Kyle in Poland: Days 64-66

Road trip near Warsaw, Games, Meeting a fellow American, Gdansk outlet mall, and more, Photos at the end

Friday, June 2, was a long one.

I woke up around 9 a.m. and noticed that I had zero phone service or Wi-Fi connection. Not a fan of being in the dark, so to speak, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out a way to make it work. After many unsuccessful attempts, I eventually gave up.

For the next couple hours, I got ready and packed my bags for the upcoming road trip to Ozarow Mazowiecki, just outside Warsaw.

Finally, around 11 o’clock, the Wi-Fi came back on. Although it was very poor and slow, I was thankful to have some sort of connection to the outside world.

With the internet issue resolved, I could finally relax. I took a quick power nap and then completed a story I had been working on, making the final edits and setting it to publish.

Once I was finished with that, I did my daily stretches and finished packing. Now, I was all set for the weekend.

While waiting for Greg to pick me up, I decided I might as well use my time productively, and began writing another story. Around 5 p.m., he sent a message that he was ready to roll, so I paused my writing, carried all the bags downstairs and loaded up.

I have to note that only Greg and I were leaving on June 2. The rest of the team decided they would leave at 5 a.m. the following morning, drive over four hours, play a doubleheader, and drive back, all in the same day.

For me personally, that sounded brutal, so I was incredibly thankful Greg was willing to leave a day in advance.

We drove for roughly 30 minutes before briefly stopping by Greg’s apartment in Rumia. While he went inside to pack, I stayed in the car and made great progress writing stories.

When he got back, we were ready to officially begin our road trip.

As you will recall from a previous story, I recently went to Martes Sport in search of tape to help with wrist pain from batting. After that fruitless search, Greg ordered some for me online. Unfortunately, it did not make it in time for the road trip.

So, in order to have something for our games that weekend, he said we could make a pitstop at the mall in Gdynia to see if they had anything useful.

A few minutes later, we arrived at a nice parking garage that led to the mall.

Inside, the shopping center far exceeded my expectations. The building appeared nice, new, clean, and familiar, just like a mall in Oklahoma City or Dallas would be, for example.

We went upstairs to a big Martes Sports store and Greg asked a worker to assist us in our search. Unfortunately, we soon learned this location offered zero athletic tape as well. With no other choice, we turned our attention toward alternatives.

Surprisingly, we found a Nike wrist brace in the volleyball section that seemed like a viable option. Greg opened the package and I tried the brace on. Thankfully, it fit and was comfortable. We figured, at the very least, it would work for the weekend.

Greg was kind enough to hook me up with the new brace, and we left the store.

Afterward, we spent some time walking through the rest of the mall so I could see what else it had to offer. I was really surprised with the many notable stores they had, which included Levi’s, New Balance, TK Maxx, Sephora, Tommy Hilfiger, New Yorker, Puma, and much more.

Yes, to answer any questions you may have, TK Maxx is the exact same thing as TJ Maxx. Also, the reason I recognized Sephora was because my sister’s a makeup artist and hair stylist, shoutout to Summer.

Overall, I would say the mall in Gdynia was incredibly nice. If I wouldn’t have known better, I would’ve thought it was in the United States. The place really blew away my expectations and if given the opportunity, I would definitely visit again.

We left the mall and resumed our journey.

Shortly after, we saw a few different arenas and stadiums that hosted a wide array of sports, from volleyball to soccer to rugby. It was interesting to see different sporting venues, especially those with unique architecture such as the volleyball arena.

A couple hours later, we stopped at a Burger King for dinner and I ordered three small cheeseburgers, fries, and a drink. Although Burger King would not necessarily be my go-to back home, it wasn’t too shabby this time.

As we were leaving and about to pull onto the highway, something caught my attention. For some reason, there were two old tanks parked outside, almost as if they were old relics or monuments on display. It’s not every day that you get to see tanks, so it was a peculiar sight to behold.

We got back on the road and chugged along. For the next couple hours, we had a lot of good conversations over a wide array of topics from sports, pop culture, history, you name it. I love history, so I always welcome learning more, especially since I am here in Poland where it is very rich and complex.

Finally, we made it to the hotel in Ozarow Mazowiecki. We checked in, got our room keys, and went our separate ways for the rest of the night.

I walked into my room and was pleasantly surprised. Very spacious, the room featured a desk, good-sized bed, solid bathroom, and a big wooden structure akin to a fancy locker room cubby. The only downside was water pressure, which was a nonissue.

