Day 110 June 4th 2017
Set off to wander Gdansk in the old fashioned way – no map, no GPS, no plan. The more we wandered the more we loved this city. Peaceful, a river running through it, a beautiful (reconstructed) old town. At every turn there was a new street-scape to gaze upon.
We began along the waterfront with small boats, tourist boats and craft buzzing up and down the river. A large wooden structure looms over the walkway – The Wooden Crane originally constructed in the 14th Century it is no longer a working crane but an impressive dark wood structure against the skyline.
The buildings lining the river are interrupted at intervals by arches leading into the town. Eventually curious we turned and went through one of the arches, to find we had chosen a street that is commonly described as the “prettiest street in Mariacka Street” . Again this street was devastated by bombing at the end of the war and has been reconstructed. Filled now with Amber and silver stalls, antique shops, and cafes. The cobbled stone street is lined with an array of buildings whose facades are covered with ornate decoration giving the street a magical appearance. I loved the Gargoyles for draining water – dragons heads and the like hovering over the rooves.
Who could resist a stop for coffee. Cafe Kamienika had a couple of outdoor tables overlooking the street and a lovely retro-boho kind of interior. Smooth little Macchiato to get the heart started.
More wandering and we found ourselves on the perimeter of a large (and I mean LARGE) church. I remembered reading the largest brick cathedral in the world was in Krakow and here it was – St Mary’s Basilica. Unfortunately while it was an impressive and massive structure it was also under construction with scaffolding, barriers and sheeting covering much of the building blocking much of its impressive size and structure.
After looking for a Tourist Information Office for most of the morning we now stumbled across one as we wandered out of the old town. As we have discovered across the world we received service above and beyond our expectations. Lots of new information and ideas for sightseeing along with the discovery that much is closed today as it is the Whitsunday Holiday. This being important because I left my charger on the train and Chris’s charger decided not to work last night. (Post Note – the said charger turned up just after we bought a new one in Malmo – there it was hiding in that only pocket in the pack I did not open!)
Between the arch leaving the old town and finding the Tourist Office was a large black and white photo – a stark reminder of Gdansk after the bombing at the end of WWII. And the incredible reconstruction work that has been undertaken.
One treasure we were given at the Tourism office was a small guide book – that turned out to be so much more. An “In Your Pocket” production (also website) – the book had all the usual tourist booklet with so much more – websites, history, stories, information.
By this time it is beyond lunch time and as we wander we found an interesting looking restaurant in a little side street. Up past the velvet sofa we went, up the stairs into a quirky, highly decorated restaurant – Mestwin Tawerna. Another off the cuff treat. Choosing a starter of Kashubian Herring – having never heard of Kashubian this was taking a chance. I did look it up when we got home and discovered Kashubians are a separate group within Poland, closely related to Poles yet different dialect (or possibly language) and customs. Another interesting experience around food and culture.
