Circling through Poland - with a bit of Germany thrown in.

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More of the outside






Pretty obvious wartime damage



The High Castle





The size of the castle can be hard to grasp.

The town mascot again









This is only a small portion of the photos we took. This place requires many hours to even scratch the surface. We didn't even walk around the perimeter.

 

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We then walked to Malbork train station.

Passing a model of the castle on the way there



The centre of town



Equestrian state of King Casimir IV. King of Poland 1447 - 1492 - "under him, Poland defeated the Teutonic Knights in the Thirteen Years' War and recovered Pomerania."



We were surprised about how impressive the railway station was. It was built in 1891. As I have said before Imperial Germany was good at constructing impressive railway stations. It was lucky enough to have survived WW2 relatively unscathed.

Train station building with platform 1, freight forwarding building and station toilets | Malbork Sightseeing | Malbork

Malbork railway station ranks as one of the town’s best preserved and oldest buildings. Completely renovated in recent years the building dates from 1891 and features beautifully restored ceramics in the extremely elegant ticket hall. While the station dates from the end of the 19th century,

www.inyourpocket.com

This waiting room almost makes you want to wait.





The platforms.



On the way back to Gdansk we passed over the Vistula River and through Tzcew passing the remnants of a historic bridge. This was built in
1851 -1857 as a road/rail bridge. On completion it was the longest bridge in Europe. It was rebuilt several times after WW2 due to flooding damage as well as war damage. There has been controversy about work being carried out on it because of its historical importance.

"On the morning of September 1, 1939, the bridges were bombed, the purpose of which was to damage the mine wires. Polish railway workers prevented a freight train arriving from Malbork and carrying a company of Wehrmacht engineers from entering the bridge. After repairing the cables at 6:10 AM, Polish engineers blew up the eastern section of the bridges, and then the western piers . In retaliation, the naz_s shot 21 Polish railway workers, customs officers, and members of their families"

Most drogowy w Tczewie – Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia

pl.wikipedia.org

 

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I must thank RB again. In his trip report including Poland from earlier this year he reported on a pleasant day trip to the city of Sopot only about 15 minutes by train from Gdansk. It did look like a nice outing so I decided to also go there. However, instead of taking the train both ways we went there by boat and returned by train.



Our boat. the trip takes about an hour you pass through the port of Gdansk and out into the Gulf of Gdansk (part of the Baltic Sea) before docking at the jetty in Sopot.



Our apartment complex again



A huge amount of construction is occurring in Gdansk. These were right next door to our apartment. I did see earlier this week that Poland's economy is so strong that it is now ranked the 20th largest world economy by GDP - edging out Switzerland.



Some of the docks and shipyards we passed



A large vessel on a floating drydock. With the dirtiest smokestack I have seen in years behind it.





A nice conjunction of names. Kimberly for W.A and Hansa Shipping as Gdansk was once a major Hanseatic city.



Some old fortifications. The "Seagull Rampart" built in 1844 - 1846 by the Russians.



Approaching the Westerplatte Monument commemorating the Battle of Westerplatte in 1939. "On 25 August 1939, the German pre-dreadnought battleship Schleswig-Holstein, under the pretext of making a courtesy call, sailed into Danzig harbour" - "On the early morning of 1 September 1939, Schleswig-Holstein fired a broadside at the Polish garrison"

Battle of Westerplatte - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Nowy Port Lighthouse built in 1893. Complete with a Time ball on top. It was the first lighthouse on the Baltic to use an electric light.

Home - Latania Morska Gdańsk Nowy Port

www.latarnia.gda.pl

Next door is the Harbourmasters office for the port of Gdansk.

 

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For our boat to start its journey it had pass by the sing bridge. Here is a video form another day of it in operation.

Passing through the heads. The port city of Gdynia is in the distance. The Polish ships we used to see visiting Fremantle were all registered in Gdynia.


Gydinia



Looking across to Sopot



There was a passenger ship in the gulf being attended by a tug





Sopot



Sopot jetty and marina with the 'Pirate Ship' being readied to leave







A tourist boat having fun





Just after we disembarked



The jetty



These people were not all off the arriving boats. Plenty of people were strolling out from the shore. There was small fee payable to walk on the jetty from the landside but we didn't have to pay anything extra



The marina

 

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My wife has been taking photos of these for years and I a=used to tease her about it. Now of course II realise that they are compulsory for a TR here.



