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We
disembarked from our cruise ship, The Emerald at Gdynia,
which serves as the gateway-port to the other two Polish cities,
Sopot and Gdansk, as part of the Tri-city combination.
At the station we boarded the SMK urban
railway train, linking Gdynia with the university city of Gdansk.
The train journey takes about 30 minutes with regular trains
departing every 10 minutes.
Though the rest of the travellers were
mostly quiet, reserved Polish workers, a neatly dressed young
student, was sitting next to us. Bogdan, who is studying
computer economics at the local university, soon became engaged in a
discussion with us, giving some valuable information of nice wine
bars and museums in Gdansk. He proudly told us that his uncle was
one of the famous Gdansk Shipyard workers who died during the strike
against the Russian Regime during December of 1970.
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This, by total coincidence,
convinced us to visit the Monument to the fallen Shipyard
Workers: a symbolic combination of three stainless steel
crosses, designed by local artists and erected by fellow workers
after independence in 1980 – what an inspiration! |
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Stepping out of the Gdansk Glőwny station, a group of bronze
children greeted us. The symbolism of this gripping monument is
moving: depicting young orphan children holding hands, with the
elder sister clutching to their last belongings in the small
suitcase. They are also waiting on a train; the only difference
being that they do not know their freighting destination!
A walk in historical Gdansk is a walk along yesterday’s events,
experiencing a history of well over a thousand years. At the one
end of Ulica Dluga is the prominent prison tower, with the St
George’s Court and Golden Gate in front. Along both sides are
beautiful restored gabled town houses, painted in multi-colours,
since the restoration after WW2. |
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Halfway down the crowded tourist-cobblestone street, the Main
Town Hall and famous Fountain of Neptune is located. This is a
popular photo-stop for all Japanese tourists: to have their
photo taken in front of the ornate fountain.
To
the opposite side of Dlugi Targ, the pedestrian cobblestone
walkway which is much wider than Ulica, are also rows of gabled
buildings; all restored to more or less the same height, the
multi-coloured umbrellas of street-side restaurants and
boutiques are found on the ground level of these houses, all
restored since 1945; on the higher floors are luxury apartments. |
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At
the far end of this wide square, you walk through the arched
Green Gate onto the bridge over the Stara Motlawa, a subsidiary
of the much bigger Wisla River. A busy waterfront has been
developed here: tourist boats of all shapes and sizes cruise up
and down the many canals.
As an icon of the old city, the famous Gdansk Crane or Zuraw
guards over this area. Dating back to the 14th
century, this wooden structure is set between two circular brick
towers. Today it forms part of the National Maritime Museum. |
We
enjoyed a nice lunch on a terrace outside the Hansa Hotel, facing
the water and next to the Ulica Mariacka. This is regarded as one of
the old town’s finest streets and contains some outstanding examples
of traditional Gdansk architecture. Once owned by wealthy merchants
and goldsmiths, all gabled facades are highly ornamented and some
are fronted by external raised terraces with ornamented parapets.
During the evening a number of local musicians provide free open-air
concerts, and at the many street cafés one can sip some nice local
Polish beer from the barrel.
It can
truly be said that Gdansk is a city with a long tradition, whose
scars of yesterday have been healed; the memories are sealed in
modern monuments and the proud new generation will never turn back
in its steps.
– Johann and Monique
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