Sarah, a friend of mine who lives in Gdansk, suggested that she, her infant son Karol, and I go to Wejherowo for the day. We went on Friday, and I thought I’d share our trip with you. I’d heard of this town, because its name is the last stop on the regional train I’ve taken several times. So, we got on the train and took it to the end! The map below can give you an idea of where the town is in relation to Gdansk. The train trip was a little more than an hour.

Wejherowo is a cute town. Being “the end of the line” I somehow expected something very small and rural, but Wejherowo is charming. Take a look:

So, why Wejherowo? This small town is home to a 400-year-old, outdoor, Stations of the Cross park. If you aren’t Catholic (as I am not) and want to learn more, in general, about Stations of the Cross, visit this general-info page. The Stations of the Cross in Wejherowo, or Kalwaria Wejherowska, is impressive. Below is a map of the whole complex. As you can see, there are more than the traditional 14 stations. We entered the park near the palace (picture below and below). As it was an icy, snowy day and we had an infant with us, we decided to go right and only visit a few of the stations.

Here is my first glimpse of two of the stations. You can see the path leading to the chapels. I’m not sure which stations they are; we didn’t follow this path.

Instead, we took a path that led us to a station depicting Mother Mary visiting Jesus, and then, the station in which Simon helps to carry Jesus’ cross:

As we continued, we discovered that a large group was ahead of us, with a priest and loudspeakers. The priest spoke in Polish, saying prayers or giving instructions. People chanted in a sort of Gregorian chant way (again, I’m not Catholic, and maybe this is no big deal, but it was really cool for me.). At different times, people genuflected, on the ice and snow. I bowed my head and scrunched a little. Sarah helped translate some of what the priest was saying. It was quite an amazing experience.

We’d eaten lunch before our walking about (Karol got to eat too!), and then we got on the train to head home. It was a wonderful experience. Thank you Sarah and Karol!

I look forward to more adventures with this crew!