Gdansk, Poland

Gdansk, Poland: Hello from Poland! (If it's Tuesday, this must be Gdansk?) We only had one afternoon here, so I don't officially know if we can even claim to have visited Poland. The cruise ship actually gave us our passports back last night, as we would need them to enter Poland. The immigration officials seemed put-out that I insisted on a stamp and then, since I insisted a stamp, the crowd behind me insisted on a stamp and a near riot broke out across the canal from where the first shots of World War II broke out in 1939.

We boarded a tour bus at 1:30 (after enjoying a Jacques Pepin signature luncheon in the dining room as the ship docked at noon) for the "Highlights of Gdansk" tour. Our guide was quite humorous, announcing that our driver seemed "pretty sober" today, so things should go smoothly, or as he pronounced it, smoodly. This brought a laugh from the bus, but I think some of the passengers were wondering if the guide was joking or not.

Tour buses parked on the dock

DT has decided that Gdansk means "graffiti" in Polish. Very little of the original city - now 1,000 years old - remains after the bombing of World War II. The Allied Forces did most of the bombing as the German's had planted themselves firmly in Gdansk. What does remain, and what has been built since, is quite dreary and covered with graffiti. Our guide actually said - for example: "If you look to your right, you will see where a synagogue once stood" or "where beautiful merchant homes once stood"... so it was a bit of a tour of the imagination. One of our stops on the tour today was a drive-by: Lech Walesa's house! As we entered the historic center of the city, which has been restored, we were able to leave the tour and ramble on our own.

Gdansk, with the Medieval Crane in the background

The tall, dark black, structure in the back of this photo is a crane is one of Medieval Europe's largest structures. Able to lift 2 tons ninety-feet high, is is now part of the Maritime Museum.

Kings Road - constructed to impress the King of Poland on his arrival to Gdansk


Town Hall tower


The Neptune Fountain on Kings Road


Another quaint street in Gdansk

The thing in Poland and Denmark is amber. The gem is everywhere! Tourists line up for it. We only bought a few pieces for a few special girls... but tonight every woman on the ship was dripping in the stuff, so I guess we missed-out. Most of the amber is encased in silver and, as I do not wear silver, I suppose My Dear Husband, saved a bundle. It rained while we were in Gdansk and the cheap umbrella we bought yesterday in Copenhagen completely fell apart and sliced into my finger and had to be stashed in a rubbish bin in Gdansk. $8 wasted.

We have added a truly tacky bottle opener to our truly tacky bottle opener collection in every city of our cruise, so far. Today, however, was the highlight. We found a bottle opener with a cityscape and the city crest of Gdansk. We asked the girl if we could look at the opener and she took it from the case. Upon closer inspection we found, on the back side, it was inscribed "Please enjoy a cool beer" in about ten different languages and we realized this would soon become one of the Top Ten entries in our now-25-year-old-World-Wide-Tacky Bottle Opener Correction. It was $5.25. Outrageous, yet priceless at the same time.

We arrived back to our ship in time for a rest before our reservations at the Polo Grill restaurant. While we were dressing for dinner, my cell phone rang. It was Sotta, phoning from Vermont. He said Hello. Are you in Portland? No, we are in Poland. You are in Portland? No, we are in Poland!

Anyway, we had dinner at the Polo Grill, the steak house on the ship. We had a table for eight, with six other people we have not (somehow) met yet on the ship. The three couples were very fun and we enjoyed a lovely meal and I am so happy to report that my New York steak was fabulous and DT actually finished an entire Porterhouse steak - a feat he is already regretting. One of the couples at our table have been on two 60+ day cruises and are booked on a 105-day around-the-world cruise next year! They especially enjoy Oceania cruises and they are both of normal weight.

After dinner, while most of the passengers went to the theater to enjoy the show (more show tunes), we went to the lounge to listen to the piano player, Tonee Valentine, aka Anthony Carter. He needed a little help during the California Dreamin' segment of his presentation, and I was chosen to be his Doo-Wa Girl. (Thank goodness you didn't have to hear that!) After his set, Anthony came over to our table and we chatted for a while. He is on the ship for three months and plays for only about two or three hours per day. I can't imagine how boring this must be, but he says it is a good life... for three months. The rest of the time, he lives in Atlanta with his wife of 37 years and their two beagles, and plays for recording sessions, etc. He was most interested in any new music I had in my iPod and I promised to burn a few CDs for him tomorrow.