Miscellaneous Gdańsk vistas and views

Plenty of things to do and see as well as visiting those world-class museums. Gdańsk is a marvellous city.

Below: the Tri-city's own rail backbone is served by Szybka Kolej Miejska, with trains linking Gdańsk, Sopot, Gdynia and beyond running every seven minutes. I was delighted to see an unmodernised EN57 electric multiple unit (these disappeared from the Warsaw-Radom line four years ago) in original 1960s livery! This particular unit (EN57-1100) entered service in March 1976, so a good innings and still plenty of life left in it.

Below: a yacht moored by the Sunreef shipyard. Gdańsk has moved on from building freighters for carrying Soviet coal to building pleasure craft for the hyper-rich. This one proclaims that it is registered in George Town, capital of the Grand Cayman Islands, which has a tax rate on income and storage of funds of zero per cent. At least these folk create work for Gdańsk's skilled shipbuilders.

Below: magic hour, on the Motława river, the clouds scud by at high speed driven by strong winds.

Below: Gdańsk's famous żuraw (crane), built in 1445. The winches were operated by a pair of human-powered treadmills, each six metres in diameter, capable of raising loads of up to four tonnes to a height of 11 metres.

Visible from afar once night falls, one of the highest points in the Tri-city area is the 77m-high tower of St Mary's Church, the 'crown of Gdańsk'. I had long imagined that the tower was topped by a neon cross. So, I walked up the 406 stairs to check (20zł/10zł for the over-65s and a defibrillator waiting at the top). It's not neon; it's a metal cross that shines in the reflected lights of the church's external illumination system.

Once up top, you can look down and marvel upon the works of mediaeval town planners who built Gdańsk's main town (główne miasto).

Below: the Great Armoury, housing exhibits from the Gdańsk Academy of Fine Arts.

If I were to have my time, my choices again, I'm sure I would choose to live in the Tri-city/Pomerania rather than in Warsaw/Mazovia. But maybe that's just the holiday mood talking... Below: Gdańsk's Golden Gate (Złota Brama Długouliczna), its restoration nearing an end, and above it the Prison Tower.

This time last year:
Reflections upon the Road, Eastern Poland

This time two years ago:
Britain changes course

This time three years go:
Lawn to meadow, meadow to forest
[two years on, the re-wilding has taken hold]

This time six years ago:
Town and country in summer

This time seven years ago:
Across the Pilica to Strzyżyna

This time eight years ago:

West Ealing to Castlebar Park – waiting for Crossrail

This time nine years ago:
Trump flies into Warsaw

This time ten years ago:
Making Poland's railways safer

This time 19 years ago:
Lublin and the Road