So, where to eat cheap and good in Gdansk? My favorite was a place called Dwadziescia Cztery that's located on Piwna 16. Here they serve lunch menus that change everyday, and from Monday to Friday between 12-4pm you can have the main course, dessert and drink always at 18PLN (which is a little over 4€) I mean, you want better than that? It's even cheaper than McDonalds!
Gdansk, in the North of Poland, came at a time I needed to be remembered how it felt like travelling alone, with no one to count on besides myself. I had been travelling for two weeks with two amazing Portuguese girls I had met on my way, so during this time I actually let go and forgot about the difference of travelling with someone and going alone. It brought back all those feelings of arriving and saying "where the hell am I?" and "How do I get out of here? Where is the hostel?" and my typical one "Oh my God, I'm going to die here!" Five hours on a bumpy bus from Warsaw later, I say hello to Gdansk. And after two weeks of absolutely no worries about anything related to travel, what happen was that the moment I got my feet out of the bus, I looked around, totally lost and suddenly realized I had no idea of anything! I didn't know where to go from the station, which turned out to be hilarious as it took me almost an hour to figure out how to cross the street (like I've said before, in Poland you have to cross the street by going down the tunnels, which is an adventure by itself), and I didn't even know the name of the hostel! I had only one information about where to go, which was to get close to the water. So I started to ask pretty much everybody that crossed my path how to get there. Obviously nobody spoke English. After one hour of not even figuring out how to cross the street, which made me think I was probably an idiot, and not a single person able to speak English and point me in the right direction, I started to freak out a bit. It was the kind of feeling I didn't have for the past two weeks, and I wasn't used to being lost and alone after all that time. So I had to go back in time, take a break and a deep breath and remember what I used to do in that kind of situation. I went searching for a point of information, and after a while I discovered that Gdansk has city wifi all over the place, so I turned the wifi on my phone, I opened the maps app and I just followed it until I got to the water. Having three nights in the city, and not feeling well on the day I arrived, and the weather being pretty bad, I ended up just staying at the hostel the first day. I was actually pretty bad and I had fever by night, which is not something you want to have when you're traveling, specially if you're alone. I ended up meeting a guy in my dorm who told me he looked at me and asked himself why I slept so much. Getting sick on the road sucks! The next day I woke up early, got my small backpack with me, my camera, and I went exploring Gdansk. And on this day I fell in love with this city. From walking side by side with the river, to the breathtaking colors of the buildings and the architecture that was different from everything I had ever seen, Gdansk grew in my heart. Here I realized how much I had missed being alone. Not that I didn't like having company to travel for two weeks, because I loved it, and meeting the two Portuguese girls was one of the highlights of my trip, but I remembered how much I can enjoy being alone, how much I love walking outside the hostel and saying to myself "Rita, where do you wanna go? What do you wanna do today?" I got to see the city at my own pace, I tried to walk every small hidden street I could find and I did something I hadn't done over the few weeks before: I wrote! I got to search for perfect places with typical Polish coffee, sat there, almost always by the window, watching locals pass by and writing as much as I possibly could. I finally felt inspired to write about everything my life had been over those months of backpacking Europe and doing what I love. Gdansk is all about walking around by your own feet. No bus, no train, no metro. Just you working out your legs. It's a small city and it seemed to me like a very different city from the touristic cities of Warsaw and Krakow. Not being a place that gets a lot of attention from outsiders, it's the perfect city for you to explore without being bothered by selfie sticks or crazy euphoric tourists. I guess I can say Gdansk was my Polish getaway and a place that confirmed my love for my beautiful Poland. One thing about Poland that's not news to anyone is the crappy weather. Polish weather tends to be very annoying during Spring, as you can actually feel the four seasons in less than thirty minutes. Yes, if you feel the sun shinning and warming up your face, I can promise you it will last a few seconds and trust me it will rain, get windy and even snow for a second, even if you get a glimpse of the sun. That's just Poland. Poland and its bipolar weather. I can't say how the weather gets there in the summer, but I think it might be a pleasant time to explore the country. But not all is bad. Or I wouldn't say Poland was one of my favorites out of twelve countries. Excluding Italy which is the only place I feel like I'm at home and I have this unconditional love for its