2nd September - Gdansk - Day 3

And now to the weather. It is cool but dry. After it was quite nice and humid during the day in Berlin, it was supplemented by a strong north wind in Gdansk, which was rounded off with light rain on Monday and Tuesday. Since Wednesday it has been dry with sunny intervals (I could start immediately in a weather department), but the wind is constant.

Fish for lunch

On our tour yesterday we discovered the market hall. It smelled wonderfully of baked fish. So today we went for lunch to find out if something that smells so good also tastes just as good.

Czebureki (fried pierogi) seem to be a Ukrainian specialty.

Mariacki Church

I'm not the biggest fan of churches, but this one is impressive. It is one of the largest brick Gothic churches (see Brick Gothic) in the world and impressed me particularly with its simple interior. I didn't even know that I liked the combination of white and gold so much.

Interesting is the Polish eagle _without_ a crown. It could be an indication of the age of the flag. After all, the government immediately ordered the eagle to be crowned again after the Communists were voted out.

This clock is beautiful and interestingly enough was brought back to life in 1991 with the funds of a person from Lübeck. I interpret this as a connection to Hanseatic times.

Quiz question: What does the figure representing Aquarius have in its hand?

Westerplatte

The Westerplatte plays a huge role in the collective memory of the Polish people. Especially because of its role in World War II. It all started here on September 1, 1939, with an attack on Westerplatte from the port of Gdansk. Relatively few Polish soldiers were able to defend Westerplatte until September 7.

Pope John Paul II spoke in the 1980s about how "everyone has their own Westerplatte to defend" in order to encourage his fellow countrymen in the resistance.

We combined the trip to Westerplatte with a trip through the port.

That was a mistake. I would have preferred a classic ferry. But when I bought the ticket, there was no ship in. It was only important to me that we could take the bikes with us.

The tower in the middle of this fortress used to serve as a lighthouse and was operated with a wooden fire.

This monument dates from 1966 and is archetypal for Socialist art.