Platea Spiritum Sanctum

The entrance

 I'm back from the wild. I must admit it was hard to leave the forest behind. Not because I got lost, I was holding on to the quiet and the greenery. Don't get me wrong. I spent in the forest five hours couple of Saturdays ago, so I haven't been living there past few weeks :) Just this memory stayed with me for longer, but it is time to return to the living. Re-immerse in Gdansk. And there is no better way to do that than with a walk.

Details

I found this article on the Internet about one street in Gdansk, I briefly read it and thought: "That's it". As it turned out I thought the article was about different street. I sadly must admit that I don't know the street names in Old-Town Gdansk. So if you ever come across me in the streets of Gdansk, for the love of God, do not ask me for directions. There is no telling where I could send you :)

Different perspective :)

As I said, when I read the article I thought is about different street, then I checked it on the map. When I went to take pictures, I realized I still thought of wrong street. Fortunately my phone navigation showed me to right place :)

Please don't eat the buildings

Before I start (whaaat?? didn't I start already? :) I just wanted to say, that this street might not be the most beautiful street in Gdansk, it might not be the postcard street, but if you are exploring Old Town, you just might want to stop there for a minute or two.

This "thing" is just too big the get it in one shot (The Royal Chapel and Basilica)

Since first mentioned in 1336 as Heilige - Geist - Gasse (Holy Spirit Street) the street went through transition few times. The street was named after a hospital that was located here. As one can assume, huge part of the street belonged to church (since construction of Basilica started in 1346 nearby plots were purchased and administer by church officials.

Meat Market; source: http://trojmiasto.gazeta.pl/trojmiasto/55,35612,8222458.html

What one might not know is that there was tremendous amount of traders and guild located there too. On this very street Brotmarkt (Bread Market) was located, where every Saturday one could purchase any type of baked goods and any baker could sell (even them, who weren't affiliated to the guild). And Fleischebanke (Meat Market), which in XVI was upgraded to Gothic-styled brick building and where over 80 butches of Gdansk guild were located. Many other trade was located on Holy Spirit Street (strawberry market, cloth market, and many more traders and works), but I regret closure of the meat markets the most.

Daniel Chodowiecki's Picture: Long Street, Gdansk

Apparently this street is also famous for having loads of famous people as residents :) However I didn't see any records of Madonna or Lady Gaga living there :) The list is long, so I will mention only few people: Paul Beneke who, I am sure Italians aren't very fond of for seizing Memling's triptych The Last Judgment; Daniel Chodowiecki - painter and printmaker; and probably most famous of them all - Arthur Schopenhauer.

No. 109

Although, in my opinion (and I think many people would agree) the eye-catcher of the street is The Royal Chapel. It was built 1678 - 1681, when Lutherans took over the Basilica. The build was initiated by polish king - John III Sobieski (hence the name:) The Chapel is kept in unusual for Gdansk baroque style. It does stand out for sure, but in my weird opinion, I think it complements the Basilica in some strange way :)

And finally, place to regroup :)

Night at the Museum

ESC and the Monument of Three Crosses 

This weekend I went for Night at the Museum. However there was no Ben Stiller, or exhibits coming alive at midnight. You might ask, how is that possible? The answer, as always, is simple. I went for the real Night at the Museum.

Emigration Museum and a ship as big as the building itself

Every year museums around Poland open their doors to visitors at night (from around 5pm to 2am). Not only the entrance is free (in majority:), there also are extra surprises that are one-off kinda thing.

You might see suitcases there

I had very ambitious plan. I wanted to start in Gdynia, at Emigration Museum as it was its opening day. Then I wanted to stop by European Solidarity Centre, as I never been since it opened. I also wanted to see Tower Clock Museum (who wouldn't! right?) and finish of at Westerplatte.

Or, a picture of modern supermarket

We got to the Emigration Museum around 6pm to discover a bubble-shaped queue in front of entrance to the main exhibit area . No worries, we got in in a blink of an eye (about 40 minute blink:). Main exhibit area reminded me of a maze, (the "road" was twisty:) each room was so different from the previous one. I did try to read about the exhibits and gain the knowledge of polish emigration, however I had others museums at the back of my head, so I read about 50% information, but I saw 100% of pictures :)

You definitely gonna see that and you will love it even more :)

By the time we got out the queue quadruple in size and transformed into a line, and I couldn't be more pleased with myself:) So I grabbed a bagel from food truck upfront and hit the road. The only problem was the time. It was 10pm already (how????). So, of we rushed off to European Solidarity Centre.

You might be able to leave a message here...

As we entered from side door and headed upstairs to the exhibition rooms I was amazed and very happy that there is no queues. Until we were stopped at top of the stairs and directed to cash desk to purchase tickets. Then I saw it. The queue writhed like a snake. Estimated waiting time: 1,5 hrs. As the bets on waiting time started rolling in a miracle happen: a lady came over and offered her tickets. I almost lost the tickets as I was so surprised I didn't respond to her and there were plenty of people that were more than happy to take advantage of the offer. Thankfully the lady had her heart set on me, for which I am more than grateful :)

and enjoy show here.