language, culture, people, landscapes, cities, everything! Italy is home. But Poland grew on me too. Obviously not counting with the freezing cold weather, Poland is amazing, and it has one great advantage over some other countries I visited: you can find really cheap food! And I'm not talking about crappy cheap food or fast-food, I'm talking about typical Polish food at the price of almost nothing. That kinda of food that will make your tummy incredibly happy and wishing for more. The trick to eating good in Poland is having the patience to look for the best and cheapest places. If not, you'll probably end up paying for fake Polish food and you will also pay the price of a tourist. It's like any other place I guess. So, where to eat cheap and good in Gdansk? My favorite was a place called Dwadziescia Cztery that's located on Piwna 16. Here they serve lunch menus that change everyday, and from Monday to Friday between 12-4pm you can have the main course, dessert and drink always at 18PLN (which is a little over 4€) I mean, you want better than that? It's even cheaper than McDonalds! Another typical thing in Gdansk, or maybe I should say in Poland, is the coffee tradition. Here you will have a lot to choose from, if you're looking for great coffee with a cozy environment to enjoy on a cold or rainy day. And since I'm here to help you get the best possible experience on the places I've been, here are some of the best places for coffee in Gdansk: Kurhaus, on Aldony 6, Poludnik 18, on Garncarska 7, Pies i Róza, on Swietojanska, and Palarnia Kawy, on Tkacka 7/8. You will thank me later about this! Do you understand now the reason I started this post by saying that Gdansk was the place that reminded me how much I love being alone? In just three days I did all that I love. I walked an entire city, I discovered what's probably the cheapest place to eat in the city and my tummy was happier than ever. I've jumped from one coffee shop to another, tasting great coffee and writing about my travels. I felt the panic, again, of being alone and lost with no one to help me as nobody spoke English and I've managed to find my way. I felt the joy arriving to the hostel and having that great feeling of accomplishment as I dropped my backpacks and said "I did it!". I discovered an amazing city that most people who go to Poland don't even know about. I embraced being alone. I remembered how ok I can be just by myself. How I actually believe that to be a great advantage to me as I I'm not the kind of person who's afraid of loneliness. Overall, I was once again a happy kid. I guess I like the feeling of finding a way of doing things that aren't easy for me. You know? That feeling of conquering your fear, of not letting it hold you back. If the three months I had backpacking Europe on my own did something, was to give me seconds of feeling like a superwoman, of believing I can do anything I want. And that, nobody is ever gonna take away from me. It will be moments I'll have carved in my memory and that will go with me wherever I go from now on.
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I'm a newbie to this traveling thing. I am! And I'm also not ashamed to tell it here. I'm by far an expert in travel and everyday I take the smallest lessons as things I still have to learn, specially when it comes to being a solo female traveler. I just got back from my first real travel experience: three months backpacking Europe on my own. A total leap of faith that taught me way more than I could have hoped for. So, I may not know a lot, I'm still a baby traveler at this point, but there are some things I've learned on the way, and the one I come here to write about is the travelling with high expectations of a certain place. I know that before a trip you get all that pre-travel excitement. I'm not saying you should act like you're not excited at all. All I'm saying is that getting your expectations too high can lead you to huge disappointment. And nobody wants to be disappointed while traveling, right? I'm a total freak before a go on a trip. Before my backpacking trip I went nuts months before! I would research places, prices, trains and buses. I did it for months! And I would have done the same thing, knowing what I know now. Actually, I'm sure I'll do it on my next big trip. Still, too much research, knowing too much about a certain place you're going to, can actually ruin your experience without you realizing it. I believe this expectation thing that I'm trying to explain was what made me (kind of) hate Paris in the first place. Before getting there I heard so many people saying "Oh, you're gonna love it" and "Paris is amazing" and of course the most known quote about the city "Paris is always a good idea". So by the time I got there I was expecting so much that everything let me down. I was like "Is that it?" with disappointing eyes. And I guess I like to make the same mistakes more than once, because the same happened in Lucca, Italy. After spending a few hours in Pisa, where I had no expectations what so ever, and being totally surprised and happy to give the town a chance, I got on the train to Lucca. You see, Lucca had been on my mind forever, it was my destination that day. Once I got the vibe of "Oh my God I'm going to Florence", the