Category: Gdansk

This is my second visit to the Solidarity Museum in Gdansk, which tells the story of the political and civil resistance of the brave people of Poland against the oppressive communist regime. The museum, which is also a library and academic centre, opened in 2014 and the exterior is designed to look like the hulls of ships as this is where the movement came from, the Gdansk Shipyards.

The grand and expansive lobby of the museum.

The Soviets liked to pretend that there was a closeness between the people of their country and Poland, with Leonid Brezhnev, the Soviet President between 1964 and 1982, and Edward Gierek, the Polish President between 1970 and 1980, continuing that farce in this photo. I think it’s fair to say that the majority of the people of Poland aren’t feeling much closeness with Russia today.

This was the reality for anyone who opposed people such as Gierek, they were thrown in prison. As a political leader, Gierek was seen as relatively reforming and modernising, but he presided over economic chaos and political suppression.

The map of Soviet influence fortunately doesn’t look like this any more.

There are the heroes of Poland in my view, the brave men and women who stood up and argued against the policies of the state. They were arrested, often beaten and their careers destroyed.

This is the shirt of Adam Gotner who was shot at an earlier protest on 17 December 1970, the bullet hole is visible, but he survived.

Things would have been much better if someone like Steve, a modernising and forward-thinking individual, had been involved with matters.

Not that it’s relevant for this blog, but I have some deep concerns about the current Pope, but it’s certainly fair to say that Pope John Paul II was a pivotal figure in the fight against communism and intolerance in Poland. He remains a hero for many in Poland, not least for how he spoke to and for the people of the country in the 1980s. The Polish Government at the time were not impressed at his involvement I think it’s fair to note.

The Popemobile.

The realities of communist economic policy, there were product shortages and long queues.

The 21 demands issued by the strike committee on 17 August 1980. These boards were placed on the Maritime Museum following the protests, but then hidden by a museum worker when the army took over the running of the country and they were later rediscovered and moved to this museum when it opened. And, for completeness, here are their demands:

1. Acceptance of free trade unions independent of the Communist Party and of enterprises, in accordance with convention No. 87 of the International Labor Organization concerning the right to form free trade unions.

2. A guarantee of the right to strike and of the security of strikers.

3. Compliance with the constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech, the press and publication, including freedom for independent publishers, and the availability of the mass media to representatives of all faiths.

4. A return of former rights to: 1) People dismissed from work after the 1970 and 1976 strikes. 2) Students expelled because of their views. The release of all political prisoners, among them Edmund Zadrozynski, Jan Kozlowski, and Marek Kozlowski. A halt in repression of the individual because of personal conviction.

5. Availability to the mass media of information about the formation of the Inter-factory Strike Committee and publication of its demands.

6. Bringing the country out of its crisis situation by the following means: a) making public complete information about the social-economic situation. b) enabling all social classes to take part in discussion of the reform programme.

7. Compensation of all workers taking part in the strike for the period of the strike.

8. An increase in the pay of each worker by 2,000 złoty a month.

9. Guaranteed automatic increases in pay on the basis of increases in prices and the decline in real income.

10. A full supply of food products for the domestic market, with exports limited to surpluses.

11. The introduction of food coupons for meat and meat products (until the market stabilizes).

12. The abolition of commercial prices and sales for Western currencies in the so-called internal export companies.

13. Selection of management personnel on the basis of qualifications, not party membership, and elimination of privileges for the state police, security service, and party apparatus by equalization of family allowances and elimination of special sales, etc.

14. Reduction in the age for retirement for women to 50 and for men to 55, or (regardless of age) after working for 30 years (for women) or 35 years (for men).

15. Conformity of old-age pensions and annuities with what has actually been paid in.

16. Improvements in the working conditions of the health service.

17. Assurances of a reasonable number of places in day-care centers and kindergartens for the children of working mothers.

18. Paid maternity leave for three years.

19. A decrease in the waiting period for apartments.

20. An increase in the commuter’s allowance to 100 złoty.

21. A day of rest on Saturday. Workers in the brigade system or round-the-clock jobs are to be compensated for the loss of free Saturdays with increased leave or other paid time off.

