Friday night, as it was rather late, I only made a short walk around old town and grabbed some dinner. As it was the night before the super moon, it was really beautiful, and perfect weather/moonlight for a midnight walk. I knew from just that first stroll around that I was going to love Gdansk. It has a lot of charm--it's picturesque at every turn.
A view of Gdansk Old Town and the Mortlawa River
Saturday I had a busy day, as I quickly realized I really needed about a solid week to see everything I would have liked, but I still wanted to squeeze as much as possible in. My main goal for Saturday was to head out to historic Malbork Castle. The castle was built for the Teutonic Knights, a Germanic Roman Catholic group of crusaders, and claims to be the largest castle in the world by surface area (which I believe after spending hours walking through it, and I'm sure still missing out on parts of it) and the largest brick building in Europe. The castle, built as a fortress for the knights, was completed in 1406. It housed the Teutonic Order until 1466, when Polish forces captured it and it became a royal residence and a part of Royal Prussia. It mostly remained in Polish hand until 1772, though Swedish forces occupied it for brief periods in the 1620's and 1650's. Regardless, it's old, it's historic, and it's absolutely breathtaking.
Part of the fortified castle wall still remains standing (note that it was an absolutely beautiful day for castle exploration).
Everything in the castle was beautifully thought out, down to the most miniscule detail. This room, where all of the windows had multicolored glass in diamond patterns, was one of my favorites.
One of many cathedrals in Malbork Castle, most of the interior was destroyed during WWII. However, the doorway, which boasts beautiful carvings, was salvaged and restored. While it is impressive to see how well they've managed to restore the castle after the war (especially when you see photos of how badly it was bombed), there are still aspects they are working on almost 70 years later.
These represent several of the Teutonic Grand Masters. They used to be at the base of a larger statue, which was destroyed.
This room contained this "throne," and then 4 walls of seats with various sigils and house names. Maybe it was the fact that I've been reading Game of Thrones, but I found it to be especially interesting. Plus, sitting in a throne is always super fun (I could probably rule a small principality).
After several hours of exploring Malbork, I took the train back to Gdansk. While it had only taken me 30 minutes to get to Malbork, the return trip to me almost an hour. At one point our train even stopped and then proceeded to go in the opposite direction. Do trains accidentally make wrong turns? Is that a thing? At least on the return trip I made a new acquaintance. I talked to an American woman from New Hampshire who was in Poland meeting extended family and traveling. We bonded over our inability to understand what was happening with our train.
Upon my return to Gdansk, I took to exploring the Old Town. I walked all over, admiring the beautiful facades of old homes, the elaborate decoration of marketplaces, armories, and city halls, and discovering church after church, each one more impressive than the last. The most impressive thing I saw was St. Mary's Church. It's the largest brick church in the world. As a side note, I realized quickly that Gdansk is like the Texas of Poland--everything is bigger and better. I kind of loved it. Anyway, super impressive, colossal brick church. If you want to explore the inside, you have to pay 4 PLN (which is just a little more than a dollar), but it's completely worth it. The church has beautiful stained glass, and every corner holds some sort of art or memorial. It is impressive in size alone, but it is also truly beautiful.
The stained glass work is gorgeous.
As you may remember from my post about Krakow, the Poles are obsessed with JPII. For the people of Gdansk, he was very inspirational in their Solidarity movement.
My favorite thing about Gothic churches is the use of skulls and crossbones--it's a little creepy, and little fabulous.
One of my favorite Papal traditions, is leaving signs, statues, or gifts, with the Papal seal, that essentially let everyone know "the Pope was here" (in this case, JPII).
After a few more hours of walking, and a delicious dinner out on the town, I returned to my hostel, more than happy to rest for a bit.
At the Neptune Statue in Old Town Gdansk
My hostel turned out to be a great choice for me as a solo traveler. It was in a safe location, near Old Town, but far enough away from a main street so that it was quiet. In the evenings, they had a great media/lounge space. Though I'd planned to go to sleep as soon as I got back, they were showing The Intouchables, a French film I'd really wanted to see. So, against my better judgment, I stayed up until after midnight for the film. It was truly spectacular. And hey, how can I really say I made the most of my summer in Europe if I actually get reasonable amounts of sleep...especially on the weekends?
Sunday, I got up bright and early to squeeze in some more sightseeing before I had to head back to Warsaw. This day I spent in Gdansk, exploring the roots of the Solidarnosc (Solidarity) movement. Solidarnosc, at its roots, is a trade union. It was started at the Gdansk Shipyard (then the Lenin Shipyard) under the leadership of Lech Walesa. It was the first non-communist controlled trade union in any Warsaw Pact country. By September 1981, it had 9.5 million members, representing 1/3 of the total working age population of Poland. Throughout the 1980's, Solidarnosc became a social movement as much as a trade union, employing methods of civil resistance to advance causes of workers rights and sociopolitical change. At one point, the government implemented martial law in an attempt to end Solidarnosc, but the union and its members held their ground, forcing Soviet leadership to negotiate. These negotiations took place as the "Round Table Talks," in Warsaw. The end result was the first (semi-) free elections in a Warsaw Pact country. The Solidarnosc movement is regarded by many, as the first steps in ending the Soviet Union and Communist rule across Central and Eastern Europe.
I got to see the shipyards where the movement started. They're really quite impressive, and a little sad at the same time. Many of the shipbuilding companies are facing hard economic times, and the entire area is threatened. The cranes that are a part of the landscape and the story of Polish freedom, may not be in place much longer.
A memorial for the shipyard workers and civilians, killed during a political clash in the 1970's. It was built by volunteers of the Solidarnosc movement during the 1980s, and made a huge statement for the movement and its goals of peaceful resolution.
After the shipyards, I visited the Roads to Freedom museum, which told more of the story of the Solidarnosc movement. It was truly an impressive morning, and I learned so much about the history of Poland that I had not previously known. It was a busy 36 hours in Gdansk before taking the train back to Warsaw, but I certainly enjoyed every minute of it!
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