Gdańsk: Last days

In the morning I visit the Basilica of St. Bridget. This reconstructed church was originally built in the 14th century. It was destroyed in WWII and rebuilt in 1970. It is known for its beautiful amber alter and its homage to the solidarity movement.

There is a chapel in memory of those who participated in the solidarity movement.

There is another area dedicated to those that have lost their lives in the Katyn massacre during WWII.

And finally I have to make a visit to the room of skulls. I must see all the skulls.

I visit Blue Lamb – a heritage museum housed in an old granary, in order to get an archeological view of the region. I enjoy the exhibit where they show you what the original people of the region would have looked like based on the skulls found.

They have walk through sight and sound area depicting life in the region over time.

And finally there is a display of archeological items.

I end up back at Mariacka once more but this time I enjoy a glass of wine and people watching and check out some additional things I learned about the street.

Many of the houses on Mariacka street have reliefs out front but one restore one was given a modern day touch – a Lunar rover.

Last official stop is the first seagoing ship built in a Polish shiyard – Soldek. It is docked in Gdansk and available for exploring.

I slow down considerably for the rest of my travels. I am very tired so it is good I go home soon. I’m just trying to enjoy the cool and sunny weather my last few hours here.

It’s been a long trip but I am not done with Poland. There are so many places I left off my itinerary. I will be back.

More shots around town….

Gdańsk: Museum Afternoon

I started today at the Solidarity museum and the Gdańsk Shipyard.

My day isn’t over yet and I almost forget there are a couple museums free today since it is a Monday.

I stop first at Artus Court on the famous Dlugi Targ. Artus court is named after King Arthur and was used as a meeting place for merchants and social life in the 17th century. The decor and art in the museum reflects the importance of this building for the means of commerce. I particularly enjoy the animal inspired art in the building.

The day isn’t over yet and the Town Hall museum also has free admission so I head over there. I tour the museum but skip the tower since that costs extra.

After museum time I walk the streets once more then visit happy hour at the rooftop bar of my hotel.

Because I wish to have a nicer dining experience I have reservations this evening at Tylge Gdansk. Even with a reservation I had to wait a little while but the food was superb.

It is another lovely evening stroll walking back to my hotel. Love the 24 hour flower automatic.

Trip is coming to an end soon. I have one more day out and about.…

Gdansk: Teutonic Adventures

I am not sure why I feel like I’ve been here forever when I really only have been here a couple days. I think it is because I am a the last stop my trip and I am cold all the time. Temperature wise I should be in heaven because I usually thrive in these temperatures but the wind in this port side city makes things much colder. When then the sun is out things are good but it gets awfully cold in the shade. I am trying not to complain because when I get back home it will be unbearably hot. Anyway I am here being Goldilocks lately – when you are uncomfortable you are uncomfortable.

Today I visit the largest brick castle in world. First constructed in the 13th century, Malbork Castle was built by Teutonic order is to spread Christian faith. The Teutonic order was a group of Catholic but mostly German knights. Malbork castle was never actually never captured but only changed hands because it was sold to Polish King Casimir IV during the thirteen years war.

Medieval toliet means higher standards of hygiene

There is a small amber museum in the castle grounds. Amber became very prominent in the Baltic region. It comes from petrified wood. Each piece is distinct and sometimes has bugs, twigs or leaves trapped inside. Amber means burning stone. It is thought that beads have medicinal purposes like protect from sore throat. The Teutonic knights really wanted the amber.

Another part of the museum had different types of weapons collected.

The medieval church reconstruction was completed in 2016

Not wanting to take the slower train (an hour ride) I take the intercity train that is thirty minute ride but wait 45 minutes for it because it only runs once a hour (make it make sense). The intercity train is way more expensive but I decide to be bougie today. During my expensive thirty minute train ride ($26 USD) I get a free snack and two drinks included with my fair. It’s actually embarrassing when the steward comes to me to take my order since I don’t even have enough time to consume them. I order the honey cake which is served on a proper plate. I take the water bottle and unopened soda to hold for later. Others on the train are probably coming from far away like Warsaw or something so perhaps they already got their embarrassing honey cake hours ago. Anyway this is why I carry zip lock bags. After taking a couple bites I shove my cake in the bag and put it in my purse for later. I am on a pierogi mission for lunch.