The next thing we did was speed touring. Even with our almost running pace it took us around 2 hours to walk though all the exhibition rooms. However I am not sure if I got them all, as I got a little bit lost in the meantime. I guess it doesn't matter as much, as I would have to come back because I got around 5% information and 40% pictures.

Resistors

Purposefully I am not describing any exhibition pieces and I don't want to spoil the fun for those of you who will go see it. For anyone interested in history, especially polish history both of the places will be interesting. Otherwise go to the beach instead:)

And you can admire rooftop view :)

Although I didn't "make the plan" I consider this year's Night at the Museum as successful. Did you ever got to experience the real Night at the Museum yourself?

Forest. Run.

So what did you do this weekend? I got lost in a jungle. Well, almost :)

Swampish river

I decided to try one of them orientation walks. Silly as I am, I imagined something in terms of a childhood game, I loved and played when I was young - Paper Chase. I found an orientation walk that offered different difficulty levels, to not be cocky I signed up fo the easiest one. The boot message said to bring compass, so I downloaded one on my phone (although I am not convinced it really works, but I don't know how to work a compass, so it was fine by me:).

Other "gamers"

Luckily for me, I managed to find "volunteer" to tag along. As we arrived I was full of enthusiasm, that unfortunately decreased by the minute (we got lost on our way to the starting point :(

Berry bushes

I determined to do the walk and come back alive. Even when at starting line I asked if I can be explained the rules of the game and was told that the remaining 5 minutes to my start wasn't enough time, or when I saw advanced team map in a shape of a thong (and as wide).

Our map

Time... Start! So off we went (in the wrong direction) about 10 meters away. I had no idea how to read the map we were given, there was no mark indicating where we (except start/finishing line circle). I'd just say: thank heavens for my partner and GPS! Half the time I didn't know where we were.

Polypore

According to the rules, we had 3 hours and 12 points to find. It took us 1 hour to find first point. Beginner's pace I guess:) I didn't mind though. I love forest, I grew up around it, played in it, so I was happy.

Intersection

During our 5 hour walk we saw rabbit hole, wild deer, duck and a terrifying wild snail. My partner lost his shoe twice, we ended up at swamp couple of times and most of the time we were pretty lost.

Can you see the duck? It is there.

Overall, if you like spending time outdoor and always say yes to an adventure, I'd say: Go on orientation walk! I explored Tricity Landscape Park, but there is plenty to choose from: bike orientation, night orientation or kayak orientation.

Feeding station

If you feel it's not your cup of tea, but still enjoy outdoors, I'd say: Go to Tricity Landscape Park. There is plenty of paths for both biking and walking. I was actually surprised how many people go to the park and take advantage of the peacefulness in the city.

Highway

But remember! Whatever you take with yourself take it back with you. Do not leave any rubbish in the forest! Ever!

Let's go to war

T34-76

Today's post is about monument that isn't described in any tourist books. If it is I will be greatly surprised. I would like to write about a tank that stands by main road in Gdansk - Victory Avenue, and is the best known tank in Gdansk.

The tank

Let me just say that this is a hands-on type of monument, I would even say all limbs-on type:) It took me few trips to take pictures of the tank without dangling kids of the barrel :) It doesn't take much for the adults either to let their imagination go to war and jump around the tank as if they were under attack. Believe me, if I had a kid with me today, I would "play war" too.

Wow, don't shoot :)

Don't get me wrong. The tank doesn't work. Although it still has engine inside, it lacks other components inside that are needed for driving (like driving wheel or equivalent:) Despite it being closed shut and completely not working I think it is nice to have it there.

Tank track

I mean, how many times have you seen a tank? How many times have you sat on one? How many times have you played war with one? How many cities in the world have tanks in their centres?

Hope on!

Apparently it isn't even an ordinary tank. I read that this is quite rare type of tank  - T 34-76 (most of them have been destroyed during war). It was build in 1941 in Stalingrad (today's Volgograd) or even further away past Ural Mountains and was equipped with F-34 barrel of 76,2 mm calibre.

Busy tank :)

The tank arrived in Gdynia on 27 of March 1945. According to sources this tank was the first one of allies tanks to arrive at Tricity. The tank driver was lieutenant Julian Miazga. Unfortunately the tank was bombarded soon after entering the city.

Unveiling of the tank, 1946

Lieutenant Miazga was the last one to drive the tank, as he drove it to the place of it's destiny in 1946 where in the first anniversary of the end of the war the tank was unveiled.

Happy anniversary, Tank :)

The Neptune Fountain

The Neptune Fountain

Probably the most known fountain statue in TriCity and symbol of Gdansk. So, why do I write about it since it is so famous that every tourist knows to stop by it anyway? The answer is quite simple. The fact that it is famous doesn't mean that people know about it.

