Our Final Stop in Poland: Finding Beauty, History, and Freedom in Gdańsk

We took our first class train from Warsaw to Gdańsk for our final stop in Poland. From my research before the trip, I knew that Gdańsk had a lot of sites to visit but I didn’t expect it to be so beautiful. We were glad we had four nights to spend exploring the area.

Gdańsk is at the very top of Poland, on the Baltic Sea. It’s always been an important port and in the middle ages it was part of the Hanseatic League, a consortium of merchant towns across central and northern Europe. Like a lot of Poland, it changed hands multiple times between Polish, Russian and German control through the centuries.

After World War I, Gdańsk and its surrounding area were part of the free city of Danzig, with mostly German residents but with official Polish access to its port. The Nazi government wanted Danzig to be returned to Germany and after years of tension, attacked the Polish military base there on September 1, 1939, the first “official” shots of World War II.

Today Gdańsk is a thriving modern city, with a rebuilt beautiful old town, a thriving technology industry and plenty of tourists visiting every year. We were able to walk from the train station to our hotel in the old town, where we found our very modern hotel tucked behind a very old-looking facade.

After we dragged our suitcases up the stairs and checked in, we got a restaurant recommendation from the front desk and went out exploring.

We were in Gdańsk over a beautiful fall weekend and it felt like everyone else was there too. The streets were teeming with tourists, as well as street performers and trinket sellers. We walked through the old town to the Moltawa River, where there are a number of drawbridges across and lots of restaurants and hotels on the banks. There are a couple of drawbridges that are occasionally closed to pedestrians so we needed to be careful not to be caught on the wrong side. 

Pierogi Heaven

After soaking up some atmosphere, we got hungry and went to find Stary Miln, the restaurant our hotel recommended. It was certainly very touristy – it was packed full of hungry people enjoying delicious pierogi and beer. After a short wait we were able to score a table outside on a makeshift patio.

When we looked at the menu and saw that it looked like a full-color book from Chili’s, we were a little concerned about our choice, but the boiled, sauteed and baked pierogi we ate were all delicious, and Mark really loved his apple dessert. Inside, there was a glass floor where you could see the old ladies in the basement making up fresh pierogi, probably by the hundreds, since so many people were eating up above. We left full and happy, and impressed enough that we returned for our last dinner in town a few days later.

Malbork Castle

The next day we headed out for our day trip to visit Malbork Castle, a short train ride out of town. The castle is absolutely massive, considered to be the largest brick castle in all of Europe, so it was definitely high on our list to visit. A UNESCO World Heritage site, the castle attracts half a million visitors a year.

We met a couple at the Schindler factory in Krakow who suggested that we contact the castle directly ahead of time to book a private English-speaking guide. It didn’t cost a lot extra so it seemed like a better option than joining one of those big group tours. I’m glad we booked ahead because once we got to the castle itself, a short walk from the train station, there was a DMV-type vibe going on with a confusing set of windows to secure your tickets or meet your group.

We managed to get everything sorted but wound up having to wait for our guide to finish her previous tour. It wasn’t long before Alicia, an older woman with tremendous energy, came to find us. She needed to take a little break then we were on our way, bypassing all the big groups with their flags and headsets.

We started our tour at the front of the museum that had a picture of what it looked like in 1945. The once mighty castle was used as a fortress by the Nazis towards the end of the war so it took extensive damage, with more than half the structure destroyed. 

After the Nazis left, there was widespread looting and decline until it officially became a museum on January 1, 1961. Like the Panorama we saw in Wroclaw, it was notable that the Soviet government chose to invest in restoring the castle and its collections with significant support from the local community.

Alicia spirited us around the castle and showed us lots of amazing highlights and the history of the place. It was originally built sometime in the 13th century but became the seat of power in 1309 for the Teutonic Knights, a Catholic military order formed during the Crusades.

The Teutonic Knights greatly expanded the castle and fortified its defenses. They also added St. Mary’s church and St. Anne’s chapel. The senior knights of the order lived inside the High Castle, and later they built a separate Lower Castle for the soldiers and support staff. Both of those remain and you can still see the contrast between the two.

The Teutonic Knights were defeated by Polish and Lithuanian forces in the 15th century and eventually the castle became part of Poland. After that it had its ups and downs as control shifted from Poland to Prussia. It was too expensive to maintain it for military use and fell into disrepair. In 1872, a public committee was established to support reconstruction and was funded through lotteries.

We saw so much in our almost three hour walk around the castle it was almost overwhelming. We saw the kitchens, the jail (Alicia shut Mark in there for fun!), the ingenious heating system designed by the knights, lots of moats, drawbridges and medieval armaments and gear. They also have a huge collection of Amber jewelry and other artifacts  

The only disappointing part was that our tour ended outside the gates, so we couldn’t go back in to explore things in more depth. Realistically after a lot of walking we were tired and hungry, so maybe we would have left anyway. But it would have been nice to have a choice since our ticket was for the whole day.

