The singers greeted the morning with sighs, stretches, and smiles as today was an “off day”, a day set aside to explore the city of Gdańsk.

Some began the day with packing bags and cleaning up the area that has been home for the past four nights, others began with breakfast at 8.00 am with packing after, while still others slept in and did the morning routine in a much faster pace.

Everyone had the option of choosing a group to do an activity with for the day. Here are some ways the Singers spent their day:

1. Walking around old town Gdańsk, admiring the incredible Dutch architecture, beautiful colored buildings, browsing different shops, and admiring and purchasing amber.

2. Riding a ferris wheel.

3. Taking a train to the northern Polish town of Sopot, seeing and walking along the Baltic Sea, Crazy House, and walking the pair.

4. Taking a train to another northern town of Gdynia, walking along the beach, eating smoked fish, swimming, and climbing the sand cliffs.

5. Creating and enjoying a slower day (coffee)

Overall a good day, even though it was a short few hours spent in Gdańsk. Thanks to the AIM staff for their never-ending care for The Hope Singers. They spend hours behind the scenes researching, planning, and finding the energy to lead their groups.

We left Gdańsk around 4 pm and headed back to our home base in Débe Wielkie. There were intense conversations, games played, spirit animal quizzes completed, naps taken, and some typical bus-level noises during our 4.5 hours of driving.

We arrived safely back at home base, where a flurry of activity again took place with unloading the bus and settling into our space, preparing for the last week of Hope Singers 2024 activities.