Poland Trip: Day 4 – Returning from Gdańsk

July 16, 2023

As I slowly clambered out of bed this morning, I realised that the weather forecast had been too pessimistic. The skies may have turned a little cloudy from yesterday, but there was no sign of rain, and the sun shone brightly. Nevertheless, when I left my backpack at the reception and set off with my camera and umbrella, I wore a long-sleeved shirt, which I began to regret as the morning lost its freshness. Since I had seen everything I had wanted to see in central Gdańsk, my plan for the morning was to take the tram to Oliwa, visit its park and cathedral, and head back. In the afternoon, I would see a museum or two in Central Gdańsk and then make my way over to the airport for my evening journey to Prague.

The first part of the plan went off without a hitch. I was glad to find that Oliwa Park is a very shady place, as I had not used sunscreen and I did not want to keep holding my umbrella above my head. Two parallel allées run along the south end of the park, one of them tall and elegant, the other overgrown and mysterious. I walked down both paths, only emerging from the shade for an occasional picture of the Cathedral and the Abbots’ Palace. Since a service was in progress at the Cathedral, I contented myself with seeing the building from the outside.

Everything went smoothly until I returned to central Gdańsk. Somehow, there even happened to be a ticket machine at exactly the right stops, which was very convenient. As soon as I had gotten off the train though, chaos set in. I received word that my flight had been postponed to the next day, ostensibly because of the approaching storm. I immediately called my dad to float different alternative arrangements: asking for an earlier flight online, going to the airport and demanding an earlier flight, taking the train to Warsaw and taking my original flight, and so on.

Eventually, it turned out that I could book an earlier plane, which was to leave in three hours. I rushed back to the hotel, changed into a short-sleeved shirt, and hurried to the airport. To get there, I was supposed to take a tram that connected to a train. I managed to catch the tram on time, but there was no machine onboard where I could buy a ticket. I rode on tensely hoping that there would be no surprise ticket inspection. Luckily, there wasn’t any, which was not all that surprising considering it was a Sunday.

Despite my worries, I also managed to make the tight connection between the tram and the train. Admittedly, it was not as tight as Google Maps alleged, there being nine minutes rather than four for me to find my platform and buy my ticket. I arrived at the airport two hours before my flight. Not only did it end up being delayed, but my flight from Warsaw to Prague accumulated about an hour’s worth of delays after arriving late, coupled with the discovery of a technical issue on the wing of the aircraft.