Day 77: Still Loving Poland

Hi Friends.

We returned to Poland today for a short visit - it was another wonderful day.  Our cruise stopped in Gdansk which is a seaside city in the north of Poland.  We were there on a Sunday morning - it was beautiful and we had a great tour.

Our tour guide today was Agnesieka (Agnes) - born and raised in Gdansk - she was awesome.  She loves her city and her country and it was great to learn more about Poland from her.  

Before visiting we didn't realize the role Gdansk played in some very historical moments during both WW II and the fall of communism in Eastern Europe.  The first shots of WW II were in Gdansk when Germany invaded Poland.  Gdansk also was the location of the initial strikes in 1980 led by Lech Walesa that resulted in Poland gaining independence from the old Soviet Bloc in 1989.  

Poland was the location of the start of WW II along with significant battles and extensive suffering.  Thankfully, Poland also made some significant contributions to the war effort.  The most significant was the accomplishments of 3 Polish mathematicians from Poznan (yes - that's where Craig and I visited earlier in our trip; I believe my dad's grandparents were born somewhere nearby).  Prior to the beginning of WW II, these Polish mathematicians cracked the German Enigma code.  This was crucial to help decipher communications from Hitler.   Britain had made good progress but by the mid 1930's they had hit a roadblock.  At the time, they were still using linguists to try to break the codes.  The Poles instead used mathematics to look for patterns - and this was the breakthrough.  They also went further by building machines that could look for the solutions.  The Poles simulated the Enigma machines and enabled operators to cycle through different settings to try to find the code.  They shared this information with the Britains - and it was used by Alan Turing to develop the machine used to break the codes in WW II.  It is believed this accomplishment cut the war by a couple of years saving countless lives.  Pretty amazing - and so cool that my dad excelled in math - feeling the connections.

Agnes said that when the war ended in 1945, most of the world celebrated.  However, in Poland it was just a change in their occupiers - instead of the Germans it was the Soviets.  The war didn't really end for them until 1989.  That end began in Gdansk with shipyard strikes for workers' rights in 1970.  During the initial strikes, a number of shipyard workers were killed.  There is now a memorial for them near the shipyard - pictures below.

Lech Walesa was an electrician at the Gdansk shipyard.  He was a key leader in the 1970 strike and his role eventually led to his firing in 1976.  In 1980, Anna Walentynowicz who was a crane operator at the shipyard was fired only 4 months before she would be eligible to retire with a pension.  She rallied other workers to strike in support of her - and was reinstated.  Lech returned when he heard of the movement and quickly became the leader - founding Solidarity the first independent labor union in Poland.  In the first year, 10M Poles joined - they were ready for change.  Lech was adamant that the best way to drive change was through communication and negotiation - not violence.  For this he was recognized in 1983 with a Nobel Peace Prize.  His leadership and negotiations led to an agreement in 1989 with the Soviet Union that gave Poland their independence.  They were the first country behind the wall to achieve it - and this began the domino effect eventually leading to the fall of the Berlin Wall and breakup of the Soviet Union.  In recognition of everything, Gdansk was given a section of the wall which is now on permanent display.

Agnes was a young girl during the communist times.  She remembers waiting in long lines with the coupons to try to receive their monthly rations.  It was often luck of the draw in terms of what was available.  One story she shared was remembering the time she waited in line with her mom for hours so they could get shoes, only to come home with two pairs of shoes that fit neither of them but were the only ones available. She calls all of the apartment buildings from that time "Commie Condos".  Originally they were just grey block buildings - she said they were actually the first to have 50 shades of grey :). Today most have been painted either with bright colors or murals to make them a little more appealing.  

Gdansk definitely experienced a lot of challenging times during history, but there were also some wonderful times which you can still feel in their old town area. And, what is great, is that the current time is really promising and the people are so optimistic about the future.  We had a chance to take a walking tour of the old town and it was beautiful.  The largest brick church is located in Gdansk.  Stunning.

Here's some pictures of the river that runs through the old town area.

Multiple beautiful archways mark the entrances to the different streets.

Speaking of streets, they were idyllic and on an early Sunday morning very peaceful.

We also saw some funny gargoyles as random decorations.

The Town Hall is in the center and was quite impressive.

