Poland - Eastern Europe - page 449

draw. What appear to be normal restaurants and cafes during the day transmogrify
into everything from rowdy beer halls to ultrachill dance clubs after sunset.
Graciarnia This is a good spot if you're looking for a quiet beer or drink in the
evening, a little bit away from the action. A self-described “chill zone” features antique
furniture, a laid-back clientele, and very friendly servers. Ul. K. Wielkiego 39. No phone. Daily
noon-1am.
7 Gda^sk & the Baltic Seacoast
GDA%SK
420km (250 miles) N of Wroclaw
Gda ^ sk (www.Gda ^ sk.pl or http://guide.trojmiasto.pl) is a pleasant surprise. If you
were expecting a dingy Baltic seaport, maybe reinforced by those foggy, black-and-
white TV memories of Lech Wa l7 sa and embattled Solidarity dockworkers, you'll be
in for a shock. Modern-day Gda ^ sk is a beautiful seaside town, with a lovingly
restored Old Town and an easy, laid-back feel. On arrival, you'll immediately want to
extend your stay, so plan on spending at least an extra day longer than budgeted.
Even for Poland, Gda ^ sk has a particularly twisted history that will play havoc with
anyone who is even mildly geographically challenged. The city rose to prominence in
the 16th and 17th centuries as one of the most important towns of the Hanseatic
League, a grouping of prosperous seaport cities that controlled much of the trade in
the North and Baltic seas. Because of its wealth, Gda ^ sk was hotly contested between
German and Polish interests, though it managed to retain its status as a semi-
autonomous city-state. After the Polish partition at the end of the 18th century, the
city fell under Prussian rule and became firmly identified as “Danzig,” its German
name. Following Germany's defeat in World War I, the city's status became one of the
thorniest issues facing the drafters of the Treaty of Versailles. They opted to create
what they called the “Free City of Danzig”—neither German nor Polish—alongside a
Polish-ruled strip of land that would effectively cut off mainland Germany from its
East Prussian hinterland. Hitler was able to exploit very effectively the existence of this
Polish “corridor” as part of his argument that the Treaty of Versailles was highly unfair
to Germany. He even chose the port of Gda ^ sk to launch his war on Poland on Sept.
1, 1939, when German gunboats fired on the Polish garrison at Westerplatte.
Gda ^ sk was thoroughly destroyed in World War II, with the Russians and Allied
bombers effectively finishing off any destruction the Germans weren't able to com-
plete themselves. But Gda ^ sk was luckier than many Polish cities in that the recon-
struction after the war was uncommonly sensitive. And unlike the reconstruction of
Warsaw's Old Town (which seemed mostly to benefit the tourists), Gda ^ sk's newly
built Old Town feels thoroughly lived in and authentic. The main drag, D l uga ulica,
is gorgeous and the streets radiating from it are filled with life.
During the Communist period, Gda ^ sk rose to fame as the home of the Lenin
Shipyards and the Solidarity Trade Union. It was here, now known as the Gda ^ sk
shipyards, where very tense negotiations in August 1980 between Solidarity, led by a
youngish Lech Wa l7 sa, and the government resulted in official recognition of the first
independent trade union in Communist Eastern Europe. The government later
reneged on the agreement and imposed martial law, but Gda ^ sk continued as a