A day in Gdansk, Poland

We attended a guest lecture on board this morning and he shared a few facts about Poland. Of course he shared much more, but these are the ones I'll pass along.

Poland had the first upside down house (symbols of what it was like living under Communism)

The marriage age in Poland is the youngest in Europe.

Polish cuisine is all about pickles.

If you ask someone how they are, be prepared for them to tell you.

Don’t confuse a Pole with a Russian.

Poland didn’t exist on the map for nearly 123 years.

All Polish names are associated with a specific date of the year.

Polish is one of the most difficult languages to learn (alphabet has 32 characters, 9 extra)

97% of the population considers Polish the native tongue.

Here are some other facts I picked up from our guide today. 

Warsaw is the capital of Gdansk (pronounced "guh-DANSK"). The residential situation in Gdansk was devastated after WWII. After the war ended, 9 huge districts were created to house the people. As many as 5,000 people live under one roof (called “wavy blocks”). He pointed out the largest one to us as we drove by. He grew up in one and didn't seem to think it was bad. They had green space for the kids to play "football" (soccer).

Our first visit was to the old district of Oliwa (means "olive tree") to visit the 13^th century Oliwa Cathedral that was founded by Cistercian monks. We were given a concert by what is considered to be one of the best pipe organs in existence - the world-famous Rococo. This pipe organ survived WWII while most did not. Interestingly, it is made of wood. 

After WWII, Gdansk became the center of German shipbuilding. In 1939, Gdansk residents were the first to witness the beginning of WWII as the Nazi’s invaded and occupied the city. Many Poles were used as forced labor in the city’s shipyards. Anyone interested can read about their very complicated history.

inside Oliwa Cathedral

  

Oliwa Cathedral

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

famous Rococo pipe organ survived WWII (most did not)

From there we walked on to the Old Town where we walked the centuries old cobbled streets listening to our guide talk…and talk…and talk. For the longest time I kept looking for the sheep he was talking about. When I finally realized he was saying "ship" then what he was saying made a lot more sense. We also walked to St. Mary’s Basilica which was originally a Catholic church, then a Lutheran church and back to a Catholic church. 

 

entrance to Bazylika Manacka (St. Mary's Basilica)

altar at St. Mary's

interior arches - St. Mary's

Amber is abundant here and almost every store had amber jewelry for sale. Like the last city we visited, Gdansk’s old town has many long houses, though not nearly as colorful as the ones we saw yesterday in Copenhagen.We walked the entire length of Dluga, which is the main street of Gdansk Old Town to get to the church and then back to the Green Gate where we had about 30 minutes free time before heading back to the bus. The street was getting quite crowded by the time we left in the late afternoon.

 

unique architecture

 

Gdansk Town Hall

Neptunbrunnen (Fountain of Neptune)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

row houses standing at attention

amber for sale everywhere on the street!

a living "wizard"?

  
        

The streets became crowded with both locals and visitors. There were street musicians, vendors and “living statues” (people who paint their bodies, clothing and shoes while standing “frozen” until someone drops money in their hat). We had only about 30 minutes of free time before heading back to the tour bus. Our tour lasted 5 hours and I was pretty zonked from all the walking and standing by the time we made it back to the ship.

 

visitors and locals stroll the main street (living statue cowboy on right)

the Green Gate

pigeons and amber are equally at home in Old Town

cafes spill onto sidewalks in 70 degree weather

view toward Town Hall

more amber