Gdańsk - Tri-City Capital

Hello Gdańsk!

A model of Poznan's cathedral in the museum.

Me and some sculptures.

It's hard to sum up a city in a few short paragraphs, and I hope I did Poznan justice in my last post. There is much more I could write about this city, but I'm not writing a city guide here (unless there is a vacant position?). My stay there was just over 2 weeks and I loved it. The city, although much quieter than what I'm used to in Spain, had a real Central European feel to it, a relaxed atmosphere during the day and a fun, lively feel to the evenings and nights. Apart from all the bars and restaurants on offer (and there was a lot!), I also went to see a free concert on  Lake Malta and had a great time. The lake, which is over 1km long and about 200m wide, is completely man-made and is a lovely place for cycling and jogging. On one side is the zoo, and on the other side is Malta Ski, a year-round park that offers skiing in Winter and various sports in Summer, and you can easily see this park as it is a big hill right on the lake. Maybe this hill was made from the earth moved for the lake, I'm not sure, but it is very popular and a great place to spend a Sunday. Anyway, this concert was great - there was a decent crowd, no drunk people or any sort of trouble, and kids were also here enjoying the show. It had a real summer-family feel to it without being aimed at kids or families. The band, Rebeka (formed by Iwona Skwarek and Bartosz Szczęsny) actually began their career in Poznan back in 2008 - it's always great to see local talent doing well in their hometown. I really felt that I could live here - the city felt relaxed, cultured and there was plenty to see and do as well as education facilities. The weather plays a big part though I and just don't know if I could take 6 months of cold, grey and cloudy weather. You never know though - if you have a nice home and a decent job and income (and car to move around in during Winter!), you could make your home life much more enjoyable.

Good morning Poznan!

Time to go - thanks for a great visit Poznan!

While here in Poznan, we decided to take advantage of the great weather and head North towards the coast. We bought train tickets and booked a cheap room for the next day in Gdańsk, the capital of the tri-cities of Gdańsk, Sopot and Gadynia. The city sits on the Baltic Sea and is the largest city in the Pomeranian Province (yes, where the dogs come from!) with a population of just over 450,000 and a booming sea trade. The city also hosts St. Dominic's Fair, which dates back to 1260, and is regarded as one of the biggest trade and cultural events in Europe. Gdańsk has also topped rankings for the quality of life, safety and living standards worldwide. Sounds great right? Well, I thought so - that and having seen photos of it, I thought I should see it. I'm glad I did! We caught the train from Poznan in the morning, aiming to make a full-day of sightseeing and walking once we arrived. I always enjoy Polish trains - they are a little on the old side but always clean. We clicked and clacked our way North and arrived in Gdańsk Główny (Central station) about 3 hours later. We got off the train and walked to our accommodation, a short 10 minute walk, checked in and dropped our stuff, ready to hit the city and explore. Gdańsk is part of the Tricity (Trójmiasto), which has a population of 1 million people, and sits on the Motława River which in turn connects the city to Warsaw. The city has a long and interesting history - it's been a Royal City, an independent sate, as well as under control Polish, Prussian and German control. It was important seaport and shipbuilding town and was considered one of the wealthiest cities in Poland until the late 18th century with the growth of Warsaw. The city was also where the first shots were fired in the Polish Invasion in 1939 and later, in the 1980s, it became the birthday place of the Solidarity movement and played a major part in bringing an end to Communist rule, the collapse of the Eastern Bloc, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the breaking up of the Soviet Union. Just a little bit of history.

The beauty of this city will hurt your neck!

Look. Enjoy. Repeat. That is Gdańsk.

The Great Armoury.

Gdańsk's beautiful terraces.

