My opinion on Gdansk and Poland after 11 days

I've been in Gdansk for 11 days, and it's been very nice.
Positives of Poland and Gdansk: Please bear in mind that this is also the first time I've ever spent any signifigant time in a decent sized city. Some of the things I liked or disliked may be common to most big cities. I'm kind of a rube.

Positives:
Polish women are beautiful
The no litter on the streets; it's very clean in that aspect.
There are dozens of places to shop within walking distance of everything. I visited a new condominium development yesterday, and there were a plenty of shops within walking distance.

After learning to avoid certain shop clerks, I found the people very friendly and helpful.
The beach areas in both Gdansk and Sopot are nice. They are well laid out, and people friendly first, business friendly next.
Dluga street is pretty and charming.
I loved all of the outdoor cafes, which are everywhere.
The Polish food is very good. I had no idea french fries were this popular in Poland.
Two good restaraunts I'd recommend are:
Bar Przystan in Sopot, which was by far the best place I ate at
Gospoda Vita in Gdansk
Polish cemetaries have a stunning beauty to them, as opposed to their American counterparts.
Mushroom picking is a lot of fun.
Polish women are beautiful.

Negatives:
I'm glad I didn't rent a car. The streets are rarely marked. How does the mailman do his job?
Why aren't Poles dominating F1? They get plenty of practice on a daily basis.
Graffitti is everywhere. Some of it looked rather old, but then I'm reminded of the wisdom of Jed Clampett, from the Beverly Hillbillies:
Too poor to paint, too proud to whitewash.
The graffitti really degrades the area.
The Communist Era buildings stick out like sore thumbs. There's a lot of renovating going on, and there's no shortage of work, for several years. There's no " Old World Charm " in a lot of the run down buildings.

In some respects, Gdansk has a Wild West feel. I'm not sure why, and I'm not suggesting that it's lawless. It might be the cars. I have never seen such a strange amalgamation of cars. Everybody seems to be flying around, at breakneck speed. There seems to be a buzz here. It's probably everywhere in Poland.

One last thing. I heard it from at least two dozen people. Krakow is the most beautiful city in the world. I hope to see it next year.

Thanks for your analysis, RP! I have to concur with most of what you write (although I didn't do any mushroom picking----maybe nextime).

Had to laugh at the F1 joke.....it is true though.....I have never seen such creative manuevers on the roads. :)

I agree. Some young people in Poland think freedom=graffitti. It makes some buildings and areas look ugly..

The sad thing is that it's not only graffitti. I also see many beer/other promotons pinned up on old buildings.

Yes, not to mention people who **** on buildings (when drunk)

There is also a problem with graffiti in Wroclaw. However, in some areas of the city the authorities actively encourage it. They allow 'graffiti artists' to paint on designated walls in particular areas.

I know in Szczecin some store fronts use Graf as a store sign.

you haven't spent any time in Italy then.

No, that is rubbish. Krakow is nice for a day or two but besides from the centre of the Old Town, there is really nothing to see. The steel works ruins everything. Your throat will be dry and hurt all the time and you can not drink the tap water. If you try to wear anything white it will be black in a few hours so that is impossible too. Foreign firms even offered to help out the Poles and clean up the chimneys but they refused! Now they complain as the solphuric acid is dissolving all the historic buildings. There is nothing to buy in the shops and when I was there everybody was queuing outside the PEWEX to change my dollars so as to buy chocolate and foreign alcohol I would suggest Prague is the true jewel of Eastern Europe-simply knocks Krakow in to a top hat!

Pewex dosen't exist from 13 - 15 years in Poland...!!!

Are you OK, Michał?
What are you talking about????

:-)))

His name is Kmiot.

Well, now I see you are writing from the 1980-ties point of view. Your comments are true if we talked about the history of Poland (20-30 years ago). Now it has changed for better. You need to go to Poland and see for yourself.

