Breakfast at the hotel was okay. However the European breakfast are rather different than us style breakfast. You’ll see more cold cuts and less traditional breakfast food. I made myself the usual ham and cheese sandwich and toasted two slices of bread. The jam for the toast was a little bit strong. I thought it was strawberry by looking at it but it tasted much more tart. Also on the breakfast spread was unscaled fish.

For the first time in my visits to Europe I walked out of my hotel room without first checking Google Maps. My hotel is so close to the city center I figured if I just started walking South eventually I would run into the city center. And sure enough after several blocks I made it to the city center.

I made it to St Mary’s Basilica which is the largest church in Gdansk. I didn’t see a ticket taker so I walked on in. I was stopped by a young man who said the church wasn’t open for 8 more minutes and I’d have to buy a ticket. I figured I wasn’t going to hang around for 8 more minutes and decided to see more of the town. I walked around taking photos and spied the Neptune statue which is famous in Gdańsk. I walked on the other side of the Waterway getting some great photos of the buildings across the Waterway. I saw a museum ship which some YouTube vloggers had recommended but I couldn’t figure out a way to get to it without walking way far out of my way.

I decided to walk back to the city centre and get some information about the F5 water tram that was to go to Westerplatte. The gentleman at the tourist area told me that the water tram would be leaving in about 20 minutes. Therefore I made it the water tram stop nearby. I got some good video and photos of the ride over there through the waterways of downtown Gdańsk with the old looking buildings.

Westerplatte is where World War II started. On September 1st 1939, Germans fired upon a Polish military area. There’s not much left to it but I figured it would be a good opportunity to visit a historic area.

The water tram deposited us a bit far from the Westerplatte Memorial. Nearby was the beach. I decided to walk up to it and put my hand in the water so that I could say I had been to the beach and had Waters from the Baltic Sea on me.

At Westerplatte Memorial there are souvenir stands and snack bars. There is also the ruins of a military Bastion composed of concrete. I had seen it on Google Maps and it is in a much better condition than what was featured on Google so long ago.

The actual Memorial consists of a large Stone pillar at the top of the hill. There were quite a few people at it and I really wanted to try and get a picture myself alone at the memorial but that was not to be.

Next was to ride the bus back as the bus stop was closer than the water tram stop. I had prepared ahead knowing which bus number I should take. I knew that all of them eventually made it back to the main train station but I figured I could get off at a stop near the Old Town.

I rode the bus and realize that I had missed the stop for the old town so I just got off at the next stop and walked a few blocks to the Old Town. I decided to have lunch at Subway. In front of me was a family which must have been placing the largest Subway order ever. This usually happens to me at home when I’m in the Drive-Thru. Luckily the Subway had Fountain drinks and an ice machine.

I decided to go to the Amber Museum which was nearby. I had to check my bag before entering the museum. The museum depicted scientific origins of the Amber. It also showed how insects became encased in Amber. The museum consisted of several floors of Amber sculptures. The sculptures were not solid as you could tell that each was made up of little pieces of Amber. Also within the museum was a Torture Museum. As it turns out the tower which used to house prisoners.

After the Amber Museum I went to the Gdańsk in The Old City Hall. There were some ornate sculptures in Old paintings in it. Also there was an opportunity to climb the stairs to the Clocktower which I decided to do.  At the top was a great view of the city. I took some videos and photos. Had the top I noticed a young man putting a sticker on me outside of the Tower. This kind of aggravated me because I feel as though old historical monuments do not need to be ruined by someone carving their initials or putting stickers on things. When he wasn’t looking I decided to try to peel off the sticker but it was only making a bigger mess so I decided to leave it on there.

At the top I saw St Mary’s Basilica which I decided to do next. This was the church I tried to go to early in the morning but with stock because it wasn’t open. The church had some very tall white ceilings and a very ornate altar. I also decided to climb to the top of the tower. This is my third Tower today and my feet were really getting worn out but I decided to go for it anyway. After all I’m probably not going to visit Gdańsk ever again why not see it all?

After viewing the tower I walked down the steps and found myself back into the church. Theoretically you could probably sneak back into the church by just buying a tower ticket and not mine the church ticket. I noticed there was a church worker somewhat watching people who came out of the tower exit. But you could probably try to avoid him if you’re careful enough.

I figured now was the time to walk toward the World War II museum which I saw from a distance at the top of the St Mary’s Basilica Tower. It was an odd shaped building which would be easily recognizable from the ground. he was a little further up from the old town but I found my way to it.

I would highly recommend the museum and I wish I had been more awake to view it. It covered things such as the Holocaust, forced labor, exile, and underground movements during the war. There were interviews with survivors on their perspective of their personal experience. I stayed about two and a half hours

Next I decided to go to Billy’s American restaurant. The entire place is covered in American posters and license plates. I got a cheeseburger which was okay the probably not worth the $14 I paid for it. It is however in a touristy part of town so I guess that goes with the territory. On my way back to the hotel I stopped by a supermarket and got a candy bar.

Tomorrow I will catch any things that I missed today including the solidarity Museum and a few churches. I’ll leave tomorrow evening for Warsaw.