The strike committee evolved into the Solidarity movement, the logo was created by Jerzy Janiszewski.

The almost comedy announcement, although it had serious implications for Poland, made in 1981 by Wojciech Jaruzelski when he said that martial law was required because of Solidarity. He was the Prime Minister of Poland between 1981 and 1985 and personally responsible for crimes against the people of the country, but he avoided criminal action due to ill health and he died in 2014. In his later years he apologised for the failures of communism and said he had reformed, but I’m not sure how widely that was believed.

The leader of the strike movement, Lech Wałęsa, the future President of Poland.

The Polish authorities didn’t like the rise of Lech Wałęsa and Solidarity.

Although printing political document for Solidarity was banned, illegal printing presses sprung up around the country.

Ronald Reagan visiting Moscow on 31 May 1988.

A recreated circular table from the Polish Round Table Agreement of 1989.

The Solidarity election posters ready for the 4 June 1989 elections and they won every single Senate seat.

Candidates for the party wanted to appear linked to Lech Wałęsa, so he appeared in just about every election leaflet.

Communism collapsed, Poland was free once again thanks to Solidarity and the people behind the movement.

It’s a fascinating museum, telling the story of how Solidarity was born, where it came from and the influence which it now has. There’s a viewing platform on the top of the building where it’s possible to see the docks and where Solidarity was born. Steve was told off for walking on the gravel, but Ross and I carefully walked just on the paving stones. I think Steve would have been a radical if he had worked at the docks….

It’s a definitely a museum worth visiting, I think we all enjoyed it and found it useful. It’s not hard to feel great sympathy for the Polish people seeing what they’ve been through in the twentieth century, their country smashed apart by war and then left in economic and political chaos by the communist authorities. Things feel and look so much more positive now, but it needed the bravery of these men and women of the Gdansk shipyards, and far beyond, to start that change. I have more to note about this museum, but for the purposes of vaguely trying to keep up with the blog this weekend, I’ll limit myself to that.

Our first stop of the day was at St. Mary’s Church, which is the co-cathedral for the area along with Oliwa Cathedral. I’ve written about this building before, but it’s a magnificent and grand structure. I’m always quite taken by the height of the aisles, but the history of it bouncing between the Catholic and Lutheran traditions for centuries is fascinating and it has only been Catholic once again since 1945. Many of the artworks from the church were in the care of the National Museum in Warsaw and were only returned back here in the 1990s.

This is new since my last visit, the burial place of Paweł Adamowicz who served as the Mayor of Gdansk between 1998 and 2019 when he was assassinated. He was killed at a charity event by a man with mental health issues, a tragedy that I remember sent shockwaves throughout Poland and beyond.

Steve found a leaflet about the Polish camino, he’s done numerous of these long walks in Spain and so he was surprised and delighted by this. My next problem was getting Bev and Susanna out of the building as we’re returning later in the weekend if possible to climb the tower, but fortunately they eventually noticed my passive aggressive hints they needed to leave for the moment.

Anyway, more about this building in later posts, although I’ve written before about the Astronomical Clock and the story that Soviet troops smashed their way into vaults of the building.

I’m not sure if I’ll be able to keep up on this blog given how much I forced the group to pack into yesterday, but let’s see how we go. As we woke up on the third day of this trip, we had Steve in a Gdansk airport hotel, Richard in a Warsaw hotel and then Bev and Susanna in their city centre Gdansk hotel sobering up after their missing the flight the previous day.

I had been woken at 06:00 by the church bells, but I considered this as a good thing, generations of people have been woken up by them and it all adds to the authenticity of a visit. Someone might complain in the future and they’ll be silenced, but for now, they can ring freely. I couldn’t actually see the church from my window, but I could see the tower of the Mercure Gdansk, so my two loyal readers can look at a photo of that. I’m not sure how I haven’t managed to stay there, maybe next time.

