Gdańsk, Toruń and Malbork, Poland

I visited in sunny but chilly mid-October so saved the beaches for another trip. Reception staff at the Mercure Hotel told me to come again in early September when the weather is still nice and most of the tourists have left. But even on a cold October weekend, there were a lot of people strolling along the Dlugi Targ (the Long Market) which is both a square-like gathering place and a way to the river ports. The Gothic and Baroque merchant houses lining the Dlugi Targ have been restored to show the city’s historic wealth as a Baltic trading power. It’s the old town’s place to be. I read a tourist site that compares Dlugi Targ to Las Ramblas in Barcelona. Maybe. I didn’t exactly feel that. It’s Las Ramblas on the Baltic.

Many of the sights of interest are along the Dlugi Targ or around a corner. When I visited, the Dlugi Targ was vibrant and crowded. Restaurants I looked into at lunch time were full, restaurant hawkers were still annoying passers-by, and amber sellers touted festoons of suspect jewelry. I visited the helpful Tourist Information Office near the Green Gate by the river (where staff speak good English), had an interesting chat about Gdańsk and the U.S., and bought a “deluxe” tourist map for about U.S. $1.50. This map was my guide to at least seeing the exterior of all the highlighted buildings in my short time there. As one must, I viewed the famous Gdańsk Crane. The Crane is a 15th century hoist for cargo upgraded in the 17th century, blown to pieces in World War II and reconstructed after 1945. It’s unique in Europe, but only takes a short while to visit.

Brick Gothic buildings abound around the Baltic Sea with its dearth of available stone for building, and in Poland some of the buildings are the biggest of their kind. Just down the road in Malbork the Teutonic Knights built the biggest medieval castle in the world – perhaps the biggest castle in the world – all of red brick. In Gdańsk, the restored St. Mary’s Basilica is said to be the biggest brick church in the world. I could sense the vastness inside the bright, whitewashed nave. The Gdańsk In Your Pocket Guide says it holds 25,000 people. But it was mainly from my room at the Mercure with its view of the old town that I could see how St. Mary’s dwarfs everything else around.

I also went into several other restored churches, including St. Catherine’s, the oldest church in the city. It was begun in the 1200s but badly damaged in World War II. It was restored but unhappily, the church was all but destroyed again in a 2006 fire and is now only partially re-restored. It deserves a visit because of its historic importance and lesson in persistence. The 19th century central market was nearby. There were vegetable stands outside which are always interesting to peruse (buy sunflower seeds still on the flower) but inside there didn’t seem much worth exploring (unless you want to check out the butcher shops on the lower level).

I hadn’t gone to another historic church, St. Bridget’s, but decided to duck in on my last evening in town. Please visit St. Bridget’s. Like other churches, the ancient St. Bridget’s was destroyed in World War II. It was finally restored in the 1970s. One of the must-sees in St. Bridget’s is the so-called amber altar. I had envisioned something that looked like a Renaissance or Gothic altar, a table or a block, but this is different, modern, with several large figures carved from amber of different colors arranged among soaring steel bars. The plan is to add more figures. But even more than the altar, the history of the church and Solidarity engaged me. The church supported the striking workers, and murdered priest Jerzy Popiełuszko, who supported Solidarity, is buried in the church. There’s an ongoing video related to Solidarity. The Katyń memorial was also sobering. If you don’t know about the Katyń massacre, give it a quick search online, or for a wrenching and emotional film account, see the Oscar-nominated 2009 film Katyń.

Sleeping and eating. The Mercure Hotel where I stayed was at the edge of the old town and I had a panoramic view. I watched the nearly full moon’s progress, the illuminated Ferris wheel and one night, fireworks in the distance. It was an easy walk to the sights and a real prize was a shopping center across the street with a grocery store, a book store and a variety of other shops. And, although I found this near the end of my short stay, there’s a nearby underpass that makes it convenient to walk to the trolley and the train station below the impossible highway that runs right through town.

I had breakfast from the Mercure’s huge buffet. I wasn’t there long enough to have many other meals. I “dined” from the grocery store, a fast-food vegetarian or organic place in the mall, at Pellowski bakery and tea room, and Lookier Café. Pellowski gets the whole range of reviews online, from 5- to 1-star. I had hot sandwiches, desserts and tea there and everything was good. Like other places they tolerated my attempted Polish. I also enjoyed the daily special (cod with fries) at the cute Lookier Café on the main street. Perhaps I enjoyed the café more than the lunch, but it was completely adequate. It was a cold day. I had finally picked out Lookier but there were no tables inside. The waitress asked if I minded an outside seat by the heater. Hmm. Even by the heater it was still cold, but she brought me a gray wool blanket that I wrapped around my legs. About the time my soup course came though, she told me a table had opened inside if I wanted to move. The adventure of eating wrapped in a restaurant blanket was attractive, but yes, I went inside.