Gdansk, Poland--Last Day

Lisa and David made us a fabulous breakfast of steel cut oats, pumpkin pancakes with different toppings, ham and eggs, and hot chocolate that tasted wonderful and was not as intense as Polish hot chocolate usually is (thin pudding that is very hot and very chocolaty!)  We left soon after breakfast.

We drove to Westerplatte where WWII broke out when the Germans invaded Poland. The Poles put up a good fight, but in the end the Germans succeeded and most of the Poles met the same end as all those oppressed by Hitler.  Once again we questioned how man could treat his fellow men in that way.  

We then drove to the Old Town Square of Gdansk and looked at the amber that was being displayed on Amber Alley. We walked to St. Mary's Church which is the biggest brick church in all of Europe.  Our plan was to walk the 400 steps up to the top, however, it was a holiday and clergy were talking about what the holiday meant and how proud they should be of their history, so the stairway up was closed.  We turned away and found a restaurant so we could warm up with soup and cabbage rolls.

We all wanted to see where David works so we went to Weyerhaeuser.  James and David talked shop--and understood each other.  Lisa and I understood less than 1/10th of it.  We were very impressed with what we saw, the equipment, the machinery, the big vats.  David explained the things he could tell us and we were told if he told us more, he would have to kill us.

We then drove on to Sopot where we walked among throngs of people celebrating the holiday and meandered down to the Baltic Sea. It stretched on and on toward the horizon with just water in sight.  The wind was blowing, it was cold, as was the water. 

Town Hall--clock tower

We returned to Old Town in Gdansk and had dinner at Buddas (East Indian).  It was very good.  This has been an incredible (and very enjoyable) journey.  We have had such a great time with so many wonderful memories.  We are grateful for this time we have had in Europe together.

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