Day 23-25: Gdansk

Arrived to the cawing of seagulls, which signalled we were near the ocean...the  Baltic Sea in fact. Checked in to a very cool apartment and headed out for a walk. There were heaps of people every where...but not tourist buses. Hallelujah. Gdansk appears to be a popular tourist destination for Polish people, but pleasingly those big tourist buses with hoards of people who stand in front of every site were absent. Two minutes from the hotel and we were at the Motlawa River with amazing buildings lining either side. The most impressive of these was called The Crane. This will be a must to visit tomorrow.

Fresh rolls, salami and cheese with a latte for breakfast and we were nourished and ready to set off for a big day of exploring. Walked back to the river and strolled the boardwalk. Made for The Crane. Payed a few Euro and climbed the steps.  We got there early enough (9.30 am) and we lucky it wasn't yet crowded. This crane dates back to 1367...but was rebuilt in the mid 1400s after it was burnt down. Apparently, at one time this was the biggest working crane in the world. It worked via peddle power. Like a hamster wheel...but massive and two men per wheel operated it.  We were able to climb up into the structure and see how it would have operated. Very cool...a fav building. Continued on and visited all the more notable sites as we wandered up and down streets.
 The most notable of these were Long Market, the Green and Golden Gate and Artus House. Also strolled along Roayal Way and found Neptune's Fountain in the main square. Amber is very popular up here, and as you walk around, 100s of little stalls and up market looking shops are selling it. Not sure of the quality or whether genuine, but seems popular. Couldn't resist a little glass elephant (not amber) ..which was heavier than it looked. Saw gorgeous coloured buildings...but the drainage of all things caught my eye. The down pipes were architecturally designed and were really cool. One was a very large insect and the other a frog. The looked like they were climbing the building. Some buildings had them designed as padlocks. Later in the afternoon we walked a few kms to the European Solidarity Centre. The centre celebrates the trade union movement and is a massive...and I mean massive building....made of steel and its design resembles a ship. Went on the roof...a number of floors up... Great views over dock  lands. For those who remember the name... Lech Walesa was involved in its formation.

After a day of walking and browsing we headed back. The great thing about having the apartment was that we could shop at the supermarket and cook something up..it was nice to have some vegetables.

Set out for Malbork the next day to see the castle there. Polish roadworks a nightmare. Took a few hours. We were able to park the car quite close and went to the castle...which was why we had come. This castle is the largest in the world by surface area, so we were pretty keen to have a look.  There was in fact a lot to see so we strolled around for a few hours. There were quite a few museum rooms and we spent time looking at the best medieval display of swords, armour etc. It was excellent. Had polish sausage for lunch, got wet as it rained and headed home late in the arvo.
Note:the whole dress up in medieval gear and play pretend escapes me. Around the peripheral of the castle were role playing stuff. Medieval style tents were erected. Fires were burning. Men, women and children were dressed in their gear...and there were heaps of stalls selling costumes, swords, air rifles etc. Must confess...we did watch a couple of knights partake in sword fighting.

In a whole other direction...literally and metaphorically we left Gdansk via Westerplatte the next day. This is a memorial site and in the park there are the ruins of bombed out military bunkers and fortifications. Apparently Westerplatte is the site of the official start of the Second World War.

"In late August, 1939, under the suspect pretense of an amiable courtesy visit, the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein dropped anchor in the channel off Westerplatte and on September 1, at exactly 04:45 local time, began it's barrage of the Polish outpost with its superior 280 and 150mm guns. Thus began Germany's invasion of Poland, igniting the powder keg that would explode into World War II. "

The memorial honoured those that died and fought bravely. You could see the bombed out remains of some of the buildings. It was very interesting and well worth the little detour.

After some time here we then drove on towards the Lithuanian border as part of our drive up to Riga in Latvia. Again we were caught in "infrastrakure" development. That meant road works. Our 4 hour drive became an 8 hour one as we were caught in horrendous traffic jams. Stopped overnight in Suwalki...in Lithuania...had a delicious duck dinner and then set out to Riga the next day. Roads better here and had a fairly good run.