Steve, ever calm and professional, managed to make it to the hotel where Ross and I were staying, before we went to walk to see Bev and Susanna. Susanna was there, calm and unflustered, whilst Bev had gone to get a coffee in a desperate attempt to wake up. Our day was to consist of a visit to the Cathedral, a visit to the Solidarity Museum, lunch at a decadent food court, a boat trip on a galleon, a bar and then an evening meal. Fortunately, this did work out, and as a spoiler for the next few posts I’m pleased to say that everyone was well behaved, Bev was only slightly sluggish in getting around and Richard only had one sneezing fit which caught the attention of the entire restaurant. History, culture, beer and politics, a fine combination. The only slight limitation with this whole arrangement is that it’s too hot in Gdansk.

I’ve visited Pułapka before and won’t add much to my previous post on it, but it’s another one of my favourite bars in Gdansk. I accept that I have quite a lot of favourite bars here…..

I do want to quickly write here about the Girbik from the Ziemia Obiecana brewery, and I’ve had several beers from them in the past and they’ve all been excellent. This is a 7.2% DIPA but the alcohol strength isn’t easily noticeable, it’s too smooth a beer. Hoppy, fruity and a suitably decadent way to end the evening.

Oh, and the covered over stairs to the basement, who knows what secrets lie down there….

It’s fairly likely that I’ll drag the rest of the group back here over the weekend, I’ve noticed some bottles on their Untappd list that I’ve taken quite a fancy to. Incidentally, Ross and I were in this bar when we discovered that Susanna and Bev had successfully caught their flight to Gdansk, so the weekend really will be starting soon!

I’ve been to this bar before and won’t add substantially to what I wrote following my last visit, but I like recording blackboards with beer lists.

This cellar bar is one of my favourite locations and I’ll be bringing the rest of the group here later on during this little adventure.

As I’ve frequently mentioned, I adore Funky Fluid beers and this was a competent wheat beer. I didn’t get the fishy notes that some people reviewing the beer found, but there was some element of banana going on and it all felt suitably rustic to me.

The Strawberry Mochi from Piwne Podziemie was delightful, a sour with a strong aroma of strawberries and an almost smoothie taste of them. Maybe there was just a slight artificial edge to the flavour, but it was smooth and I was sufficiently surprised and delighted by the richness of the taste. I’ve had eight beers from this brewery over the years, it’s an agreeable and reliable option for anyone who sees their beers.

I’ll definitely be back, this is a wonderful bar and the service was welcoming as ever. Oh, and for completion, Ross had the Pils which I think he rather liked.

Long ago I had a policy of always having an Indian meal in every city that I visited and I can’t recall having done that in Gdansk, so we decided to go to the best reviewed Indian restaurant that we could find.

I’d never heard of the Kamasutra beer, so I fearlessly opted for that one.

Some free pre-meal snacks. The surroundings were suitably under-stated, sometimes the internal decor of Indian restaurants can become just a bit too exotic for my liking with flashing lights, brightly coloured fountains and a seemingly random arrangement of stuffed tigers. This restaurant was clean, functional and the tables weren’t overly packed into the space that they had.

The Kamasutra transpired to be a slightly generic lager of the kind that Ross likes drinking, but it proved sufficient for my needs.

We had tried to order the same starter and I don’t think the server was very impressed at Ross’s lack of originality in copying my correct choice, so we were corralled into having different starters. In fairness, this was probably quite a good idea, here’s the first wave of chicken.

And more chicken, I’m not sure that it’s quite what we ordered, but it was still most agreeable although those sauces were a little too watery for my taste.

And the main event, chicken madras, peshwari naan and lemon rice. The latter was delicious, suitably packed with lemon flavour. The peshwari naan didn’t have the depth of flavour that I would have ideally liked, but it did feel more authentic than the versions that are served in British Indian restaurants. The chicken madras curry was fine, but again lacked a depth of flavour in the sauce, was devoid of heat-adding spice and the chicken was a little overcooked so it wasn’t as tender as it could have been. It gave me the impression that they were using a limited range of base sauces and were just throwing the chicken in at the last minute, as it hadn’t really picked up any flavour from the curry in which it sat.

