Poland - Eastern Europe - page 458

Amber Museum A must for all fans of that beautiful ossified pine resin that
helped make Gda ^ sk wealthy. On six floors of exhibits, you'll learn everything you'll
ever need to know about amber, including how it's mined and processed, what it looks
like under a microscope, and how it was used through ages, not just as jewelry but in
art and medicine. If you're thinking of buying some amber while you're in Gda ^ sk,
you might want to stop here first for an educational primer. One part of the exhibi-
tion is given over to fake amber, and how to identify the genuine article.
Targ W7glowy. www.mhmg.gda.pl. From May to Sept, open daily 10am-6pm, Sun 11am-6pm, Mon 10am-3pm; from
Sept-May, closed Mon.
Central Maritime Museum The best of four separate museums that highlight
Gda ^ sk's history as a port city. Here you'll find more or less the A-to-Z compendium
on Polish maritime history, from the turn of the first millennium to modern times.
Some of the best exhibits are the detailed models of the ships, lots of old weaponry,
and at the top some oil paintings of old boats. The museum is housed in three Renais-
sance-era granaries.
Olowianka 9/13. & 058/310-86-11. www.cmm.pl. Tues-Sun 10am-4pm.
Monument to the Fallen Shipyard Workers This enormous steel monument,
some 40m (125 ft.) high, was built in 1980 to remember the 44 people who died dur-
ing bloody anti-Communist riots of 1970. Its construction was one of the demands
put forward by the striking workers in August 1980. The presence of the monument
was keenly embarrassing to the Communist authorities, and Solidarity leader Lech
Wa l7 sa even likened it to a harpoon driven into the side of a whale.
Plac Solidarno1ci (near the entrance to the Roads to Freedom exhibit).
Roads to Freedom A strange but ultimately highly worthwhile trip down the
road of the anti-Communist struggle in Poland, from the riots in 1970 that tore the
country apart to the rise of the Solidarity trade union later that decade and finally to
the historic agreement in August 1980 that led to the union's official recognition by
the Communist government. Solidarity was the first independent trade union to be
recognized in the Eastern bloc; the move eventually paved the way for the first semi-
free elections in 1989 and finally the toppling of Communist regimes in Poland and
throughout Eastern Europe. The exhibition is strange because it's confusingly laid out.
The entrance is to the side of the actual factory gate to the Gda ^ sk shipyards. There
are no ticket-takers in sight; simply walk through the gates and look for the mostly
likely building to hold a museum. Once inside, things become a little clearer. One
room is given over to a mock-up of a typical empty grocery store during Communist
times. The real draws, however, are the moving newsreels of events as they unfolded
during those tense times. One room features a short documentary film of the days
leading up to the August agreement and then to the very tense times a year later when
the government reneged on the deal and imposed martial law. Another shows a news-
reel from the violent 1970 riots, which few outside of Poland have ever heard of.
Another film looks at all of the revolutions in Eastern Europe. And at the back, you
can see the actual room where the August Accords were signed. An inspiration.
Doki1. & 058/769-29-20. www.fcs.org.pl. May-Sept Tues-Sun 10am-5pm; Oct-Apr 10am-4pm.