The beginning of the end of communism

The most famous place in Gdansk is really not old at all and that is the shipyard. I vaguely remembered this guy Lech Walensa. Now I know that he lead the Polish to make Poland the first country to throw off the bonds of communism Soviet rule. Things turned violent and people died. Here is the monument in front of the shipyard.


The front of the shipyard where much of the rioting took place.


The soviets used these vehicles to try to control the huge crowds.


The Polish are very religious and were inspired to have Pope John Paul .


We went to an excellent museum that explained how Poland's victory over communism in 1990 inspired the other Eastern European countries to get their countries back from the USSR. It was like giant dominos falling!


Third display shows how people struggled to find basics like toilet paper. Not sure why she is wearing the TP. Maybe she is willing to sell it?



Next we went to a church which is famous for its "Black Madonna". Sorry my pictures are so bad but there were no lights on .


The Madonna is about 36 inches tall and carved complete out of amber. Gdansk is famous for its amber. There is a polish eagle above the Madonna, also carved from Amber.


Another museum we toured in Gdansk was the maritime museum. Very informative! Well, now we're on the train to Warsaw and new adventures