GDANSK DAY 3
On our third day in Gdansk we rised early and hopped on a train to Sopot! The sun was shining and it could not be a better day for a trip to the ocean side. It appeared as the entire of Poland thought the same thing as us and let's just say; we we're not alone in Sopot this day haha.
We started our trip to Sopot by visiting "The Crooked House" or Krzywy Domek which is its actual name. We sat down at the cafe and drank some coffee and tea. Fun story: I don't drink coffee, I hate it actually. But the lady in the cafe must've missunderstood me when I ordered a chai TEA latte. I didn't get anything with chai in it nor tea. It was some sort of coffee. I was too embarrassed to go back and complain so instead I poured 5 packages of sugar in it and then I was shaking for the rest of the day... 😂
After my horrible coffee experience we walked to the Sopot Pier! And as you can see, everyone else did too. But it didn't bother us that much. We still decided to walk out.
At the end of the pier there's a pole. And apparently you're supposed to touch it for good luck according to the locals. So of course I did. Kind of gross though, but I was fine, I brought hand sanitizer haha. My mum and her boyfriend decided not only to touch it but also to kiss infront of it. I think they muliplied their luck by a thousand percent, at least.
After hanging out with the entire polish population at the pier we found a sushi restaurant off the main street and it was so nice! The BEST vegetarian sushi I've ever had. We spent quite a while in this restaurant before it was time to head back to our hotel in Gdansk. This day, April 14th, is my mothers birthday so we had an entire evening planned in Gdansk. My mum got a spa treatment at the hotel as a birthday gift from Peter, her boyfriend. So meanwhile my mum was having the time of her life getting "the best massage ever" (quote from my mum) me and Peter went to the spa and hung out in the sauna. Then the four of us got ready for dinner and we found a really fancy restaurant called Piwna 47.
We didn't make a reservation but luckily they had one table left! So we sat down and had the best, and most expensive, dinner of our lives.
I had some amazing noodles and tofu and drank some amazing white wine. Everything about this place was amazing. Forgot to take a picture of the dessert, but believe me, it was amazing. Nothing could top this evening so after eating and drinking we decided to walk trough the Old Town back to our hotel where we ended the night. This has to be the best day in Poland out of all of our days. Beautiful weather and celebrating my mothers birthday in a beautiful part of the world. I can wait to go back to Poland and discover more of this country!
NEXT UP: GREECE
It's been about a month since I got back home from Poland and I've already booked another trip haha! For those who say that you can't afford to travel when you are a student: you are WRONG! I booked my next trip about a week ago and I've already announced it over on my Instagram (don't forget to follow me there!). But anyway; I'm going to Greece! To Kos more specifically! I've never been to Greece before so I'm so excited. We are leaving on the 7th of June and will be gone for a week!
Picture from when I visited Cyprus in 2014. This was the last time I visited a warm destination haha, since then I've only been on city weekends.
I can't wait to swim, snorkel and dive in the ocean again, it's been too long! Speaking of snorkeling and diving; I'm planning to take my diving certificate this summer/early autumn so that I can scuba dive on future adventures, how cool?! Does any of you got a scuba certificate? Apart from snorkeling I'm also very excited to try out my GoPro under water! I got a GoPro in September and haven't had the opportunity to try it out under water yet, so I'm really looking forward to that.
Picture by A Greek Adventure
If you have any tips or recommendations about Kos, Greece; please leave them in the comments below!
Now waits another 20 days filled with school, exams and working at my "regular" job before I head off to Greece. Please let these 20 days fly by faster than ever because I can't wait to go!
GDANSK DAY 2
The second day in Gdansk started with one of my favorite things in the entire world; hotel breakfast! I already wrote about our hotel and the breakfast here if you’ve missed it. Anyway I started the day with some bread, scrambled eggs, a smoothie and a boiled egg. A great start to our second day.
After breakfast we got dressed and decided to visit Gdynia for the day. We were lazy tourists and got a taxi to Gdynia, if we only realized earlier how easy it is to travel by train in the Tri-City area… The first stop of the day was at Akwarium Gdyńskie. It is a relatively small aquarium in the port of Gdynia and I would say it is worth a visit. Hot tip: don’t go before lunch, that’s when all the school children are there…
The aquarium has both live animals and more educational exhibitions. Sadly the information in English was kind of bad and some parts didn’t even have information in English. On the top floor there was a exhibition about the Baltic sea and its pollution but there were no English information at all so that was a waste of time. But otherwise I really liked the aquarium!
