Walking. Gossip. Travel.

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  • Gdansk – Antoni Browarczyk and Martial Law

    Gdansk – Antoni Browarczyk and Martial Law

    This eye-catching memorial commemorates the life of Antoni Browarczyk and others who died in the martial law period of Polish history. It’s hard to imagine Poland being run by the military as the communist authorities felt that this was the best way to deal with growing dissent and a call for democracy. It was a pretty dire time for the Polish people and around forty people were killed by the military during the period from December 1981 until July 1983 when martial law was in force.

    One of those who died was Antoni Browarczyk, aged just 19 when he was shot to death in a political demonstration in Gdansk just a few days after martial law was declared. His mother spoke to the local newspaper a few years ago, still upset and confused about what happened and how it was dealt with. The sculpture was installed here in 2016 and was designed by Gennady Jerszow and is made of bronze. The memorial is located here, near Forum Gdansk, as this is where Browarczyk was killed. Forum Gdansk, one of the most modern shopping centres in the country, is a symbol of the new Gdansk, with so much changing over the last forty years.

  • Gdansk – Retro Cafe

    Gdansk – Retro Cafe

    Gdansk has no shortage of cafes, but this one was well reviewed and their external signage stating that they were “a cafe with a soul” made it sound tempting.

    The cake selection, all well presented and looking not inconsiderably appetising. The service style is fairly self-evident, staff welcome customers at the door and show them to a table before returning shortly afterwards to take the order. All nice and easy to understand, I like that approach.

    I had intended to order a pistachio coffee as that seemed like something unique, but then I saw later on in the menu that they sold artisan beers and to ask the staff member. I did that and he mentioned that there was a dark beer, which I ordered. He did return to tell me that the beer had coffee in it, but this made me more interested in it than I was before, and then it arrived. Incidentally and as a side-note, I forgot about the pistachio coffee, such is the joy of beer.

    What arrived was a milk stout, my favourite of drinks, so this was a delightful choice. It’s a bottle of Barakito from Browar De Facto which is located near Torun, coincidentally my next destination when I leave the Tricity (Gdansk, Gdynia and Sopot). An above average beer, a sweetness of taste with a full body and a pleasant aftertaste. The strongest taste is coffee, which is unsurprising, as the beer takes its name from barraquito, a coffee popular in the Canary Islands. This brewery seems to have a relatively limited reach across Poland, so this is a rather decent choice from the cafe.

    There’s a retro feel to the cafe, which also had some period music to add to the ambience. It was generally busy during the time that I was there, but never quite full. There’s quite a wide menu available and the cafe also has numerous vegetarian and vegan options for those looking for that. It seems to be, or at least the reviews suggest, a popular choice for those wanting breakfast and they also offer a take-away service.

    This is the coconut chia cake and I have to confess to not knowing what the hell a chia is, although a quick look on Google shows that they’re seeds which are commonly used in cakes. A biscuity base (I can’t help but think of this video when writing that) with lots of texture from the seed things and then a sweet sauce on top. I’m not usually a desserts person, but this was a light, but filling, option.

    Service was excellent, a friendly young server who was engaging and helpful, so the atmosphere was always welcoming. Given that this was a centrally located cafe in Gdansk it would be easy for the service to be more routine, but it all felt well managed with staff who seemed personable and polite. The prices were towards the upper end of the scale, but the quality was high and I was pleased with my choice of lunch location.

  • Gdansk – Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity Grand Finale

    Gdansk – Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity Grand Finale

    I had wondered why there were tens of collectors on the streets of Gdansk today, but I’ve realised that it’s something called the Grand Finale of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity (or Wielka Orkiestra Świątecznej Pomocy in Polish, or WOSP). It’s the largest public fundraising event of its kind in the country, akin to Comic Relief in the UK, and it raises money for children’s hospitals in Poland. The sums of money raised are sizeable, donations in 2019 were 175,938,717zl, or around £35,000,000.

    This year’s event is the 28th and it’s shown live on television, as well as being celebrated around Poland and in Polish communities around the world. My photo above isn’t very clear and I should have taken my camera, but it’s a large square in Gdansk where they’re showing the live television fund raising programme. As it stands, the screens are showing that they’re raising more money than they did at the same point last year. Very lovely.