In Gdansk apparently there is a Pierogi culture. It is not a quick meal. Everywhere I went there were long lines and once seated it can take 45 min to one hour once you sit down for pierogi. Pierogi making is labor intensive thus why many Polish order them out instead of making them at home.

The restaurant I get a table for is Mandu. It is highly rated. I did wait for about 30 minutes but the line got much longer as I waited. Mandu has many interesting combos; these are the times I hate dining alone because I want to try it all. I end up ordering buckwheat & potato boar dumplings, borscht, and a sweet pierogi. With some to-go boxes I snack on leftover pierogi later.

After pierogi belly I walk around town. I end up on Mariacka street once again. I would like to purchase something amber to take home but I have a terrible time picking out something I like, especially when its pricey and I really don’t know how to tell if something is authentic or not.

I finish the night at a circus themed cocktail bar with friendly bartenders who give me good advice about places to visit during the rest of my stay. They serve fun drinks too.

Gdansk all day

This morning I’m walking to the Museum of World War II. This must do for Gdańsk is the most thorough war museum I have ever visited and takes about three hours for the audio tour.

I also schedule a walking tour for this afternoon of the main town.

I arrive the Museum of the Second World War right at opening and have purchased my ticket and audio guide in advance. Arriving at opening is advisable because this museum is huge and covers lots of information. It gets very busy as the morning passes. The museum gives all the reasons for the war, all the players, and the aftermath. Sure you might see a little more information on how the war affected Poland than other similar museums but it also goes into how the way it affected other territories like the Balkans, Baltic countries, and even those effected by Japanese invasions.

I always enjoy propaganda posters.

I learn the ways the Finnish people tried to stop the Soviet Union from invading.

More exhibits

I learn how every Soviet territory has a little red corner for Soviet materials.

The museum also talks about Japan’s role in the war. There is a particularly disturbing exhibit on Japanese brothels during the war.

Gdansk is talked about as well as Poland. After WWI the treaty of Versailles took Gdansk, which was predominately German at the time and made it the Free city of Gdansk (but tied to Poland). All of this makes more sense when I learn about the efforts to defeat communism that has origins in Gdansk later on. During WWII since most in Gdansk were German speaking and Gdansk is also called Danzig in German.

An agreement was made to partition Poland by the Soviet Union and Germany. There is an exhibit to show the divide.

More war related exhibits

There is a whole section on terror, specifically terror by the hands of the German, Soviet, and Japanese.

I learn about how Germans stole polish children during the war. I learn more about Croatian concentration camps. Also am introduced to the Katyn Massacre where there was a mass execution of Polish military officers by the Soviet Union.

I see an example of an Enigma machine. Enigma is the machine used during WWII to break the German codes. There is a whole movie about it called “The Imitation Game”.

There are walls that show how messages can be hidden in plane sight just by looking at them differently.

One of my favorite little exhibits was about the nazi hunters. So many people were killed during WWII but very few people were punished for those crimes (Nuremberg Trials were the ones actually caught and punished). Most guilty officials assumed a different identity and fled to other countries, many in South America. The nazi hunters were really good at tracking these war criminals down.

I thoroughly enjoyed the museum but it requires a good deal of time to fully experience the whole thing. The audio guide is a must to get you more efficiently through, otherwise you could spend an entire day here.

I am very hungry when I leave the museum. I don’t have a ton of time but I should have enough for a lunch. I mistakenly think I could eat at a pierogi place. I wait for thirty minutes to get a table for them to tell me it’s at least an hour wait for any ordered pierogi. I don’t have enough time before my tour starts so I walk out to find another place to get lunch. I am getting hangry and I cannot find any quick service restaurants in the area. Time is running out.

