Straslund Germany

After our best sleep for awhile, we drove back out of Jamno to the big town of Koszalin. We began the day at a Lidl store which is always dangerous before breakfast as we are always tempted by the danishes. Today there was one of our favourite types. 

So with Blueys fridge a little fuller we stopped for fuel and filled up as today we are driving back into Germany and the diesel is at least €0.15c/litre cheaper in Poland. It was then easy travelling along the S6 motorway. We turned off at Ploty onto the 108, which flowed very well. It wasn’t until we reached the N3, taking us into the polish border town Swinoujscie that the unfinished motorway slowed us down a little.

We used a service point to dump Bluey’s grey and black water and paid 13zloty/€3 for 40ltr water. We also filled up with diesel before crossing the border into Germany.  

We drove along the countryside, through forests and past lakes as we made our way to Straslund.

We found a parking spot near the old centre and set off to explore. It is a port town and is the oldest city in German’s Pomeranian area. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its outstanding brick gothic buildings and its link to the Hanseatic League and Swedish Rule.

St.Mary’s Church was the tallest church in the world during the 1500’s. We were amazed to see a Soviet memorial.

Another beautiful organ ..

We strolled along many historic buildings with distinctive gables to the Alter Market Square. 

The main landmark is the Town Hall dating back to the 13th century with its rosetted facade to enable the strong winter sea winds to go through. 

We were astonished that one of the churches now housesd a huge aquarium, there was even a boat in the courtyard.

Next we headed towards the port area which also had some impressive brick buildings including the pilot station. We sat and looked out at the Baltic Sea for a bit. 

Then made our way back to Bluey to find a parking spot for tonight .

Todays’s 249km trip.

Solidarity Museum Gdansk Poland

It was another early start, waking up when the workers arrived at 5:30am.

So we watched the sunrise over the cranes in the busy harbour and had a stroll around the area which has 2 small cafes, but which is also used by the luxury multi hull yacht manufacturer, Sunreef. They had their fibreglass moulds scattered everywhere. 

It was only a 10min walk to the Solidarity Museum. Along the way we popped into the library.

Outside of the museum was the famous Gate 2 of the Gdansk Shipyard, which was the birthplace of Poland’s historic struggle against Communism. 
There was also the Monument to the Fallen Shipyard Workers of 1970, commemorating the 42 killed during the Coastal cities events. 

At 10am we bought our tickets to the museum (zt35/€8pp) and with our audio guide we began our journey into the history of Solidarity- the Polish trade union and civil resistance movement. It was lead by its co-founder Lech Walesa (later to become President of Poland 1990-95). The union is recognised as having played a central role in the end of Communist rule in Poland. It was a very interesting 2.5 hours.

We began with the shipyard..

A representation of a flat in the 1970’s.. tv broadcast was censored but people were able to hear the radio broadcast from Eastern Europe

An interrogation room

Faces of those the rose up against Communism 

The Pope Mobile..

The used heavy methods to subdue the supporters of the movement

We returned to Bluey and after some lunch drove out to the mouth of the river that serves the biggest port in Poland. 

We tried to get a close look at the beach resort town of Sopot but had to change our plans due to major traffic jams and limited parking.

Mmmm probably the worst roundabout sculpture we have seen 

This is the vehicle of choice around the beach resorts

Unfortunately the S6 motorway running East to West is still under construction so our trip was slower than expected. 204km/3hours later we arrived (5:15pm) in a lovely little marina in Jamno, on the outskirts of Kozalin.

We supported the small but popular cafe, buying an ice cream and ate it while we walked out onto the jetty of the lake. It should be a quiet night and maybe we will get a sleep in unless the farmer decides to plough his field.