  • Gdansk – Pułapka

    Gdansk – Pułapka

    I’m pleased to see that the number of craft beer bars in Gdansk is continuing to grow, a trend that will no doubt continue as it has in so many other cities. This is a bar that I haven’t been to before on previous visits, although it has been trading for a number of years.

    Not the clearest of photos unfortunately, but there was a decent range of different beer types and they were all clearly displayed.

    This is the Willy Tonka 2020 milk stout from Browar Monsters, which is one of the best of this type of beer that I’ve had. The flavours aren’t immediately obvious, but there are pleasant aftertastes to the beer which I assume are from the tonka beans which its named after. There’s also a taste of coffee and it was all rather moreish. Incidentally, I was impressed that around 30 seconds after I added this beer to my Untappd news feed that the brewery acknowledged it.

    The bar’s interior, all very on-trend, but also clean and comfortable. The service was friendly, engaging and polite throughout, the bar had one of those relaxed vibes which can tempt customers to stay longer. Although that seems deliberate, the word Pułapka means trap, so the patrons can be kept in for longer. The staff member behind the bar was attentive to all customers and it seemed to be primarily locals, with the occasional tourist coming in from time to time.

    It’s not far to walk here from the city centre, but it’s sufficiently tucked away to give it that quiet and detached feel and it’s well worth a little visit.

  • Warsaw – National Museum in Warsaw (Baptismal Font)

    Warsaw – National Museum in Warsaw (Baptismal Font)

    What with the 1492 Carrying of the Cross and the Polychrome Statue of St. Barbara, half of the previous contents of St. Elizabeth’s Church in Wrocław seems to be on display in this museum. Anyway, this baptismal font is a notable piece of work, made from bronze and dating back to before 1477.

    The church today seems very proud of the artefacts and items that it still owns, with very little from before 1500, and I do wonder whether they cast half an eye over the collections in the National Museum that once came from here. This is certainly one of the most detailed fonts that I’ve seen though, so it’s worthy of having such a large national audience and it’s probably just a security headache in a church anyway with people trying to steal it.

  • Warsaw – Polish Army Museum (Yak-40)

    Warsaw – Polish Army Museum (Yak-40)

    This Soviet built aircraft, the Yak-40, is part of the outdoor display at the Polish Army Museum in Warsaw. It came to the museum in 2013 from Okecie Airport in the city, which is now better known as Warsaw Chopin Airport, where it had been used for VIP transportation. The Yak-40 aircraft was used for commercial and military travel and was mostly, but not entirely, operated by fleets in eastern and central Europe.

    Although it wasn’t open the day that I went, they do allow visits to see inside, with access from the rear of the aircraft.

  • Warsaw – National Museum in Warsaw (Carrying of the Cross – 1492)

    Warsaw – National Museum in Warsaw (Carrying of the Cross – 1492)

    This installation looks like it is almost new, representing the carrying of the cross, the Last Supper, washing of the feet and agony in the garden. The detail of the faces is quite astounding, even a little menacing, with the wooden figures dating back to 1492.

    The representation of the carrying of the cross.

    These sculptures were originally located at the Chapel of the Krappe Family in St. Elizabeth’s Church in Wrocław. This is the same church, which I’ve visited, that the museum’s Polychrome Statue of Saint Barbara is from. Johannes Krappe had taken over the chapel in 1477, but it wasn’t consecrated until 1492, by which time these figures had been installed. It’s not known who created and designed the figures, but their purpose was to teach the congregation the suffering that Christ had been through. I can imagine that they were not ineffective in that task, they’re emotional figures.

    I can’t find out the journey that these figures have taken over the centuries, their survival in such pristine condition is noteworthy in itself.

  • Warsaw – National Museum in Warsaw (Pietà from Lubiąż)

    Warsaw – National Museum in Warsaw (Pietà from Lubiąż)

    I didn’t know this before, but a Pietà is a depiction of the Virgin Mary holding the dead Jesus on her lap. It’s quite eye catching given its colour and vibrancy, with the whole polychrome item being in a decent state of repair. It’s a beautiful item and it dates to around 1370.

