As usual, we got up at eight o’clock and looked out of our large window to see what the weather was like. It looked to be a promising day. We watched the progress of the Balmoral into the port of Gdańsk, Poland. Whilst we had been to Poland before, to Kraków, in 2020, this was our first visit to Gdańsk, and we looked forward to exploring.
Like many people of a certain age, I first heard of Gdańsk in August 1980, as it was rarely out of the news. A shipyard electrician by the name of Lech Wałęsa, a staunch trade union activist along with several of his colleagues, was instrumental in political negotiations that led to the ground-breaking Gdańsk Agreement between striking workers and the government. He co-founded the Solidarity trade union, whose membership rose to over ten million at its peak.
Ten years later, Wałęsa became the first democratically elected president of Poland since 1926 and the first-ever Polish president (1990-1995) elected by popular vote. He also won the Nobel Peace Prize and was named Time magazine’s Person of the Year in 1981. To many people, Lech Wałęsa has gone down in history as one of the most important people of the 20th century, and to this day he is still regarded as a hero.
We were booked to do a half-day tour of the city and we looked forward to seeing the shipyard and the area where the Solidarity movement was started.
After breakfast we went down to the Neptune Lounge to check in for our excursion at 9.15am. We could proceed ashore more or less straight away, and we looked for the coach bearing our tour number and had our names ticked off the list.
Then we set off through the sunny streets, looking out of the window with interest at the passing scenery and the people of Gdańsk going about their work day business.
After about 45 minutes, we arrived at an impressive-looking church, its twin steeples outlined perfectly against a clear blue sky. Our guide told us it was the Katedra Oliwska, a catholic cathedral dating from 1594. He said we could go inside for a short while, but we had to be quiet and discreet entering the building because an organ recital was in progress.
Wow! It was like something from the Phantom of the Opera. The rich sounds soared and echoed around the vaulted ceilings of the building, filling the space with its powerful and exuberant music. I had to record it! 🙂
Afterwards, we had a look around the cathedral which was light and airy; the architecture was not overly ornate, although there were several impressive stained-glass windows. I took lots of photos; I like looking around churches and cathedrals and mentally comparing them with our ‘own’ magnificent cathedral in Durham. 🙂
Our next visit was to the European Solidarity Centre. This is a large museum and library dedicated to modern Polish history and a prominent trade union movement, and is located at the site of what was part of the Gdańsk shipyard. The outside of the building was very interesting, because it was shaped and designed with steel panels of the types used to build ships, complete with rivets. It evoked the hulls of huge ships. It was a pity we didn’t have the time to go inside for a look around.
Nearby was a monument which consisted of three tall steel crosses, each one containing an anchor. Our guide told us it was the Monument to the Fallen Shipyard Workers 1970, and was to commemorate the 42 or more people killed during the 1970 Polish Protests (the ‘Coastal Cities Events’). The monument was unveiled in December 1980, following the Gdańsk Agreement. There was certainly a lot of interesting history to be seen in Gdańsk.
Afterwards, we had some free time to explore the city, including the massive and impressive Długi Targ, or Long Market Square, which runs from the Town Hall to the Green Gate and is typical of a medieval market square.
First of all though, we decided to go and look for another geocache. Our search took us along by the river Motława, which had wonderfully distinctive buildings. From a small kiosk by the riverside, someone was selling tickets for boat ride as well as hiring colourful pedalos that were shapred to look like cars driving along on the water. 🙂
The square was thronging with people and there were lots of stalls as well as individual hawkers, selling anything from rubber balls on elastic to hair extension. Several restaurants, bars and pavement cafés were all doing a roaring trade, and we decided to go somewhere for the inevitable cold pint of beer. We remembered drinking Tyskie when we were in Poland in 2020, and it’s not a bad pint at all, so we fancied another one. 🙂
However, we had the usual problem of not being able to buy a drink unless it was accompanied by a meal. Eventually we found a little place off the beaten track a bit, and we noticed people sitting with drinks only, so we went inside and Trevor ordered the beers while I used the restrooms.
As we had remembered, the beer was cold, foamy and refreshing and we enjoyed our drinks a lot. Then it was time to go back outside into the hot sunshine and continue our tour.
The buildings in Długi Targ were very interesting indeed, colourful with ornate architecture. We came across a large fountain with a statue of King Neptune, which reminded us of a similar statue in the market square in Durham! The fountain was in front of a fantastic-looking pale blue building which we discovered was called the Artus Court and which was yet another museum.
