Monday afternoon: Desperate to escape the tourist scene of Gdańsk and its omni-present American music, we headed out along the Motława River, in search of the shipyards.
We chose a path along the river’s edge and soon were off the tourist map completely and into a pretty isolated area, filled with weeds and graffiti.
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| We walked along the path to the left. Scary? Absolutely no one else was there. We were fine. |
Mixed in with some graffiti was this message, which is a twist on the "motivational" poster:
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| Play on words: "WOLNE" has two meanings: FREE and SLOW. Gdańsk is famous for being a "Free City." Seemingly a free city
yet everyone walks fast
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We continued along the river's edge.
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| Be Careful! Construction! (earthwork) |
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| Be Careful! Excavation! (earthwork) |
And then, what we’d come to see — the shipyards and the monument to the fallen shipyard workers of the 1970 protest movement..
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| Hundreds of striking shipyards workers were killed by the Polish army in 1970. |
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| Plaque at the base of the monument quotes Pope John Paul II:
The providence of God couldn’t make anything better —
because in such a place silence is a scream
12.VI.1987
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A new building to house the museum commemorating the Solidarnosc movement is under construction. It’s going to be huge!
We walked beyond the construction and into the shipyards, marveling that no one stopped us!
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| We came upon a restaurant where workers can take their lunch break. The sign says, "Delicious and cheap!" |
Eventually, when we began to step onto a bridge, a worker in a blue shirt looked at us with a stern face and silently pointed in the direction from which we’d come. We got the message. I didn't ask him if I could take his picture.
Back in tourist heaven we gobbled up plates of pierogi. Mine were stuffed with cabbage and mushrooms; Zach chose a filling of “game.” We never did find out what kind of game, but it tasted great. We washed it all down with Polish beer. Ahh.
Tomorrow to the Baltic Sea!
Terrific story telling! I hadn't been to Gdansk since... 1970 and I don't know if I'd ever been to Gdynia.
ReplyDeleteI want to know if the pierogi will wear on you after a few days.
Phyllis-- did you learn Polish as a kid?
ReplyDeleteNina, I haven't grown tired of pierogi yet. It's still the elixir of the gods.
ReplyDeleteRegan, I grew up in the home of my Polish immigrant grandparents. For 22 years, they spoke to me in Polish and I replied in English. I can understand household Polish, but I'm lost when the vocabulary goes beyond that. And, when I attempt to speak, I totally butcher the grammar. In Polish, nouns are declined, sort of like in Latin. Language is SUCH a barrier to communication here! But, you know how that is.