Poland, September 5-September 21, 2024

Of all the countries I’ve visited so far on this trip, Poland has been my favorite. I didn't think Poland would be memorable, but it has proven me wrong. First of all, Poland had amazing food. From pierogi to stuffed cabbage, I loved all of it. Poland was also relatively cheap and had amazing public transportation. With the temperature ranging from around 14-20 degrees Celsius, it was very cool and comfortable. The first city we visited was Krakow. In Krakow, we saw Wawel Castle, Krakow's old town, and most of the city around it. My favorite part of Krakow was our hotel location. It was only 10-15 minutes from the city center yet it felt like a different place, going from old buildings to lush green forests, which made it all the more enjoyable. 


Out of all our activities in Krakow, the pinball museum was my favorite. We got to play tons of vintage pinball, as well as the newer ones too. 


After Krakow, we visited a small town called Wrocław. Wroclaw was a smaller city a bit further north from Krakow.  There were not many tourists even though the city was beautiful and quiet. However, Wrocław was not nearly as good as Krakow, with Krakow having much better food as well as a better hotel location. Our time in Wrocław was short, with us only staying 4 days there, which was probably enough. My sister became sick with a cold so it slowed us down a lot. Most of our time spent in Wrocław was rainy and dark, which made it miserable to go outside. We didn't do as much in Wrocław, mostly we explored the old town, Cathedral Island, and looked for the 100’s of gnome statues throughout the center. I thought it was a massive downgrade from Krakow, which was a shame. 


The last location we traveled to in Poland was Gdansk. Gdansk also did not live up to Krakow, which was disappointing too. We did visit two museums that were really interesting, but very long - The Solidarity Museum and the World War II museum.  The Solidarity Museum was alright. I assumed the museum was about WWII but I was wrong. The Solidarity museum was about a post WWII port strike that was organized in Poland to protest against communism and resulted in large scale peoples protests and resistance to the communist government. This resistance spread throughout Poland and was important in ending the communist regime. I liked the message it was sending, they stood for freedom, democracy, and workers rights. The WWII Museum was also very interesting. The WWII museum gave a comprehensive understanding of WWII from the start to the finish. My favorite part was the interactive area where they let you pick up the soldiers bags and feel how much weight they had to carry every single day. 


Finally, the coolest part of our visit to Gdansk was our hotel. We stayed at a hotel that had an international food hall underneath. The hotel building was a repurposed submarine manufacturing factory as well. The food at the food hall was delicious and was probably the best food we had in Poland. From Greek, to Georgian, to Japanese, to Indian, to Polish food they had it all. We ended up eating most of our dinners here in Gdansk. 


Poland was one of the best countries I have visited, and I hope we go back!

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