From Gdańsk we caught a bus to Torún, one of Poland’s oldest cities. First, though, we left later than we’d planned because the Solidarity museum had been closed on Monday, and we really wanted to see it before we left. It was totally worth it. What an amazing story of workers fighting back against incredible odds and starting a movement that quite literally changed the course of world history. While Lech Walesa has more recently proven himself to be a distinct homophobe, nothing can diminish the importance of what he – an unemployed electrician – accomplished.

A section of wall from the Lenin Shipyard, right, that started it all, and culminated in the fall of the Berlin Wall, left

Back in 1231 Teutonic Knights built a fortress here in Torún, the ruins of which were adjacent to and perhaps even a part of the hotel we stayed in. And in 1473, Nicolaus Copernicus – who developed the model that showed that the sun, not the earth, was the center of the universe – was born here. Notwithstanding the fact that he was wrong (in case you’re wondering, the sun is not the center of the universe) it was still a big deal.

Mark & I sat in a little cafe late in the afternoon, just watching people going by and drinking a glass of wine; I was amazed at our good fortune. We’d spent three days in in Gdańsk where, as Mark noted, World War II started and the Cold War started to end. All I’d known about Gdańsk three months ago was that there were shipyards there, so I would not have expected such a beautiful city. And now here we are for a day in Torún, another beautiful city. A city with so many beautiful churches, the Church of St. James Gordon, shown below, doesn’t even make the guide books, but was incredible.

Meanwhile, to make the Poland experience even better, I’m reading Heart of Europe by Norman Davies, a history of Poland that starts with Solidarity and moves backward. It’s a pretty compelling story and I’m more eager than ever to move on to Warsaw and Krakow.

One more shot of beautiful Gdansk

Torun is on the Vistula River, which connects Krakow, Warsaw, and Gdańsk, so we’ll be seeing more of it

Nicolaus Copernicus in the town square

Church of St. James – big and beautiful, but you have to do better than that, apparently, to make the guide books

Our hotel, adjacent to part of the 13th century fortress

Mark was amused by a car advertising Fart Produkt, though of course I don’t share that sophomoric humor

Gdańsk offers everything we could want from an urban travel destination — beautiful scenery, dramatic history, and a short hop to the beach. Below are scenes from the central city, which has been rebuilt in all its former glory from rubble after World War II.

Długi Targ, Long Market

Glorious architectural details abound

The shadow of World War II is everywhere in Poland, but Gdańsk is where it all began. At 4:45 am on September 1, 1939, the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein began shelling the Polish guard post at Westerplatte, the entrance to the Gdańsk harbor, to begin the invasion of Poland.

The Novy Port lighthouse, which returned the first shots against the German invaders

Monument to the defenders of Westerplatte

It was also in Gdańsk where the half century Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe truly began to unravel as shipyard workers rebelled against rising food prices. In 1970, a riot at the Gdańsk shipyard was brutally suppressed. Ten years later, as the Solidarity movement began to take hold, a monument to those workers was built, featuring the moving words of the poet Czesław Miłosz:

You who wronged a simple man
Do not feel safe
A poet remembers
You can kill one, but another is born

Monument to the Fallen Shipyard Workers

I love Poland. I first came here with my dad 12 years ago, and we had a great time.

Part of what I love about traveling is the connection to history. Seeing places really brings to life the stories in the books. For me history is the story of a long human struggle for broad-based freedom and prosperity against the perpetual challenges of greed, power, superstition, and downright evil. And nobody has struggled harder against those odds than the Poles, who spent so much of the past millennium squeezed between the empires of the Russians, Austrians, and Prussians/Germans. Poland oozes drama, and I revel in it.

We arrived in the Baltic sea port of Gdansk yesterday and were stunned by what a beautiful place it is. We only managed to snap a couple pictures as we walked around awestruck. We’ll try to do a better job today.

It was, however, surprisingly chilly for July. Now it’s 8 am on Sunday morning, and the chill might be lifting, so we’re considering heading to a beach for the day.

Our view at lunch yesterday in Gdansk

Our harbor view at dinner last night in Gdansk