2018 in a nutshell

2018 is slowly coming to an end. We have a little less than 8 hours left before we can welcome 2019. It's time for a short recap of this year, mostly travel-wise. That's not going to be much, but at least something.

1. At the end of January, we took our little bunch to Egypt for winter break. We spent two weeks in a lovely, family-friendly hotel in Hurghada, where we enjoyed ourselves, took in as much sunshine as we could and the kids had a blast swimming and playing in the pools. We hardly saw anything, but it was a great time to rest. We had our daily routine adjusted to the baby's needs incorporating fun-activities for the older two, like mini golf, tennis, swimming pool, the beach and mini club. In the evening there was also mini disco.

2. In July, me, my dad and the kids (my mom at times, too) spent a few days in Hel. The days were filled with walks in the forests and on the beach. When the weather was better, the kids were also playing in the sea. I showed them the places where I used to play when I was a kid. These were slow, family- and memory-filled days for me.We also went to Hel a few times for one-two days before that, plus the kids even more times with my parents. I can't blame them for wanting to spend all their free time there.

3. In July, we went to my cousin's wedding to Bydgoszcz. Before the wedding, we spent half a day enjoying ouselves and seeing the city (which I always treated as a pass through kind of town on the way to grandma). We had a lovely time, the weather was stunning (hot and sunny, as most of the summer this year). It was all great.

4. In August, we went to Sobieszewo (which technically, is a district of Gdańsk, yet an island quite separated from it as well) to meet with friends, climb up a tower (water tank, in fact) and enjoy the view of the surroundings. While we had to book the visit to the tower tank, it was still free of charge (and if I remember correctly, still will be the upcoming year). It was a guided tour, the guide was very open to kids and we learnt a lot. Very well organised.

5. In August, we went on a three-week Eurotrip 2018. We had our car full of stuff, like tent and camping gear, clothes, food, toys, all we could think of and a general plan in mind, but we had no idea how far we could get with the baby on board. We already knew that the older two were great travel companions after our Eurotrip2016. And you know what? The baby fits our family perfectly. We not only managed to see all the places we wanted, but even more! Just see these few pictures, each from a different country we set our feet in.

Czech Republic

 Austria

 Slovenia

 Croatia

Italy

Germany

And that's basically it for this year. If we're not counting numerous fantastic walks in our hometown.

 
Apart from the travels, we also had a few family occassions to meet up and celebrate, like our youngest kid's baptism, our oldest kid's first holy communion, our 10th wedding anniversary, my husband sister's wedding, my cousin's wedding, my dad's 60th birthday, granpa's 90th birthday, our daughter's 1st birthday... just to name a few.

2019 is looking slow. We don't have any travel plans in mind. Neither close nor far. We're open to any opportunities (most likely), but we don't have anything particular in mind. We'll see what the next year is going to bring us.

In the meantime, though, I wish you all a great year. May it be better or at least as good as the last one.

A sentimental trip

During summer time, road to Hel is like road to hell. You stand more than you move forward. There's that much traffic. So when my grandma said she'd love to go to Hel in the middle of August, we started looking for alternative ways to get there.

Bike would have been lovely, but my grandma is eighty and the distance is about 70 km one way. Not the best option. Train - sure, would have been great if in the summertime it was possible to squeeze into one. And squeeze into is no exaggeration. Trains to Hel are very often that crowded. So what was left? A ferry, or a water tram (whatever you want to call it).

It's not cheap (35 PLN one way normal price, 25 PLN one way reduced price, kids up to 4 years travel for free), but it's convenient. The cruise is operated by Żegluga Gdańska. You can find the information on prices and hours here. The cruise lasts roughly an hour and gives you the opportunity to look at both Gdynia (in our case, but you can also depart from Sopot or Gdansk) and Hel from a different perspective.

We got to Hel and went straight to the lighthouse. We knew we wanted to climb to the top and enjoy the view. When I was small and we were still living there, the lighthouse was closed to tourists. It was opened for the first time right before we moved to Gdynia. I can still remember what it felt like to climb to the top.

Artur wasn't interested in the view, but he was happy to see the "machinery" on top, i.e. the huge lamp and all that. Of course, we showed him the view as well, describing what he was looking at. Although I felt like a guide to both my men. After all, neither of them could beat me in the time spent in Hel.

Then we went for lunch. The weather started changing and from pleasant and sunny it got to windy (and finally to rainy as well). After lunch we wanted to see the feeding of seals again, but the line to the entrance was... never-ending. And when we got there the feeding was about to start. Plus there were so many people already inside, that hardly anyone else could squeeze in anymore. So we gave up. We promised Artur to come back once all the tourists are gone. Like the last time, when we were the only people there. All we know is that the prices are up. Now the entrance costs 5 PLN per person.

