Journey: Gdansk – Westerplatte – Sopot – Leba
I’m yet to really love running, but I do love finding hidden gems while I’m out and today’s murals, sculpture, and the stunning Amber Alter were well worth it (I inadvertently arrived for morning service and felt obliged to stay as only 6 people there. I’ve no clue what they were singing/saying but it was beautiful non the less.
On our way to Sopot we visited Westerplatte to view the WW2 memorial and ruins and saw Faloweic which is the longest housing block in Europe – 10 stories high and at least 600metres long, it’s immense!
Sopot is a jewel, it felt just like the French Riviera. Lovely white architecture and sands, crystal blue beaches with restaurants every few metres. It’s a place to unwind and treat yourself.
We had a long walk along the promenade (dogs aren’t allowed on the beach between June-Sep), soaked in the atmosphere, played on the outside gym, paid 75cents for the loo – yes it’s definitely more upmarket lol. I’d researched nice cafes and Las scored well and served vegan cakes/milk…turns out we had parked right outside it. We had a nice conversation with a family, whose kids loved the dogs (Ernest was trying to dig up the flower patch 🙈), and we somehow managed to knock over our iced coffee before taking one sip…it’s always fun traveling with three dogs 😂 #calamity
After lunch we were torn between driving south to Warsaw or both along the coast as we only have the days before we need to be in Berlin. Either way is a lot of driving but we thought the time would be better spent on the coast so after a quick pitstop to refill LPG and wash the van (£1.20!) it was on to Lema via a great forest trail Sciekzka Zdrowia W Luzinie. As a rule the trails aren’t as well sign posted but this had signs and outdoor gym equipment at regular intervals. The dogs definitely prefer forest walks to city potters.
Leba is the gateway town to Slowinski National Park, and has all your usual seaside town attractions…fairground, campsites galore, wax works, market stalls, ice cream, pizza…all the food, especially if you like fish as the fishing boats were landing freshly caught produce, you couldn’t ask for fresher.
We took the pups to the Labyrinth and had a fun hour wandering around trying to get out. I’d bought Lithuanian spicy veg and tofu dumplings for dinner… honestly Lidl is a vegans dream when travelling, it’s always got something. They were delicious 😋
After a bedtime walk around the town where the dogs found copious scraps and melted ice cream, I was really tired so came home and soaked my swollen mozzie eaten feet in a frying pan while meditating with my facemask on…as you do 😂
Tomorrow it’s beach time ☀️
SofaWolves 