second thought would be that I could not miss Lucca for anything in this world. Can you feel the high expectations already? Yeah, they were my ruin! I was in a great mood, so by the time I got off the train I was like "Yeah, lets do this! Lucca, I'm ready for you!". I was lost for a few minutes (something that I've just gotten used to by now) and found my way by following a group of girls who looked like tourists. Lucca is inside a huge wall, so to get to the historic center you need to get inside the wall. Right here I got a weird feeling and thought maybe this town isn't exactly what I was thinking. Since I had to get into a very sketchy tunnel full of graffiti, smelling like pee. I can tell you I would've turned back, believe that couldn't be the right way, if I was getting there by myself. I sat on a bench, eating and deciding where to go, what to do next and all sort of things to do when you're alone and the decisions depend on you. I saw very few people. I found it weird! Pisa was full of people all over the place. If you weren't careful you would probably loose an eye to a selfie stick. Don't people know about Lucca? I thought it would be another crowded town, being so close to Pisa and all. I walked around the city, got some pretty cool photos (I think), but non of it corresponded to my hopes. Why are the photos of this place so misleading? I wanted to like this place. I tried! But for some reason nothing was going as I planned. I was even suppose to rent a bicycle for the afternoon and eventually gave up trying to find the place for it. You see, my biggest problem here was that I was lost all the time. And I'm used to it. I embrace the fact that I shall be lost all the time everywhere I go, but in Lucca the situation got me frustrated. I just couldn't find my way to anywhere. I only tried to find two things: the huge tower with trees on the top, and the big round square surrounded by yellow pretty buildings. How hard could that be? I even got out of the walls for two times without realizing it! I got angry, really angry about not being able to find such simple things in a small town. But I accepted the defeat and decided to go buy a stupid map. I love maps, but spending money on them is not my happiest moment. Still this was a necessity as I told myself "I'm not leaving without finding what I came here for!" And here comes the moment I'm not proud of. I found a place with some travel guides that were hanging outside the shop. It all happened very quickly, so please don't think I'm a bad person. I'm a very good girl, I promise! I picked up one of the books and inside there was a map of Lucca. It was not attached to the book. It was just there, ready for me to take it. And so I did it. I looked around, with a very criminal look. I "accidentally" dropped it. Got the book back to its place. Picked up the map from the floor and just kept walking like I was just a tourist passing by. Yes, I stole the map! I felt like a total criminal! I felt so bad, even if just for two minutes! Having the map made my life easier on every level. I got to see how to navigate the town in order to get to the two places I had been trying to find for hours. Then, again, disappointment. The huge tower with the trees on top was in the middle of tiny streets, not in a huge square as I had pictured it. And the round famous square of Lucca was a complete desert. And anyone who has been to Italy knows that the people are part of what makes this country so charming in the first place, and they were nowhere to be found. I was even disappointed at the postcards! I am telling you, the ugliest postcards I bought during my entire backpacking trip were the two I bought in Lucca. Why Lucca? Why? I eventually left Lucca and got on a train back to Florence. I was exhausted of so much walking, but I wasn't exhausted and happy, just unhappy for not understanding how a place I had such high hopes for could give me an afternoon like that. I was confused. I had actually loved Pisa and didn't like Lucca? How was that possible? I wouldn't have seen this coming in a million years! Can you now relate to what I've been trying to explain from the beginning about how high expectations can ruin a place? I learned my lesson from here. I believe that Lucca was destined to be my disappointment so I could change something if I wanted to enjoy my backpacking trip that would still last two and a half months after this. After this day, I can tell you I was never disappointed during my travel ever again. Yes there were places I didn't like, there were cities I actually couldn't wait to get out off, but I wasn't disappointed because I didn't expect anything. And that's because every new place I arrived to, I went with an open mind. I didn't expect anything, nor good or bad. I would just arrive and see what the city would have to offer me. I had this guy in Budapest ask me "Why are you going to Bratislava?" to which I answered "I don't know...because it's close and I want to see the city" and then he asked "And what are you expecting from Vienna?" and I said "Nothing..." and that's when I realized I had learned my lesson from Paris and Lucca, and that expecting nothing can give you the most amazing experience and that's when you get your mind blown as you travel.
