Sopot
8/08/2025
On our way to Sopot, we made a stop at Zaspa which is a neighborhood of drab communist era concrete apartment buildings. Many of these buildings now have massive murals on the sides. The first murals started appearing as early as 1997 but it was in 2009 when the Monumental Art Festival was organized and the majority of work has been done since then. There are about 60 murals total. The complex is ENORMOUS with paved walking paths throughout. The murals would actually be easy to miss if you didn’t know to look for them. Luckily, Grady found a website where someone had mapped them all which was a tremendous help in figuring out what areas to explore.
Here are a few of our favorites. We really like the Rubik Cube one (first photo), but it is a little faded and takes a minute to really figure out! We also liked the “crystal ball” one a lot, and there is one that makes me think of Will Ferrel in “Blades of Glory”!
There is also one that isn’t really one of the murals… I just snuck it in to see if Devin is still following along and paying attention! :)
After the murals, we continued on to Sopot which is a seaside resort town a short distance west of Gdansk. Sopot and Gdansk, along with a third town (Gdyania) are referred to as the tri-cities. Sopot is a small town with a population of about 40,000 people… and about 2,000,000 tourists each year! There is a main pedestrian street, Monte Cassino Street, that leads to the sea and to the longest wooden pier in Europe. We navigated our way through the crush of tourists and walked out on the pier. Thus far we were pretty unimpressed!
We then met our guide for a walking tour and saw a whole different side of the town… and it was lovely! She kept us almost entirely off Monte Cassino Street. The side streets were quiet with beautiful architecture, parks, and some nice little tucked away museums and restaurants. And just like that, we liked Sopot!
We learned about Wojtek the bear who was a legit corporal in the Polish Army! The soldiers were very protective of Wojtek, who something of a mascot. Wojtek was a displaced bear, and the soldiers were displaced people. The men had come out of Siberia emaciated and downtrodden when they joined the military, and this baby bear suddenly came into their lives who had no mom. So they kept him and raised him.
When the Polish forces were deployed to Europe, the only way to take Wojtek with them was to "enlist" him… So he was given an official name, rank and number! He was something of an icon and there are several statues of him throughout Europe. They say he actually participated in the battle in Sopot and was seen carrying artillery down Monte Cassino Street!
We also learned about the “Sopot Umbrella Man” (Parasolnik Sopocki) who is a well-known figure from Sopot's urban folklore. He was an eccentric, known for his unusual attire and for talking to strangers. He repaired umbrellas for a living, hence his nickname. He became a tourist attraction in Sopot in the 1960s and 1970s. Our tour guide said her mother actually remembered him.
Personally, I would be inclined to describe his “unusual attire” as cross dressing, or perhaps even transgender. It didn’t sound like he was ridiculed, in fact it sounded like he was admired, which I thought was pretty cool, especially for that era. Heck, they even made a statue to honor him!
After the walking tour, we had an absolutely incredible dinner and hit a wine bar … both were away from Monte Cassino Street and liked it so much that we discussed returning another day!
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