After our trip to the aquarium we moved on to a shopping centre called Centrum Riviera. I’m not a shopping kind of gal’ so it wasn’t really for me. But we had some lunch and the most exciting thing of the entire visit was when I, out of no where, got a nosebleed all over my lunch. That was fun. Or not. After strolling around for a while we decided to take the train back to Gdańsk and it was so easy! I was thinking about writing a post transportation in the Tri-City area, would you want to read that?
We ended our day in the Gdańsk city centre where we drank some drinks at Mojito Cafe and walked along the waterfront until it was time to head back to the hotel.
HOTEL ALMOND BUSINESS & SPA
During our trip to Gdansk we stayed at Hotel Almond Business & Spa and we were very satisfied. Hotel Almond Business & Spa is located cirka 600 metres from the Gdansk Old Town and is a 4-star hotel. I usually travel on a budget but since this trip was for my mothers 50th birthday we decided to get a more luxury hotel. I'm more of a hostel or B&B kind of girl but a 4-star hotel every once in a while is not that bad haha!
The rooms at Hotel Almond Business & Spa are modern and bright. According to me there's nothing worse than arriving to an hotel/hostel and realise that there are not enough window light or that the room is dark over all. We had a sofa bed in our room where I slept. All three of us decided that it would be better to spend our money on something else than a second room and since we traveled as a family, no one even cared. We only slept in the room, we didn't spend any other time there. Our room also had a stunning view over the river!
On to my favourite part; BREAKFAST! There's nothing better than a really nice hotel breakfast buffet and oh boy this was nice. Homemade smoothies, fruits, pancakes, bread, yoghurt and even some baked goods if that's what you prefer! The Hotel Almond Business & Spa's breakfast buffet had a great selection of both sweet and savory breakfasts and that's something that I believe is truly important. I also felt that the whole breakfast restaurant worked really well with the rest of the hotel. The style of the hotel is a bit industrial and I felt that they've incorprated that great but still kept it modern and bright.
This is the lobby and here you can see what I mean by industrial. This theme continues throughout the hotel and I think it's really nice. I'm a big fan of the more industrial style and I think that Hotel Almond Business & Spa looks super nice and worked with the style in every corner of the hotel!
It wouldn't be called Hotel Almond Business & Spa without a spa right? This is where my only complaints are. The spa was relatively small, which I don't mind but then it's even more important to keep it functioning. The pool was very nice and the saunas were great but the hot tub was not hot at all and it was filled with small pieces of gravel. The hot tub was therefore not very nice at all. Otherwise I really liked the spa. My mother got a treatment on her birthday and she chose some sort of massage with aroma therapy. I asked her and she said it was really good and before the treatment she filled out a form so that the massage therapist could adapt the massage to her.
Over all I'm very satisfied with our stay and I really recommend that you check out this hotel if you're going to Gdansk. It's just a five minute walk to the Old Town and very close to the train station where you can take the train to Sopot or Gdynia. It's a perfect location just by the river.
My rating: 4/5
Don't forget to pin this on Pinterest!
GDANSK DAY 1
I'm back home in Sweden again after a lovely weekend-trip to Gdansk, Poland! I had never before visited Poland and was very pleasantly surprised by not only Gdansk but Poland as well. I thought I would do a blog post for each day as we visited other cities during our trip, that way it will be easier to find in the archive later. So here we go.
We flew from Malmö Airport on the 12th of April and the flight to Gdansk only took an hour! So an hour later we arrived at the airport in Gdansk and took a taxi to our hotel (review will be up shortly!). We stayed at Hotel Almond Business & SPA and it was so nice. Perfect walking distance to Gdansk Old Town and to the train station where we took the train the other days.
After checking in to our hotel we decided to explore Gdansk Old Town for the rest of the afternoon and oh my what a gorgeous town! The entire town is in pastel colours with the most beautiful houses I think I have ever seen! We walked around for a bit and found a restaurant to eat some lunch at. The weather was so nice and all three of us totally overdressed and was sweating the rest of the afternoon but it was so worth it.
