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Poland

August - September 2021
A 16-day adventure by skip's retirement travel Read more
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  • skip's retirement travelPoland
    Day 4

    Grzycko

    August 30, 2021 in Poland ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    This is a a small town where we have our 1st encounter with the Teutonic Knights, a medieval order similar to the Knight Templar. After the crusades, they settled here and built dozens of fortifications in this region. There will be more posts about the Teutonic Knights.
    The 1st 2 pictures are of the reconstructed and adapted fortress the Teutonic Knights built here. It is now the hotel St. Bruno. I can attest to this being a very nice hotel. I stayed here.
    The hotel is named for St. Bruno, one of the first monk evangelists to come to this region to attempt to convert the local pagans. He was martyred in 1009. In 2009, a cross was erected in his name on a hilltop overlooking a lake nearby. That is the 3rd picture.
    The last picture is taken from the bridge over a canal that connects 2 lakes in the region. The canal is active with recreational boaters, and the bridge opens to allow boats to pass. This picture also captures a bit of the town    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelPoland
    Day 5

    Elblag-Ostroda Canal

    August 31, 2021 in Poland ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

    Overland Canal is another name for this facility opened in the 1860s that was built to move merchandise more efficiently between the 2 cities it is named for. A major product was timber, an important export from this region in the 19th century.
    This is also a good place for engineers to geek out. It may be the only canal built like this. Instead of locks to raise and lower shipping, they have a ramp system. The canal proceeds to an earthen dam. The canal boats slip into a cable driven trolley that lifts the boat up on tracks to the top of the dam and then on down the other side until the boat again floats and heads off under its own power. The greatest elevation change at one of the ramps is 23.5 meters.
    Another interesting point about this system is that it is still driven by water power only, just as it was in the 1860s.
    The 1st 2 pictures look at the mechanism that moves the canal boats on the ramp. In the first are the 2 wheels that move the cables. This is a counter balanced system where one trolley moves in each direction. The 2nd picture is a wider view. The building farthest to the right and which sits low is where the water wheel is that drives the system. Each individual ramp has the same system. BTW, the electric service you can see is used for lighting only.
    The next 2 pictures show the trolleys. One is an empty trolley and the other looks along the side of the canal boat as it is being carried by the trolley.
    The 5th picture is one of the canal boats. The canal now operates as a tourist business only. Transport of goods now uses more modern and efficient modes.
    The last picture is a look at the scenery along the canal    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelPoland
    Day 6

    Mickiwicz park, Oliwa, Gdansk

    September 1, 2021 in Poland ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    A large park in the Oliwa section of Gdansk. The park had 2 distinct sections: one designed in the french style, the other side in the less formal English style. Between the 2 is a religious site.
    The 1st picture is of the Abbot's Palace that housed the abbot of the Cistercian Monastery until the region became part of Prussia. The Cistercians were developers of the region, building mills, granaries and more. Their church, near the palace which is the cathedral dedicated to the Trinity and Holy Mary, is shown in the 2nd picture. The 3rd picture is an unusual tall, round glass building housing palm trees. The last 2 pictures are views of the park.Read more

  • skip's retirement travelPoland
    Day 6

    Sopot

    September 1, 2021 in Poland ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Sopot is adjacent to Gdansk and is sometimes called the summer capital of Poland. It is a seaside town on the Baltic Sea known for health spas, beaches and pier.
    The 1st picture looks back at the shore and town from near the end of what is said to be the longest wooden pier in Europe. The tallest tower to the left is a Lutheran church. The next tallest, nearer the center, is a working lighthouse. The clinic in is also visible.
    The 2nd picture is of the spa/clinic using natural, highly mineralized water recognized by a surgeon in Napoleon's army who established the site. It is still in operation.
    The 3rd picture is the Crooked House located on Monte Cassino Street. This is not a touched up photo. The house was built that way. The street is named Monte Cassino in recognition of the Polish Army's significant role at Monte Cassino in Italy during World War 2.
    The 4th picture is also related to Polish Army units in WW2. Wojtek the bear was adopted by II Corps and became their mascot. He was enlisted as a private, participated at Monte Cassino and was promoted to corporal.
    The 5th picture looks along Monte Cassino Street, and the 6th is the main square near the pier and beaches    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelPoland
    Day 6

    Gdansk

    September 1, 2021 in Poland ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Gdansk was known as the free city of Danzig under the auspices of the League of Nations between the 2 world wars. However, much of our familiarity with Gdansk is tied up with Solidarity, Lech Walesa, and the stand against Communism. The 1st 2 pictures relate to this. 1st is the European Solidarity center built where it all began and the 2nd is the shipyard where Lech Walesa worked. Gdansk/Danzig has been a major ship building port for centuries. Even U-boats were built here.
    In the world war 2 museum (see another post) is the reconstruction of the damage to the city. So most of what we see is reconstructed. Notice that the architecture looks Dutch. That is because Dutch engineers were brought in to help develop the area, much of which is below sea level. As another Hanseatic port, those influences are not surprising.
    The 3rd picture is of the main street today. It was decided to focus the reconstruction on the golden age of Danzig during the Hanseatic era. The 4th an 5th pictures are old buildings that mostly survived the war located on granary island. The last is the Neptune Fountain, a central landmark in the old town.    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelPoland
    Day 6