I showered, settled in for the night, and went to sleep.

The next morning, I got ready, packed, and stretched. Then, I met Greg in the parking lot and we left for our doubleheader with the Warsaw Dragons. To read about the games in full detail, click here.

In between games, I officially met an American man by the name David Driver. If you will recall from our road trip to Zlotoria, David watched our livestream, saw I did not have a Polish name, found me on social media, and sent me a message. Since then, we have communicated several times through Twitter.

A few weeks ago, David expressed interest in watching me play, so I sent him our schedule. Now that we were playing near Warsaw, he and his wife were kind enough to attend one of our games.

David approached me after the first game and introduced himself. We ended up talking during the entire intermission break, and it was honestly a great conversation. We discussed a little bit about ourselves, why we were both in Poland all of places, etc. He had many questions about Polish baseball, and I gladly walked him through how everything worked.

A writer himself, David even gave me a copy of his book, “Hoop Dreams in Europe: American Basketball Players Building Careers Overseas.” He was an incredibly nice man, and I am glad he came to watch us play. As always, it was great to meet a fellow American.

We played the second game of our doubleheader and once again dominated the Warsaw Dragons. Click here to read more about the game.

Afterward, we packed up and embarked on our long journey back to Northern Poland.

This time, however, the carpooling arrangements were different. I traveled with Kamil, Wojtas, Masa, and Taku since we were the only ones headed all the way to Wladyslawowo.

An hour or so down the road, we stopped at a McDonald’s for dinner. I ordered two double cheeseburgers, fries, and a drink. The burgers were slightly dry but overall weren’t too bad.

Once we all finished eating, we got back in the van, and continued our travels.

Along the way, I had a couple nice, short conversations with Wojtas. He knows I am a big fan of mixed martial arts, so we talked about some of our favorite fighters. We also discussed some of the fighters that were participating on the big time KSW card that night.  

When 7 p.m. rolled around, he turned on the fights so we could both watch, which was very nice of him. It was a solid event, but one fight I have to mention was between Krzysztof Glowacki and Patryk Tolkaczewski.

A matchup between a former WBO boxing cruiserweight champion and a bareknuckle boxer, it was bound to be fireworks. The result? An MMA anomaly that far exceeded anyone’s expectations.

Throughout the years, I have literally watched thousands of fights, no exaggeration. Never in my life have I ever seen a knockout like this one. Glowacki, while on his back, hit Tolkaczewski with a left hook that rendered him unconscious. It was spectacular finish and an otherworldly display of power.

A couple hours later, we made it to Gdansk. Out of nowhere, we pulled into a parking lot. Not really sure what was going on, the Japanese guys and I were confused.

Kamil hopped out and told us he was going to grab some new shoes from the Nike store in the outlet mall. Masa and I were curious about the store, so we went with him.

I looked around and was pleasantly surprised with what the store had to offer. I did not go in there with the intention of buying anything, but when I saw what was available, my mind started to change.

Unsure what I should do, I called my mom to get her opinion. After talking to her, I decided to buy one pair of shorts and two pairs of sweatpants, all for a much cheaper price than would have been possible back home.

We left the store and before we got back in the car, I took a moment to snap a few pictures of the outlet mall. Each store had the appearance, at least on the outside, of a bright colored house. The colors, combined with the structure and a neat looking tower nearby, made it an aesthetically pleasing area.

We got back into the car and arrived in Wladyslawowo an hour later.

Once I made it to my room, I unpacked, and took it easy for the rest of the night.

The next day, June 4, was primarily for resting.

I woke up around 10:30 a.m. and laid around for a few hours.

When I finally got hungry for lunch, I made a couple sandwiches. After I finished eating, I worked on the game recaps for a few hours until I finished.

With the writing out of the way, I did my daily stretches and waited around for a soccer game to start.

Around 9 o’clock, I watched Celta Vigo take on La Liga champs and world superpower, FC Barcelona.

Celta Vigo was under intense pressure for this match. If they were to win or draw, they would be safe. Conversely, if they were to lose, they would face potential relegation to the Spanish second tier league.

Celta Vigo went through an emotional rollercoaster, but with the help of two incredible goals by young superstar Gabri Veiga, they won 2-1 and remained in La Liga.

Once the game concluded, I spent time editing before going to bed.