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Of course being Sunday, we felt the need to go to church, being the religious people we are (ahem). We see a couple with a baby, looking like a baptism is due, so follow them into the Gothic St. Mary's Basilica Church. Supposedly this is the largest brick church in the world, it's also the largest church in Poland. The spires seem to reach for the heavens, and it can be difficult to believe that it was partly destroyed in WWII, being rebuilt with all original materials. Being so big, makes it almost impossible to photograph in it's entirity, apart from higher up and at a distance. So into the church we go, and have a look at the wonderful interior, the huge astronomical clock with animated figures, beautifully detailed glass, and works of art. It's undergoing some restoration work at present, but not enough to spoil the sights. We sit and wait for the service to commence, the only thing to look at being a woman constantly sweeping the carpet at the front of the church. The service then begins, and we understand absolutely nothing. We feel like we are in an episode of Mr Bean (where he tries to keep awake at a church service), it really is quite boring. We struggle through 1/2 hour of the service, and then make our exit, looked on by many of the congregation. There are a fair few old churches in Gdansk, we feel though this is probably enough religion for one day. |
| The sky being a little bluer now, and the sun is out, we take a few photos of the Neptunes Fountain. This was originally just a statue, dating back to around 1633 and sculpted by Peter Husen and Johann Rogge. Later it was converted into a fountain. During the war it was hidden, until war was over then returned once more. It stands as a symbol of Gdansk's bond with the sea. The 80m tower of the Town hall nearby was built between 1379 and 1492. |
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The part of Gdansk we are in contains mountains of shops selling Amber, which of course is something the city is very famous for. The amber industry has had a difficult past but in 1989 Poland won its sovereignty and economical freedom, which led to a huge increase in the number of amber craftsmen. All manner of amber and also silver objects can be purchased, some quite reasonably. We visited one mans jewelery stall, Karolina tried on about 10 rings before settling on one containing 3 different coloured amber stones, very much looking like a set of traffic lights. The seller was in fits of hysteria when this was mentioned, he really couldn't stop laughing about it!
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Back at the waterside, we spot a ferry called Motlawa, not sure where it goes, but for 1.5zl, doesn't really matter. Turns out that it goes to the other side of the river, Royal Island or "Wyspa Krolewska"...but this is where we spot a fantastic old sailing ship called Galeon Lew heading in our direction. Just a few minutes to the next trip, so we hand over 12zl each for the 45 minute trip. As we sail off,  we get ourselves in many peoples photographs, as they snap away at the ship chugging it's way along the river. The ship itself is a wooden vessel, with all the rigging, an oldish Polish captain steering the tiller. Slightly cheating by using an engine rather than the sales, but it doesn't spoil the effect too much. Dotted around are various barrels, signs and memorbelia to add realism to the experience. Music plays in the background at a level which is enjoyable, and it ranges from quite jolly pirate movie music to mysterious and chilling. It seems to work quite well with the scenery, which we must admit can be extremely drab, grey, depressing and run-down. It's funny how we notice old decaying buildings literally with the walls falling apart, which the satellite dishes still manage to cling on to. The derelict factories and industrial areas with cranes rising to the sky, old ships rotting away, whilst others are being re-built. Just an odd cloud of waste gas emits from a few working plants. The mood on the ship is very quiet, there are a dozen or so of us on board, and I think we all are a bit stunned by this "tour". There's no commentry from the captain, his staff or anybody else, well we guess there really aren't too many "sights" around here. Half way, the ship turns round, and heads back in the same direction, but on the opposite side of the river, leaving us feeling a little cheated by the 45 minute ride, of course it's still quite cheap, and has shown us a side of Gdansk that we would have felt uneasy seeing on dry land.
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| All this travelling makes us hungry again, and wanting something cheap and recognisable, we head for a pizza restaurant by the waterside. There's only a few others here, so service is quite quick. After much deliberation, we both order one called "A bit of everything", or something, and amongst it's toppings are peas, peaches, pineapples, peppers, and other things not beginning with p. We remove several things, such as the olives, and chillis, which makes us wonder why we ordered one with everything on in the first place. Polish made pizza isn't bad, very thin and floppy, more cheese would be good, and lose the peaches maybe. Price is cheap, 17zl each for a largish one (sorry didn't measure it). |
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Tired of shopping, and aware that the ferry leaves again at 5ish, we stop a taxi in the street, and try and tell him where we want to go. Not sure, we show our ferry tickets, and he seems to understand, and quotes 40zl, which we accept (as it's Sunday). He puts the meter on, and it actually works out at 31zl, so we pay him that, and he's happy. The terminal looks closed, we see people standing around outside, so walk around to where the trucks are going in, and have a word with the guard. He assures us the terminal isn't closed, and we must go in that way, so we walk back round, and of course it's quite open, it just looked closed to us! A few last minute purchases of chocolate and Polish cigarrettes called "Grot", which cost just 3zl for 20, We then stand in another queue, for new boarding cards and of course passports to be checked and stamped once more. Once through this, we drop off all our purchases in the cabin.
The ship pulls off on time, just another 19 hours til we are back home again. Not a lot more that we can do, but dress up and head back to the bar, after another look around the duty free and buying 5 bottles of wine. On entering the bar, we are immediately recognised by the bar staff, and the band, who all say hello to us. I'm guessing we made an impression on the the previous night, as they weren't saying hello to anyone else. The gambling machines are on tonight, so we spend a little time there, not having a huge success though. One guy next to us managed to win 418 Swedish Krona, which required the attendant to pay it out, this seemed to be quite an event. Not content with his winnings, he continued to sit there and put it all back in. Another girl we noticed spent ages looking at her 3 of a kind, before deciding not to hold them at all, we didn't say anything. We sat back in the bar, where we again met Angel, Eva and John, who had also found more friends to join the table. The same band as before played a similar set, including Opus Life is Life, which got most people up to dance, including us. We pretended to boogie, do the twist and whatever else, no one seemed to notice that we couldn't actually dance. Deciding to retire reasonably early tonight, we said our goodbyes and headed off to bed.