    Gdansk Basilica

    September 1, 2021 in Poland ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    This is the main church in Gdansk, dedicated to Mary, and it is one of the 3 largest brick gothic churches in the world. Building began in the 14th century, replacing an earlier wooden church on the site. Although now a Roman Catholic church, St. Mary's was Lutheran from the reformation to World War 2 when the large German population fled.
    The 1st picture is the nave looking towards the high altar. The 2nd picture is a closer look at the high altar dating to the 16th century.
    The 3rd picture is of what is probably the most famous artwork associated with this church. It is The Last Judgment by Hans Memling. The original is now in the national museum.
    The 5th picture is of a visual representation of the 10 commandments. Most people in the middle ages were illiterate. So pictures were used for their edification.
    The last picture shows some of the original frescos uncovered during restoration work following the destruction if world war 2.    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelPoland
    Day 6

    Museum of 2nd World War

    September 1, 2021 in Poland ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    This is an extraordinary place, and I happened to visit on the 82nd anniversary of the beginning of world war 2, commemorating the date when the German army began their attack on Poland. Gdansk (or Danzig as it was known then) was where it all began.
    The museum traces conditions from before the war right up through the fall of the Iron Curtain, which is when many Poles consider the war to have finally ended.
    I have no way to capture the extent of what is here. There are exhibits about occupations of Germans, Italians, Soviets, Japanese, as these are all part of the war. The Holocaust is here in all it's gory detail. My pictures here are an inadequate glimpse at the place.
    1st is the museum itself. 2nd is a statue commemorating the postal workers who fought the Nazis and we're eventually executed. The 3rd picture is of a reconstruction of what the main street looked like after the Soviets overran the city.
    The 4th is an original Enigma code machine. The museums make much of the fact the the Poles were the ones who cracked the Enigma code and passed their work on to Bletchley Park.
    The 5th picture is of a famous photo of Polish woman grieving over her sister who had been gunned down by a strafing German aircraft while she was harvesting potatoes.
    The last picture is of another memorial to those postal workers. Art students created a series of hand prints where the workers were lined up against the wall and executed.    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelPoland
    Day 7

    Malbork Castle

    September 2, 2021 in Poland ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Originally called Marienburg by the Teutonic Knights who built it beginning in the 13th century. It is said to be the largest castle (52 acres) in the world by land area, and I can believe it. This became the capital of of the Teutonic Order upon their move from Venice perhaps promoted by the treatment of the Knights Templar. It is considered a classic example of a medieval fortress.
    Because there is too much here for a single post, this post look at exterior features. The next post looks inside a few of the buildings.
    One of these famous items at Malbork is the 8 meter tall statue of Mary that is covered with glass tiles the make it glisten and visible for miles. This is my 1st picture.
    The 2nd picture looks along the outer wall and outer moat (now dry) of the Middle Castle, the largest of the 3 sections. The 3rd picture is of the courtyard of the Middle Castle.
    The 4th picture is of the counterweights on the chain to lift the drawbridge over another moat into the Upper Castle. The 5th picture looks along the covered walkway on an inner wall. The last picture looks back across the river to capture a view of most of the castle. A portion of the lower castle used for servants located to the left of the picture didn't quite fit.    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelPoland
    Day 7

    More Malbork

    September 2, 2021 in Poland ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    I had said the this post would be interior photos. The exception is the 1st picture the looks to the palace of the Grand Master taken from the Upper Castle. The 2nd picture is the major refectory in the Grand Master's palace.
    The 3rd looks along the part of the cloister of the upper castle. The section was restricted to the knights who were also monks. The secular members were restricted to the Middle Castle. The 4th picture is the door to the chapel in the Upper Castle/monastery. This is original. The 5th picture is of a portion of the chapter house of the monastery. And the last picture is of the well in the upper castle.    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelPoland
    Day 8

    Torun

    September 3, 2021 in Poland ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    This is another Teutonic Knights town. In this case, they expanded the town (dating to the 8th century) by building their castle in the 13th century and the town built up around them. Torun is a well preserved example of s medieval trading and government town and is now under UNESCO protection. It doesn't hurt that this where Copernicus was born.
    The 1st picture is of a granary just inside the old walls. The 2nd picture isn't a trick. The tower is leaning. There are too many local legends about this to relate. The local clay soils and differential settlement just aren't interesting enough.
    The 3rd picture is a a boy playing a fiddle. This is a similar story to the Pied Piper of Hamelin (see another post). In this case, it was frogs. The fiddler led the frogs away, saved the town, and married the mayor's daughter.
    The 4th picture is of part of the old market square with the old town hall and a building of Copernicus University visible. The 5th picture looks at some of the ruins of the Teutonic Knights castle.
    The last picture was taken along the street while I was standing in front of Copernicus' house. It is a typical street. Of interest is the sign to the left advertising Piernicki. Piernicki means gingerbread in Polish, and this town is famous for its piernicki.    Read more

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