After lunch, since there was not much time left and we couldn't get in to see the seals, we decided to go for a short walk along the beach and then head back to the ferry. The way back wasn't as... quiet as the first one. Waves were much bigger, splashing at the front of the ferry. Paulinka had a little bit of a trouble walking, since the floor was moving away from her feet. It was funny to watch, as if she was learning to walk again. After a while she got a bit more used to it, so she was doing pretty well. And Artur was so excited to see the water splashing around so hard, that we couldn't keep him inside. Towards the end it also started raining again.

Latem, droga na Hel jest drogą przez mękę. Więcej się stoi niż porusza. A wszystko z powodu korków. Tak więc kiedy dowiedzieliśmy się, że babcia chce nas odwiedzić i z chęcią wybrałaby się na Hel, zaczęliśmy szukać alternatywnych możliwości dostania się na ten kraniec Polski. 

Rower byłby cudnym rozwiązaniem, ale babcia ma już swoje osiemdziesiąt lat, a dystans do pokonania to prawie 70 km w jedną stronę. Czyli nie wygląda to najlepiej. Pociąg - pewnie, też świetna alternatywa, gdyby tylko dało się latem do takiego wcisnąć. I wcisnąć nie jest przesadą. Pociągi na Hel są często aż tak przeładowane. Więc co pozostało? Statek, albo tramwaj wodny (jakkolwiek byśmy tego nie nazwali).  

Nie jest to tania alternatywa (bilet normalny kosztuje 35 zł w jedną stronę, ulgowy 25 zł, dzieci do lat 4 podróżują bezpłatnie), ale wygodna. Na tej trasie pływa Żegluga Gdańska. Informacje o cenach i godzinach można znaleźć tutaj. Podróż zajmuje około godzinę i daje okazję spojrzenia zarówno na Gdynię (w naszym wypadku, choć można też wypłynąć z Gdańska lub Sopotu), jak i na Hel z trochę innej strony.

Po dotarciu na Hel, poszliśmy wprost na latarnię. Z góry wiedzieliśmy, że chcemy się wspiąć na szczyt i podziwiać widok. Kiedy byłam mała i jeszcze mieszkaliśmy w Helu, latarnia była zamknięta dla zwiedzających. Po raz pierwszy otwarto ją tuż przed naszą przeprowadzką do Gdyni. Wciąż pamiętam emocje, które towarzyszyły naszej pierwszej wspinaczce. 

Arturka średnio interesował widok z góry, za to oprzyrządowania (czyli lampa i cała reszta) zdecydowanie tak. Oczywiście widokiem też go zainteresowaliśmy opowiadając mu jednocześnie, na co patrzy. Chociaż w sumie to ja byłam dla chłopaków głównym przewodnikiem. Jakby na to nie patrzeć, z naszej trójki to ja spędziłam w Helu najwięcej czasu. 

Z latarni udaliśmy się na obiad. Pogoda zaczęła się zmieniać. I tak oto z pięknej i słonecznej przeistoczyła się w wietrzną (a w końcu także w deszczową). Po obiadku chcieliśmy znów zobaczyć karmienie fok, ale kolejka do wejścia... nie miała końca. A karmienie już miało się zaczynać. No i w środku było już tyle osób, że nawet gdyby udało nam się wcisnąć do środka, pewnie i tak byśmy nie widzieli nic poza plecami osób stojących przed nami. Więc daliśmy za wygraną. Obiecaliśmy Arturkowi, że przyjedziemy, kiedy nie będzie już tylu turystów. Tak, jak wtedy, kiedy byliśmy tu ostatnim razem i byliśmy praktycznie jedynymi osobami na pokazie. Wiemy jedynie, że ceny poszły w górę. Teraz wejście kosztuje 5 zł od osoby.  

Tak więc po obiadku, skoro nie mieliśmy już za dużo czasu, ale fok oglądać też nie mogliśmy, poszliśmy na krótki spacer wzdłuż plaży, a potem z powrotem na statek. Droga powrotna nie była już tak... spokojna jak droga w pierwszą stronę. Fale były zdecydowanie większe i rozpryskiwały się o dziób statku. Paulinka miała drobne problemy z chodzeniem, bo grunt uciekał jej spod nóg. Fajnie się na to patrzyło, jakby znów uczyła się chodzić. Po jakimś czasie w miarę się do tego bujania przyzwyczaiła i radziła już sobie całkiem nieźle. A Arturkowi tak podobała się woda rozchlapująca się wszędzie dookoła, że ciężko go było utrzymać w środku. Pod koniec podróży znów zaczęło padać.  

