Circumnavigation of the Baltic 2

Mielno to Danzig (Gedansk) 

The route that we would take was a simple one (or so we thought), we travelled right along the spit of land until the road turned South and we hit the E26 (6) this is the main road between Stettin (Szczcin) and Danzig, this was always the main route but now the Poles with the aid of EU money are making it into an Autobahn, I doubt that I shall ever see it finished in my life time, but they are going ahead and when the UK leaves the EU may be all of the hard working Polish workers can return home and set their skills to work on this road.

What looked like a simple route heading straight into Gedansk via Gdynia (I knew this port very well as I had often visited it and it had in fact been my last port in the Baltic before my accident t put paid to my sea carrier. But all that seems simple often turns out otherwise and the Sat Nav thought other wise, for some unknown and some unexplainable reason she, took us off the main road and led us a merry dance through the bye-ways of the Koschubische Schweiz. Now though this part of Northern Poland is wonderful and scenic, the roads are atrocious. This added about an hour at least to our journey, which meant it was after midday when we eventually arrived at Camping Stogi 218. This is situated in the outskirts of Danzig near a popular beach and amusement park .

Upon reaching the reception and enquiring if they had a pitch for us, I was whisked away, by a very helpful chap shown a pitch, I think this was the German section as we had Herforder and  Kielers as immediate neighbours. The wonderful thing about this site it is right beside Tramline number 8 that takes you into town for the princely sum 0f 3 Polish Zloties  (less than 1€) the tram runs every 20 minutes and drops you off at the old (renovated) City. The reception chappie even sold tickets, thus alleviating the need to use hand and feet to explain our requirements to the driver of the tram.

I had last been in Danzig in the summer of 1976, it had been amazing what the Poles had done and how far they had come in those 30 years since the end of the 2^nd World War, in comparison East Germany and East Berlin in particular was still in many places showing the desolation of war. The Port of Danzig, being a member of the Hansiatic league, had since the middle ages, always been a very prosperous city and the Altstadt with its magnificent churches and palaces still shows of its past glory. The streets are lined with cafes, restaurants and bars, one whole street has been taken over solely by jewellers of the Baltic gold, Amber, this and their silverwork had made Danzig famous through-out the ages.

It was a wonderful afternoon warm and sunny the cafes were doing a roaring trade, we popped into a self-service restaurant for a spot of late lunch. This was what was I believe serving typical Polish food (Hausmannskost). In a vitrine fronting rows of hotplates and bain-maries was all of the food that they served it all looked very appetising, Linda pointed to the stuffed pancakes and I pointed to a plate with potatoes, pork schnitzel, and something that was the size and shape of a goose egg but deep fried (it turned out to be Chicken Kiev), this was all served alongside mixed vegetables.

Linda polished (pun intended) her food off, saying it was very tasty indeed, I couldn’t finish all of mine it was also very tasty though I would have liked a bit of gravy with it. This was service efficiency, poetry in motion, you just pointed to the sample plate of food and the lady behind the counter had it plated up and you moved on to the cashier, you could get your drink (we had water) and you paid took your tray outside and sat facing the Ratusz (Town Hall) in the warming sun and ate your meal while watching the too-ings  and fro-ings along the main street in Old Danzig (Dluga Targ). Cost for our two meals about 10€, including the two bottles of water!

We next visited the St Mary’s Basilica, this has just recently been renovated, but it was nice to see that the Poles in their wisdom are not in denial of their past and the history this part of what is now part of Poland but was of course for century’s part of the now non-existing Prussia. The grave stones in the Basilica’s floor are in the most carved in German, showing the ancestry of those buried beneath.

We walked the streets visiting a few more churches (well it was Sunday) we ended up at the very new indoor market, Hala Targowa, alas it was closed, shut, barred and bolted, what a pity as we would have loved to have entered into this temple of opulence. Instead we turned along a small tributary which led us past the Church of St Brigit (we didn’t enter; we had been into enough for one day).  We reached the river once again and visited the old waterfront renovated warehouse crane, these had at one time been the main means of loading the Baltic Koggers that had loaded and discharged their cargoes of salt from Lübeck, wood from Scandinavia, fur and minerals from St Petersburg and of course the precious amber and silver from Danzig. We stood a while at one of the city gates, Linda wanted to taste a pierogi being sold from a stall nearby and I stood and listened to three very accomplished young musicians, a violinist, a double bass and an accordion, playing all manner of music from classical to jazz. It was a wonderful end to our walk around the Alt-Stadt of Danzig, we had only scratched the surface, but Linda had scratched this off her bucket list and I had returned to a place that had brought back many happy memories.

So it was back  to the tram stop, and back to Stogi Plaza (our stop and end of the line for tram number 8), we popped into the bar on the campsite (it is also a café serving a limited selection of things with chips) I had a beer and Linda a cappuccino, my beer (Piwo, I learn fast)was excellent and Linda enjoyed her coffee. We then headed back to the Camper to watch a bit of TV and try to get online, which I did, but boy is it slow. Then bed sleep and woken by the rain on the roof in the early hours, this went on throughout the night. 

We are now off to the very east of Poland near the border to the Russian enclave of Kalinengrad, another one time part of Prussia Königsburg (famous for its dumplings, Königsburger Klopse), would have loved to have visited but the Visa formularies are just too wearisome and expensive. So it was to be the Masuren Lakes(Pojezierze Mazurskie) before crossing over into Lithuania.