Day 2 by the Sea

After a restful night at the Villa, and an amazing, fresh breakfast spread (paired with not-so-amazing techno-pop dance music blaring from the radio in the breakfast room), we set out for the seaside fishing town of Jaskina, which is on a sliver of a peninsula jutting out into the Baltic Sea. The town, or village really, had a main grassy square where there were cafes and shops for the tourists. The beach entry was a few minute walk from there. We caught a morning train from Gdansk and landed in Jaskina a little after noon. After a light lunch in a diner ( I had crepes with fresh fruit–omg, I crave those things when I’m in Georgia!) and a not-so-light dessert and tea at a cafe, mom took us on a quick walk to see the port, then off to the white, sandy beach!

While the beach was gorgeous, it definitely wasn’t a South Florida experience…instead of sun-shielding umbrellas, the beach-goers hid behind wind-guards. And for good reason, too. But a beach is a beach, and, despite the sweaters Mother Nature forced us to put on, we had a wonderful relaxing afternoon, breaking the moments of sun-bathing silence with random stories that came to mind. I even stuck my toes in the water, which was suprisingly tolerable. I have to say, from experience, that San Francisco area beaches and water were MUCH more frigid.

We caught an afternoon train back, with a 4-hour layover in the port town of Gdinia, where my parents used to set sail from during their college/ courtship years. My dad had instructed my mom to kiss the port (which I held her to… air-kiss, of course, but still.) For dinner, we ended up in a fish-and-chips bar, where I concluded that while American bars have better music (this place was blaring the worst possible late 80′s and early 90′s dance noise…I specifically remember “let’s talk about sex” shouting at me from the overhead speaker. shoot me…), Polish bars have better bar food. The food wasn’t half bad, and afterwards, we grabbed some ice cream cones from a nearby booth before the hooligan clubbers completely took over the sidewalks.

I think I slept a tad better on the train last night, but still feel like someone beat me with a bat.

Tomorrow is the big wedding that brought my brother and I here in the first place, so we’re all getting into preperation mode. I’m shooting stills (which I just found out about a month ago), and my brother discovered a couple hours ago that he’ll be playing the role of videographer…yup, it’s going to be an interesting final day in Poland…

: mom and brother. i had already found a nice place to plop and dig my toes in the sand. notice the wind-guards in the background…

: family portrait. it was a bit windy.

: mom and brother taking the plunge…or wade.

: I was going for the ‘cape’ look…

: tea-time!

: hahaha, everyone needs their own safety hammer! i think this one got a llittle lost in translation.

: This ship in the Gdynia port was previously used as an educational tool for sailors. Now it’s been retired as a museum. Disappointingly, it didn’t even have sails on it anymore.