So many times have I heard someone tell me "Pisa is just the tower..there's nothing more to it!", and this time I'd gladly like to disagree with them. Maybe my tastes are weird or maybe I just like to be fascinated by what others find boring and absolutely hate what others say is the best thing there is out there. On my day trip to Pisa, I finally understood the value of the quote "Don't listen to what they have to say. Go see!" because that day Pisa wasn't my destination at all, I had decided not to go there, but fate wanted me to take a look at it, fate wanted me to discover that I happily disagree with most people in many things when it comes to travel. So, here's how things stand: I don't like Paris and that phrase "Paris is always a good idea" makes me wander who the hell could ever think something like that (And I'm sorry to say I'm not sorry about this at all! Maybe one day I can change my mind about this? Yeah...I don't think that's going to happen), Berlin was a disappointment and I don't intend to go back there, can I say, ever? And apparently I like Pisa. I even find it outrageous that someone would say this town has nothing but the Leaning Tower. Really? Did you even walk around to say this? It all started at Firenze Maria Novella Station. I had my cappuccino and honey croissant, got my ticket to Lucca - where I was suppose to spend my day -, and I patiently stood in front of the screens, checking the timetables. And here is where fate, or maybe just me not being very smart, had his hand. As I looked at the screen and it said the train to Lucca was just two minutes from departing and they wouldn't put the platform up, I went to the security guard (don't I always?) to ask what was going on. He then told me I was basically standing in front of the screen of the arrivals, not the departures, and my train had long left Florence, so to get to Lucca I would have to get the train to Pisa, and change there. And there's a wonderful thing about regional trains in Italy (and no, it's not the delays): you're ticket is valid for 6h after validation, which means you can get off at any station in between your destination and hop on the train again later. Knowing this I decided to go with it. I had to go to Pisa anyway if I wanted to get to Lucca, so I might just take a look at around and check the tower. The walk from the train station to the Leaning Tower is at least 1km, which was perfect because it gave me time to explore and see what else was there. And you know what? I saw much, much more than I was expecting. My expectations were low on my arrival, and that was what made me enjoy Pisa as I did! I saw a big square with a street market, where people were enjoying the sunny day, I saw street artists, saw people on their daily lives shopping for fruit and vegetables, riding their bicycles, old men getting a tan and catching up as they sat on the park benches, kids running around. What else could I ask for? The Leaning Tower is obviously the most touristic attraction in Pisa, I can't deny that. Tourists go to Pisa and follow the path straight to the Tower. And they go crazy over it! You get to the tower area and you're suddenly surrounded by tourists. It's people all over the place and doing the weirdest things like laying on the floor with their feet and legs up, trying to get what they believe to be the greatest photo of all time. But they looked happy doing that, so I was pretty ok with it. Not weird at all having people jumping like ninjas in front of me a thousand times kicking the air or others pushing invisible things in the air. Totally ok. Really! Having explored a bit of Pisa streets as I walked to the Leaning Tower, I sat there, on the stairs in front of the Tower, and just enjoyed the sun, it was such a good day! I saw people killing themselves for the photo that they believed would make history, and I just sat there, happy that fate, or whatever it was, made me loose my direct train to Lucca. All that was lacking here was a great Italian Gelato, but by then I still didn't know what I was missing. I still hadn't discover my unconditional love for gelatos. After admiring the place for a very long time, and taking time to relax and enjoy my morning, and after asking a Chinese man to take me a photo with the Tower (a normal one, I promise!) I headed back to the station. But I didn't want to follow the same way that had got me there, so I decided to do another of my favorite, and more typical things, in a new place, which was to get lost. Letting go of the map and exploring a place by intuition is one of the best feelings in the world for me. Except when I really do get lost in places I know I shouldn't be and then I may freak out. Specially if you happen to be in Italy! Just knowing I'm walking streets most people don't care to wander around, and that I am completely alone in a place I've never been before, and where nobody knows me.
