LET'S EXPLORE POLAND

Copyright 1996 by the AngloPol Corporation

This series will take us through the cities, towns, villages and countryside of Poland, 
as well as give us insights into the rich history and culture of the nation.

Part 6

POLISH "AMBER"

Although Poland only recovered a tiny strip of Baltic coastline when she regained her independence after World War I, the country immediately heard the call of the sea. Team-workers built the modern seaport of Gdynia in record time. The sea became a subject of frequent reference in the books of well-known Polish authors and the works of Polish composers. The Polish Yacht Club began training a young generation of seafarers aboard the schooner "Zawisza Czarny." which is still recalled today in a romantic song sung by Polish Boy Scouts. The Maritime League swung into activity, with some even preceding its name with the hyperbolical adjective "Colonial" ...

Following World War II, Poland gained broader access to the Baltic (now obtaining 528 kilometers of coastline) and the sea became something commonplace, as it were part of the country's everyday life, of both its economic and leisure activity. The great attraction of Poland's Baltic coast lies above all in its beaches: broad expanses of beautiful amber sand, often stretching for kilometers, which could be the envy of many other countries, including those on the Mediterranean.

However, honesty demands that mention also be made of the disadvantages of Poland' s sea coast. The first of these is the weather, which is more changeable than in southern Europe and accompanied by lower air and sea temperatures--the latter do not usually rise above 18-20 C in July and August. Nevertheless, long warm summers have become increasingly frequent in recent years. The second disadvantage is the considerable pollution of the Baltic, most notably in the Bay of Gdansk, much less so along Poland's central coastline. This, of course, is not a problem that is particularly restricted to Poland. Sadly, the media often report on ecological disasters that close down beaches all over the world for months at a time.

Nevertheless, as regards the Polish shores of the Baltic, new environmental projects and the cooperation that is now being developed among all the Baltic countries offer the hope that closed beaches and signs saying "Bathing Prohibited" will soon belong to the past.

Poland possesses relatively well-developed accommodation facilities for seaside vacationers. Apart from rooms to let in private houses, a traditional feature of Polish coastal resorts, there are also many well-equipped campsites. In addition, modern luxury hotels-- such as the "Marina" in Jelitkowo or the "Solny" in Kolobrzeg-- coexist side-by-side with cheaper holiday homes run by large enterprises or the trade unions; nowadays, in the time of privatization, these generally welcome all guests who wish to book a room. The Baltic resorts also offer a broad range of places to eat.

During the holiday season, luxury restaurants and smart cafes are complemented by a variety of fried fish bars and snack bars.

Let us therefore take a trip along the Baltic coast, following the path taken by the sun as it rises in the East above the peninsula known as the Mierzeja Wiglana (Vistula sand bar), which is cut in half by the Polish-Russian border. The Polish section of the peninsula, stretching for 90 kilometers from the border to Gdansk, constitutes abroad spit of sand, partially wooded, which closes off the Bay of the Vistula and is dissected in three places by the natural and artificial channels of the River Vistula as it enters the Baltic.

The first stop along the way is Krynica Morska, a former fishing village which became a fashionable bathing resort and water sports center in the 1930s, and today features numerous campsites and holiday homes. There is a nice beach surrounded by dunes, while a regular boat service is run during the summer season from the harbor on the Bay to the towns of Frombork, Tolkmicko and Elblag. All three are worth a visit. Frombork includes the historical complex of the See of Warmia on Cathedral Hill (now converted into a museum,) with the 14th century Gothic tower where Nicolaus Copernicus had his observatory and where he wrote his famous work "De revolutionibus orbium coelestium."

Tolkmicko is a picturesque fishing village. Elblag, on the other hand, is an industrial city with a population of over 100,000, with a historical old town that still retains its original street pattern. There is a boat service from here in the summer to Ostroda and the whole Ilawa lake district via the Elblag Canal, which is 150 years old. The boat covers over 64 km of waterway, traversing two locks and five slipways, an original feature being one slipway that leads through a meadow, with cows grazing on either side.

Continuing westward along the peninsula, we pass through Katy Rybackie, a holiday resort with a nearby bird sanctuary that includes nesting grounds of the gray heron and cormorant; Szutowo, a holiday village close to the Stutthof Museum, located on the site of the Nazi death camp of the same name; Stegna-Bursztynowo, a holiday hamlet where the coastal dunes stand higher than a ten-story building; and the villages of Mikoszewo and Sobieszewo, each with its campsite. This brings us to Gdansk.

