PAGE FOUR
Gdańsk in the Snow - Andrew - 2010
I visited Gdańsk once more in February 2010. Although the snow had gone from the UK as the plane came down over Northern Poland it was clear there was snow still here. It turned out that I had missed, by two days, the last of 16 days of solid snow. Had I come earlier I might have seen everything blanketed in a fresh fall of snow, as it was the snow was beginning to melt a little, particularly on paved surfaces – but I was treated to some great views across snowy fields on the trip out to Sobieszewo Island.
Gdańsk in the Snow
Having done all the necessary business I found myself with a few hours to spend in Gdańsk city centre – the first time I’d had had much spare time in ages. So I walked into town from the Hotel along the banks of the frozen Motława. Once before Jacqui and I had seen the Motława frozen over, but then it was just around the bridges and the ice was only millimetres thick. This time the ice was some inches thick.
The Keeps on Spichlerze Island, Gdańsk
As I crossed to the centre of town I was shocked to see the pleasure boats that normally pass up and down the River frozen into the ice where they were moored. They looked like they had been there for some while too.
Pleasure Boats going Nowhere! Gdańsk
Walking along the banks of the River towards the Great Crane was a completely different experience now, with only a few hunched up people wandering around rather than the hustle and bustle of the summer time.
Mariacki Street, Gdańsk
The Riverside Walk in Gdańsk
Looking across the River to the Maritime Museum I could see the broken up pack ice where an ice-breaker had moved off to sea to keep an open channel along the river. Here, where the ice was all churned up, you could see just how thick it was. No wonder people were walking on it across the far side of the River.
Looking across the Frozen Motlawa. Gdańsk
The Ice on the River, Gdańsk
I wandered around Gdańsk for a while, past Mariacki Street and along to the so-called “New Town” (i.e. the bit that is only 300 years old) where I found some more attractive painted houses and the church of St. John before arriving at the side of St. Mary’s Church by the little Baroque Capilla Real – the Royal Chapel.
Capilla Real, Gdańsk
From here I found myself, as you always do in Gdańsk, at Długi Targ which looked surprisingly empty and rather picturesque in the cold air and subdued lighting – giving it an even more sepia look than usual.
Looking down Dlugi Targ, Gdańsk
Looking up Dlugi Targ, Gdańsk
Although light was by now starting to fade, I thought it would be worth crossing back over the Motława and heading towards the Maritime Museum to get some views back across the iced up river towards the Old Town.
Another boat going nowhere! Gdańsk
Part way across I came across a small motor dinghy frozen into the River, which I thought summed up just how cold it was! A few pictures across the River later and the light was really starting to fade – so I made my way to food and then back to the Hotel.
Andrew in frozen snowy Gdańsk
It was really great to see Gdańsk in the snow like this and it gave the whole place a completely different feel to the summer time.
Frozen landscape of Gdańsk
Westerplatte - Andrew - 2010
Another trip to Gdańsk in June 2010 and the weather conditions could not have been more different. This time the city was sweltering under a heat wave – no ice on the river this time around!
After business was complete I decided, as it was such a lovely sunny day, to take the River trip up to the Westerplatte peninsula. The boats for these trips go from just outside the Green Gate (where I had previously seen them stuck in the ice).
Boats on the Motlawa, Gdańsk
So, after eating, I found myself on the boat trundling up the Motława. Once you get outside the area of the Old Town the next thing you pass is the massive Shipyards of Gdańsk. The Shipyards are, of course, renowned for their role at the beginning of the end of Communism in Europe. It was here that Lech Walesa and his peers organised the first Trade Union, Solidarity (Solidarnosc) in the Warsaw Pact countries. In turn the pressure of this Trade Union eroded away the powers of Poland’s Communist Government to the point in the late 1980s when the first real cracks in the Eastern Bloc finally ruptured. Although most people remember the demolition of the Berlin Wall, the fall of Communism really began here in Gdańsk.
Gdańsk Shipyard Cranes
The Shipyards are very impressive – strung out along the Motława for many miles they are still quite active (by UK shipyard standards certainly) and, although mostly employed in taking ships apart these days, a great many big ships were moored alongside – even an oil rig!
Just beyond the main part of the Shipyards the Motława joins up with the Wisła (Vistula) – the river which links Poland’s three main cities (Gdańsk, Warsaw and Kraków). Today the part of the Wisła that joins the Motława here is one of a series of small delta channels – the main part of the River flows out to sea west of here – but even so it makes for a fairly wide river.
More Gdańsk Shipyard Cranes
Just past this joining of the Rivers stands the Wisłoujscie (Mouth of the Vistula) Fortress which has stood here since at least the 13th Century.
Approaching the Wisloujscie Fortress in Gdańsk
As we reached this point the weather began to change. The oppressive heat began to give way to blustery winds coming in from the direction of the Baltic. By the time the little boat was travelling up to the Westerplatte memorial it was getting decidedly choppy.
Wisloujscie Fortress, Gdańsk
Here, at Westerplatte, the first shots of World War II were fired in September 1939. There is currently some debate as to who fired first – the Polish defenders or the Germans in their massed boats on the Baltic. Nevertheless it was at this spot that Europe was plunged into the most destructive war in history.
The Westerplatte Monument, Gdańsk
Another view of the Westerplatte Monument, Gdańsk
Today it is a wooded peninsula with a small beach on one side and at its highest point there stands a rather modernist monument to the events of 1939. Not even a year before the leaders of the World had gathered here to mark the seventieth anniversary – including for the first time the leader of Germany.
Westerplatte Sign, Gdańsk
The boat then docked and most of us got off to have a quick look around. Although on a nice sunny day a walk up to the Monument would be pleasant, the weather was rapidly deteriorating by this point, so I satisfied myself with seeing the Westerplatte sign and a quick stroll on the beach by the Baltic. Even as I stood on the sand the squally weather showed signs of getting worse and worse. So I decided it was time to head back to Gdańsk City Centre.
Andrew on Westerplatte Beach, Gdańsk
My timing was just about okay, the boat was just about to leave the dockside and the captain quickly waved me on board, so I jumped on at the front and then climbed a little ladder up the side to get to the public part of the boat. As things transpired, I am very glad I didn’t get stuck at Westerplatte.
And so the little boat headed back down River and as it did so the sky took on an apocalyptic hue. Vast clouds of yellowish dust began to blow up and surrounding the industrial landscape of the Shipyards things began to look like something out of a disaster movie. Cranes and earthmovers blended into the sickly looking yellow fug and made for some extremely atmospheric looking pictures.
Dust Storm over Westerplatte, Gdańsk
An Apocalyptic View, Gdańsk
Then just as we were reaching the main part of the Shipyard where the Motława and Wisła meet a great strike of lightning shot down from the heavens out across town and then the rain began.
Storm Clouds over Gdańsk Shipyard
Arriving back at Gdańsk
The closer we got to Gdańsk the more the rain came down. By the time we docked again the rain was absolutely hammering down. Perfect timing those few of us on the boat (the lucky ones who had not stayed out at Westerplatte) gingerly made our way down the gangway and onto not particularly dry land. For a while I sheltered under the Green Gate watching people in their best summer clothes running down Długi Targ looking for shelter. Eventually, however, I had to give up waiting for the storm to pass and made my way as fast as I could back to my hotel. It wasn’t fast enough and I got pretty thoroughly soaked!
Dlugi Targ in torrential rain. Gdańsk
So 2010 had thus far given me snow, ice, sun, wind and rain in Gdańsk!
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