Below is a picture of the building that housed the crane used to build ships so many years ago.  It was fascinating.  There were four large "hamster wheels" in the building.  Everything was manual.  A person walked in each of the wheels to raise and lower the materials.  Hard to imagine but really ingenuous.  

We also visited an amber shop to learn more about it.  Gdansk, and Poland, are the original homes of amber from the Baltic Sea.  Baltic amber is approximately 40 - 60 million years old - impossible to get your head around that timing.  Apparently, in this area amber is found by folks walking along beaches after a storm - much like we find seashells in Florida.  However, in this case, the find can be very valuable and may be from something that is literally prehistoric.  We learned about how real amber is detected (it floats and burns) and how they polish and shape the amber to make beautiful jewelry.

During our previous visit to Poland we had the opportunity to try a lot of Pierogi.  Today we had a chance to make some of our own - it was really quite yummy!  I think Craig may have more of a future with Pierogi making than chocolate :)

We ended the day in Gdansk sampling their famous liquor - Goldwasser.  It originated here many years ago.  The taste is a little hard to describe but it was very smooth.   The base is vodka with some different flavoring and then gold flakes are added.  Apparently in olden times the believe was gold had some medicinal value.  Even though that is no longer the belief, there is no harm and it certainly makes the drink look interesting!  We really enjoyed it.

It's fair to say one thing neither of us expected on this trip was to enjoy Poland this much.  It is a fascinating country with a lot to offer.  Such a nice surprise - kind of like finding some gold flakes in your shot of vodka :)

Hope everyone is doing well and loving life.  Enjoy the Ride!

Day 76: May Your Bread Never Run Out

Hi Friends.

Yesterday we spent the day in Tallinn Estonia - what a fascinating city / country.  To be honest, we didn't really know much about the country before visiting and had no idea what to expect with the stop.  What a wonderful surprise to discover this warm, beautiful city with so much history and genuinely happy people.

The title of the blog comes from the traditional Estonian toast.  They love their bread - dark rye - and it's delicious!  So instead of a simple cheers, or wish of good health, their wish is to always have bread.   Our guide Kaja (picture below) told us that if they accidentally drop a piece of bread on the ground - they pick it up - kiss it - and eat it.  She said she knew many of us have the 5 second rule :) - but they don't want to let any of it go to waste.

Estonia has a really long and tumultuous past.  Archeologists have found traces of human settlement in Tallinn from 5000 years ago.  The location made it a very important port for trade between Scandinavia, Russia and Europe.  In 1219, the Danes were the first to conquer it and take control.  They sold it (yep - sold it) to Germany in 1346.  Next up was Sweden in 1561.  During the Great Northern War, the Swedes lost it to Russia in 1710.  In 1918, Estonia achieved its' first independence.  Unfortunately it was short lived with the coming of WWII.  First the Red Army entered and they were annexed into the Soviet Union in 1940.  Then, Nazi Germany took over from 1941-1944.  After the defeat of the Nazis, the Soviet Union came back.  

During Soviet rule there was primarily just one hotel in Tallinn.  The hotel officially had 22 floors but there was a 23rd floor dedicated to the KGB.  It was also widely suspected (known) that all of the rooms were bugged.  Kaja shared a story told to her by a couple from Finland who joined one of her tours a couple of years ago.  They had actually been to Estonia in the 1980's and stayed at the hotel.  They were eating dinner in the restaurant when all of a sudden they heard Russian voices coming out of the light on the table - apparently some crossed wires!  They joked that when they got up each morning they would say 'Good Morning KGB' :).   Here's a picture of the hotel - there now is a KGB museum located in it.

In 1991, with the fall of the Soviet Union Estonia achieved independence for the second time.  As Kaja said, they are quite hopeful this time it will last.  There are now 1.3M Estonians with ~400,000 living in Tallinn.  Each day the flag is raised in town on the tower pictured below.  Kaja said the joke in the past was when you woke up you had to go check out the flag to see what country was in charge that day.  Funny but also a bit sad.  The Estonian flag is now flown with great pride.  The colors chosen for the flag have special meaning.  The blue on top represents the beautiful blue Baltic sky (although they don't have nearly enough sunny days according to Kaja!). The black on the bottom represents the fertile soil - although Kaja said some folks think it also represents the challenges of their past that are now (hopefully) behind them.  The white in the middle represents the soul of the Estonian people and their hopefulness.  Each morning as they raise the flag they proudly play the national anthem.  At night when they lower the flag they play another song that has national meaning.  Pretty cool traditions - and very cool to hear Kaja describe it all with such pride and passion.

