It is going to be a very hard call but Gdansk might be the prettiest city yet. It definitely has the highest concentration of beautiful buildings anywhere. First thing – our self-guided walking tour. Beginning at the Golden Gate, the main entrance to the Old Town, we proceeded down yet another Royal Way. You get whiplash craning your neck looking up at all the beautiful buildings. Gdansk was for a long time the richest city in Poland. It was the export centre for grain from the Ukraine and Poland. It was a member of the Hanseatic Trade League and the rich merchants built their mansions along this street. 
We stopped along the way at the old classic post office. Then proceeded towards the harbour just in time to catch a noisy street demonstration. 
We headed back up the Amber sellers’ street to the Armoury. The downspouts on these buildings are extended out into the street with ornamental dragon’s heads, the people call them “pikers”.
We ambled across town on the main drag past several imposing churches and the old mill. 
Next stop – the Solidarity Centre and the stirring monument erected by the shipyard workers to commemorate strikers who were killed by the police. The Solidarity Centre is located on the grounds of the old Lenin shipyard and is an extremely modern, high-tech museum. The Centre tells the story of the end of the Communist system in Europe. The exhibits are hands-on and high tech, probably one of the best museums around.
After a shipboard dinner in the harbour we searched out a restaurant we remembered from last visit for apple pie and Goldwasser. Home to our medieval lodgings in the shadow of St. Mary’s Church.
Decaigny Abroad 