Poland - Eastern Europe - page 379

Day 6 Wroclaw
This formerly German city—and now
firmly Polish—is a delight. Spend the day
on the square and walking along the little
lanes near the river. Unlike Kraków, there
are no real must-sees here; simply take in
the town at your own pace and recharge
your batteries.
Day 7 Pozna^ or Toru^
You choose. Both are about 2 hours north
of Wroclaw on the way to Gda ^ sk. Pozna ^
is a bustling, medium-size city with great
restaurants and decent nightlife. Toru ^ is
tinier, with a beautiful, small square and a
couple of great boutique hotels, though
the options in the evening are limited.
Days 8 & 9 Gda^sk
This Baltic seaport is one of the real high-
lights of any trip to Poland: a beautifully

restored city, rich with history and natu-
ral beauty. Try to squeeze out an extra day
if you can. Sopot makes an easy day trip
(and especially good in hot weather since
there's a beach). If you've got more time,
visit the enormous Teutonic Knights' cas-
tle at Malbork to the south or the sand
dunes at S l owi ^ ski National Park to the
northwest.
Day 0 Warsaw
Warsaw and your gateway home is an
easy few hours train journey from Gda ^ sk.
By road, plan on at least 5 or 6 hours,
owing to bad roads and heavy traffic. But
if you've come this far by car, you know
by now that it always takes a lot longer
than it looks on the map!

POLAND TODAY
Poland's transformation since the fall of Communism in 1989 has been nothing short
of phenomenal. What was until not long ago a downtrodden, debt-ridden, basket case
of a country has turned itself around 180 degrees. Today, Poland is a proud member
of the European Union and NATO. Its currency is stable, and its economy is one of
the fastest growing in Europe. You'll see gleaming new office towers on the ever-
changing Warsaw skyline. And throughout the country, you'll see evidence of an
emerging prosperity that was unthinkable 10 to 15 years ago.
To be sure, alongside this newly emerging wealth, you'll run across many still very
depressed areas—particularly in industrial cities like L ód 3 and in large parts of War-
saw itself. You'll also see greater numbers than you might expect of homeless people,
public drunks, beggars, and simply those who have fallen through the cracks. Not
everyone has benefited equally from the country's rapid transformation to a demo-
cratic political system and a free-market economy. Industrial workers, particularly
those over the age of 50 for whom adapting to the changes proved more difficult, have
been hardest hit. Young people, too, have found it difficult to cope with ever-rising
living costs on very low wages. Many are now leaving the country for places like the
U.K. and Ireland, where they can earn more tending bar than they can working as
young professionals at home.
But it's important to put this into some perspective. Just a little more than a decade
and a half ago, Poland was falling apart. The country was $30 billion in debt to inter-
national lenders. The air was unbreatheable—particularly in Kraków, downwind from
the enormous steel mill complex at Nowa Huta. It wasn't unusual for Poles to spend
hours standing in line simply to buy a piece of fruit or a bottle of imported shampoo.
And membership in the European Union was unthinkable. Worst of all perhaps was
the feeling of utter hopelessness, as if it were somehow Poland's fate to end up on the