Beers on the Baltic
Trip Start
Sep 12, 2006
1
36
100
Trip End
Sep 08, 2008
Gdansk and Sopot,
Poland
Saturday, April 7, 2007
After some confusion as to what we should do upon leaving the train station we decided to find our hostel and make for the cities historic quarter. It was another beautiful day, and it was interesting to see the contrast between Poland's largest port city and the cities from the interior of the country. We slowly made our way along the waterfront past the world renowned Gdansk crane, built in the 15th century and then the biggest crane in medieval Europe. After meeting another of our colleagues, Benita, our team of six made our way into Dlugi Targ, the main city market with its Neptune fountain and hanseatic townhouses. It was different from the usual rynek and ratusz town centre I was by now well accustomed to, but still a very pleasant town centre to look at. After lunch we had a look inside St Mary's church, supposedly the largest brick church in the world. Gazing up to the top of the tower, I could almost believe it.
Following lunch we went for a short walk north to the shipyard, which played an integral part in Polish history. Here we saw the monument to the fallen shipyard workers, commemorating the employees killed by Soviet forces for striking in the 1970's. This part of the shipyard was a bit of an industrial wasteland now, but just inside the gates we found the outdoor 'Roads to freedom' exhibition, a collection of displays and artefacts illustrating Poland's path to democracy, from the 1956 uprisings to martial law to the Solidarity protests of the 1980's. It wasn't the most interesting exhibition, but it was worthwhile given we were standing in a place that helped bring about the fall of communism in Europe. A part of the Berlin wall was also on display as a reminder of what the Gdansk shipyard protests helped achieved.
The atmosphere in Gdansk was quite mellow given the Easter holiday, and that combined with an early evening downpour meant we spent the night in the hostel playing poker. Chris, John and I went for another walk around the city the following morning before Nick joined us for a short train ride north to Sopot, Poland's famous beach resort. The grey skies didn't do much for the place, and as such the beach was almost deserted and kind of bleak. Europe's longest wooden pier made for a more interesting site though, jutting 515m out into the Baltic Sea. We spent a while walking along its length before making for the warmer confines of a small pub where we could have some beers and play some more poker.
Given a grim forecast for the next few days I made the decision that night to head back to Opole the next day, via the huge Malbork castle, about an hour from Gdansk. While I could appreciate the beauty of Poland's famous tri-city area, I knew it deserved more of a look, in better weather and when everything was open. Grey skies and very few open restaurants or pubs didn't make it the most enjoyable of my trips around the country, but I'd seen just enough to get a taste of life on the Baltic.
