10. Gdansk.

As the ship docks in the port of Gdynia which is an hour or so away from Gdansk, we opted to take the coach up to the latter city.

I was pleasantly surprised by Gdansk. It had been pretty much flattened during the war but has now been rebuilt, the new buildings being sympathetically styled with the older buildings that survived the bombardment. The old town has been in existence since medieval times and is reminiscent of Tallinn, although less hilly. Parts of the old city wall still remain, as do a number of the original city gates. 

Within the walls, the main street and town square were thronged with tourists and locals alike admiring the impressive Cathederal and City Hall Building and listening to some very talented buskers The terrace alongside the river is particularly picturesque and is lined with small restaurants and cafes, interspersed with jewellery shops selling the regions most valuable natural resource, amber. 

The old town is not particularly large and after having explored many of its streets, we stopped for coffee and cake. We did a little souvenir shopping and also had a ride on the "Gdansk Eye", thus getting a birds eye view of the town and its surroundings.

Before returning to the ship, we stopped briefly at the shipyard where the famous "Solidarnosc" movement began back in the 1980's and which played such a key role in the downfall of socialism in Eastern Europe. The site now boasts a memorial and a museum. 

After several days of cool weather and the rain of Helsinki it had been a welcome change to have some blue skies and warm sun for our day out.