Gdansk, Poland

This is getting repetitive… but we took another stress-free train ride through rolling hills to another beautiful European city, this time the Baltic seaport of Gdansk, Poland.  The entire city was re-created after WW2!  Upon arrival we hopped on a ‘short bus’ – some kind of miniature, handicap-accessible bus with only a few seats.  Gdansk was charming and not too crowded, even though we stayed in the touristy Main Town.  Many languages were spoken (German, Swedish, French, etc.) and we enjoyed blending in (store owners assumed we spoke either Polish or German).  We enjoyed sitting at the beautifully arranged cafes near the Neptune Fountain and people watching (Hillary with a glass of red wine, Ken with apple strudel) and Everett loved the street performers.  A highlight was a sunny afternoon walk along a zigzag patterned moat/waterway.  There was an enlightening and disturbing WW2 Museum, a street of amber boutiques, a famous harbor crane, endless picturesque buildings, and a military parade.  We spent an afternoon at the mall and Everett picked out a new outfit from H&M – he outgrew every outfit he brought only eight months ago.  For homeschool this week we read “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.” Tailoring the curriculum to whatever country we are in = amusing challenge.  We truly enjoyed Poland.

One final train took us from Gdansk across the border to Berlin, Germany, a comfortable six-hour journey.  Upon arriving at the modern Berlin train station, we stored our luggage in lockers and walked around the city for a few hours.  (Sidenote: We are ‘so over’ trip planning that we outsourced our work to Chat GBT 4o … our new travel agent!  You can take Ken out of online Ads, but you can’t keep him off the tech blogs.  He had to use the latest Chat GBT release that came out just this week).  We strolled from the Brandenburg Gate to Checkpoint Charlie, stopping for coffee and more people watching.  We really appreciated our brief evening in Berlin and decided we should have stayed for a few days -- as the city was really lovely.  (Sidenote: Ryanair had a screaming deal for 17 euros so we didn’t have much flexibility).  We ate a healthy dinner at the train station (salads!) and took a local train to our hotel near the airport.  Bright and early, we headed to the Berlin airport.  We walked throughout the airport for Everett’s favorite activity - plane-spotting - and then boarded our four-hour flight.  The seats were so tiny, but for 17 euros we couldn’t complain.

Europe, you were a smorgasbord of unbelievable destinations, excellent transportation, and fantastic cuisine… but we had to head south for some excitement … Marrakech, Morocco!