Today started off with a very expensive breakfast. I was a bit lazy so I ate at the hotel this morning at a very ok buffet for around $20. Given that I saw options for close to half that walking around today I found it pricey.

I spent a good part of the morning just walking around the streets of the old city. Now “old city” is a little misleading. Yes, it is the old center of Gdańsk. However; 90% of the buildings in Gdańsk were destroyed when the Russians took the city from the Germans in WWII. When it came time to rebuild, the city decided to try and match the original style as much as possible. They used photos, paintings and drawings to help. They also took influence from French, Dutch and Italian architecture but, specifically, not German. They did decide to only make the outside of the buildings historic but saw no reason to do that on the inside and modernized all of the interiors of the rebuilt buildings. So, keep in mind that the buildings in the photos are, for the most part relatively new.

The streets throughout the old city are cobbled and, for a good part, pedestrian only or allowing only limited traffic. It is much warmer than I expected. The days are up in the 80’s and the next town I am to head to is predicting almost 90. So, I am definitely sweating as I walk around the town.

It’s worth it to walk along the streets and look at all of the building fronts that were lovingly rebuilt. Many of the building fronts have been painted with murals or just colorfully. It makes walking a bit slow as I try to take it all in.

My initial impressions of Gdańsk were validated as I walked through the city. It’s a beautiful city with a very wide variety of restaurants. I can see why it is a popular tourist destination for Europeans. It really should be more of a destination for anyone looking to skip the well trod paths at the better known western European sites.

Tomorrow will be a bit more of a museum day. If I have time I’ll wander around a bit more.