We took a tour through the town.  The history was amazing and there are so many well preserved areas from centuries ago.  For perspective, we walked past a building and someone asked about it - Kaja said 'oh, that's a new one - built in the 1800s'.  In the center of town there is a town square surrounding the Town Hall.  This is the only surviving Gothic Town Hall in Northern Europe.  It was first mentioned in 1322.  The current building was finished in 1404.  The square is filled with a lot of different restaurants - all with outdoor seating even in the cold weather.  The day we were there it was in the mid-50's but sunny - and actually quite beautiful.  Here's a couple of views of the church.

Tallinn is home to one of, if not the, oldest pharmacies in the world that is still operating.  It began in 1422.  One family ran it for over 10 generations before changing hands.

Below are two examples of single family homes from the 14th century.  The top one was for a wealthier family.  It was fairly large and sat up higher on a slight hill looking "down" on other homes.  The second one was for a working class family - many of them made a living selling spices.  They were often referred to as "Peppersacks" - in a derogatory way.  However, soon some of them were doing quite well for themselves, better than some of the wealthy families.  To show that they were proud of their hard work and accomplishments - one of the families adopted the name "Peppersack" as their family name :). There is now a restaurant bearing their name in the old house.

Tallinn is known for their chocolate.  Super yummy.  We had a chance to learn more about it while touring a chocolate shop and also making some of our own.  We learned how to make three different types of truffles and also hand dipped chocolate we rolled.  I'm not going to say the results were 'pretty' - but they were definitely tasty!  We still have a bunch in the fridge in our room for future treats.

In yet another example of the small world phenomenon,  we met a woman Kelly on the tour today.  She was great and we had fun sharing a bunch of laughs - especially about Craig's 'special' talents making the chocolates :).  After a while we asked where she was from - she happens to live in Venice Florida which is less than 20 miles from our home.  She owns a pub - it sounds fabulous.  A speciality is whiskey (over 200) including hosting whiskey dinners - one of the things we loved to do in St. Louis but hadn't yet found in FL.  Problem solved!  We look forward to connecting with her when back home.

Craig and I ventured out on our own after the tour and chocolate to explore the city.  We always enjoy trying the local cuisine so we went to a traditional Estonian restaurant for lunch.  One of the starters was "slice of bread, sprat and a shot of Vodka".  When in Estonia...so we ordered it along with our lunch entrees.  When the waitress brought us the appetizers you could see she was curious how we would react.  To be honest once we saw the "sprat" we were as well.  It was similar to the open sandwiches from Denmark - but the fish wasn't pickled and still had the skin on it.  We dove in and washed it down with the shot.  Actually it was somewhat tasty - and the bread was amazing.  When our waitress came back to pick up the dishes you could see her surprise that we had actually finished it and liked it!

Lunch was really tasty - and the restaurant was just great.  The waitress was super friendly - and happy - continuing the warm feelings from the Estonian people.  Here's some pictures.

Local beer established in 1820 - so young :)

After lunch we walked around town before heading back to the ship.  During medieval times (13th century) a wall was built with multiple guard towers to try to protect the city from attack.  Sections of the wall have been preserved along with a number of the towers.  Here's a picture of the largest section with multiple towers - it was very impressive.  Medieval times!

This tower was built in the beginning of the 14th century.  It is mentioned in 1434 in a writing and was called 'Golden Leg'.  Apparently it has also been known simply as "Tower with Bad Roof" :)

A few random pictures of the town.

Such a wonderful visit.  For any of you who watch Hallmark movies - it reminded us of a town they would use as the setting for a love story of a prince from a small European city.  Seeing the pride the Estonians take in their country and how much they cherish their freedom and independence - it was a good reminder of how blessed we are to live in the United States.  It is too easy to take what we have for granted.  And, honestly, it is sad that for whatever reason we are in a period of history where there is such divisiveness.  Too much focus on what is wrong vs everything that is right.  Hopefully we can get back to appreciating what we have and truly working together to make things better.

As they say in Estonia, "Eat Well, Laugh Often and Love Much".  Here's hoping your bread never runs out.  Enjoy the Ride!