The nicest urine-scented apartment in Gdansk

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Geo: 54.36, 18.64

Surprisingly, I didn't have a crappy sleep on the bus! I probably got almost 5 hours. I forgot that we gain an hour crossing the border into Poland. It would have been nice to get a little more sleep, but it was getting a little uncomfortable. I just wanted to get off and walk around.

We arrived in Gdansk and needed to kill 30 minutes until the accommodation rental agency opened. We walked a little bit to get the blood flowing and then just hung around the area.

The apartment was pretty decent on the inside, despite being located inside a building with a dumpy and urine-drenched entrance (there was a puddle at the bottom of the steps and given the smell, we guessed it was urine). Though you require a code to enter the building, we found the door was broken and anyone could walk in. This probably explains why the entrance reeked.

The apartment was open and airy, with a kitchenette, washing machine, and plush comforter. Coupled with a fantastic location on Dluga (main pedestrian street), it was very good value at 40 Euros/night.

We showered and did a small load of laundry (tiny machine that took forever) and went off in search of lunch. Finally, I've been able to go to a Polish milk bar! I never had the chance to try one out last summer. These were popular back in the communist days - these cheap cafeterias were government-subsidized to allow people to have an occasional meal out. They are a dying breed, but are still government-subsidized and therefore a cheap place to have a hot meal. Milk Bar Mleczny Neptune was just down the street from our apartment.

We finished most of our meals and left, completely stuffed. I don't think I'd go back any time soon, but dining at a milk bar was something I've wanted to experience. You simply can't beat the price. And it was way better than the crappy cafeteria meal we had in Tallinn, and was only slightly more expensive.

Mary-ism #21: Mary started to talk about the numerous purposes for her hands. I simply covered my ears to protect them from the certain onslaught of dirty things to come.

As we walked, a random old lady came up, gestured at Mary's face, and said something in Polish. We kept saying that we don't speak Polish and she kept repeating the same words. We left confused and could only guess that she said "Dirty girl, VERY dirty girl!"

We popped into the St. Nicholas church - one of the few churches in Gdansk NOT destroyed in WWII. Mary saw a confessional and wanted to confess her sins, telling me "This might take a while. I'll meet you in Berlin in 3 days."

St. Bridget's - a cool little church with ties to the Solidarity movement. It was the church of Lech Walesa, Solidarity's former leade. Talk about a fall from grace - the once venerated Priest of St. Bridget's, Henryk Jankowski was removed from power amid allegations of pedophilia. Creepy.

We stepped outside into a storm - Hurricane Maria has blown into town! Anywhere we go, bad weather has followed. It was incredibly windy and started to drizzle. With the weather so bad, we took the opportunity to duck into a modern shopping centre for a bit.

Next was the Solidarity memorial. We asked a security guard if we could go in to take a look. He replied rather rudely "NO!" Ok ... so we wandered around the outside to get a better look. The security guard then came out and nicely showed us the correct way to get in. I guess it was all a misunderstanding because we had tried to enter through the wrong entrance.

This was some really cool stuff. We couldn't find the actual museum at first as it wasn't labeled very well. We almost gave up but I'm glad that we found it. It was definitely well worth the visit.

Back to the apartment - I couldn't manage to open the washing machine but Mary was able to. I guess she's been eating her Wheaties! We threw in another load and then went to the Uphagen House. It's a lot like houses in Amsterdam - narrow in the front, but the houses extend far into the back. This is because houses here are taxed based on their frontage, just like in Amsterdam. It was pretty boring and was essentially a collection of plates and silverware. It was a good thing that admission was cheap.

We used the internet and then went back to the apartment to kill some time, and also to do some more laundry. The apartment is pretty chilly and I didn't see any way of adjusting the heat.

For dinner, we tried getting into Restaurant Goldwasser but were told that it was "occupied" (somewhat rudely, I might add), despite several seemingly open tables. We were offered seats on the terrace but being a cold night, we declined.

We tried Pierogarnia U Dzika instead. Not as fancy as Goldwasser, but I preferred the far more attractive female staff here! Cute, bubbly waitress or cold, rude, expressionless waiter ... who would you choose? Had the Okocim beer - OK. I can't remember for sure, but I might have tried this last year in Krakow. We both ordered pierogi tonight. Afterwards, we were stuffed like two big yellow pierogi!

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Photos

a
Lunch at the milk bar - I chose the fried patties (I thought they were meat-based) that turned out to be filled with chopped up hard-boiled eggs. Accompanied by mushy cauliflower, chunky mashed potatoes, and of course, mushroom cream sauce. Mediocre, but the portions were huge and cheap.

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Mary had a potato pancake stuffed with mystery cubes of meat (pork, lamb???), mushy sweet carrots, and brussel sprouts. The crisp pancake was really good with the flavourful gravy. Her meal was definitely better than mine.

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Waffle stand - YESSSSSS!!!!!!!

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View of Dluga, the main pedestrian street.

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View of Dluga from the apartment.

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We stopped at the market - while smaller and cleaner, it reminded me a lot of the market in Budapest (see Euro 2006 blog entitled "I need to get more people to cook for me ..."). It was a lot nicer than most Eastern European markets I've been to and had quite a few clothing stalls. Mary purchased a scarf and asked me to do something obscene with it. I think that Mary is slowly corrupting me over the course of this trip.

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Statue of the Pope, outside of St. Bridget's.

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In St. Bridget's, the Tomb of Jerzy Popieluszko, an outspoken Warsaw priest who was tortured and killed by the secret police.

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Mary Moment #49: Stripping inside of a church. Sacrilegious!

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A statue of a worker shielding himself from the bullets. At the top of the plaque is a quote from Pope John Paul II - "Let thy spirit descend, and renew the face of the Earth - THIS Earth" It was a subtle reference to Poland - the Pope had to be careful not to overtly criticize the Communists, otherwise they would have crushed the church in Poland.
At the bottom is "They gave their lives so that you can live decently."

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There are two gateways into the shipyard - this is supposed to represent the hull of a ship.

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The second gate - a small-scale version of a huge monument planned (but never built) by the Soviets.

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Pictures from the strike in 1980 that gave birth to the Solidarity movement.

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For me, the Solidarity sights were the highlight of Gdansk.

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A mock-up of a Communist-era store. Sometimes all you could get was mustard and vinegar. You could usually get milk and bread but sometimes you'd find a cigarette butt in it. They usually stocked fake foods to make the store look fuller than it was. But I was very surprised to see a dirty little Asian girl for sale!

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The striking workers came up with their 21 points (demands) and captured them on plywood.

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Gdansk after WWII.

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Monument of the Fallen Shipyard Workers - a reminder of a day in 1970 when the Polish Army opened fire on a rioting mob.

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The Golden Gate - the statues of four women represent the virtues Peace, Freedom, Wealth, and Fame.

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Poland is hosting the 2012 Euro cup - there are plans to build a soccer stadium with a shell made entirely of amber!

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Mariacka street - strolling along it feels almost like you're in a bygone era.