Gdańsk

Tour Day 2 | Dzień Drugi

Gdańsk's Golden Age

A walking tour of the city highlighted so many of the accomplishments that came out of Gdańsk. Our local guide was engaging and brought the city to life in a way we could not have appreciated on our own.

Mariacka Street is a great location to pick up amber at a reasonable price

Gdańsk Riverfront

Left: Gdańsk Town Hall; Above: Golden Gate

Several forms of measurement are still found throughout the city

Left: Japanese measuring rods; Right: Fahrenheit Monument, he was born in Gdańsk in 1686

Above: Royal Way; Right: Door detail

Unearthing the history behind a family tradition!

Under communist rule, each Polish citizen was allowed to purchase one orange per person per year. We always wondered the origins of this tradition as my maternal grandfather provided one in each of his children's Christmas stockings each year with no explanation as to why. These oranges were used, rind and all. Traditional pączek (donuts) were made with rosehip jelly and candied orange zest.

The Great Mill dates back to the 14th century and had 18 wheels spinning 24/7 producing 20 tons of flour each day. The mill survived until 1945 (a common pattern in this city). This is now where the Amber Museum is located.

Rose jelly with candied orange zest pączek

Solidarity | Solidarność

While yesterday was a big WWII day, today shifted focus to events that occurred during our lives at the Solidarity Museum. The fall of the iron curtain in central and eastern Europe started with Poland as part of the Solidarity movement. What continually strikes me is the resiliency of the Polish people. From one dictator and atrocity to another, they continue to survive (even amongst attempts to wipe out the Polish people between Germany and Russia over the past 100+ years and other countries before that).

I suspect that my extended family's love of Pope John Paul II goes far beyond him being Polish, but also his direct efforts to aid the Polish peeler under the role of communism and overthrow it. Such an amazing man who could have said nothing, but chose to do so in some big ways including three purposeful visits to throw his support behind the Solidarity movement.

Solidarity Center

Solidarity Museum

The original desk of Jacek Kuroń, one of the leaders of the opposition against Poland’s communist regime

Below Left: Diane with the Popemobile; Right: "Mass arrests, brutally crushed strikes and demonstrations, and the delegalisation of the Solidarność Trade Union: martial law was introduced in Poland on 13 December 1981. The authorities trampled the post-August hopes but the spirit of hope survived in the nation, only that the desire to live a life in freedom had to go underground. This room features a STAR Police truck which was used to transport the arrested oppositionists, an artist’s rendition of Gdańsk Shipyard’s Gate No. 2 crushed by army tanks."

From the Solidarity Museum (Above): "The BOARDS WITH THE 21 DEMANDS, is included in UNESCO’s international Memory of the World Register, which contains the most valuable documents of global significance. On 17 August 1980, the workers who occupied the Gdańsk Lenin Shipyard wrote down their key demands to the government authorities and displayed them on the Shipyard’s Gate No. 2."

Below: "Not only trade unions, political organizations, and dissident groups fought against the communist regime. It is estimated that at least 400 organizations, groups, movements, and communities created by young people and for young people operated in Poland independent of the authorities in the 1980s. Eventually, forced to accept a compromise, the government sat down at the Round Table to talk with the opposition."

You can leave a prayer or hope for peace on this wall that spells out "Solidarity" in Polish.

Vodka Tasting

Each tour has a tasting of some sort whether wine, ouzo, whiskey, etc. Poland is synonymous for vodka. While not our cup of tea (or shot of hard liquor in this case), it was interesting learning about the various types and having fun with others on the trip. The walk home gave us a different view of Gdańsk with its twinkling lights and decorated walkways.

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