Today reminded me that, despite six months of careful planning for this trip and being able to recite all trip details, sometimes I mess up! Oh, yes I do! I had it in my head that our flight from Warsaw to Gdansk, on Poland’s north coast, departed at noon. Since we were so tired, we decided that made for too short a morning of touring Warsaw. So we slept in and turned down an early morning of exploration in favour of extra ZZZ’s.
But when we got to Chopin International Airport at 10 AM, I couldn’t find our supposed noon flight on the information board at all. That was because, as it turned out, our flight wasn’t at noon, it was at 1:30PM! Had I checked my paperwork and realized that, we could have easily taken in a couple of museums this morning which had been closed yesterday. And to make matters worse, our flight ended up being delayed by an hour. So we didn’t make it to our hotel in Gdansk until 4PM.
Oh well, sometimes these things happen. I’m just not used to wasting an entire day amidst a condensed travel itinerary.
(I can almost hear the eyes rolling among friends and family who think I overdo it. LOL). In any case, we are here now, so on to Gdansk....
Gdańsk grew wealthy during the Middle Ages. That wealth is on display today in the form of a bustling riverbank, mammoth red-brick churches and a gleaming central square. But the Gdansk of today has gone through much and — for a city of 460,000 - has played a role in history that is beyond its size:
1- The creation of the ‘Free City of Danzig’, at the conclusion of World War I, served as a pretext for Hitler to invade Poland at the start of WWII.
2- The Germans fired the first shots of WWII here on September 1, 1939.
3- In August 1980, the Gdansk became the centre of Poland’s anticommunist movement with the establishment of the Solidarity trade un ion, led by its charismatic leader (and future Polish president), Lech Wałęsa. That led to the ultimate fall of communism in Poland in 1989, which in turn, played a huge role in the collapse of the Soviet Union.
That’s a lot for a city just a wee bit larger than Halifax to play on the world stage!
Our hotel is situated on a beautiful sandy beach on the Baltic Sea, just north of Gdansk. We left the hotel just before 5 PM and found the tram station. It was a 40 minute tram ride into the city center, past the famous Gdansk shipyards. As the masses of communist apartment blocks passed by, I became less and less hopeful about what might await us in the city center. Talk about a diamond in the rough: our eyes soon popped out of our heads - the proof is in the photos.
We walked through the Main Town (beautifully restored after WWII) for couple of hours, then found a great Polish restaurant off the main street for dinner. The Maritime weather felt just like home, around 20C and a threat of rain which never came to fruition. Just after 8PM, we took the tram north to our hotel and called it a night.
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| As mentioned ysterday, Frederic Chopin is revered in Warsaw. Even the International Airport is named after him. |
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| LOT Polish Airlines rules the roost in the skies here. I've always wanted to fly LOT. Growing up near Gander, NL, LOT flights from Warsaw to Havana would often refuel in Gander, and people would often claim refugee status during the refueling process. Hence, the airline has always held an intrigue for me. |
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| A last view of Warsaw. The while blob near the centre of the photo is the stadium where the Stones played on Sunday night. |
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| The terain upon descent into Gdansk was much more forested and spotted with lakes than the central part of Poland. |
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| The view of the Baltic Sea from our hotel room. Gdansk is to the south, Gydnia is to the north. |
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| With a population of close to half a million, the city boasts a good and modern tram network. |
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| Passing the famous and historic Gdansk Shipyards enroute to the city centre. |
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| Gdansk has several 'city gates', through which the King would pass on his visits to northern Poland. Here, you see the the Golden Gate. which marks the start of the Royal Route. |
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| The most famous street in in the city runs through Main Town, and is called Dlugi Targ, or Long Street. |
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| The incomparable buildings of Dlugi Street, all rebuilt after being destroyed in 1945. |
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| The famous Neptune Fountain, a highlight of Dlugi Street. |
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| The Old Town Hall. More on that tomorrow! |
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| The Green Gate. |
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| The stunning architecture continues along the river banks. |
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| This hot beet-broth soup was perfect as an appetizer on a chilly terrasse. |
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| With the France-Belgium World Cup sei-final game being played, the city had set up a pay-to-view area. Europeans are REALLY into the World Cup. |
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