Bird Paradise

This place was on my radar for a long time - "Bird Paradise" reserve on Sobieszewo Island. In fact, I asked to go there as my birthday gift last year. Unfortunately, the trip didn’t end well. I start by saying that half of people that came didn’t want to leave the car. All because of huge amounts of mosquitos. Only me and my stepdad were brave enough to take a hike. Although it was a very short one.

This place was on my radar for a long time. In fact, I asked to go there as my birthday gift last year. Unfortunately, the trip didn’t end well. I start by saying that half of people that came didn’t want to leave the car. All because of huge amounts of mosquitos. Only me and my stepdad were brave enough to take a hike. Although it was a very short one.

We didn’t see many people, but surely we must have looked like crazy people. To protect ourselves from the incredible amount of mosquitoes we were waving our arms around us. Also, we were almost running. As a result, we didn’t get to see anything and end up with a record amount of mosquito bites.

Almost a year later and I managed to come back. This time, I wasn't attacked by an army of starving mosquitoes. I must say, though, that for a bird reserve, there is surprisingly very little birds there. I see more birds looking outside my bedroom window. Regardless of that, it is a beautiful place. Very peaceful and relaxing.

If you decide to go there for a walk, to which I encourage you, please take provisions and binoculars. Maybe then you will be able to finish the walk and spot some birds :) The route is quite long and there is no shops or stalls anywhere. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to finish the whole walk.I hope that next year will be the year I'll do that.

Love, love ... Gdynia :)

These days, it is incredibly difficult for me to peel my face off the computer screen. Barely have time to get out of the house. Fortunately, a few weeks ago I did. And since it was the first time in weeks I decided I have to visit a place that is not around the corner from my house.

I heard that recently an embankment in Gdynia was opened, so I decided I had to check it out. I must say that it was worth it. 

I took us around an hour to get to our destination. I must say that three smartphones with navigation didn’t help much, and we still ended up wondering around. 

When I got to the point where I could see the sea, I was amazed. I felt I am in Greece or other South European country. Breathtaking views. As it turned out, the way down to the beach was also breathtaking. All because of a steep hill and thousands of stairs we had to conquer. 

The recently made embankment is beautiful. This area started out as a fisherman village. There are still remains of that, with rails that fisherman used to bring up the catch and colorful boats that I hope are still being used for fishing.

The embankment is pretty long - about 1,5 km. And since I had to find out where it leads to, I dragged my not-so-happy family till the end, and back (because we came by car, that we had to go back to :).

To sum up, this place became one of my favorite beaches in TriCity (although, not much beach there). I also managed to set a plan, that basically consists of me winning few millions zloty, and buying a house there. Maybe not the closest to the cliff, but in a nearby area.

Time for shopping – Winter Sale has begun

To stay with current trends of Winter Sale shopping, I decided to try it out as well. Therefore I went to Market Hall. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to do any shopping as the hall was closed due to national holiday. But know my sacrifices – it was -11 Celsius outside and during 10 minutes of taking pictures my fingers began to experience frost bites J

Anyways, I don’t think I would do much shopping as most items offered on sale are groceries (which normally aren’t subject of Winter SalesJ.  Regardless of that fact, Market Hall building is one of my favorite, it might be because of all its towers.

The hall was built in 1986, previous to that there was a plaza that served as open market space, just before that, army used the space for drills. But even before that there was a monastery that was destroyed in 1813 during war.

Plaza on which Market Hall was built

Originally there were 188 wooden stalls (76 stalls with meat and sausages, 64 with vegetables and fruits, 22 with dairy products, 16 with fish and 10 with bread). It had a police station and a kitchen. I can just picture ladies with big dresses coming for daily shopping, chatting with acquaintances. Policeman walking around welcoming ladies with little nod and hat tip.

Market Hall, 1910

Well, at least this is what I see when I look at Market Hall. Plus I love all the little towers. Also, the shape of the building reminds me of train stations, which strangely I am really fond of.

Anyhow, when in Gdansk, visit this beautiful Market Hall. I will come back to the hall in spring, as there is couple of things that I didn’t tell you about.