Dancing in Gdańsk (N E Eur#3)

Dear Friends and Family,
Last night we returned around 9pm to our lovely, boutique hotel in Gdańsk, Poland, intending to play cards on the front terrace. Instead, we found ourselves dancing briefly “Cheek to Cheek” to a whispery rendition of this jazz standard, played and sung by 2 young ladies on the street, right outside our doorstep. Gdansk Old Town is just like that, very romantic, especially along the water-front. Vivaldi, played by a violin trio echoed under a 500 year old archway near the Motlawa River. Two guitarists sang in sweet harmony, as they gently picked out the notes of “Hallelujah” in front of a quiet candlelit bar. An accordion/guitar duo tugged at our heart-strings with “O Solo Mio” a block or so further down river. Old Town Gdańsk has narrow cobblestone pedestrian streets. The “Royal Rd.” is crowded with throngs of tourists. We climbed the medieval Town Hall tower for an aerial view. The bells of nearby St. Mary’s Basilica ring out the hour and sometimes play a tune. Canals flowing into the Baltic Sea are lined with outdoor cafes, coffee shops and bars. It’s a romantic getaway, a place to marry/honeymoon, with lots of mellow music everywhere. Gotyk House, our hotel, is the oldest remaining house (A.D. 1451). Nicolas Copernicus, first to prove the earth revolves around the sun, is rumored to have had an affair with his young niece here, in 1541. This was one of the few historic buildings left intact after WWII, when 90% of Gdańsk was destroyed. Though much of the city was re-built, there is still a lot of construction going on.

It was a rough trip getting here from Berlin. When we arrived at Berlin Hbf train station, after just 2hrs of sleep, we learned our 6:30 am train had been cancelled. The next train, at 9:37, left us with no seat reservation for our 2nd train from Posnan to Gdansk. They don’t accept euros once you cross the border, and we had no Polish Zloty to purchase food for the 6 hr trip. Starved, but happy with the magical look of Old Town Gdansk, Bruce consumed 2 dinners after changing our money. The food is strange to us, the menus confusing, even with English translation. Flaki zupy was translated as “guts soup.” It was, in fact, tripe soup. We’ve seen lots of lumpy mashed potatoes, bizarre cabbage meatballs, goulash, beet and cabbage salads, and chicken schnitzel. We’ve also had great fish dishes. Most foods and attraction fees are half the price of those in Berlin. We eat mostly at milk bars. A milk bar is an a la carte cafeteria. Tap water/ice is not available. People are reserved here, but not unfriendly, just abrupt, with limited English speaking skills. Rick Steves referred to them as “pensive Poles.”

Gdańsk has 2 great museums, one on WWll and the other on the Solidarity movement. We spent several hours at each one. We shed tears at the WWII museum, and felt consumed by darkness. Near the end of the exhibition, we walked through a room with ceiling to floor photographs of Holocaust victims. The first shots of WWll were fired in Gdańsk. The Nazis devastated Poland, exterminating millions of Jews, Poles, and others. Then Russia took over, but the oppression didn’t end.

The Soviet rule lasted about 40 years and was terrible for the people of Poland. The story of Poland’s eventual democracy is quite uplifting and was well presented at the Solidarity Museum. Following Hitler’s defeat, the Soviet Union repressed all forms of free speech in the Eastern Block countries, murdering and starving the population, denying worker’s rights to form unions and demands for decent working conditions. Over a period of 40 years, Poland was ruled with an iron fist. Gdańsk is famous for its 17,000 worker shipyard which spawned the Solidarity trade union movement that led to the fall of the Soviet Union. In 1981, the shipyard workers of Gdańsk, led by Lech Walesa, won the right to form a union. After only one year, that right was suddenly rescinded, and the 10 million member strong Solidarity union was attacked. Walesa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and Pope Paul ll also gave his support. Finally, in 1989, after many violent street demonstrations, the Soviets, under Gorbachev’s Perestroika, gave Poland the right to form a democratic government. One by one, the rest of the Eastern Block countries followed suit, and now, thanks to Walesa and the Solidarity movement, Russian Communism no longer dominates these democracies.

We went to the Maritime Culture Center and enjoyed learning about ship-building and drilling platforms. Bruce hopped into a virtual suit and had an inter-active first-hand ship builders experience! There were boats from all over the world on display. It was all housed in a six story glass building overlooking the river. We enjoyed a delicious dinner in the roof-top restaurant.

We took two day trips by train out of the city to beaches near Gdansk. Our favorite beach was Sobieszewska where the locals go. After a long walk in the sand, looking for Baltic amber, we hurried into a great fish restaurant, just avoiding a major rain downpour. The other day we spent in Sopot, dubbed the Polish Riviera, and not all that appealing. To us, the niftiest thing about Sopot was the Gaudi inspired “Crooked House,” and it was disappointingly filled with high-end shops and eateries. The Baltic was surprisingly calm. The water was not very cold, and the beaches were uncrowded and clean. Though we didn’t find amber along the beach, we found plenty at souvenir stands. We also went to the Amber Museum. Surprisingly, it was housed in a 5 story former prison tower, with torture chambers! Amber is 40 M yr-old petrified tree-sap. One piece even contained an ancient lizard! There was gorgeous amber furniture, art, jewelry, etc. We had no idea we would encounter the torture chambers on our way back down the winding passages and staircases. Tape recorded wailing voices added to the ambiance, as we scurried down past cells and staged scenes with ancient torture equipment.

On the last evening of our visit to Gdansk, we attended a 50 piece orchestra performance of the Polish Baltic Philharmonic Orchestra. It was wonderful! Their great repertoire ranged from traditional Bach to some very modern jazz, featuring an amazing violinist, Alexander Pavarotsky. Together with his two adult children, they formed the Pavarotsky Trio. We later learned he was Russian born and trained, and is now living and working in Israel.

Tomorrow we leave by train for the big city, Warsaw, the capital of Poland. We hope you are all well and that the fires in CA are under control.

Love n hugs,
BnL

Author: bnlmos

We are a retired couple, together nearly 35 years, who love International travel. Having a "blog" is brand new to us, so have patience as we do our best to keep in touch with our friends and family. Please feel free to comment on this blog or contact us via personal email. brucemos@hotmail.com View all posts by bnlmos