Poles Apart

Gdansk (pop 481,000, 4th largest city in Poland, founded 1308AD) has an Old Town which is "poles apart" from Warsaw and even Krakow! Just look at the first photo. What a surprise for a working class port town on the Baltic. The Old Town is actually the "New Town" since the real Old Town was 90% destroyed in 1945 and is currently being re-built. The first photo shows the breathtaking "Dlugi Targ" the main town square, full of 14 and 15th century apartments and the Town Hall. Close by is the giant 14th century St Mary's Cathedral (with observation bell tower rising 405 steps or 124m). Nearby is the 1220AD St Katherine's and the 1350AD flour mill which produced 200 tons per day.

Gdansk is home to the Solidarity Movement, lead by Lech Walesa, which in 1980 precipitated events which lead to the fall of communism in Russia in 1997. Lech went on to become the first President of the 1990 independent Republic of Poland. A monument was erected in honour of this movement and all dock workers who died in violent clashes with the Soviet Government at the time.

Westerplatte is a seaside penisula approx 6km from the Old Town where WWII started and finished! On 1 Spetemeber 1939, a German Ship fired on this place and it was defended by these twelve for one week until they ran out of food!

Approx 70km from Gdansk, is the town of Malbork which is home to a 13th century red brick castle, the largest in the world (second photo). Paul and I also went to "Hel and back"!!! Hel is a seaside fishing town, 97km from Gdansk on a very thin 37km long peninsula which at its narrowest is only 200m so that the Baltic Sea can be seen through both sides of your car!!! Sad thing is that all of Poland spends "summer" here and it is extremely crowded with mostly overcast days, tops of 22deg and grey sand! If only they saw Queensland!

Finally Gdansk was the place where Paul and I ate Wild Boar Dumplings (a local specialty) - they were better than the smoked pigs ears we crunched on in Vilnius in Lithuania the previous night! Distance travelled so far: 17,780km.