A day with Solidarity in Gdansk

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We have said it before but what a difference a good night’s sleep does getting you ready for the days adventures ahead.

We had thought that we and a Russian family were the only people staying in the guest house as apart from a little noise at some stage after we went to bed we didn’t hear anything else until we went down for breakfast. Gretchen had ‘met ‘the Russian guy in the kitchen last night when doing the dishes, while he was looking for a bottle opener.

However, at breakfast there was another family group who sounded Polish plus the Russians. We all obviously spoke different languages so there wasn’t any chat amongst the tables over breakfast.

We could have taken the train into Gdansk but we wanted to stop off at Sopot, Poland’s favourite beach holiday spot so taking the car was the best option and would save putting timetables together. Also it was Sunday and the guy at reception when we checked in yesterday we would have no problem finding a park in Gdansk.

We hadn’t told him that we planned to go to Sopot first and if we had he probably would have warned us of the problems we would face getting a car park at or near the beach in the area we wanted to be and put us on alert.

The streets in and around the beach area were full of people and we could see as we drove along past several car parks that they were all full. The sun was out and the Poles were at the beach!

We continued to drive along the road that ran parallel to the beach but just back far enough so you couldn’t actually see the beach because of park and forested areas.

Eventually we came to almost the end of the road before it turned away from the beach and there at last were a few car parks available. We had travelled further than we intended which was going to mean a good walk back to the pier, town square and Grand Hotelwhich was in the middle of the town but we needed the exercise and it was a lovely day for a walk. Plus for most of the way it would be along a promenade and through trees.

After crossing two dedicated trails, one for cyclists and one for inline skaters we joined the strollers heading towards the centre of the town beach area. There were almost as many cyclists and inline skaters as there were people walking and we thought how wonderful it was for so many activities happening all together but separate.Cylists in NZ would be so happy if they had dedicated trails to ride along a beach and so too would inline skaters, not that we see too many of them at home but rather skateboarders.

We walked over the dunes a couple of times to take in the beach as we continued our walk which we estimated at about 3km.There were plenty of people on the beach in their swimsuits soaking up the mid-20’s temperature but not too many takers in the water for what was probably a chilly Baltic Sea. Knowing just how far north we are at around 54deg latitude the sea takes a while to heat up after a long winter and we doubt that it would be lucky to get much above 20C even with a warm sun such as today.

The Grand hotel built between 1924-27 was constructed in the classical style but refurbishments over the years has changed its appearance to a mix of styles.It has hosted such memorable diverse names in history such as Martin Bormann,private secretary to Hilter,Fidel Castro,Charles de Gaulle and Greta Garbo

The pier didn’t look like it had anything special to offer sightseers so we branched off and found a cafe in the market square and had a light lunch and coffee under the shade of a large umbrella and as we do, enjoyed watching the multitudes of people coming and going.

The walk back to the car didn’t seem to take any time at all and we were soon on our way to Gdansk via a call into the Gdansk Cathedral.

The Poles seem to attend church in great numbers if what we have come across on Sundays when there have been churches to take a look at are anything to go by. The car park of the cathedral was full of cars which was a sign that a mass was under way, even at 1.30pm on a Sunday afternoon, a time at home any church would love to be still holding Sunday services.

The cathedral had some internal reconstruction going on and so the photo opportunities were somewhat restricted and any way it never seems quite appropriate to be taking photos while a service/mass is being conducted. We resolved to come back tomorrow when we headed south to our next stop to check the cathedral out when hopefully there might not be a mass being held.

Finding the Solidarity memorial was easy. However, getting to a car park was another matter and after negotiating the trams lines and trams as well as driving into a dedicated bus station we found a place to park the car from where we could trek to all the attractions we had on our list to do.

While most of the Eastern Bloc countries had tried to break away from communism at various times in their history after WW2 it was really Poland and Lech Waleska and his Solidarity movement that was the catalyst that just wouldn’t go away and eventually led to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the domino effect that occurred afterwards as country after country became ‘western’ style democracies sending communism into history.

The memorial to those killed during the protests of 1970 and then again in 1980 is a moving sight and when you read and understand a little more about the struggle of the people to become free again, it becomes even more meaningful and glorious looking.

The ship yards, which was where the Solidarity movement started are no longer in business but the sign over the entry to the area is still there and you can relate even more to those days in the 70’s and 80’s when you see photos taken at the time when it featured often. It ranks right up there with signs that are recognisable from the last century including those like the infamous ‘Arbeit Macht Frei'at the gates of Auschwitz(strange how the two signs that immediately come to mind are in Poland, a country of great struggles over the years)

Close by is the Roads to Freedom museum which turned out to be one of the most poignant museums we have been to in our travels. In a novel way it is located underground and as you enter a loud voice surprises you with a demand to ‘show your documents’ a reminder of the days when everyone was being watched by the regime of the day.

We followed a timeline of the failed ‘people revolutions’ in the other Eastern bloc countries until Solidarity came into being and its influence of when it finally overcame the resistance of the government of the day and their Russian backers to make free politics in Poland.

There was just enough text to read and photos and video to look at, to remind you how the people overcame in the end.

Lech Waleska was a charismatic man with his prominent moustache and a man absolutely determined to succeed. He went on to be President of Poland between 1990 and 1995 .

The visit to this museum and others dedicated to the struggles of the people in the old Eastern bloc countries we have been to over the past couple of months make us truly thankful that we have never had to endure in NZ what the millions in Eastern Europe have had to over the past 80 odd years.

It is little wonder that so many people that we have spoken on this adventure think of and see New Zealand as a peaceful haven that they would love to live in.

It was only a short walk on to where the old town was located and we were soon where all the crowds were gathering.

As with Warsaw, the old town in Gdansk has been substantially and faithfully rebuilt since WW2.

The old towns have certainly been the focus of the cities we have visited and they must create a lot of employment for the locals with the cafes, restaurants and shops located in them and add significantly to the local tourism industry.

The main street was wide and filled with people strolling and listening to the music ranging from people singing to playing keyboard piano as well as an organ grinder, thankfully without a monkey but a parrot instead.

We ended our walk along a canal passing by and inspecting a crane structure that was built in the 1700's and is a feature of the waterfront while on the other side was a view in part of what the area probably looked like before it was redeveloped, with partly knocked down brick buildings.

It had been a good day out with quite a few kilometres put in on foot and it was little wonder that we were ready to call it a day a bit earlier than we have been.

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