Gdansk

Yesterday we left the far eastern part of Poland and drove 4 hours to get to Gdansk, where we picked our good British friends up to do a little exploring.

First stop was at the hotel to check in and then off we went. There is a 700+ year old Jarmark going on which is a huge open air market with hundreds of vendors (quite literally) selling everything from food to crafts from all over Europe to 99 cent Made in China junk.

Here are some scenes from that event.....very cute kids' sox that I could kick myself for not getting:









glass fish plate:















halva, a sesame seed product:









we took a city tour and this bldg. has bullet holes from the war:









saw the shipyard where Walesa worked and which now has a monument in front:
















and we saw many incredible buildings:










check out all the locks! I was told that Paris banned them since the weight was affecting the bridge:











each statue at the top represents a virtue - honesty being one of them:












This building has been used for torture and the Polish as well as communist CIA:











Mr. Fahrenheit was born here:










Famous pedestrian walkway full of stores - restaurants and cafes - money exchange and even a Russian language school:












dated 1605 - 90% of the city was destroyed in the 2nd world war and the architects rebuilt the city following all the old plans:










love the attention to detail:
















then we went to the wharf for a bite to eat:


















statue of Neptune - God of the Sea:











Me in front of the Museum of History of Gdansk: Once a palace for Kings and Queens, then the Local City Hall durung a period of great prosperity and now a museum:





















It is the tallest building in the city to this day:
























This is what the city looked like after bombings during the war:


















You will see a photo I took looking at this same entrance:



















Rooms in the Palace (City Hall - museum):






























This street is pedestrian only:

































































On the same street as the oldest guesthouse, it is pedestrian only and every store sells their product outside the store itself on tables - quite ingenious!



















along the wharf are many wonderful stalls:











and some incredible buildings:










And after that we came back to our hotel, which was outside of town and very quiet albeit simple and today we headed out for more adventure.


Gdansk, although not really original since 90% had to be rebuilt, has that one of a kind charm like San Francisco or New Orleans or NY. Not a place to come to end of July thru August if you do not like crowds. It is summer vacation here and all the tourist towns are PACKED to the gills with tourists - mostly Polish. The economy here must be doing fine, if visitors are a sign!




[Edited on 7-28-2015 by BajaBlanca]