Poland Day Fifteen Sopot And Oliwa. So Nice To See The Sea Again.

After our tour of Gdansk we  boarded a local train for the short 15 minute ride to Sopot. Along the way we passed the famous shipyards of Gdansk where Lech Walesa began the solidarity movement that, with the help of Pope John Paul, brought down the Communist regime in Poland. 

We soon arrived at the train station in Sopot and walked through this resort town  seeing some of it’s famous landmarks,

including the famous “crooked house”.

We walked into the square which contained many restaurants and shops. One of them was serving this delicious looking treat, waffles, ice cream and strawberries. 

It was well past lunch so we decided to eat,  and this time, something besides traditional Polish food.  So we stopped in the Avocado, a Japanese style restaurant.  The food was delicious, one of the best Japanese meals I was ever served and I have eaten in a lot of Japanese restaurants on this planet. I never would have thought I would have such great Japanese food in Poland. 

After lunch we walked down to the beach. It was good to see the  Baltic Sea again. I last saw in it Helsinki Finland when I toured Scandinavia. Photographs and comments about this trip can be found in the archives of my blog. 

As my sister, niece and guides walked the pier I found myself photographing the many shore birds in the waters next to the pier. 

I enjoy watching the seagull and other shore birds and can spend hours at a beach photographing them. I was watching three seagulls interact and was ale to learn it was a family and mommy was feeding her youngster. Here is a link to some more photographs of the birds I saw  at Sopot. https://keepyoureyespeeled.net/poland-photographs-april-2017/nggallery/poland-april-2017/Poland-Day-Fifteen-Sopot-birds-April-22-2017-

I wish we could have stayed here for a few hours, or days, or weeks, but it was now getting late in the afternoon and we still had a few stops planned before our train ride back to Warsaw. . We walked back to the train station and took a short trip to Oliwa a section of Gdansk.   Here is a link to some more photographs from our visit to Sopot. https://keepyoureyespeeled.net/poland-photographs-april-2017/nggallery/poland-april-2017/Poland-Day-Fifteen-Gdansk-Sopot-beach-April-22-2017

Our guides chose a visit to Oliwa for two reasons, one was the beautiful 16th century Oliwa Cathedral, and the other a visit to, reportedly, the best pierogi restaurant in Gdansk, Mandu. 

We left the train and walked the peaceful streets of this quiet town to make reservations at the Mandu restaurant. We were told there was a line and it would be an hour wait. Kasha volunteered to wait in the line in the hope of getting a seat for us and we continued on to the Cathedral. 

It was a nice walk in the late April sunshine, and we made our way through a tree-lined park with canals, 

flower gardens,

and ducks. 

As I had  found in every city, town and neighborhood during my visit to Poland there was always some sort of remembrance to the horrors of the Nazi occupation during World War II.

We arrived at the Cathedral

just as a local orchestra was starting to rehearse  for a concert. So we were able to view the beautiful altars, 

painting and

relics as they performed soothing classical music. Here is a link to the music on. my YouTube channel https://youtu.be/ddWQ8HUrk9s

As do most churches in Poland there was a memorial, altar, painting or statue of the Polish Pope, Pope John Paul II. Here is a link to some more photographs from our visit to the Cathedral. https://keepyoureyespeeled.net/poland-photographs-april-2017/nggallery/poland-april-2017/Poland-Day-Fifteen-Oliwa-Cathedral-April-22-2017-

We were hungry but we hadn’t heard form Kasha so we walked back to the restaurant to still find long lines and a half hour wait. We all tried to implore the hostess of our plight, we had a train to catch, and we wanted to try the best pierogi in Poland, but it didn’t work.  

We left, disappointed and hungry and took the local  train back to Gdansk. As we waited for a train we all watched the antics of this local cat in a yard next to the train station. Here is a link to some more photographs from our visit to Oliwa. https://keepyoureyespeeled.net/poland-photographs-april-2017/nggallery/poland-april-2017/Poland-Day-Fifteen-Oliwa-walk-April-22-2017

After a short wait at the train station in Gdansk, and an interesting visit to the bathroom,  we were soon on our way back to Warsaw. I had a surprisingly good meal, for train food, on the ride. .

We arrived back in town late and I was soon in the hotel, realizing the next day would be my last in Poland. I also started planning my return. It is a wonderful country. And I have so much more to explore.  

Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.”- Andre Gide