The square was dominated at the end by a tall clock tower; this was the main town hall. By now, we had to make our way right back to the Green Gate to reconvene with our guide; on the way, we stopped briefly and bought an ice cream each, eating it as we walked along. What an interesting place Gdańsk is – we were glad it featured on this Baltic Cruise itinerary. 🙂
It was around 1.45pm when we arrived back at the Balmoral, and I was able to get a great bow shot of her. She really is a lovely, classic vessel, and actually looks like a ship instead of an ugly, towering block of flats.
After dumping our stuff in 6009, we went up to the Palms Café for a light lunch; we weren’t too hungry after our ice cream. Then we returned to our cabin for an afternoon power nap.
When three o’clock came around, Trevor went off to the Lido Bar to play a game of baggo, while I stayed behind and read my book and wrote up some of this blog. He returned half an hour later, singing “Champion! Champion!” and wielding a couple of prize vouchers. He’d won the baggo! 🙂
We then spent the afternoon pottering around the ship, going up on deck and chatting with other passengers, always a pleasant way to pass the time.
Soon it was time to start getting ready for dinner once again, and we enjoyed the usual scrumptious meal, excellent service and interesting company on table #109. Either the service was faster or we ate the food quicker, but for some reason we were out of the Ballindalloch restaurant in good time so that when we went along to the Neptune Lounge around 7.45pm, the doors were closed and the first performance was still running. It was the excellent soprano, Emily Yarrow, who we’d heard the other night, and as Emily effortlessly hit the high notes in one sone, one of the women who was waiting to get into the Neptune unkindly said she would have to buy some earplugs!
Once the doors opened and everyone poured out of the lounge, we entered and made our way to the front as usual, just in time for the stage to be lowered and to become the dance floor once again. We got up and did the dances that we knew, and they then announced the next dance – the Ria Bachata. As this dance was only invented in 2019 not many people knew it, but we’ve been learning it at our dance class, so Trevor and I were only one of four couples who got up! As we danced around the floor, we spotted Jim and Margaret off our table, who gave us a round of applause once the dance had finished. 🙂
At 8.45pm, the call came to stand clear so that the stage could be raised, and we returned to our seats to enjoy Emily Yarrow’s performance once again, along with a couple of drinks.
Afterwards, as usual, it was time to go up to the Lido Lounge for the evening trivia. You have to make sure you get in there in good time, because the quiz is a popular event. In addition, following the quiz was the “Balmoral Barmy Bingo”, a hilarious take on regular bingo with some unusual prizes. It sounded like a lot of fun.
We didn’t win the quiz.
Afterwards, Trevor hurried back to get our dabbers from the cabin, by which time the bingo ticket sales were open. It cost £5.00 for six books of six games, three books each for Trevor and me. The game started and it certainly was bingo with a difference; for example if number 17 came out, the DJ put on a few bars of Dancing Queen by Abba, and everyone had to sing along. Or if 50 came out, everyone started singing “Five-oh, five-oh, it’s off to work we go” and things like that. In addition, instead of the traditional call of “Bingo!” or “House!”, you were give a (supposedly) randomly generated word to call – in this case it was ‘flibbertigibbet’.
The first couple of calls were false calls, where people didn’t have the correct numbers marked off, or their numbers were across more than one card. The game continued, with much singing, calling, laughter and music. Prizes included bottles of cava, Fred Olsen good bags and, in one memorable case, a pair of inflatable pigs! They were part of giant “Pass the Pigs”, if you’ve ever played that classic game based on dice.
Another team then won a prize, which was a bottle of cava, but they said they wanted the pigs! The lady who won the pigs was asked if she wanted to swap them for a bottle of cava, and she agreed, so the other team were very happy.
Finally, in the last game for a full house, someone was lucky enough to win the star prize – a pair of Captain Steffan Ravneng’s socks. Yes, that’s right – the captain’s socks. The black socks were presented in a frame along with the Captain’s autograph and one of his epaulettes. Well, it was certainly a prize with a difference, and if you put it on your wall at home it would be sure to make an interesting ice-breaker. 🙂
We stayed in the Lido Lounge afterwards, and it was around midnight when we returned to cabin 6009. We could have a lie-in in the morning, as we were not due to arrive in our next port of call, Copenhagen, until around one o’clock tomorrow afternoon, where we would remain in port overnight.
It was with these pleasant thoughts that we settled down after a very full, very interesting day, and we slept very well.