Day Thirteen - Rest Day in Gdañsk

It was nice to wake up in a dry bed without any pressure to get moving for the day. The only thing that was even remotely time-bound was getting my laundry done. On a trip like this, you run very lean on what you bring, and that means you have to be thoughtful about how you launder your clothes. I basically needed to wash everything, but I couldn’t be naked walking around Gdañsk, so what to do? I’ll spare the details. I got my laundry done so critical parts of it could dry fast and I could get back to normal, so to speak, after lunch. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves though.

Breakfast. The hotel breakfast was painfully overpriced and the staff were nothing short of pissed off. I had a cup of coffee and a piece of bread and left, on my way to a good coffee shop with pastries and a cortado. It was a nice change from instant coffee and bread. The below “New York Roll” was made with a fruit filling from forest fruits of Poland. Delicious.

I should also add that I spent most of the day battling anxiety around the storm that hit Cuyuna, with reports of a tornado touchdown very close to my place. Thanks to my friends Aaron, Jim, and Vern up there for checking it out for me and sending me good news later in the evening. Many trees were down, but structures are unscathed. Because of the time difference I could not get any news for most of the day, so I focused my attention on other things.

I walked around Gdañsk and took a bunch of photos. What a city.

My other main objective was to visit the European Solidarity Center, ground zero for the 1980’s solidarity movement lead by Lech Wałęsa. It’s also known as “Stocznia Gdañska” (Gdañsk Shipyards).

In 1990 Ronald Reagan stood on the left side of this gate in the picture and gave a speech to Poland and the shipyard workers. Three months later the first democratic election east of the iron curtain happened. This site is historic, and symbolic. There is a gravity you feel when you’re there. It also documents and remembers the workers killed in the 1970 protests. Considering what is going on geopolitically at the moment, this space had an extra poignancy about it. It really struck me. I visited it 20 years ago too. It was different this time.

This led into the evening, where I walked around checking out the Hanseatic League celebration that was happening in Długi Targ. In the 14h century, this Hanseatic league was a partnership of more than 200 municipalities throughout norther Europe to promote commerce and collaborate on defense. It was so fascinating that this celebration was happening right in front of my hotel. The sign below reads “Change Starts Here.”The evening was beautiful, with a twilight that made for great photography.

That pretty much wrapped up my rest day in Gdañsk. It’s a city worth visiting some day if you haven’t already. I wish hi had more time here.