I finally find a place to get a quick pastry and then briskly walk to meet my tour guide for the city tour. I didn’t eat a full lunch but at least I won’t be hangry. No one wants to meet hangry me. I usually carry snacks but today I did not; I will not make this mistake again.

The tour is mostly of main town Gdańsk which actually looks more like old town Gdańsk and old town Gdańsk looks more like modern Gdańsk. Long story short Gdańsk was also bombed pretty bad in World War II. They didn’t completely rebuild it in its original form like they did in Warsaw but instead they built modern interior buildings. In the main town they built facades that make it look like the original Gdańsk. However in old town they have more modern facade with the architecture more modern day or communist style.

Brama Złota or main gate. Lots of town symbolism.

I learn again from the tour guide how Gdańsk has a very different history from the rest of Poland. They were German speakers in 14th-16th century but loyal to Poland.

The tour guide asks if there are any Americans in the group and I seem to be the only one (there is one other American that lives in Ireland but she doesn’t speak up). Apparently the guy who invited the Fahrenheit thermometer is from here (Gabriel Fahrenheit). There is a monument to him. Although not sure how much we can praise him since only a couple countries use his scale, mine one of the few. Fahrenheit makes things so confusing with the large amount of international travel I tend to do since I am forced to do math to communicate to people about the weather.

At one point the Poland was part of largest country in Europe, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonweath. Gdańsk was a large player in this and became wealthy. Merchants were middlemen in Gdańsk. The island was purposed to hold Polish grain and secured day and night. The 16th-17th century was the golden age in Gdańsk. It all came to an end when a Swedish king began to rule Poland.

We stop at the beautiful Mariacka street and see the fun drain pipes. This is the place to buy amber since there are amber sellers up and down the street.

House under turtle. Look above the house and see a turtle.

By the 18th century Poland no longer exists. It is partitioned and is no longer prosperous again until the 19th century.

We end up in old town (which is new town) at the post office that was home to a spectacular attempt of postal workers attempting to stop a fascist invasion, one of the first spots World War II broke out.

Post office and a piece of the original city wall.

After my tour I am determined to eat at one of the restaurants that turned me away the night before. It wasn’t worth the anticipation. Even though pasta carbonara is one of my favorite dishes, this one is too salty for me to enjoy.

I have a nice evening walk around town and tomorrow I am taking the train out to Malbork Castle.

Gdańsk

I’m on my way to the port city of Gdansk that is a the top of Poland near the Baltic Sea. Many come up to this part of Poland to enjoy the coastal life. Unfortunately even though it is May it is still too cold for beach weather.

My train ride here from Warsaw is only 3 hours but seat reservations in first class is the way to go. The train is busy. On this train there is a rude group of guys in the partition next to us. They unceremoniously kick out an older couple from their seats and because they don’t speak Polish they are endlessly mocked. The guys get louder and louder and soon they play very loud dance music the rest of the ride. They even catcall me at one moment when I am lining up for my stop. Honestly this is the first time I’ve encountered rude and inconsiderate Polish people during my entire travels here. Hopefully it is not a trend.

It is cold and wet again so once I get to my hotel room I don’t want to leave. I think all my travel exhaustion is catching up with me so I spend a couple hours napping. I eventually force myself out for dinner and a walk around town. Luckily the rain is just now a slight drizzle. Most of the surfaces here are stable but there are some slippery spots near my hotel and I am one of those people who can render the most slip-proof shoe useless. I walk carefully this evening. I have contemplated buying more secure shoes because mine are old.

I am excited because I am actually staying in a hotel where my rate includes early breakfast so I don’t have to wait around for coffee shops to open to get my coffee. The hotel room is a bit of a splurge, purchased with credit card points, with a wonderful view of the canals. It does get loud during the day with all the drawbridge alarms and moving sidewalks (for boat passing) but luckily it gets quiet in the evening.

The first night I find it really challenging to eat at places I originally planned due to long lines or being completely full for the night. I have a note to make reservations when I can for other nights. I do finally get an outdoor table at a pizza place because it has stopped raining and no one wants to sit in the cold.