 Gdynia seen from the water / Gdynia widziana z wody

 Paulinka trying to attract other kids' attention / Paulinka próbująca zwrócić na siebie uwagę innych dzieci

 Hel seen from the water / Hel widziany z wody

 Just trees and sea around / Wokół tylko drzewa i morze

 Hel as seen from the lighthouse / Hel widziany z latarni

 "My" street / "Moja" ulica

 Lunch time / Czas na obiad

 The so-called small beach / Tak zwana mała plaża

 Watching water splashing into the window / Oglądając wodę chlapiącą na okno

Welcome to Hel

Yup, it’s not a spelling mistake. Hel (single “l”) is a small village in Northern Poland, situated at the sheer end of Hel Peninsula. I was nine when we moved from Hel to Gdynia. It’s a place that is practically dead in the winter time and busy-as-a-bee in summer.

We’ve been planning this trip for quite some time now. First, winter came. Yup, always surprised by snow and frost even though we know it’s winter time. But seriously, it was extremely cold in here. And cold + wind does NOT equal pleasure. So we passed on that back then. Then our lil’ boy got sick – first some kind of food poisoning or a virus, then some kind of flu. Now that he was healthy and we could feel spring in the air, we decided to go there last Saturday. Aaaaand… wind was blowing up to 100 km/h! So once again we passed on the trip. Luckily, Saturday night, our lil’ boy already asleep, so it was quiet in the house, and I could hear no wind at all! I looked out the window, saw it was raining so I knew that was it for the wind. The decision was made instantly – we’re going the next day. So happy we wake up Sunday morning and look out the window to spot… snow lying all around us! That freaky! I mean it wasn’t snowdrifts all around us, just 1 cm, but still. Where did that beloved and so impatiently awaited spring go??

Nevertheless, we packed Tusio’s lunch and off we went. We had one goal – to see the feeding of the seals. Yup, there are seals in Hel (single “l”, can’t say it about hell (double “l”), haven’t had a chance to verify that). The first one got there when I was still living there, so a long time ago. Well, something like 20 years ago ;)

Feeding takes place twice a day (11 AM and 2 PM) and is connected with some exercises that make the seals accustomed to medical procedures (well, that sounds horrible, as if any tests were conducted on them. By medical procedures I meant injections, USG, giving medicine and stuff). They get fish for completing every task they’re given. We decided to see the first feeding of the day.

As we got there early, first we took a walk on Wiejska street (the main street) and the promenade. It was a bit windy that day and cold as well, so we didn’t feel like walking too far, especially with Artur (Artur=Tusio, same person, name and nickname). Streets were empty, no people around (or only a few really).

With 11 am approaching, we headed towards the “seal house” or fokarium as it is called in Polish. In order to enter the place you have to pay 2 Polish zlotys (PLN, something like 0,50 EUR) per person. There’s a machine at the entrance that takes only 2 PLN coins, so you have to be prepared for that. Well, there is a machine in which you can change money next to it but it was broken the day when we arrived. When you put the coin in, the gate opens and you’re in. Now you can watch the seals. Be warned that they might bite you! ;) Or spill water on you. Which happens. We waited till 11 and the “show” started. It took almost an hour but was really pleasant to watch. Our kid was definitely satisfied with it. There’s some room for spectators, some standing at the same ground as the pools and some watching it from “above” (something like first floor). However, it might get really crowded in the summer season.

You are not allowed to throw coins into the pools. One seal died because of eating too many coins, I mean when she died they found hundreds of coins in her stomach. There is a special money box where you can donate coins for the seal house and it’s designed in a really great way. Loads of fun to throw coins in ;) I was really impressed with the idea.

You can also pay additional 2 PLN per person in order to enter the museum with the exhibition showing life of the Baltic Sea. However, again the machines operating the entrance, once again you need coins. We weren’t interested in going there (I’ve already been there) so I have no idea if the changing machine at that entrance worked ;)

What else can you do in Hel? There’s a maritime museum at the promenade, you can see the lighthouse (once it was open for tourists, so that you could climb to the top and look around to see the marvelous views of the Gdańsk Bay and the whole peninsula), you can bathe in the see, you can eat fabulous fresh fish in every diner or restaurant, you can sunbathe, you can simply enjoy yourself… You can take a water tram or a ferry and come to visit Tricity (Gdańsk, Sopot, Gdynia). I’m really aware of the fact that from a still and sleepy village in winter, Hel changes into a really loud, crowded and lively place in summer, but it’s still worth visiting. I really love that place. Although I don’t go there in high season ;)