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At the beginning of February we went to Jastarnia on Hel Peninsula, for just a three days. We hoped for dramatic pictures of a rough sea, but we were 24 hours too late - all we got was a lazy water, some dull light and rain. Nonetheless, we had some good time walking the beach.
Hel (as it called for short, despite the fact Hel is also a city at the end on the peninsula) is a sand bar peninsula - long and narrow, in several places it is even possible to see both Baltic Sea and Bay of Puck just by looking around (I even tried to make a panorama in such a place, but there were huge differences in the brightness and it didn't quite work).
That's how it looked around noon - dull and dark. First picture is a Baltic Sea, the other is Bay of Puck. Hardly different, eh?
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Typical fishing boat - note the EU sign on the bridge. No, it doesn't mean Polish fishermen love the EU, quite the opposite. Actually what is painted inside a star circle is a kind of a negative hand gesture popular here (not a finger, and not considered vulgar). JAS means it is a boat from Jastarnia.
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Because of the localization Hel is full of old defense systems and bunkers, some built by Poles prior to WWII, some by Germans later. Hel was the last Polish place to surrender to German invasion in 1939, similarly it was one of the longest fighting German strongholds in 1945 - geography makes it a perfect place to defend.
Upper picture - German built rangefinder tower at Hel, lower picture - one of several Polish build bunkers south of Jastarnia.
Finally 5 minutes of Sun! The only 5 minutes of Sun during our time there. I was looking at the sea, Marzena went up and was looking at the beach. I like her picture much better.
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City of Hel - basically just another tourist destination. Thanks to winter you can actually see the street, and not the crowd.
There is a Seal Station (Seal Sanctuary?) in Hel, where you can watch grey seals while they are feed twice a day. Not many seals around Polish coast, although the Baltic population seems to be relatively safe.
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(as usual, Marzena's pictures marked with asterisks).
Hel (as it called for short, despite the fact Hel is also a city at the end on the peninsula) is a sand bar peninsula - long and narrow, in several places it is even possible to see both Baltic Sea and Bay of Puck just by looking around (I even tried to make a panorama in such a place, but there were huge differences in the brightness and it didn't quite work).
That's how it looked around noon - dull and dark. First picture is a Baltic Sea, the other is Bay of Puck. Hardly different, eh?
Typical fishing boat - note the EU sign on the bridge. No, it doesn't mean Polish fishermen love the EU, quite the opposite. Actually what is painted inside a star circle is a kind of a negative hand gesture popular here (not a finger, and not considered vulgar). JAS means it is a boat from Jastarnia.
Because of the localization Hel is full of old defense systems and bunkers, some built by Poles prior to WWII, some by Germans later. Hel was the last Polish place to surrender to German invasion in 1939, similarly it was one of the longest fighting German strongholds in 1945 - geography makes it a perfect place to defend.
Upper picture - German built rangefinder tower at Hel, lower picture - one of several Polish build bunkers south of Jastarnia.
Finally 5 minutes of Sun! The only 5 minutes of Sun during our time there. I was looking at the sea, Marzena went up and was looking at the beach. I like her picture much better.
City of Hel - basically just another tourist destination. Thanks to winter you can actually see the street, and not the crowd.
There is a Seal Station (Seal Sanctuary?) in Hel, where you can watch grey seals while they are feed twice a day. Not many seals around Polish coast, although the Baltic population seems to be relatively safe.
(as usual, Marzena's pictures marked with asterisks).