Gdansk Group Trip – Day 4 (Ice Cream in Sopot, the Pier and Taking the Waters)

Susanna suggested interrupting our busy schedule to get an ice cream, and being the liberal and benevolent leader that I am, I decided that this wasn’t a bad idea. It’s important to be flexible when it comes to matters of food and craft beer.

A colourful little selection of ice creams, with a warm and welcoming service to go along with it.

Lemon tart ice cream, very delicious.

Sopot has been part of Poland since 1945 and it had been in the early twentieth century a growing tourist resort. Although this was impacted for some time from the 1930s onwards, it is regaining its reputation for being a popular place for visitors from across Poland and beyond. Property prices are high here, there are new hotels opening and it’s all rather on trend. It’s also the home of the Sopot International Song Festival, the second largest European music festival with only Eurovision being larger.

Taking the waters is still a popular pursuit because the area has a natural source of bromide spring water. There is a warning by the spring that because of the high salt level that those with hypertension, peptic ulcers, heart and kidney problems should seek medical advice before partaking with too much enthusiasm.

The 512 metre pier was first constructed in 1827 and is the longest wooden pier in Europe, but as we were limited for time and there was a charge for entry (from May to September anyway), this was as far as we got.

The merry group before we left Sopot for Gydnia to complete the tour of the three component parts of the Tricity.