From our digs to the centre was a 20 minute walk at most, and not a boring one either. The train station sits across a busy road and tram line from the city centre, but once you have navigated this congested thoroughfare, you see history all around you. We walked right past the Brama Wyżynna, a 16th Century gate to the city, which was the main entrance to the city in its time and now houses the Tourist Information. Here we got some interesting information on things to see and do, everything here was well organised and the staff very polite, even helping with bus and tram timetables. Walking on towards the centre and the river, I couldn't help taking a few photos of the gate, with its symbols of Gdańsk, Prussia & Poland - big stone carvings of shields and creatures; unicorns, angels and lions. It was hard not to look up in this city too, more so than Poznan, as the buildings are truly gorgeous in their colour and architectural styles. The main street through the city, Długi Targ (the Long Market), was once the market area for the city and is now the 'Ramblas' of Gdańsk, running from the Golden Gate to the Green Gate. The Green Gate (Brama Zielona) was built in 1568 and made to resemble the Town Hall of Antwerp, and although it serves as a gate along with the Highland Gate and the Golden Gate, it was originally meant to be the home for Poland's monarchs. The Great Armoury, a beautiful Renaissance building built as part of the Medieval wall, was completed in 1609 and served as (you guessed it) an armoury and munitions dump. It was designed by Flemish architect Anthonis Van Obbergen, who did more work in the city, but it is considered his finest - and let me tell you, the building is stunning and way too beautiful to be used for holding cannons and gunpowder. It suffered a lot of damage in '39 but has been rebuilt to its former glory and is now an art gallery.

I love the red-brick look of some of Gdańsk's buildings.

Bombed but rebuilt - The Greta Armoury.

The Golden Gate.

The Town Hall.

Something that can't be missed is the Gdańsk History Museum. It can't be missed for 2 reasons; 1. it's bloody massive, and 2. it's the Town Hall and the very centre of the city, which offers you a great viewing opportunity from the tower. The build sits pretty much right in the middle of the busy street, between the walls and the river, and also has a large square at its feet which holds Neptune's fountain. I went a little crazy here and I was looking up at the tower and wanted to go in, but then felt pulled by the fountain and the surrounding buildings, all appearing more beautiful and interesting than the last and I was slowly being drawn to the gate and the river. But I managed to restrain myself for now and focus on the museum. We got in for free, as it was Tuesday (and the museum is always free on Tuesday), and climbed the steps to the top (nearly 300 of them!), which I managed without loosing my breath too much, unlike many others who struggled up the stairwell. From the top of the bell tower, you get a magnificent view of the city and the cathedral. The majority of the buildings you see today are not original unfortunately. The city suffered major damage during WWII and was rebuilt during the 50s and 60s after much debate as to how the repairs and building would be done. As soon as the war ended in 1945, the job of cleaning up the rubble and removing the bombs began, and not long after that ideas were put forward on what to do with the damage - to leave the town centre in 'preserved ruin,' start modernist projects to start afresh or to to keep the town historical by building it back to what it was. Thankfully the last option was the one taken by the city, and now people can truly enjoy this breathtaking city for what it was and how it should remain. The museum in the Town Hall has a very good display of photos showing the extend of the damage, which was extensive to say the least, backed up with plenty of information (in English too). Please visit this place when you come here - Tuesday are best if you don't want to pay, even though the normal ticket price is only 12zł (€2.50) for an adult and half-price for kids.

The cathedral from a unique perspective.

Every angle in this city is beautiful!

Look up!

Notice the small things.

Poor Gdańsk had suffered a lot. The city was a free city during the Napoleonic Era, after being part of the Prussan Empire, but was absorbed again after Napoleon's defeat. It became part of the German Empire until 1919 where it gained a short freedom, although plagued with Nazi influence, and invaded in 1939. After the war, there were only 15,000 Poles and 120,000 German residents, but the later quickly moved out of the city and were replaced by Poles who took up the abandoned flats and houses. The city struggled through the Communist Era but lead its downfall and is now very much a bustling, 21st city with plenty of tourists and wealth once again. In October 2019, the City of Gdańsk was awarded the Princess of Asturias Award in the Concord category as a recognition of the fact that "the past and present in Gdańsk are sensitive to solidarity, the defense of freedom and human rights, as well as to the preservation of peace". After taking the tour of the Town Hall and admiring the views as well as the very interesting old photos of the city, it was time for a break. Every street in this city is beautiful and has something about it, some sort of charm or something small that you notice if your're active enough. We sat on the river to have a refreshing beer and glass of wine, relaxing and watching the crowds bustle by. We got back onto the busy streets to look for Fahrenheit's meteorological column, something I'd found on Google Maps and wanted to see. Although not exciting, it is historically interesting (I  prefer Celsius for measuring temperature personally), this antique honours the creation of the first universal temperature scale, created by Daniel Fahrenheit in this very city way back in 1724. I nearly missed it with all the people, but I found it eventually, a pendulum-looking device stored in a steel and glass cabinet on the street. Not much to look at I know, but an interesting piece of history.

