There will be plenty of vodka drunk tonight if the Poles manage to beat the Dutch, with many building jobs delayed by a day tomorrow 🙂
Poland
The Baltic city of Gdańsk has a famous history. It was close to the Hanseatic port that the first shots were fired in anger at the start of WWII and the Solidarity Union uprising led by Lech Walesa from the city’s main dockyard that started the chain of events that led to the dismantling of the Iron Curtain, destruction of the Berlin Wall and break up of the Soviet Union.
It is a fabulous city to visit as I did in 2012. A wonderful old town with its Hanseatic gabled buildings and historic gates. However, it was the dockyard events of the late eighties that grabbed my attention most.
We wandered unhindered around the working dock as ships were loaded & unloaded, boats were undergoing welding work and heavy machinery went about their business.
There was also an excellent museum depicting those momentous events that were to turn Lech from union leader to the president of the country.
Netherlands
I took the first ever Eurostar from London bound for Amsterdam in April 2018, but got off in Rotterdam as I had never visited before.
The port city did not disappoint for my day trip. The working river was fascinating with its striking bridges, whilst the indoor market was up there with Europe’s best.
