What can one do when their flight is changed and they have to spend long hours at some intermediate airport? I’ll tell you. When the airport is Istanbul and it’s the middle of the night, you somehow fold yourself into the longest row of seats you can find and hope that the initially empty gate does not open to Belgrade at 04 in the morning. In which case you wake up barefoot in the middle of a crowd of Serbs. And if you understand me correctly, the Serbs are not the problem. However, when you find yourself with 8 free hours in the middle of the day in Gdansk, you inevitably jump on a Bolt and head to the center along with all your small and large suitcases.
That’s what I did too. The driver dropped me off at the river that runs through the old town with the interesting name of Motlawa, part of the Vistula river system. On both sides, of course, there were some quite attractive old architectural elements lined up. Completely ready for a photo on this sunny day, as a bunch of other tourists had noticed as well. I had to put up a real fight for a spot on the bridge from where to immortalize my arrival in Gdansk, but after running over a few German retirees, I managed to get the coveted shot –
The most famous street of Gdańsk started from the river – Dlugi Targ, which should be translated as the Long Market. Apparently, it once crossed the entire fortified central part of the city, because it started with the Green Gate on the side where I was, and ended with the Mountain Gate on the other side. The “gates” were actually buildings under which passages were left for entry and exit. The Green Gate, for example, housed the National Museum, which I did not pay enough attention to, because it dealt with art, and I, alas, did not.
The Long Market was full of cafes from the very beginning, which was very commendable, considering my midnight wake-up call to catch an early flight over the Baltic. Even more commendable was that they offered all kinds of coffee and breakfast, accepted card payments so that one wouldn’t have to wander in search of Polish zlotys, and under the umbrellas the delight of the fresh June morning could be fully experienced. In addition, the view was worth it in every direction.
For some reason, two of the most famous sites on the Long Market – namely the Town Hall and the so-called Artus Court – were closed on the day of my visit, but I decided not to take it personally. Instead, I spent time at the Gdańsk Cathedral, named “St. Mary”. The interior was impressive mainly with interesting artifacts such as the Astronomical Clock from 1464-70, which contains a complex calendar of the days of the year, a “planetarium” with the zodiac signs and 23 sculptures of saints. The exterior, on the other hand, was striking in its size.
I dare say that the most interesting part of the Gdansk Cathedral was the bell tower. There was a separate entrance for it with a fee. It’s a good thing the lady at the cashier took pity on the wretched Baggins that I was and put my bags in some little room at the back, otherwise I would never have climbed the 400 meters of this architectural miracle. The views from the top were great, but more impressive was the climb up the staircase, crawling along the wall of the tower. On the way down, I also hit 12 o’clock at noon, for which I was rewarded with a long ringing in my ears, which you only get if you stand next to a giant bell when it starts to toll.
After eating pierogi on the way and accidentally meeting a family from Varna, who were very happy to see me, since they hadn’t met a single Bulgarian in five days in Gdansk, I hurried to fulfill my museum program, which no trip of mine goes without. I didn’t have much time, so I stopped at the only open site of the city museum complex – the Foregate fortification. At least that’s how Google translated it for convenience, otherwise it was Przedbramia in Polish.
Inside there was a tower with different expositions on the different floors and a medieval prison part of the kind that makes your hair stand on end. The highlight of my program, however, was the Amber Museum, which advertised itself as a true pearl of the Baltics. I will say that there was a reason for that. They had placed it in an old multi-storey mill with a very attractive interior design. Dark spaces in which the shining comes from amber itself (or mostly). With accessibility ensured, as is right these days, for people with all kinds of needs and limitations.
Inside, of course, there was a lot of amber. Tales about its history – how it was formed and how it began to mean a lot to our kind, the Homo sapiens. Finds of different shapes and colors. Finds with animals and plants sealed inside. Archaeological artifacts made of amber. Ethnographic and household samples made of amber. Jewelry and treasures made of amber. Contemporary art made of amber. The museum shop was a whole separate exhibition, just as fascinating. I wondered a lot about what to show you from the museum, in the end I settled on the lizard in amber, which is an extremely rare find. I wish you to see the rest for yourself.
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