Sopot

After our trip to the castle we decided to check out the Baltic Sea and the quaint beach town of Sopot. Our host in Poznan told us it was her favorite place in Poland.

Sopot is part of the Tri-City area that includes Gdańsk and Gdynia, so there are many trains available. It’s got a long history as a spa town and with its long stretch of beach, it’s a popular getaway for locals. 

When we got off the train and walked into the town, we saw lots of families and other tourists flowing into the city. It felt like mostly Poles but there were certainly some European tourists there too. It was a short stroll through the town to the beach, where there were several hotels on the water and a long wooden pier extending out into the sea.

We headed for the water and took the opportunity to put our feet in the Baltic, because, why not? We didn’t think it was warm enough for swimming but there were plenty of people out there, taking advantage of the last warm days of fall.

The beach access was free but there was a fee to walk on the pier, with a turnstile marking you in and out. It was cheap but seemed a little weird – they must get a lot of visitors in the summer to warrant the admission fee. It was a nice walk to the end and back, and there were lots of people enjoying drinks and snacks and the view of the water. We even saw a beach gnome to bring back memories of Wroclaw. 

For dinner, we walked back into town and found a Georgian restaurant not too far off the main tourist drag. We were able to get a nice spot outside to eat and Mark got to try one of my favorite cuisines. Our waiter didn’t know a lot of English but he recommended some dishes to try and they were nice and spicy (and hot!).

Museum of the Second World War

The next day we walked along the waterfront and made our way to Gdańsk’s modern museum of World War II. It opened in 2017 and is one of the largest in the world dedicated to the conflict, with multiple floors, lots of hardware like tanks, planes and other equipment, and vast multi-media displays.

The main exhibitions are split into three areas that cover the lead up to the war, the terror of the war itself and its long aftermath. Like all the museums we had visited thus far in our trip, this one focuses primarily on the Polish experience of the war, with lots of background on the Polish underground and how Polish soldiers contributed as part of the allied forces.

We spent a few hours there exploring the exhibits. By this time in our trip it was hard to shock us, and seeing the collections felt more academic than some of the other places we had visited. But it was an amazing collection and a beautiful building and I’m glad we visited.

Solidarność – our final educational stop on our journey

On our last day in Gdańsk we took the streetcar out to the shipyard to visit the birthplace of the Solidarity movement and learn about Poland’s long journey to democracy.

I was in elementary school when the strikes first started at the shipyard and I remember watching the coverage on TV with my dad. He seemed so hopeful for the future of a free Poland. 

But after a first wave of freedom with the government legalizing the union and many joining, the Polish government cracked down and declared martial law. Whenever I hear the words, “martial law” now my mind goes back to those grainy videos that I saw on TV.

By the time Poland won its independence and had its first free elections in the late eighties, I was in college and Polish news was a distant memory, and it was overshadowed a few months later when the Berlin Wall fell. I don’t ever remember talking to my dad about the changes in Poland.

We started our visit at the shipyard. The tourist site is mostly the gate and the immediate surroundings. There’s a tall monument in the square – the Monument of the Fallen Shipyard Workers, which was actually an early victory of the movement. It memorializes the 44 plus workers the government gunned down during a strike in 1970 and was designed and built by the shipyard workers.

European Solidarity Center

Across the square is the museum which opened in 2014. It is another beautiful modern building that fits in with its surroundings and it covers the entire history of Solidarity and its impact to help bring democracy to Poland.

The museum starts with the events leading up to the strike. Anna Walentynowicz, a crane operator close to retirement, was fired without cause and sparked fed-up workers to strike. They stayed inside the shipyard all day and night for 18 days. The workers painted their 21 demands on a wooden board that is still preserved inside the museum. Lech Walesa, an electrician by trade, joined the strike and soon became its leader.

For me, the two most memorable parts of the exhibition were the history of the Solidarity logo and its use in modern culture and the impact Pope John Paul II had on ending communist rule in Poland.

Designer Jerry Janiszewski was a local young graphic artist inspired by the strike and he designed the logo and the union ran with it, printing it onto posters, brochures and t-shirts. The union used design so effectively, all the way through to the first free elections in 1989, where they used common design elements so that the different parliamentary candidates could show their affiliation at a glance. The exhibit culminated in a wall size graphic where people could contribute red and white cards sharing their thoughts. 

As for the Pope, we had already seen throughout our trip how important he is to the Polish people. But in this museum we also saw the timeline of his impact, from his election in 1978 to his three visits while Poland remained under communist rule. He came in 1979, a year before the big strike, and again in 1983 and 1987. During one of his visits to Gdańsk he wanted to meet with Lech Walesa, and when the government refused, he threatened to cancel and the government had to allow it or risk further inflaming the people who were expecting to see him. The museum has one of his famous Popemobiles on display.

Today the Solidarity Center serves not just as a museum of the time but also a place for research and study, to support human rights and democracy throughout Europe. From the beautiful rooftop garden you can see Gdańsk, now a world-class industrial and tourist destination. After so much sad and heavy history, it was the perfect uplifting ending to our journey through Poland.