After eating a light lunch we did what Swedes do best; we found a café for some fika. We drank some hot chocolates at a café called Pociąg Do and just sat down and relaxed. Our vacation was really starting! This trip was my mothers birthday-trip so we did everything she wanted to. She wanted to have a nice relaxing weekend so that's what we did! To end of the first day we walked back to our hotel and changed into our swimsuits and went down to the hotel spa.
After a few hours of swimming, hanging out in the saunas and sitting in the hot tub we went back up to our room and went to bed quite early so that we would be filled with energy for day two which was the first full day. I slept really good except that we had opened our window because of the heat and therefor heard so many sounds early in the morning haha, but that's my own fault!
Restaurants visited this day:
- Mojito Caffe & Restaurant
- Pociąg Do...
Tourist attractions visited this day:
- Żuraw – medieval port crane
- Ulica Długa – the main street of Old Town
- Złota Brama – the Golden Gate at the end of the main street
That was it for the first day! If you want to see more pictures from Gdansk head over to my Instagram; @strokeofadventure. Thank you for reading!
10 (9) CITIES IN EUROPE TO VISIT THIS SPRING
It's almost spring and for many that means some time off work (with all the holidays it brings)! It's probably been a while since you've had some time off so a weekend getaway this spring might be perfect for you. Therefor I made a list of 10 cities in Europe you should visit this spring. Spring can be an amazing time of year, summer is just around the corner and the weather is getting warmer all over Europe, it's the perfect time to explore a new city and a new country! This spring I'm going to Gdansk, Poland so that'll have to be my spring-vacation. Let's get into the list!
LIVERPOOL
One of my absolute favorite cities ever! I had never even thought of visiting Liverpool before 2015, when my relative moved there. I thought Liverpool was only for soccer fans and I had no interest in that at all. But when I came to visit I fell in love with the city, I even loved it so much that I moved there in 2016. Liverpool for me has it all, it's a big city but it doesn't feel like a big city, which I really like. There's a beautiful walk to take by the Mersey, fantastic shopping and the locals are lovely. I would love to go back soon!
A beautiful spring day in Liverpool in March 2017.
MARRAKECH
I never thought about Marrakech before but recently it has been all over my Instagram-feed! And I'm obsessed! It looks absolutely beautiful with all the colors and patterns. I talked with my mother about Morocco a while ago and she told me she's been there in her 20's and I was so jealous. I had to dig our her photo albums and look at the pictures and even back then it looked amazing. I need to go soon! I wrote this blog post in the middle of the night and I just realised that Marrakech is not in Europe haha. But oh well, it made the list anyway!
GOTHENBURG
I of course had to include my favourite city in Sweden, Gothenburg. Gothenburg during springtime is amazing with its open-air cafees, trams and just the over all happy feeling. I love Gothenburg because much like Liverpool it's a big city but it feels small. I haven't been there since the summer 2016 so it is really time to go again soon, hopefully this summer!
At the famous amusement park Liseberg in Gothenburg in June 2014!
VIENNA
Another city that my mother made me jealous about. She went there a couple of years ago and came back with amazing stories and it looked beautiful in her pictures. I've been to Austria several times before but only to skii so I really want to experience another part of the country. I think Easter and springtime is a perfect time to visit Vienna since it can be quite warm during the summer in the middle of a big city.
BRUSSELS
I had planned to go to Brussels this March but unfortunately it had to be postponed. But from what I've seen and heard it's amazing. Can't imagine anything better than strolling around Brussel eating both some Belgian chocolate AND a Belgian waffle haha. I'm ready to pack my bags for a long weekend in Brussels.
MUNICH
Germany! A country I've been to many times but never really seen a lot of. When you live in the south of Sweden you often drive to Germany for one single reason: to buy cheap alcohol. So I've been many times but I have never gotten the chance to explore it as much as I want to. Munich is on top of my list of cities to visit in Germany. Munich is famous for Oktoberfest (a huge beer-drinking party) that lasts for two weeks every year. But Munich is not all about beer but it's also a city with lots of culture!
