From Sopot to Sweden

June 6, 2019

The tri city region of Gdansk, Sopot and Gydnia is an interesting area of contrasts. Gdansk has the substance of being designated a Unesco Site with much history and beauty, many canals and waterways, the functionality of the shipyards and industry. Sopot has the glitz and modernity of a “Spa Town” with the expensive trappings that go with it....and Gydnia is more of a working class town with the massive port for ferries and freight dominating its economy. All three cities share their location on the Baltic Sea as a core part of their identity in different ways.

Our choices for accommodation were slim in Sopot as many of the places were very expensive and geared to a different type of traveller. We were happy to find Villa 21 which was expensive by Polish standards but more in line with German pricing and it included breakfast.

The only problem with our hotel was that there was no place for the bike. In true laid back Polish fashion, the woman offered the stairwell which was a perfect fit.

What a great dog, but he was so hot. Note the water dripping from his tongue.

We are mailing a box to Germany to be held by our friends until we return. We have found the workers in the Polish postal system to be very friendly and efficient. Everybody, including the dog are suffering from the heat of the day.

This couple from China are here for a 10 day holiday. They were very interested in our mode of travel and how we manage a long trip of 3 months.

Kids were having a blast on their rental motorized dirt bikes.

We are getting g close to Gydnia and it is nice to have signage and an area for riding our bike.

We have been told that Hel (pronounced Hell) is a beautiful place to go. It is on the open sea and people go there to see the seals. As it is about 70 km round trip we will give it a miss since we took an extra day in Gdansk, and as much as we love seals and the open sea, we can do that at home.. It has been a source of amusement throughout Poland to say that “we are going to Hel(l). Juvenile I know, but...

Near the ferry terminal we stopped at a Gas Station to try the popular open face paninis that we have seen throughout Poland. It is pretty tasty.

It is a hot day and good to get inside. Barry looks happy to dig in and try his panini.

As ferry riders on our home island, we are rarely first in line. Now this is a first for us, headnof the line for our journey to Sweden.

Seavo is fitting in just fine with the “big boys” (motorcycles) and freight trucks. So many people have come up and taken our photo that we are thinking that maybe we should put out a cap for donations!

Seavo really confused the Stena Line guys as their practice is to load your bike on this trolley. The idea is that you walk on as a foot passenger and get your bike back on the other side. We were firm with them that Seavo will not fit on the trolley.

There she is -our ferry the Stena Vision.

So many trucks-it feels,like it is just us, motorcycles and trucks!

We are waiting to board the ferry once the ferry is unloaded. We are amazed by the truck traffic, but it does make sense as most of their trade and commerce comes by ship.

We saw some amazing trucks - these guys love their trucks and personalize them with great murals, etc.

This truck driver loves Star Wars and his license plate said “Go Vader”.

Now this is the star treatment -Seavo and the Bartlett’s get to be the first to board the ferry - our shadow is a nice touch

It is exciting to get to ride onto the ferry ahead of the dozens of motorcycles and 100’s of trucks.

We are heading out and the sun is setting.

This port is a busy hub with freighter and passenger traffic.

Our last view of the port at a Gydnia as the sun sets.

The Stena Spirit is a large and older ship, but very nice.

Lined up at the extraordinary buffet for dinner. We opted for the a la carte option.

Our cabin on the ship - very comfortable and quiet with a nice tv. Now that we are heading to Sweden, the programming is in the original language with subtitles. We got to watch a movie in English with Swedish subtitles. We like that!

The bathroom was very nice with a good shower. Now that is luxury for us.

Today's ride: 34 km (21 miles)
Total: 2,119 km (1,316 miles)

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Suzanne GibsonSorry you didn't get to the Baltic Countries, but perhaps someday you can try what we did. We took the ferry to Tallinn and worked our way down to Gdansk. It was a great trip, although towns and sights were very spread out with long stretches through forests.
Enjoy Sweden!
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