Gdansk (Poland)

...a detailed explanation of what Gdansk in Poland is all about, doesn't go into detail about all the sights, nor is it a history lesson on the town itself. What it is however is a travelogue of a few days spent exploring the town, hope you find it slightly interesting, perhaps even amusing in places.

So, it's Saturday 26th September. We travel to Poland by ferry from Sweden. You can read about the journey in the seperate Polferries opinion ...
...that we are looking for Gdansk Centre, as we are obviously no where near it (later found out we were really in Gdynia). We consider the tram/trolley service but we seem to have strayed off the main route. Luckily we manage to stop a taxi cab going in the opposite direction, he speaks a few words of English, and we agree on a 20Zl fare, not really knowing if this is right or not, but we are glad we changed up some money on the boat earlier. Soon we ... more

First let me explain, this is by all means not a detailed explanation of what Gdansk in Poland is all about, doesn't go into detail about all the sights, nor is it a history lesson on the town itself. What it is however is a travelogue of a few days spent exploring the town, hope you find it slightly interesting, perhaps even amusing in places.

So, it's Saturday 26th September. We travel to Poland by ferry from Sweden. You can read about the journey in the seperate Polferries opinion already posted on Ciao.

Just after midday, off we go into Gdansk, after our passports are stamped. Not knowing at this point we aren't in the centre of Gdansk, we start walking in the general direction we think looks right. Big mistake. We walk past a few shops, but soon end up walking past dodgy looking apartment blocks, and run down factories. We stop a woman and ask for directions, and of course she doesn't speak any English. I think she is surprised to find that we are looking for Gdansk Centre, as we are obviously no where near it (later found out we were really in Gdynia). We consider the tram/trolley service but we seem to have strayed off the main route. Luckily we manage to stop a taxi cab going in the opposite direction, he speaks a few words of English, and we agree on a 20Zl fare, not really knowing if this is right or not, but we are glad we changed up some money on the boat earlier. Soon we realise the walk was a daft idea, as it takes a good 20 minutes by taxi, and he's not driving slowly. There's no real conversation struck up between us and the driver, the language barrier is far to high, but we arrive at the centre, and all is well.

Already hungry, we head for the nearest bar and order a couple of Pierogi, and Okocim beers to go with it. Karolina believes this to be some kind of pasty filled with something. When it arrives, it's actually a strange looking desert, with blueberries and cream. It's actually nice, but not what we expected. The guy behind the counter looks miserable, smokes, and picks his nose whilst watching the TV, he also speaks just a few English words. We use the toilet here, knees touching the door if you need to sit! We leave the bar at around 16.00, and take a look further into Gdansk, looking at the interesting old buildings, and scouring the shops for bargains. We also need to find a currency exchange, and after some time searching and asking directions, we do.

Hungry again, we decide to treat ourselves and find an extremely upmarket looking restaurant called Palowa, on ul. Dluga (ul means Street). We feel a bit underdressed as we walk past beautifully decorated tables and furnishings, a grand piano and waitresses dressed in long red velvet dresses. The restaurant has a German/Polish feel to it, and we find it hard to understand the language spoken by the waitresses. They find it hard to understand us too, as later events will tell. We order Polish Sour soup, which contains polish sausage, potatoes, onion, leeks and sour cream, as well as other basic ingrediants. Karolina has Parisian Chicken (not exactly Polish), and Sean had turkey breast. Both dishes came with a lovely display of vegetables, and an extra bowl of salad. Karolina's salad came with an extra fly, which wasnät mentioned on the menu. Presentation was very good indeed. The main meal was brought to us whilst still half way through the soup, which was unusual we thought. On to desert, and Karolina asks whether the chocolate cake contains nuts...bit of a blank look, but yes. Asked again in another way, the answer was no. Karolina tries to tell her she is allergic to nuts, and a few minutes later a nice looking piece of chocolate cake appears with whipped cream and....a large selection of peanuts and walnuts all around. In disbelief, we both stare at the plate, the waitress already out of sight. We attract the attention of another who seems confused by our request to take it away untouched. They do seem to understand clearly however that we now wish to pay, and so we leave, with just a small tip.

We manage to do a fair amount of souvenir shopping for ourselves, which is quite unusual for us. Amongst our purchases are 3 wooden mushrooms, 2 wiggly purple candles and a holder, a half liter bottle of Goldvasser (vodka with gold leaf in it), a Gdansk fridge magnet, a handmade doll in local dress, another candle in the shape of a human leg bone, and of course lots and lots of chocolate and sweets. One of the stranger souvenirs is a bottle containing bits of amber, which you add a spirit to, leave for 10 days, then apply to your body as a soothing lotion, you can also drink a small amount of it in tea. We also buy a handmade glass angel, from the maker, who speaks enough English to have a bit of conversation with. He can make about 20 a day (but it depends how drunk he gets). There seems to be no shortage of public toilets in Gdansk, with very clear Toilaty or WC signs everywhere, telling you how many metres they are from you. Unfortunately they don't seem to be too accurate, and actually finding one using these signs can be quite tricky. We did manage to find one, which was marked **** WC, where we had to pay a little old lady 1zl each to use them, still a bit puzzled what the four star rating was all about. We also buy some postcards and stamps from a lady in the street, write them out and put them in the postbox next to her, all very convenient.

