience going on a Polish tram.

me standing in front of a large yellow round building that says Stadion Energa

Getting off the tram, it's around 10 minutes from the stop to the doors of the stadium; Energa Stadion is where Lechia Gdańsk play their home games in the Ekstraklasa league and other football competitions. It also has a museum and what they call the fun arena, where you can do bungee jumping/escape rooms/go-karting and more. We had gone with the intention of doing a stadium tour with a guide, but they weren't running that day so we just paid 10zloty each to go to the vantage point and get a boss view of the empty pitch. The stadium is fairly big, holding almost 42,000 fans, and it's very very green. After we looked at the pitch for a bit we went to the on-site sports bar for a vodka lemonade (they were playing the Liverpool v Wolves game from the previous weekend, which we had in fact already watched) and then we went for a look around the museum. It's all about the history of the football team, and some other sports, and it's entirely in Polish so I didn't really understand much of it but I did watch Lechia Gdańsk's top 10 goals of all time which was cool.

football pitch and seats

me with my back to the camera standing in front of a football pitch

We jumped back on the tram and headed in the direction we'd come from, and after some confusion as to whether we were actually on the right tram, found ourselves at the European Solidarity Centre. We went inside and spent a few hours there - it's one of the best museums I've been to, and I'm really looking forward to writing up my 'museums in Gdańsk' blog post to tell you all about it. But it's super easy to get to from the city, and we were actually able to walk back to the train station rather than getting back on the tram, which was handy.

buildings and a tall cross statue

political graffiti in red paint on grey walls

And from there we got a taxi to the airport, just as a nasty thunderstorm started directly above the runway. Luckily our flight took off roughly on time, and despite the pressure in my ears making me CRY, it was a decent flight. Then we were home, which is rubbish and the worst part of any trip, and I've already started planning another Polish city break (in my head)...

For day 4, CLICK HERE

14 comments:

  1. Love your Gdnask travel diary! I also love how you included the number of steps! It's amazing how much more I walk when I'm traveling. I hope to make it to Poland someday!

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  2. Gdańsk Looks like such a neat city to visit. The European Solidarity Centre would be interesting to visit, mostly because I’ve never been inside a large soccer stadium like that! Poland is definitely on my list!

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  3. I've been hearing more and more about Gdansk as a town that many people are interested in visiting! If I go to Poland one day I will definitely keep this post in mind. It's great to know some of the things to do in the city, and that there is a place to leave my luggage too.

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  4. I love that the train station had a place to store your bags so you explore the town! The stadium looks HUGE! What an opportunity to be able to tour it.

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  5. I always hate having to check-out of where I am staying early, so it is great to know you can store bags at the train station. Gdańsk seems like a lovely place to visit!

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  6. This looks like an interesting trip, and the solidarity center looks really interesting, I would love to visit it as well :)

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  7. This looks like such a goo trip, I love how much you see and do when you're away x

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  8. It sounds like you had a brilliant trip.

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  9. Sounds like a lovely trip to Gdnask. I'm not a huge soccer fan and have not visited many stadiums. Though sounds like you had a blast.

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  10. I can't wait to go back to Poland it's beaut!

    Gemma Louise

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  11. I'd honestly never thought of going here until I saw this from you x

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  12. If looks so quante and peaceful! Thank you for sharing x

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  13. I've loved this travel diary, I've never visited Poland but this is making me want to!

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