Further inland, in Gdansk's hinterland, as it were, is the triangle of Zulawy, bordered on two sides by tributaries of the Vistula. This region is the only depressed lowland in Poland, a place where the local inhabitants have been struggling against the elements since the 13th century, gradually turning the original landscape of flood lakes, fenland and damp forest into highly productive polders crisscrossed by canals and protected by floodbanks. Tourists visiting this part of the Baltic coast can also make interesting excursions to Malbork, site of the Gothic fortified castle of the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, who was in residence here from the beginnings of the 14th century until the middle of the 16th; Sztum, where a 14th century Teutonic castle now houses the Regional Museum of the Vistula Valley; Tczew, which also possesses an interesting Vistula Museum; and Pelplin, which is home to a Gothic monastery complex belonging to a Cistercian abbey, and whose Diocesan Museum includes the Pelplin Tabulature, containing around 90 manuscripts of musical works from the 17th century.

The natural capital of Poland's eastern Baltic coast is the Tri-City conurbation of Gdansk, Sopot and Gdynia. Gdansk itself, famous for the huge district of historical buildings occupying its Main Town and Granary Island and for the monument to the defenders of Westerplatte, who bore the first assault of the German invasion at the beginning of World War II, offers the tourist not only beautiful architecture, but also pleasure boat excursions around the extensive port facilities and concerts of organ music in Oliwa Cathedral. Sopot, the most renowned of all Baltic resorts, boasts a fine beach, a promenade pier over half a kilometer in length, the luxury prewar Grand Hotel with its casino, and the open-air Forest Opera House, which is the scene of annual song festivals. The attractions of Gdynia include its harbor terminal and marina--at anchor here are the "Blyskawic" warship museum, the "Dar Pomorza" tall sailing ship, and the yacht used by Leonid Teliga in becoming the first Polish solo round-the-world yachtsman.

Leaving the Tri-City and passing through the fishing port and yacht harbor of Puck, we come to Wladyslawowo, gateway to the Hel Peninsula. For environmental reasons, car traffic on the peninsula is restricted during the summer. Shaped like a scythe, the Hel Peninsula is 34 kilometers long, its width ranging from 200 meters to 3 kilometers in places. The seaward side is marked by abroad belt of extremely beautiful beaches, bordered by sand dunes and pine woods. Proceeding up the peninsula, we pass through a series of well-known holiday resorts: Chalupy, formerly the favorite meeting-place of Poland's naturists; Jastarnia, a bathing resort and fishing port, with fish smoking and processing plants; Jurata, a health resort founded after World War I; and finally Hel, a holiday resort and fishing port with a pleasure boat terminal served by a connection to the Tri-City.

The adapted building of Hel's historical evangelical church now houses a Fisheries Museum, which includes a collection of old fishing boats and two exhibitions, the first on the history of the Polish fishing industry and the second entitled "The Bay of Gdansk in Polish painting."

Returning to Wladyslawowo and heading west, we pass through Cetniewo, site of the national Olympic training center, then Chlapowo, which has retained its old Kashubian architecture.

Continuing westward, we come to Cape Rozewie, the northernmost point in Poland, with its light-house containing a Lighthouse Museum. Just past Rozewie is Jastrzebia Gora, whose beach is located at the foot of a scenic cliff over 30 meters high, followed by Karwia and then Debki, a village at the mouth of the River Piasnica, much frequented by artists.

The next resort is some distance further on, at Leba. This was a fishermen's settlement back in the Middle Ages, receiving its town charter in the mid-14th century. Apart from the beach regarded as one of the loveliest on the Baltic, the main attraction of Leba is the nearby Slowiriski National Park. This incorporates two lakes-- the shallow but extensive Lake Lebsko, the third largest in Poland, and the smaller Lake Gardno together with the Leba sand bar and a belt of coast--line up to the mouth of the River Lupawa. The Slowinski National Park is a waterfowl sanctuary, and during spring and autumn is also a refuge for migratory birds. Yet its greatest and most distinctive natural attraction are the wandering dunes, up to 50 meters in height, which every so often uncover cemeteries of lost trees buried over by the sands--a veritable desert landscape, right in the middle of Europe.

The nearby village of Rabki is the starting point for a concrete road that leads to the missile silos used by the Germans during the war to launch their V-1 rockets. The village of Smoldzino, at the foot of Rowokol Hill--the sacred hill of the Pomeranians in pagan times--is home to the Museum of the Slowinski National Park. Close by, the hamlet of Kluki is the site of a reconstructed historical village composed of typical regional wood and clay cottages.