Photos from after the war.

The Museum of The Second World War.

The waterfront.

Buildings along the river.

We continued on our way, out through the Green Gate and across the bridge, walking through a newer, more modern neighbourhood, wanting to get a good view of the city from across the river. Walking around this new part of the city now full of flashy restaurants and brand hotels, I could see that they must have been old dockyards and ship building wharves. Some small telltale signs remained and I enjoyed seeing what the city had done, mixing old and new, revamping yet keeping historical importance. From across the river, we got to see the famous Black Pearl Galleon. To be honest, I couldn't find much information on this ship, other than its a restaurant and does cruises up and down the river - I don't know if it's a replica or not, nothing about the history of the real ship, or if it's just named after a famous pirate ship. Either way, it was cool to look at, and where it was moored stood the National Maratime Museum, a huge building with silo-looking structures of either side of a black, wooden structure with a crane at the top. This building served as a water gated as well as port crane for loading and unloading ships in its day - it is now the biggest and oldest of the port cranes in Europe, dating back to at least 1367 (although the building today is from 1444). The museum houses and collects artefacts and documents related to ship transport, international trade, fishing as well as the culture of people working at sea. It also has a lot of the maritime history of Poland. I didn't go in, leaving it for next time, but admiring the building and the other buildings close to it, including the Archaeological Museum of Gdansk and Saint Mary's Gate. Crossing the footbridge (Kładka nad Motławą na Ołowiance) back to the main part of the city took some time, as this bridge raises for tall mast ships to come through and stays open for some time, creating a bit of a people traffic jam. It did give me a chance to photographs ships passing down the river though, and there was also a cool, chill-out area next to a big Ferris wheel.

Beautiful buildings on the river.

The riverfront.

Stunning architecture in this city.

From the tower.

Across and back on the city side, we headed to the The Museum of The Second World War, a highlight for anyone visiting Gdańsk. We wandered around the outside of the building, which is very modern and cool looking, and then went in (again, free on this particular day - what luck!) an enjoyed the main exhibitions, all about the Polish experience in WWII. I studied both World Wars in history at high school and enjoyed learning about both. Names and dates stick in my head when I'm interested and I love reading about things that happened during these troubled times - not for the depressing side, but to learn about interesting facts, stories of human spirit and hope and amazing things that were discovered and done. The exhibition was amazing - it had authentic videos from WWI and II, separate rooms concentrating on different nations and their experiences and involvement in the war, as well as plenty of artefacts, from small medals to huge train carts and machines of war. I'm not sure how long we spent in here, but it must have been at least 2 hours, and it would have been easy to stay longer. But, it was dinner time! What better way to spend the evening after a great day exploring a great city than by having a traditional Polish meal of fish and chips! It was lovely, sitting in a nice restaurant, out on the terrace, watching people walking by seeing the city, while eating a meal. After this, on our way back to our accommodation, we walked up Mariacka Street. This street is famous for cool bars and restaurants, but also for its arts and handcraft shops and stalls. Anything you can imagine was sold here, from paintings to small antiques, all either made by hand or found in someone's attic. It had been a great time in Gdańsk, a colourful, historic city in Poland. But it wasn't over yet, as we had a train to catch, heading a little further North to the next city in the area - Sopot.

Gdańsk through the Green Gate.

Postcard panoramic of Gdańsk.

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MyUncleTravellingMatt. August 2019.