Up early and away after shower by 8:00am. Very basic facilities, but still warm water in the shower. Just that the place was dirty. The road from Olsztyn to Gdansk is a fairly major route, but it is loke being on Darlington back lane or the road from Gisburn to Hellifield, nice for motorcycling along at 40-50mph.
No incidents on the way and got to Gdansk at about 11:30. The old town had been cordoned off by the politse because there was a Solidarity sponsored marathon taking place. Some people were riding bikes, some roller blading, some walking and some actually running ! Thewre wer market stalls at the side of the streets everywhere it wqas like a huge carnival. Parked, locked bike with everthing locked down and set off to see what all the excitement was about. After about 5 mins walking I thought to myself IO should really try out setting tomtom with the location so that I can find my way back shopuld I get confused (you cannot believe that can you?).
Then went to the water front and saw the large medieval crane that used to be the largest in Europe. I was expecting a crane, but it isreally just a building that overhangs the water.
Then I walked along the waterfront until I came to the shipyards where the union Solidarity was started.
Saw a nice mock sailing boat taking tourists up and down the waterway.
At the shipyard gates there are monuments to the fallen people in the struggle for independence.
I then went to the "Roads to Freedom" exhibition close by. This is a great exhibition with video footage from the time showing the struggles to gain independence. It started with life as it was in Poland under soviet rule, queing each day for anything that trhe shops had, and then trying to barter away what you had for what you needed. There was footage showing the uprising and the attempts by the Polish state to suppress Solidarity. Lech Walensa is a very familiar figure when you see footage of him in 1989. In the last video montage they show how it spread from Poland to Czechoslovakia and what they call the velvet revolution with Vaclav Pavel which then became the velvet divorce between Czech Republic and Slovakia. Then East Germany and the fall of the Berlin Wall, then Bulgaria, then Hungary, then Romania which was not peaceful at all with Ceausescu and his wife Elane being executed. Tyhen SAerbia and the Montenegro area and Slovenia. It was an amazing revolution and though a lot of people did loose their lives it was much less than it could have been!! Another very moving experience especially when you can hear people giving speeches from the time on both sides and see the translation underneath. Outside the exhibition trhere is a military vehicle that was used at the time and ironicallyt now children were playing on it as a play area!
I then set off back to the bike (or so I thought). I confidently went back to wherte I thought it should be, and no bike anywhere! At first this amused me, and so I got out tomtom and this didn't seem to help at all, then remembered it is in what I would call road mode, so spent 10 mins trying to get it to go into walking mode. Eventually figured this out and still no help.
Still managed to see an interesting house with lots of rooms in the roof !
My mood was subtly changing from amused to irritated and then starting to border on panic when on coming back to a place I had been before I suddenly saw the bike! I cannot think why I never spotted it the first time, but another of life's experiences!!
Had a chicken kebab and drink to cool down and watched a clown entertain children ! Composure now restored by the clown I set tomtom for Warsaw and headed off. I thought about going to Berlin, but with the time left until I meet Savi it was going to be difficult ( have decided later to do Berlin after Krakow and then I can double back and see where Paul has told me about in his comments Hitler's bunker Wilczy Szaniec (Wolf's Lair) in Ketrzyn NE of Olsztyn which is where Von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise in the film) attempted to blow up Hitler with a bomb.
On the way out of Gdansk to the east I passed a huge new chemical complex, couldn't see the name of the company but it was called something like Prof***t 10.
At about 7:30 and still some 200km from Warsaw saw a sign for camping and decided to call it a day. Set up camp, washed showered etc. and two children playing nearby came over and offerred me an apple. I accepted and started talking to them, their father came over and we also started talking. His name was Adam and he was on holiday from Warsaw with his three children camping. His eldest daughter was singing with a choral group who were staying at the hotel adjacent and he was camping with the two younger children. He explained that he is separated from his wife and he only got to spend time with his kids in the summer holidays and again for a week later in the year.
He kindly took one of me !!TOR
Hi Geoff, thanks for the text message - If you haven't been to Auschwitz (Oswiecim - about 50km west of Krakow) you must go when you are in Krakow. Every human being on the planet should be marched through the place...very moving. I'd recommend a guide again. I'm told that the salt mines are also a must but haven't been myself.
ReplyDeleteKeep safe
Paul
Hi Geoff, Your doing really well, and your blog is very informative, like Paul say's Auschwitz is a must he took me there last year, very moving so be prepared. You will notice the quiet eeriness of the prison.
ReplyDeleteCheers John G