A Museum John Howard Should See...

GDANSK: Just another day on the backpacker trail, this one in the coastal city of Gdansk. Up on the Baltic Sea, it was formally known as Danzig and played key roles not only for the Hanseatic League but was also important at the beginning of WWII. And more than that it was Ground Zero for Solidarity and the resulting strikes that would go along way to eventually loosening the grip of the Soviets on the Eastern Bloc countries.

Today we started the day at the Solidarity Monument that was erected in memory of workers who were killed in 1970. Then we made our leisurely way through the Solidarity Museum which was a definite highlight of all the independence museums we've seen on this trip. They even had the fantastic, if a little kitschy, recreation of the BHP Hall where all the various striking worker's leaders met. And a recreation of a circa 70's Polish deli so we could really experience what they were getting pissed about.

Then if the afternoon we wandered aimlessly through another old town trying to fight off our Old Town fatigue. We did see a crane that has stood since the 13th century, sitting on the river it used to unload the various cargo of the Hanseatic League ships. And we also saw another St. Mary's, allegedly the biggest church in Europe. One glance at the cavernous interiors seemed to confirm this.


GDASNK STREETS

Tonight we're going to see Broken Flowers down in the Old Town and maybe indulge in a liqeur flecked with gold. And debate the important questions, whether to go to Berlin or Prague on New Years Day.