Evening now, quite a bit of shopping done, we spy an '80's Bar' on ul. Stagiewna. Needing a rest, a Polish vodka and perhaps some nostalgia, we head inside. A bit disappointed to find a distinct lack of 80's decor or in fact any thing remotely 80's, apart from the music playing. We discuss ways to improve the bar, over a few vodkas, and some Baileys. The barman must go upstairs to get the Baileys each time, so Karolina kindly tips him for his trouble. One of the cocktail stirrers has a top which looks like a penis. Karolina tries to buy some crisps, but are told "they are finished". Before the place really starts pumping with the 80's DJ "Slawek" due in an hour or so, we leave and head off to find a taxi to take us back to the ship. Having done this once earlier, it wasn't too difficult, and we manage to negotiate the same fare as earlier. We arrive back at the ship, and continue the evening onboard (details in the Polferries op)

Next day, Sunday.
We step foot off the ship again, and head out for a taxi once more, there are 4 or 5 drivers standing around waiting. We want the same price as yesterday, only it seems to have doubled, as it's Sunday. When we refuse to pay 40zl, start walking off, another driver offers to take us for 30, so we jump in and head back to the centre, where we arrive at around 11.

Of course being Sunday, we felt the need to go to church, being the religious people we are (ahem). We see a couple with a baby, looking like a baptism is due, so follow them into the Gothic St. Mary's Basilica Church. Supposedly this is the largest brick church in the world, it's also the largest church in Poland. The spires seem to reach for the heavens, and it can be difficult to believe that it was partly destroyed in WWII, being rebuilt with all original materials. Being so big, makes it almost impossible to photograph in it's entirity, apart from higher up and at a distance. So into the church we go, and have a look at the wonderful interior, the huge astronomical clock with animated figures, beautifully detailed glass, and works of art. It's undergoing some restoration work at present, but not enough to spoil the sights. We sit and wait for the service to commence, the only thing to look at being a woman constantly sweeping the carpet at the front of the church. The service then begins, and we understand absolutely nothing. We feel like we are in an episode of Mr Bean (where he tries to keep awake at a church service), it really is quite boring. We struggle through 1/2 hour of the service, and then make our exit, looked on by many of the congregation. There are a fair few old churches in Gdansk, we feel though this is probably enough religion for one day.

The sky being a little bluer now, and the sun is out, we take a few photos of the Neptunes Fountain. This was originally just a statue, dating back to around 1633 and sculpted by Peter Husen and Johann Rogge. Later it was converted into a fountain. During the war it was hidden, until war was over then returned once more. It stands as a symbol of Gdansk's bond with the sea. The 80m tower of the Town hall nearby was built between 1379 and 1492.

The part of Gdansk we are in contains mountains of shops selling Amber, which of course is something the city is very famous for. The amber industry has had a difficult past but in 1989 Poland won its sovereignty and economical freedom, which led to a huge increase in the number of amber craftsmen. All manner of amber and also silver objects can be purchased, some quite reasonably. We visited one mans jewelery stall, Karolina tried on about 10 rings before settling on one containing 3 different coloured amber stones, very much looking like a set of traffic lights. The seller was in fits of hysteria when this was mentioned, he really couldn't stop laughing about it!

Back at the waterside, we spot a ferry called Motlawa, not sure where it goes, but for 1.5zl, doesn't really matter. Turns out that it goes to the other side of the river, Royal Island or "Wyspa Krolewska"...but this is where we spot a fantastic old sailing ship called "Galeon Lew" heading in our direction. Just a few minutes to the next trip, so we hand over 12zl each for the 45 minute trip. As we sail off, we get ourselves in many peoples photographs, as they snap away at the ship chugging it's way along the river. The ship itself is a wooden vessel, with all the rigging, an oldish Polish captain steering the tiller. Slightly cheating by using an engine rather than the sales, but it doesn't spoil the effect too much. Dotted around are various barrels, signs and memorbelia to add realism to the experience. Music plays in the background at a level which is enjoyable, and it ranges from quite jolly pirate movie music to mysterious and chilling. It seems to work quite well with the scenery, which we must admit can be extremely drab, grey, depressing and run-down. It's funny how we notice old decaying buildings literally with the walls falling apart, which the satellite dishes still manage to cling on to. The derelict factories and industrial areas with cranes rising to the sky, old ships rotting away, whilst others are being re-built. Just an odd cloud of waste gas emits from a few working plants. The mood on the ship is very quiet, there are a dozen or so of us on board, and I think we all are a bit stunned by this "tour". There's no commentry from the captain, his staff or anybody else, well we guess there really aren't too many "sights" around here. Half way, the ship turns round, and heads back in the same direction, but on the opposite side of the river, leaving us feeling a little cheated by the 45 minute ride, of course it's still quite cheap, and has shown us a side of Gdansk that we would have felt uneasy seeing on dry land.

All this travelling makes us hungry again, and wanting something cheap and recognisable, we head for a pizza restaurant by the waterside. There's only a few others here, so service is quite quick. After much deliberation, we both order one called "A bit of everything", or something, and amongst it's toppings are peas, peaches, pineapples, peppers, and other things not beginning with p. We remove several things, such as the olives, and chillis, which makes us wonder why we ordered one with everything on in the first place. Polish made pizza isn't bad, very thin and floppy, more cheese would be good, and lose the peaches maybe. Price is cheap, 17zl each for a largish one (sorry didn't measure it).

Time runs out, we need to get back to the ship at around 5pm, the rest can be read on the Polferries op as I've already said before. You can also see some of the photographs taken at http://angelfire.com/retro/seany (and click Poland)

Thanks for reading!

 

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