Yesterday I started the day with a morning walking tour of Gdansk-although I have already been here a few days, I didn't have a chance to go on the walking tour. (first day I went to the wrong meeting point accidentally, second day I spent with Pawel and his friend's)
The tour was somewhat boring. The tour guide had a script, and didn't expect to deviate from it. I like to ask a lot of questions, many times-the tour guides either (a) appreciate it, or (b) appreciate it at first, then find my questions tiresome. This guide was b. She answered my questions enthusiastically at first, but then gave less then enthusiastic answers. She just seemed to rush through the sights of the town, or maybe I have been on too many walking tours at this point.
After the tour-I went to my temporary office (Costa Coffee), to make reservations for the future. Three significant ones:
(A) I made reservations to fly to Bulgaria next week-but that isn't till next Friday.
(B) For tonight, I am going to stay in a hotel. Not any hotel-but the Hilton. I have been osatisfied with hostels, but every 3 weeks or so I like to break up the stays with hotels just to switch things up. I was ready to stay in a hotel back in Warsaw, but decided to book a hostel in Gdansk anyway. This hostel is called La Guitarra-one of the worst I have stayed in. La Guitarra apparently means the Guitar, as the walls are filled with pictures of famous guitarists like Keith Richards, Carlos Santana, etc. Additionally, for the musically inclined, there are guitars, drums and a piano in the common area to play on. Apart from that though, the hostel is sort of nasty-very narrow rooms, which seems to exacerbate the various smells of 8 strangers sleeping near each other. The bathrooms are moldy and smelly as well. And the WIFI is awful. It doesn't work well at all, and actually requires a special time sensitive password for each device. Good WIFI means more to me then a guitar to jam on.
Anyway, The Hilton is 80 meters, or about 2 blocks. from La Guitarra. Anytime walking into the main area of town, I passed by the Hilton. The directions from the bus/train station to La Guitarra referenced the Hilton as a landmark. So I passed by the sleek brick and glass building multiple times on my trip, and felt envious of those walking through the automatic glass doors and staying in rooms that actually have a pleasant smell to them. So rather then choosing another hostel or less expensive hotel, (of which there are many), I am paying $114 tonight to stay at the Hilton.
(C) I made plans for Monday-Wednesday. I went to a Stena cruise line tent, right in the middle of town, and booked a cruise-it is actually a converted ferry that goes to Sweden for one day, and then returns to Poland the next day. Booking cruises is something I have a tiny bit of experience with-but this is different:
(1) There is a 2 for 1 promotion. 2 people can go for around $100.00 (food is extra)/which according to the Stena Line, That is usually the price for one-double occupancy. But as one person alone in the cabin, I would pay $150.00 (approximately)-which still isn't bad). So $100 for 2, but $150 for 1. So I made up a phony name of a second person. Worse case scenario, I figure, is they will charge me the extra when I get there.
(2) They didn't want my money. After making the reservation, I gave them my credit card to pay-they didn't want it. They told me that ordinarily you have 3 days after making the reservation to pay for the cruise-but since the cruise leaves in 2 days, I can just pay for it right before I board. I thought-that is weird. I even went back to the Stena line tent later, and told them I wanted to pay for it to ensure I had a place-they refused once again to accept my payment. They said they just make the reservations. That is different-where I come from payment is one of the most important factors of making a reservation (actually THE most important-by a factor of 10).
Otherwise an interesting day. In Gdansk, on the street a thin blond-haired thirty-something man came up to me and shook my hand, and then gave me a hug. Not a man-hug, but a close full body hug, and he started to message my back. I figure (1) He thought I was someone else (2) He thought I was gay and he was interested in me, which is flattering (3) He was trying to steel my wallet or camera, but I walked away with both. I then took the train back to Sopot (where I was the day before), and walked along an ocean promenade. Coming back to Gdansk, a concert of crooners performing jazz was actually playing against wall of some building on the pier, so i watched that for a while.