However, although I wouldn’t say that the meal was exceptional, it was filling and was still an enjoyable experience. The service was attentive, polite and conversational with the staff speaking fluent English, which was not entirely surprising as most of the customers were either British or speaking English. I’d still say it’s worth a visit for anyone wanting an Indian meal in Gdansk, but probably worth booking a table on weekend evenings.

Located at ul. Młyńska 15, this is a bar that I haven’t been to before and it specialises in beer and burgers, a combination that I find most agreeable. As we were walking towards the bar, I can’t say that it initially appeared to be the most appealing visually. But first impressions can be deceptive and the on-line reviews were very positive.

The beer list was chalked up on the board on the right and the burger menu in the centre. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect given the exterior, it had been referred to as a nightclub in some places on-line, but it transpired to be an open, inviting and comfortable bar.

I have to admit that we were tempted by this, but at the time we were waiting for Bev and Susanna to arrive later in the evening and we were dining with them. It transpired they managed to miss their flight so didn’t end up arriving until after midnight, but let’s not dwell on that. Well, maybe for a few more days actually. I had a look at the photos on-line of their burgers and I don’t think that we would have been disappointed with them.

I went for the ‘May the Sun Shine’ from the formidable PINTA brewery, a nice citrus flavoured pale ale. It’s quite hot here in Gdansk at the moment, not that I’ve complained about that much, so this made the drink feel even more refreshing. Ross went for the Holba pils, which I think is Czech, which he seemed to find entirely agreeable.

The old cinema seats added to the whole ambience. The Heineken branding a little less so.

This was a much more intriguing bar than I had expected it to be, the food menu was keenly priced and as I mentioned earlier, the venue itself is very well reviewed on-line. I liked the slightly quirky edge to the arrangements here and the service was immediate and engaging, with everything feeling clean and organised. I’d happily return here and it seems that they change the beer line-up on a regular basis.

Inspired by the video we’re mentioned in, but refused to star in, we too decided to go to the football ground of Lechia Gdańsk today for a tour.

We had to wait a couple of hours for the tour as the players were training and they could see that I was a football expert, so didn’t want me critiquing their tactics. I discovered there was a McDonald’s nearby, so I was tempted into having a quick jalapeno burger whilst we waited.

The 45 minute tour costs just over £4, which seems excellent value for money to me.

The stadium is designed to be the shape of amber, which Gdansk is known for.

Our first look at the pitch.

The football stadium isn’t far from the docks and the tour guide mentioned the interior was designed with a note towards the cranes which are part of the shipyards.

That’s where the home fans sit. I hadn’t realised, but in Poland the fans are allowed to drink alcohol in the stadium.

The executive box, which costs around £2,000 for a match. This is the sort of thing that Richard would hire out for the day so that he could watch football in great comfort.

Barcelona played here in July 2013 and the players signed a flag. Barcelona played Lionel Messi and debuted Neymar, with the final score being 2-2.

The away changing room.

The showers for the away team.

The recovery room, which is something that I needed after a five a side a couple of weeks ago.

The stadium was built in just three years, which doesn’t surprise me given Polish efficiency, for the Euros in 2012. They were asked to put a chapel into the stadium and they have kept it here, even though the home team don’t really much use it.

Onto the pitch, which is a mixture of artificial and natural grass. I prodded about at the grass and it seemed normal enough to me.

I think that I’d be a rather good football manager.

The goalkeeper’s view. It’s quite like our five a side pitch in many ways.

Trying some of the seats out.

I enjoyed the tour and there were just four of us on it, all British which meant that it given in English. The tour guide apologised for her English, but it was entirely fluent. The tour guide was interesting and I don’t often get to see behind the scenes in a football stadium. It also made for a healthy day out as we walked to and from the centre of Gdansk which is about 45 minutes each way. Definitely recommended, they usually operate throughout the day on the hour from 11:00 onwards.