Gdansk - Danzig

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Gdansk is a very beautiful city with a storied history. Being on the Baltic, this was often where the latter day Vikings and Swedes invaded Poland.

As for current affairs, it's got lots of those too. For example, this is where the first shots of the 2nd European war of the 20th century were fired by the German Battleship Schleswig Holstein and also where the Cold War ended, when the solidarity trade union of the Gdansk shipyards started their campaign against the Warsaw Pact government of Poland. Ok ... the beginning of the end of the Cold War. I guess the Cold War ended the day the Berlin Wall came down eh?

E..'s family is from this area, and her dad specializes in collecting stamps, notes and coins related to Gdansk, Danzig and Pomerania.

The whole town was bombed to complete rubble during the war, but the local craftsmen have done an incredible job in restoring much of the old style architecture. It's wonderful to walk around the "old town". We also took a sailing ship around the harbour and saw cruise ships docked along with many bulk carriers. The port is massive and spread out.

We came from Kiel by train while our German friends G.. and family drove from Kiel (which happens to be in Schleswig Holstein).

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Photos

Polish Train to Gdansk
We had to switch from a German train to a Polish train at the border