Seaside, Sopot

Consider this: you can leave Warsaw Central at quarter past seven in the morning, and have your toes in the Baltic by half past ten. Train times from Warsaw to Gdańsk have halved since the late 1990s. Whether you choose to alight at Gdańsk Główny and take the number 8 tram to Stogi or carry on to Gdańsk Oliwa and catch the number 6 tram to Jelitkowo, a late-morning dip in the sea is now eminently doable from Warsaw. Should the call of  waves and sandy beaches still lure you out of season, when the crowds have thinned and the accommodation cheaper, a short break makes eminent sense.

Below: sand between the toes - the water, heated all summer in the captive tank that is the Baltic Sea, is warmer than the bracing breeze from the north. The beach stretches all the way from the estuary of the Martwa Wisła ('dead Vistula') in Gdańsk, via Sopot, to Gdynia, the cliffs of which are visible on the horizon, as is Sopot's pier.

Below: on to the pier (molo) itself. Europe's longest wooden pier (511m), it is however only a quarter of the length of Southend's pier (2,140m), which stands on cast-iron pillars. The wind was brisk; note the swan in the foreground water, it was enjoying being bounced up and down on the waves.

Below: view of the pier from the western side. For those used to the tidal amplitudes of the seas around the British Isles and French Atlantic coast, high tide and low tide in the Baltic are no more than 10cm apart, due to the sea's narrow opening to the ocean.

A resort town for nearly 200 years, within the borders of the Free City of Danzig, Zoppot (German spelling) was a popular resort for Poles and Germans alike between the wars. Its Kasino-Hotel, now the Grand Hotel, (below) served as Hitler's HQ during the invasion of  Poland in 1939. Martin Bormann and Vladimir Putin also stayed here. More than just a touch of Wes Anderson's Grand Budapest Hotel about the place.

The sun has set, but Sopot's night life is about to get going. Below: this is the Dom Zdrojowy ('Spa House'), hotel, conference centre and art gallery, with adjoining gardens.

New to me (my last visit to Sopot was exactly four years ago, in September 2017) is this statue to Wojtek the Bear, the first one being unveiled in Edinburgh in 2015. Fittingly located on ulica Bohaterów Monte Cassino, the street named for the heroes of the 1944 battle - of whom Wojtek was one (helping to carry crates of shells to the Polish artillery crews). Wojtek spent the post-war years in Edinburgh Zoo, dying in 1963. This statue was unveiled on 1 September 1939, the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of WW2.

[More about Wojtek the Bear in Edinburgh here and here.]

This time last year:
Repeatable moments of joy

This time two years ago:
Spectacularly glorious day, Ealing

This time five years ago:
Evolution, the future and us

This time seven years ago:
Relief as Scots vote to remain in UK

This time eight years ago:
The S2 opens all the way to Puławska

This time nine years ago:
Thundering ghost from out of the mist

This time ten years ago:
Push-pull for Mazowsze

This time11 years ago:
Okęcie runway repairs are complete

This time 13 years ago:
I know that painting from somewhere...

This time 14 years ago:
The March of Progress, ul. Postępu