One of the more picturesque lighthouses I have run across. Built 1903 -04. It still has alight but it does not have the range to classified as a true lighthouse these days.





A bit of, I assume, Tiffany inspired glasswork



A side street





You simply can't escape Bluey.



It was still school holidays and the place was crowded.
.

Time for lunch. All that we ate was very good.

The view from our table. We only rarely had problems with people smoking on the outside tables.







I tried the tasting paddle it was pretty good but I still can't really muster any great enthusiasm for IPA.



Pork knuckle for me



Pork in Hunter Sauce (mushrooms and onions)



Pierogi

 

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I know Wojtek was featured by RB in his TR but the story is so good it deserves a repeat.







Church of the Saviour - a Lutheran church completed in 1919.



Garrison Church of St George. Built around 1900 as a Protestant church. After 1945 it was 'converted' to Catholic.



An interesting old villa







The name of this hotel surprised us. The rooms and facilities are apparently 'Chinese' themed.





By the time we got to the beach it had become a bit overcast and windy. The port of Gdansk in the background.





These are used as change rooms




"The hotel was originally built in 1924–1927 at a cost of 20 million Danzig gulden as the most refined hotel in Sopot - the Kasino Hotel.

Between 19–26 September 1939, the hotel served as Adolf Hitler's headquarters from which he went twice to the outskirts of Warsaw to oversee the invasion of the city."

Now a Sofitel

 

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Back to Gdansk itself for some street views and the like

The Stągiewna Gate - built in the late 15th early 16th centuries. It has been destroyed and rebuilt several times.



Two sides of the "Green Gate" built in the 1560's. The largest city gate in Gdansk





As it was in 1945



This 'thing' was wandering around with a couple of compatriots. It is only due to AFF that I know that it is apparently a 'Labubu' knockoff.



Looking towards the Town Hall. You had to fight off spruikers, for all sorts of activities, with a stick around here.



Neptune's Fountain - early 17th Century





Tar lantern on the Town Hall. Replica of an 18th Century tar torch holder



Looking to the Golden Gate - early 17th Century





National Bank of Poland building - 1905.



Fahrenheit Monument - Fahrenheit was born in 1686 in Gdansk

 

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The Market Building, built between 1906 - 08, is being refurbished











St Mary's Church. Completed in 1542. Began as a Catholic Church and then was Lutheran for centuries until 1945. Badly damaged at the end of WW2

 

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The Great Armoury. Built 1600- 1605 as an coughnal. Later used as a hospital it now houses "The Academy of Fine Arts"





It was reduced to basically just a façade by the events of 1945.



The Dyrekcja Building built in 1878. Once an office building for the shipyards. Now restored and opened as "cultural and civic hub".



The "Monument to the Defenders of the Polish Post Office." At the start of WW2 small group of civilians held off the German attackers for 14 hours. Most were killed during the siege or executed later after mock trials - along with their families.

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-ii/polish-post-office-danzig.html

A memorial plaque



And with that we leave Gdansk. It is a beautiful city but there will always be controversy about some of the choices made during its rebuilding. I was ambivalent about some of the reconstructed areas. However there is plenty to see in it and nearby and it is definitely worth a visit. It was one of the busiest places we visited.

 

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Now onto Warsaw

For this trip we travelled on the PKP 'flagship' service the Pendolino train. It is a marked step up from the other Intercity trains we used in Poland. All shiny, very comfortable and much faster - on the stretches of high speed rail. We got a free bottle of water and there were announcements made in English.

We travelled in 2nd class and it was very comfortable. I think it is the best 2nd class I have used in Europe to date. Those footrests are still nothing but a nuisance however to anyone of my height.







There is even an onboard magazine - in Polish.



On board café



First class





On our way to Warsaw we passed by Malbork Castle

The footbridge we used









Our rail journeys in Poland were no great scenic delight. Apart from the occasional town you mostly travel trough pretty flat farmland

Passing by the National Stadium on arrival in Warsaw

 

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In Warsaw we stayed at the MDM Hotel at the end of Constitution Square. This was the first hotel opened in Warsaw after the end of WW2 and was part of the Communists effort to produce an area highlighting the victory of their beliefs. Thankfully it was fully renovated a few years ago and is now a perfectly comfortable 3 Star hotel.

