Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.- Gustave Flaubert.
Second day: Waking up early ready for another beautiful day. Out to conquer breakfast in the city one more day, against the cold and the wind! We saw a coffee shop yesterday with amazing pastries, so we walk up with that on mind. Coffee was delicious, pastries (only one) perfect and Jackie, (very american), eggs and toast. It was great to be able to remove our heavy winter apparel, and enjoy the warmth of the place and the coffee.
Ready to meet our “Free Walking Tour Guide Girl”, and with all the winter clothes back on, we walk 3 blocks up to the Golden Gate. No, not the one in San Francisco, but the historical landmark in Gdansk. Created in 1612. Both sides have figures symbolizing the qualities of the ideal citizen. From the West side they represent Peace, Freedom, Wealth and Fame. From the East side Agreement, Justice, Piety and Prudence. And there is a n inscription that reads: “In agreement small republics grow, because of disagreement great republics falls”.
We met our guide by the Golden Gate and the Amber Museum. Amber, in the time of royal Gdansk, was acclaimed a major centre of amber crafts, but the Amber Museum was once home to the Prison Tower and Torture Chamber, and we could see inside some of the “ornaments” used for torture.
Walked under the Golden Gate via the Long Market (Dlugi Street) to meet with the Neptune Fountain, a bronze statue of the sea God. During WWII, this statue was dismantled and hidden with many of the city’s other treasures, it was only returned to its rightful place in 1954, The street used to be home to the richest, most elite residents. Kept walking, turned somewhere left to encounter a beautiful building, the Great Armory, today belongs to the Gdansk Academy of Fine Arts, where students sell their creations, so the Gallery never looks the same. On the way , we saw the Fahrenheit thermometer. Fahrenheit was born in Gdansk, but Poland still uses Celsius, as many countries do, with exception of UK, Canada , United States , Bahamas, Belize , Cayman Island.
Another little turn to find the street where Schopenhauer was born, the famous German philosopher with extremely pessimistic views, and born in Holy Ghost Street, what a contra-indication!
Another characteristic monument in Gdansk is the largest medioeval port wood crane in Europe. A hamster wheel for people to move a crane able to lift 4 Tns to a height of 11 mts achieved by two huge wooden wheels that were powered by men walking inside of them to turn the lift in mechanism.
Another left turn, over the Motlawa Cannal , we saw a bridge that will come down every 30 minutes to let the boats and the pedestrians go through.
Our last stop of the morning walk, was the Polish Post Office Museum. What a story!!!! Gdansk, which was then known under its German name Danzig, and effectively was a German City, had the special status of a semi-autonomous “Free City”, that meant that the Polish minority held certain privileges, including the running of this Post Office, having a status of exterritorial part of Poland. As tensions increased between Germany and Poland in the run-up of World War II, the Post Office was supplied with its own weaponry and military personnel so as to be able to fend off and attack for 6 hours, the time it was expected to take for help to come form the Polish Army. That helped never showed up, but the 57 defenders inside the post office held out much longer that had been expected, 15 hours before finally being overcome. The ones that survived on that battle were later sentenced to death and executed. Today this episode is part of the mythology of Polish heroism in their resistance Against the Nazis righ from start. This is honored by a monument and a small museum.
With that as our last stop, it was time for some food, to fed our souls.
Stop at a Polish delicatessen, had a cabbage wrapped meat ball, potatoes, just good!!!!
Now ready for our next experience, the European Solidarity Center.
ow, after a couple of drinks, Krupnik Slony Karmel with Jim Bean Bourbon, time to go to bed!..Night Night!!!!
Normi’s blog 