Picture of Munich by: The Culture Trip
KAUNAS
Kaunas and I crossed paths when I was searching for trips for my mothers birthday (we finally decided on Gdansk, Poland and we're leaving on Thursday!!). Kaunas is located in Lithuania and the first city in Central and Eastern Europe as a UNESCO City of Design. In 2022, Kaunas will be the European Capital of Culture, so needless to say it's a city to visit for those who are interested in culture and cultural heritage. Also, I've heard, that Lithuania is a great country to visit if you're interested in visiting a spa.
HELSINKI
Ever since the fellow travel blogger Amanda wrote about her visit to Helsinki I really want to go! I have friends from Finland but it has never crossed my mind to actually go there. It's very close to Sweden so for me it's a perfect weekend trip. Helsinki is also filled with beautiful architechture and culture. As you might have noticed in this blog post that is something I really value when deciding on a destination haha. If you want to know more about Helsinki I recommend that you head over to Amandas blog and read her post about the city.
Picture of Helsinki by: The Masculine Traveler
TALLINN
The old town of Tallinn was in 1997 placed on the UNESCOs World Heritage Site, so here we have another cultural city that I would like to explore! It's the capital of Estonia and a city with loads of activities such as biking, spas, markets and gardens etc. So it's a perfect city for a weekend this spring!
SOFIA
A super cultural city! With history all the way back to the antiquity! Can you tell I'm excited haha?! Lonely Planet writes "Sofia is no grand metropolis, but it's a largely modern, youthful city, with a scattering of onion-domed churches, Ottoman mosques and stubborn Red Army monuments that lend an eclectic, exotic feel." Does it not sound amazing? If you are looking for a trip filled with culture; Sofia is the city for you!
So, are you now excited to visit some cities in Europe this spring? I am for sure! I'm super excited to visit Poland this weekend since I've never been before! Hopefully, it will be great. I will of course update you on my trip when I get back. But if you want to follow along in real time; don't forget to follow me over on my instagram @strokeofadventure. Hope to see you over there!
Don't forget to pin this for later!
A SHIT VLOG
Everything went wrong this day. But at least I vlogged it. Enjoy.
MY FAVOURITE PLACE
Welcome to one of my favourite places on Earth; Kullaberg! I went there last night with my cousin Sandra and best friend Louise. Louise just got back from a almost 5 month backpacking-trip in Australia and Asia so it's nice to hang out again, I've missed her so much! So yesterday we drove all the way up to Kullaberg to watch the sunset and it was absolutely gorgeous.
We did two little hikes, one down to the small lighthouse and one to a cave a bit further away. We didn't climb down to the cave because it was freakishly cold and muddy so we stayed at the top to watch the sunset instead. After sunset we jumped in the car and drove the one hour back home. The plan was to light a fire and eat some marshmallows but we forgot them so that will have to be another time.
Trying out the YouTube thing
I've been thinking about it for a while. I've filmed some videos and then deleted them. But here it is now, a proper try to try out YouTube. My main focus will still be the blog but I will throw in a video here and there. This video is a video about how to save money for traveling, which is a subject I've already written a blog post about. Some like video and some like written text better so my YouTube-channel will mostly act as an extension of my blog for those of you that doesn't like to read blogs! Hope you're as excited about this as I am. And I hope you liked the video. Lots of love.
COVERED IN SNOW
Sweden is a mess at the moment, there's no denying it. Every year the north of Sweden and only the north get a lot of snow. But this year, HOLY MOLY, the entire country is covered in snow. I haven't been able to leave my apartment since Monday because of roads being closed down and car accidents everywhere. It's recommended right now that we stay inside and do not get out in traffic if we don't absolutely have to. My classes this week has been postponed so here I am. For those of you that are following me on Instagram, you might have seen my stories. On Tuesday we were supposed to drive over to the island of Öland to finish up on a group project for the course I'm taking at the moment. But as I shared on my story, my car was stuck in the snow and I couldn't get it out. Not until later that night some relatives came over with a shovel and we had to dig my car out. Today I'm gonna try to get myself out of the apartment if the snow and wind calms down a bit. I'm tired of sitting in my couch the entire day. So hopefully it calms down a bit today!
Since I took this photo there has been even more snow. When I tried to get to my car on Tuesday morning there was snow up to my knees so there's at least 50cm of snow now and it just keeps on coming. Hopefully I can head out today and take some new photos of the snow, beacuse it is truly beautiful!