Yesterday I celebrated Pawel's birthday. If you remember Pawel is the tour guide who I had drinks with back in Krakow. It turns out Pawel was born and raised here in Gdansk, and was celebrating his birthday up here. He found out I was here and invited me to his birthday festivities (they are going on all weekend-he turns 30! #pawel2015 (I even received a #pawel2015 tote bag).
So yesterday, I got on an early train to the nearby beachside town of Sopot, and met Pawel and his friends (about 7 others, if I remember) at the station. We walked down the buy tickets to the ferry to Hel. What's in hel? Someone else talked about Hel, but I didn't know what was there. Anyway, Pawel waited in line to buy the tickets for all of us, while we sat in the sun and relaxed. Which was sort of strange, because Pawel didn't actually go to Hel (I guess he has been there plenty of times)-he just wanted his friends to experience it.
So I went with his friends to Hel on a ferry ride of about 1 1/2 hours-it was a relaxing boatride, relaxing in the hot sun, as it was a beautiful day. The plan was to spend 2 1/2 hours on the island, and then take the boat to Gdansk, where we would meet Pawel. We decided to have lunch first-while Pawel recommended a place on Hel-we didn't go there. We went to somewhere that seemed busier. Lunch at this beautiful seaside restaurant consisted of frozen fish which was mediocre, and took just about 2 hours. It turns out lunch for 8 people (with 8 different checks) was confusing for the waiter, and we had to explain to him what we ordered. A few of us came to the conclusion that service is poor in Poland many times (and other former communist countries), which I have also found out.
The others wanted to go to the beach, but there wasn't much time, so we walked QUICKLY to the beach, and as we got closer, paid a guy to take us there in a golf cart. We managed to stick our toes in the water (it was freezing cold in the Baltic water), and some of the others took selfies, and after about 10 minutes, took the golf cart back to the ferry.
The ferry ride took another 1 1/2 or so-as we got closer we pulled into the Port of Gdansk-packed with cargo ships, which reminds me of Port Everglades back home.
After the ferry ride, we went to Pawel's dad's place to have some drinks-it was pleasant, although we sat outside and the mosquitoes we're sort of ravenous.
Then we took a cab back to Sopot to a dance club on the beach. I had a few drinks, and although I am not a good dancer, I danced with some of the ladies in the group. It was a cool beautiful star-filled night on the beach, and this place reminded me of being on the beach back home.
After about 1:00 am or so, I decided to leave the party-Once I got outside I was hit in the face with the fact that I wasn't home-I had to find a way back to the hostel about 10 miles away-fortunately a cab was waiting outside to take me back. I took the cab back to the hostel.
It was a nice day thanks to Pawel and his great friends.