You can presumably read my text. Why do you ask what I am writing about? However, I certainly would not say that it is the most beautiful city in the World. I would say that was an exaggeration. I have visited Brugge in Belgium and it has some very fine old buildings. I would have thought that Edinburgh in Scotland would be as good if not even better than Krakaow and certainly Edinburgh Castle is every bit as good as Krakow's Wawel. I do not know how Krakow looks today as it has been a few years since I was there but I do remember the police cars on the square for some reason, funny little blue vans with MO painted on the side!


Outside of the Old Town, Gdansk is very rough and poor indeed. It can be a very nasty and dangerous place to be.

yes! a true jungle! Goodness greciouss! What shall we do?

c'mon michal stop talking rubish. you were doing so fine lately without spreading bs on forums.

I have been to Gdansk many times and I know what parts of the city looks life in real life. I am not talking about the Old Town but get a bus and go to Podmiejska and those streets in the outskirts. God-bloody awful! Like England would have been like in the 1500's!

dude lay off the medication

Well, come and visit Dalston (London). I have never, ever seen such abject poverty, dirt, and hopelessness, so much grime and ugliness packed into one place. And you bet it's dangerous.

Are you a fiction writer, or do you just play one on this forum?

My wife lived in Gdansk for over 40 years. Her daughter for 27. We spoke to many people, all longtime residents, and they all said it was a safe city. Of course, one must exercise common sense too. Areas with a lot of heavy drinking are dangerous throughout the world. And, if one goes looking for trouble, I'm certain there are people in Gdansk happy to abide you. You strike me as that type of fellow, which might be why you find it so dangerous.

If I remember rightly, it was called Orunia the district where I stayed in Gdansk twenty three years ago.

parts of Orunia are old and this is where the pensioners and poor people live and the other parts of Orunia are beautiful new developments. the best thing is that from Orunia it is only a 7 minute bus ride to centre of Gdansk and the train station.

• 
  orunia_duza.jpg
  

okay dokey, im off to gdansk on tuesday

now how much is it for a taxi from the airport ?( in zlotys)

can you get a train?

and what bus would one get?

cheers big ears!

Michal

You were in Poland 25 years ago????

?????????????

And you want to discuss about Poland?????????????, sorry...
:
:-)))))))))))))

I will give you some good advice here. When you come out of the airport building make your way as quickly as you can to the bus and take that. The taxi drivers will try to slow you down as it is a long way to Gdansk on foot! About sixteen kilometers long! The taxi drivers will rook you for all you have got so beware! There is a bus but I do not know its number but a good up to date Rough Guide or something similar should be able to point you in the right drrection. No, there is no train there.


Sorry? Why sorry? I was in Poland when quite a lot of forum members were not even born! It was twenty three years ago, przeczytaj dobrze! teraz rozumiesz?


I remember the street where I stayed number 25 Podmiejska no longer in existence, as I later found out. The lady whom I met in Moscow and later invited me to Gdansk all those years ago is now Head of German at Oliwa University.

Michał,

Now is 2007!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You were in Poland when it looks everything like in ..i don't know...Ural?...Iran?...:-)))

You have to understand this!
Everething changed..rozumiesz?

Chyba nie...

no comment

people... just leave that old dinosaur be. He's different and to old and ignorant to change;)

How very rude of you. Anyway, I am sure that if I went back to Krakow today, there would be very little change.

...But you can't afford to come to Poland?

Poor you...
:-)

And I was a student at the University of Gdansk from 1982 to 1988. I lived in Sopot Kamienny Potok (very quiet and nice), Sopot, Gdansk Polanki, Gdansk Zabianka and Gdansk Brzezno. And to be honest, I think we are talking about two different cities. Yours seems to be taken from the horror movies. I only have good memories of living in Gdansk. None of my friends were murdered or robbed. I was very often taking a bus or LRT very late at night when coming home from parties or late studying and felt safe.

Krakow is currently one of the most exciting cities in Europe for long term investment. The changes have been dramatic and cover almost all aspects of life in the city.

It was also voted 5th best city for week end breaks worldwide by American Express as recently as 9 months ago.