"The seven-storey-tall building was designed in socialist realism style, with influences from the neoclassical architecture"

MDM Hotel - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

View from the bar



From the breakfast room



Constitution Square was intended to be a showpiece of Socialist Architecture for Communist era Poland. It was created with a similar purpose to Karl-Marx-Allee (Stalinallee) in Berlin. It was all part MDM (Marszalowska Dzielnica Mieszkaniowa) housing development. Hence the name of our hotel.

https://www.myguidewarsaw.com/things-to-do/constitution-square

The date , to quote, - "the Stalinist constitution that was 'freely' accepted by the Polish people on 22 July 1952."



The square on a suitable gloomy Sunday morning



'Stalin's Wedding Cake' can be seen in the background



A couple of the arcades





The buildings are suitably replete with 'uplifting' workers images.









A nice contrast between the imagined workers paradise and capitalism.



At night

 

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The next morning in keeping with the Stalinist theme we went to visit 'Stalin's Wedding Cake' itself. More correctly named The Palace of Culture and Science (Palac Kultury i Nauki). Completed in 1955 - "With a total height of 237 metres (778 ft), it is the second tallest building in both Warsaw and Poland" "The PKiN was built in a mixture of the then-compulsory socialist realism style with elements of American art deco and historic Polish cultural flourishes."

Palace of Culture and Science - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Stalin’s Warsaw “Wedding Cake” – SHELDON KIRSHNER JOURNAL

Elevator Lobby





I was pleased to see this notice. The lifts were pretty quick. It is out of date in regard to it still being the tallest building in Poland.





At the viewing platform level. It was pretty windy and cool up here.

 

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We also finally went to an area we having been wanting to go a number of years - the Spreewald. It is just over an hour south-east of Berlin by train. We have driven past it several times on the Dresden-Berlin Autobahn and seen pictures of it from friends in Germany. Also we have twice had a few hour stop on the edge of it in the town of Luckau. It encompasses a large inland delta of the Spree River and is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve

It is also famous for the productions of gherkins.

Spreewald gherkins - Spreewald

www.spreewald.de

View attachment 474046

The Spreewald - Spreewald

www.spreewald.de

Spree Forest - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

You get off the train at the Lübbenau station and it is about a 1 km walk to the town itself and another few hundred metres to the waters edge. The local bus service is so infrequent as to be useless. We purchased a Brandenburg Day Ticket for €35. It is valid from 09:00 to 03:00 the next day and covers up to 5 adults. It is usable inside Berlin and Regional Express Trains within the Berlin transport zone.

View attachment 474054

Murals on the station underpass give you an idea of what to expect.

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The walk to the old town - you will not be alone.

View attachment 474055

An old water tower

View attachment 474056

In town

View attachment 474071

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The Fire Station

View attachment 474059

Aldi every now and again has Spreewald products on sale.

 

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The view







The National Stadium on the other side of the Vistula River.





Warsaw Central Station is nearby







To be honest I didn't find Warsaw the most exciting city to view from above. But when you consider the barbaric destruction of 80 - 90% of the city by the Germans in 1944 that is perfectly understandable.



You exit via a different foyer

 

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Aldi every now and again has Spreewald products on sale.

I will have to keep an eye out. Especially for the rather intriguing Lemonade.

 

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And following on with the WW2 we visited the Warsaw Uprising Museum. I would think most people know at least the basics of what happened and it is too tragic an event for me to attempt to paraphrase it.

Warsaw Uprising - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-warsaw-polish-uprising

This memorial in the grounds of the museum starkly illustrates the cost in human lives



The museum building opened in 2004



The umbrellas are part of the café.



To be honest the museum is far to small for the number of visitors it receives.

Entrance to the museum is staggered to try and reduce overcrowding. It wasn't as bad as this when we had gone in an hour or so previously but we still had to wait.



It was really hard to take pictures as the lighting was often difficult and people were always wandering, accidentally, into shot. Plus sometimes it just didn't feel right.





We saw the original of this statue at the Old Town



Some of the incredibly brave children who took part







Commemorating Polish soldiers who parachuted back into danger





The sense of betrayal of Poland by the Soviets was obvious here and at other sites



Part of the café was set up in 1930's style.

 

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Wall bearing the names of those known to have perished during the uprising



Bell inset into the memorial; wall in honour of the Commander in Chief of the uprising General Antoni Chrusciel. Taken prisoner by the Germans and released by the American army from Colditz POW camp. His citizenship was revoked by the Communist authorities in Poland and he died in exile in the U.S.



The reverse side of the wall shelters a beautiful flower garden





The original bunker




This museum is well worth a visit but be prepared for crowds and to come away saddened.