More from Świnoujście

Here I am, 27 years living in Poland, Polish my first language (I began learning English at nursery school), and yet here's a simple Polish word I never knew. Stawa. Beacon. On exploring Świnoujście further, I learnt that the town's symbol is Stawa Młyny (the Windmill Beacon), below. Up on top, 11m high, is the navigation light on the western breakwater of the approaches to the port.

The 'windmill' sails today are decorative serving no functional purpose, but originally, they rotated at a fixed speed (driven by an internal mechanism), to block light from the lantern housed at the top of the beacon at a fixed interval A lovely bit of Germanic maritime history, bringing vividly to life the atmosphere of Erskine Childers' The Riddle of the Sands, a nautical spy novel set along Germany's coast in the years before WW1. 

Below: that same klimat, tidal estuaries and treacherous sandbars, looking out over the Szczecin lagoon from Lubin, a village situated on the south-westerly tip of the Wolin national park, on the island of Wolin. Heavy rain is falling on the island of Uznam (Usedom); Świnoujście is hidden behind the tree-trunk in the foreground. At the north end of the Wolin national park, there's a bison reservation, which also holds several other mammalian species native to Poland.

Below: returning to the west bank of the Świna estuary on the Bielik IV, its decks still wet from the recent downpour.

What's the English for tężnia? (Pt II, Pt I here). In German, it's gradierwerke (Germans invented them in the 17th century). Germany and Poland are the world's leaders in this health-destination product. But in English? According to Wikipedia, it's 'graduation tower'. ( I think 'brine tower' – what Wieliczka calls its tężnia in English) is better. Inhaling the saline air, apparently, is good for your health [*not yet confirmed in any peer-reviewed double-blind randomised clinical trial]. Still, if you believe that spending 30 minutes here will improve your health outcomes – then it shall be so. "Inhaling the salted air lubricates the respiratory system and positively influences the respiratory organs. The fine salt crystals have an expectorant effect, which cleans the respiratory system and causes the mucosa to detumesce." [Source.] 

Below: the recently opened tęznia in Świnoujście, close to the German border.

Back to the beach to watch the sun setting over Uznam. Across the bay – Peenemünde, a name synonymous with Nazi secret-weapon tests. It was from there that the first V-1 and V-2 missiles were launched. At the beach bar I toasted the setting of the sun with an Auchentoshan single-malt whisky and a Kozel Černý beer chaser – northern Europe is the land of grain-derived alcohol.

I return to Warsaw to learn that I'll back back to Świnoujście again later this month (this time on a business trip). Final thought – Świnoujście is much nicer than the neighbouring resort town of Międzyzdroje. It is newer, cleaner, quieter. A bit more up-market.

This time last year:
Corporate profits – better than Bolshevism.

This time three years ago:
Intimations of Immortality, revisited.

This time four years ago:
Things will never be the same Pt II

This time five years ago:
Up to my waist

This time six years ago:
Luton Airport's never-ending modernisation works

This time nine years ago:
Another office move

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Workhorse of the Free World's Air Forces over Jeziorki

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Looking for The Zone, in and around Jeziorki

This time 12 years ago:
I awake to snow, on 4 May

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This is not America. No?