The Neptune Fountain with Town Hall in background

Let's start at the beginning then. In 1549 first fountain appeared on Long Market (some claim it was simple wooden water jet and calling it 'a fountain' is overstatement:). The "fountain" was placed more to the east from the present one.

The fountain, view from the back

However soon enough the stewards of the city grew tired of the litter water jet in the centre of the city. All the more so as they were able to see greater structures around the world. Naturally they decided that Gdansk deserved a fountain that could proudly represent Gdansk and its residents (that was in 1606).

View of the Neptune and Long street

Abraham van den Blocke was hired for the work (I start to feel like this guy built half of Gdansk!). New place was carefully chosen. It was decided that statue crowning the fountain should be Neptune - the god of freshwater and the sea in roman religion. New fountain was to be faced in direction of apartment houses across the Artus Court. The head of Neptune was to be bowed in respect of kings and queens that resided in said apartment houses when visiting Gdansk. Also the Neptune Fountain is in the axis of the entrance to the Artus Court and the axis of Long Street and Green Gate.

Statues around basin look up to Neptune

It took a long time to finish the fountain. Not only the construction problems, but also the war with Sweden delayed the works. However despite the obstacles the work was completed in 1633. The fountain was created by Abraham van the Blocke, however the statue was of Peter Husen work. Surprisingly the first glimpse at the statue came way before revealing date, thanks to Izaak van den Blocke (brother of Abraham), who decided to paint Artus Court with soon-to-be Neptune Fountain in front of it. I haven't seen the painting myself, but if you like to see it, it is on the ceiling of Red Hall in Town Hall.

Details on the stem

Very advanced solutions were put in place in order to have the fountain work. There was a container build at the attic of Artus Court, with pipes running down the building and under the pavement right to the fountain. Every time that the Neptune Fountain was scheduled to work the container was filled with water (read: people were carrying water up to the attic in buckets). That is probably the reason why the fountain only worked only three times a week (Sundays between 11 - 12, Tuesday and Thursday between 12 - 13) between Easter and 29th of September of every year. I guess there was no coincidence that running time was set for an hour, as the container in the attic of Artus Court has a capacity that allowed fountain to work continuously for an hour. Imagine the persistence: the Neptune Fountain was run this way for 200 years!! (that is until waterworks were built in Gdansk).

Neptune attacking Town Hall tower :)

During II WW the whole fountain was taken apart and hidden away. After the war piece were found in different locations, however some pieces never were found: trident, finn of sea bass and stem, which is rumoured to be sunk in one of Oliwa's lakes.

Some parts of the fountain were hidden in its basin during the war

Surprisingly the fin of the sea bass (which loads of people mistake for a leaf) that covers private parts of Neptune is the single most stolen piece of the fountain. Also, there is a small replica of Neptune (or this replica is the prototype of the statue) at a roof of 2 Long Street building. I didn't know that when I went today to take pictures, pity :)

Old postcard 

Marine Station

Panorama, Museum of Emigration

I am so exited I can barely contain myself. I was very fortunate to take part in Instameet in Gdynia. We were visiting soon to be open Museum of Emigration. It goes without saying that I was more than happy with the whole tour. Mostly it is due to Mr. Marcin, who was our tour guide.

Entrance Hall

I can admit that I am not familiar with history of Gdynia, or it's - too see places. But whenever I ask any Gdynia native what there is to see in Gdynia, I don't get any more info than what I know already (sometimes even less).

Emigration Museum and the Sun

We got nice warm up walk with quite few "details" that I'll share with you later. But everybody knew that the museum was the real deal. I'll just add that this was my first InstaMeet, so I had no idea what to expect. I will also say that till last week I had no knowledge whatsoever of Museum of Emigration. Open or not.

"Emigration" wall

The museum is based in a station, that was in use between 1933 and 1987. Silly of me, but brave to admit that the whole time of the tour I thought it was a train station. I had it all figured out. Since it was the emigration museum and a station I figured it was used during WWII to ship people out of danger. The idea I had was that people where brought by trains to the station and then put on ships to emigrate. I was wrong there. My imagination fails me so often!

Original track from the crane

The museum is set to be open in early summer, so since they aren't quite ready we didn't see any exhibits. That didn't bother me. The building itself is a gem. They restored the original building that was open on 8th of December 1933. The building was enriched with beautiful glass that adds so much to experience and it is consistent throughout the building. You have the sleeve that is mirrors what is was there before (which was a fully working sleeve). Clever use of glass gives you so many reflections and angles. I was amazed. Truly.

Cafe, see beneath you :)

I promise you, I will get all the facts about the actual station by the time it's open. But for now I can't get over how it was restored and made into such a gem. I'll say people of Gdynia start spreading the word that such beauty is around the corner. The museum is very close to main town, but to get there one has to go through industrial area, also big surprise that such terrain still exist so close to main town. You even get a feeling of village-like life. I would live there if I could.

Waves at  French Harbour in Gdynia