Getting off the beaten path will give you such a different view of a place, an alternative experience of the typical touristic crowded places that sometimes can make you go a little crazy. Just let yourself be lost for a while. Wander around with no purpose or fixed destination. Look for streets that call your attention, for things that excite you. At least in Pisa you should do that. And if you do, you will agree with me when I say that Pisa is not just the Leaning Tower. It's another Italian small town full of life in every unexplored corner. Just sit down in a square, or side by side on a bench with an older Italian gentleman and I promise Pisa will naturally grow in your heart. After going back to Vienna (looking back it might have been a mistake, but I decided to roll with my gut and I really felt like going back at the time), I had the impossible mission of getting out of Vienna in a cheap way and get my ass to Poland. You know, I mean impossible because it's Vienna we're talking about, and this city loves expensive, it's Vienna's favorite word! I have this thing people might call a problem: when someone tells me I can't do something I take that as I challenge! So getting to the train station in Vienna, I was told the direct trains to Poland would cost me over 70€ and I couldn't afford to spend all that money in just one train. The guy was already annoying me after he told me that Wroclaw in Poland didn't exist because he couldn't find it, or maybe it was "one of those places so hidden nobody knows about" - I'm sorry, WHAT? Idiot... Then, the guy decided to tell me the worst thing he possibly could "Miss, this is the cheapest way. You won't find cheaper than this!" Well, Sir, challenge accepted! I looked at him with an angry face and told him as I turned my back and left "Oh, I can find cheaper!" I knew that no matter how expensive Vienna is, 70€ couldn't be the cheapest way. So I did what a person who travels for a long period of time does: I sat in front of the computer for hours, searching and searching. And you know what? I got it! I felt like going back to the train station just to throw that at the guy's face! I remembered a Portuguese girl I had met in Bratislava was studying there, so I sent her a message asking to stay with her, she said yes, and that was it! The next morning I got my ass back to Bratislava, Slovakia, on the Eurolines bus that cost me only 7,90€ in order to get the Polski Bus to Warsaw, an eleven hours journey that cost 30€. So, tell me again who couldn't get cheaper? Yeah, that's what I thought! Well, I almost got in a very big mess for two simple mistakes: assuming the bus from Vienna would leave me at the main bus station of Bratislava, and not printing my ticket. Lucky for me I was an hour early so that was enough to get a thirty minutes bus (lost the first bus because I didn't know I had to buy the ticket on the machines and the driver closed the door on my face and left!) and arrive just on time for my bus to Warsaw. By the time I found the bus, which was ready to departure, I had no printed ticket, so hopping on the bus the driver said I couldn't go on the bus and was very rude to me (and that was the only bus of the day). I started freaking out, explaining I had payed and I yelled at the man saying something like: "I payed... I'm getting on this bus!!!" Eventually, annoyed with me yelling and refusing to get off the bus, they made a call and confirmed I had the reservation and let me in. I'm not a person to yell or get that mad what so ever, but during my trip I notice I had to turn into this all new person that would do whatever it took to get me where I needed without dying. So yes, I yelled, a lot, when I had to, and I guess it worked! I was so happy to be on that bus I even ignored the fact I was stuck on the worst seat between two guys, one so tall that had to put his legs on my place, and another a very chubby guy, so yup, eleven hours like that without being able to move was great. To top it all my computer decided to die for the journey and my phone stopped working too. And I forgot I would be getting to Poland and I couldn't pay with euros, so I spent the entire day without eating, which was the worse part really. You know when you're day happens to suck from the moment you wake up? Well I didn't know this when I woke up, but I would have a day full of obstacles and crazy stuff happening it made me feel like I was on an impossible mission to stay alive. As I tried to find a position, a very weird one, to sleep, I looked outside, only to realize it was snowing heavily. We were in the middle of a snow storm. Oh this terrible day just got so, so worth it! Me being a freak about snow, just started laughing and giggling like a total child. If I'm ever having a really bad day, just give me snow and I'll be happy! I even ended up meeting two Portuguese guys on the bus, whom by coincidence were going to Warsaw to meet one guy I had met in Bratislava. Love how small this world can be!
So I made it to Warsaw, saving up to thirty euros just by following my gut not to buy that expensive train ticket. And my first impression of Poland? COLD! Oh my God, cold, cold, cold! I stepped out of the bus and believe I would freeze in that country. |
Travelling With RIta
After creating this blog as I did my Erasmus and traveled for the first time, I've made the biggest decision yet and I'm backpacking Europe solo for a few months! Archives
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