Poland Day 14 - Random Thoughts

Last full day in Poland today and an early flight out in the morning. So for this final blog entry I'll go with random thoughts and random photos from our sight seeing in Warsaw. 

1. The first few days of the trip while chasing our heritage was unbelievably fulfilling. Even now, the thought of our good fortune in meeting previously unknown, albeit distant family,  and   filling in more of the family tree makes my heart beat just a little quicker.
2. The Polish people have endured hardship, persecution and misery, throughout their history. But through their pride and hard work, the country and its' economy seem to be doing well with new construction projects seen everywhere we traveled. 
3.  Surely we've only tasted a tiny slice of what Poland has to offer, but what a slice it was. This is a beautiful country with a rich history.

Until the next trip...  

Monument to Frederic Chopin

Monument to the Warsaw Uprising of 1944

Monument to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943

And finally, random views in Warsaw

Poland Day 13 - The Road to Warsaw

Our tour of Poland is nearing the end. Today we are off to Warsaw, but first a stop at Malbork castle, the oldest brick castle in the world.  A medieval fortress that was completed in 1406 is now a Unesco World Heritage Site. It's a massive, imposing and beautiful sight.

It's current state of restoration is a far cry from how it looked after the Second World War.

If you look closely you will see this pelican figure in one of the castle courtyards is riddled with bullet holes. The German army used the site as one of its' headquarters and a munitions depot.

The restoration of the church within the castle grounds was only completed to a point that allowed visitors, last year.

With the exception of the stop to tour the castle, today was mostly a day of travel to Warsaw. 
After checking in to our hotel, we only had time for a short walk, a quick snack and beverage before heading off to see a local pianist perform some of Chopin's work. Chopin was after all, a native of Warsaw. Unfortunately no photos or video were allowed during the performance, but even if you don't like the "long hair" stuff, you couldn't help but admire the man's considerable ability. And the instrument was a work of art itself.

Poland Day 12 - Gdansk... War and Peace

The whole day today was spent touring the beautiful city of Gdansk in northern Poland.
Founded along the shores of the Baltic sea in the 10th century, the city has been site of many battles and come under the control of many ruling factions throughout its' history. However the era that holds the most interest for me is the 20th century. Several factors pique my interest here, not the least of which is my dad would have boarded a ship in the city's port, for his passage to Canada.

The shot below shows a plaque describing some of the history of the port. I include it here because the large 3 stack ship in it, puts me in mind of the ship dad would have been on for his Atlantic crossing to Halifax and ultimately, Montreal.

Another reason for my interest is, it was here on the Westerplatte Peninsula of Gdansk, that the first shots of WWII were fired on September 1, 1939 as the Germans attacked a Polish military depot located here. 

A communications tower of the military depot is shown below with the memorial monument shown in the following photo.

Shortly after the start of the war, the city was annexed by and under the control of Germany until March of 1945 when the Russian armies invaded and virtually destroyed the city.

The crumbling walls in the photo below are remnants of the Russian invasion and their apparent wanton destruction of the city.

After the war, Gdansk and Poland as a whole came under the control of a Soviet backed communist regime. That lasted until Lech Walesa and the Solidarity movement (which began at the Gdansk ship yards in 1980), were finally able to bear enough pressure on the government to call a general election which brought an end to communism and established a democratic government in 1989. 

Of course dad followed the news of the peoples uprising eagerly, but unfortunately never got to see the day democracy was established in his homeland.

Poland was the first of the "Soviet Block" countries to gain it's freedom and the fall of the Berlin Wall came a few months later.

The Gdansk ship yards were the site of most of the demonstrations and strikes that resulted in the fall of Russian lead rule. The museum and memorial to that movement is seen in the shots below.

After focusing on the struggles of Gdansk, we spend the rest of the day enjoying the sunny but cool weather by exploring the "old town" and it's shops, patios and historical sites. 

One of the main streets full of shops and restaurants

I'll call this "amber lane" as the walkway is littered with shops selling amber based jewelry

Despite the sun, it's a cool day so we find a sunny patio and warm up with a hot beverage.
It's coffee...  that's our story and we're sticking to it.

A beautiful view through the "Golden Gate" where the kings of the past, entered the city

We just happened upon a demonstration put on by the emergency responders of the city

  

  Another early start tomorrow for the trip to Warsaw. 

Poland Day 11 - Science and Solidarity

So apparently yesterday's blog entry was not wholly accurate with respect to the oldest cathedral in Poland. Our first stop today was the town of Gniezno which also claims to be the home of oldest Cathedral in the country. The Royal Gniezno Cathedral has apparently been around since the year 975 and was the coronation place of several of Poland's earliest monarchs.

Regardless of its age, it's an impressive church. Especially the bronze doors with a beautiful depiction      of the martyr, Saint Adalbert of Prague.

The birthplace of the nation also comes into question as Gniezno (loosely translates to "the nest"), also lays claim to that piece of history. When I questioned our tour director on this he agreed there is still debate on the exact location of the country's earliest roots however it is generally accepted the lands between Poznan and Gniezno show the earliest signs of Poland as a nation.

Next stop is the town of Torun, the birth place of Nicolaus Copernicus in 1473. The photo below shows the home he grew up in and the following shot shows the church he was baptized in.

Today was horribly cold and wet, so after our tour of the old town, a few of us bolt for a nearby restaurant.



Now warm and dry, we settle in for a beverage and a nice meal.  Mike, a fellow Canadian on the tour joins us. Mike is from Calgary.

The drive from Torun to Gdansk has us checking in to our hotel around 5:15. Of course Gdansk is the home of Lech Walesa  and the Solidarity movement, which resulted in Poland regaining democratic independence in 1989.

The view from my room is over local rooftops toward the city's Panoramic Ferris Wheel.

The view also reveals some decorative downspouts 

It's still cold and wet here in Gdansk, so it's a quick tour of nearby dining establishments, a warm meal and back to the hotel for some much needed down time and sleep. We'll spend the whole day tomorrow touring this city before we head to our final destination, Warsaw, on Friday.

Poland Day 10 - Fighting Goats and Beer

Today we're in Poznan, a city of about 550,000 people. This city is thought to be the birthplace of Poland and is home to the country's oldest cathedral, originally built in the 10th century. It's been rebuilt several times, mostly due to fire. The last rebuild came in 1945 after a fire which occurred during the city's liberation from the Germans. 

The city's centre square is full of restaurants, cafes, shops and bakeries.

The story of the fighting goats goes something like this. A local cook was preparing a meal for a large group and was about to slaughter 2 goats for that purpose. Unfortunately for him, the goats escaped and took refuge in the town hall where they were seen to butt heads regularly.

Now, every day at noon, the goats make an appearance from the clock tower to put on a display of their head butt fights. If I could figure out how to get video to work here, you could see a shaky showing of the event. But for now suffice it to say, the display had the kids in the gathered crowd laughing.

 After a brief walking tour and lunch in the old town square, it was off for a tour of Lech brewery.
Lech Premium happened to be the first "piwo" we enjoyed after arriving in Kielce. (see day 1).
Apparently the copper covering these mash pots is just that, a covering. It's just there for show now as stainless steel is the current standard in brewing.

The bottle washing, filling and packaging system was pretty impressive, capable of a 60,000 bpm output.

Some of the group enjoying a beverage after the tour.

Tomorrow...  Gdansk.