    The card by the exhibit says that it comes from the Cistercian Monastery at Lubiąż Abbey, but the museum’s web-site which has more information, adds that it might also be from the Cistercian Monastery at Trzebnica. I hadn’t heard of Lubiąż Abbey, but it seems an amazing historic site, one of the largest Christian sites in the world. The monks were kicked out of their abbey in 1492 by Jan II the Mad, who from his name sounds a bit of a character.

  • Flixbus – Warsaw to Gdansk

    Flixbus – Warsaw to Gdansk

    As a minor confession, not that it much matters, but the coach in the photo above isn’t the one I got from Warsaw to Gdansk, it’s the one that was at the platform before. But, I didn’t get a photo in Warsaw of the actual bus, so it’ll have to do. The coach departed from Warsaw West Coach Station and it turned up on time, which was fortuitous since it was getting cold.

    For anyone who ploughs through the rubbish that I write, I don’t really like Flixbus as they’re generally hopeless in some shape or form. However, things seem to have been improving, whether that’s because they are as a company, or because I’ve just become a little more fortunate.

    Anyway, the bus turns up on time and it’s modern and clean. The coach driver didn’t burden himself with being polite or helpful, but perhaps he was concentrating on his drive ahead. It’s a relatively long journey, we set off at 13:30 and arrived in on schedule at 18:40 in Gdansk. The coach started at Warsaw West, but it went on a little further to Gdynia, with stops en route at Warsaw Młociny and Elblag (somewhere I keep meaning to go at some point).

    The coach, quite amazingly, had working wi-fi and power, which isn’t usually the case. It also doesn’t have those horrible leather seats, but instead fabric seats which were clean and looked modern. I’m not an expert on coaches, but it seemed relatively new and well looked-after. The temperature on board was just right and there was a ten-minute break en route, with everything running according to the timetable. The driver made announcements in Polish, with a pre-recorded safety and welcome audio recording which was in English.

    This isn’t a great photo, but it’s of the actual coach after we arrived into Gdansk coach station, which is centrally located and just a few minutes walk away from my hotel.

    For this journey, I don’t really have any complaints as it cost £5 and it got me safely and on time from Warsaw to Gdansk. It was an easy journey and if the driver had been a little less grumpy to customers, then this would have been my first perfect trip with Flixbus. What a time to be alive….

  • Warsaw – Dworzec Autobusowy Warszawa Zachodnia (Warsaw West Coach Station)

    Warsaw – Dworzec Autobusowy Warszawa Zachodnia (Warsaw West Coach Station)

    This is the coach station that I was catching my Flixbus to Gdansk from, although it’s used by a number of different coach companies. Flixbus refer to as Warsaw West, but its name is Warszawa Zachodnia (which is Warsaw West in Polish).

    It’s a little barren if I’m being honest, with no shelter at the coach platforms. The numbers also appear to have fallen off the platforms, although there are some temporary ones attached to the poles. There needs to be some modernisation here, it felt quite like old Poland. Which is no doubt when it was built. Reading the local media, it appears that the coach station is being entirely replaced on the same site by 2023.

    The screens inside made clear which platform I needed to wait at.

    When at the platform, there was reassurance that I was at the correct place. I found this an easier coach station than many to find my way around, primarily because of the clarity of those posters and information. For those who needed to ask questions, there were though some customer service staff milling around inside.

    This is the hostel at the coach station, very salubrious…..

    Here’s my top tip for waiting coach passengers, as the McDonald’s and Costa Coffee next to the coach station were entirely packed. And I had a wait of just over an hour, so I didn’t want to just stand there aimlessly looking confused. Well, no more than normal. So, I walked for around six minutes to this KFC outlet, next to a BP petrol station. They’ve got toilets which are free, which the coach station doesn’t, as well as plenty of seating in a clean and comfortable environment. That’s the best solution that I could think of for having somewhere to pass the time. And the chicken entirely met my requirements…

    And, my logic of where to wait worked out, since I caught the Flixbus, which turned up on time. But more about that in my next post. I bet readers of this blog, all two of them, can hardly wait….