Today was our day to tour Gdansk, a lovely old city on the Baltic coast! As we set off on the hour’s bus trip to the city, Jonathan encouraged us to find a good place to enjoy authentic Polish food. Adam promised a chocolate bar to anyone who could locate the home of Fahrenheit. And Kenny learned some useful Spanish vocabulary.
We walked through the beautiful old town on cobblestone streets to St. Mary’s, the largest brick cathedral in the world, where we sang our two Rachmaninov songs there. What a wonderful experience to sing such music in a large beautiful space! Tourists in the building soon found a place to sit and enjoy the sound. One lady was in tears and thanked us for making their day. Most of the group then climbed the 400 steps to the tower to see the panoramic view of Gdansk and the North Sea in the distance, from the air.
We split into groups for riding the ferris wheel, seeing old town, and shopping. Mimes and musicians entertained us in old town. Carolyn offered a fresh raspberry to a silver statue mime. (He refused) A bungee jumper showed his bravery (or foolishness) by being pushed off of a platform high over the river.
How do you find the best restaurant in town? Some discussed checking out 5 or 6 and rating them before making a decision. Some looked on Tripadvisor and went to the highest rated place. Bigos, fresh fish, liver, shashlik, etc. were consumed in beautiful surroundings. At 3:30 we met again at the bus, and just as we all got inside, rain began pelting down. Thank You, Lord, for the perfect timing!
Because of the rain it was decided to not have a picnic on the beach as planned. Instead we headed back to the lovely farm/hotel where we’ve been staying for the last 3 days. Soon there was volleyball (in rain for a while) ping pong, the ever-popular KanJam, Black 7 (in which the famous Ted and his Black 7 rules were hotly debated many times) and Quarkle.
We ate our “picnic” supper in the dining room, after which the food and laundry ladies were awarded with a formal speech and chocolates—yay! The sunset over the wheat fields—amazing! Then there was time for more games, boating on the pond, but actually the most popular pastime was just sitting around and chattering. The stork family and their huge messy nest on the barn roof continue to entertain us. Riddle: How do storks come in for a landing on the roof on only one foot? Ivan and Marlin have the answers.
It was another good day with Hope Singers 2014. We are so blessed!