1. Gdansk, Poland October 2009

2. Monument of the Fallen Shipyard Workers Located next to the shipyards where the Solidarity movement started in 1980. Here in 1970 the workers striked to protest the Communist government hiking up prices on everyday goods. The memorial remembers the 44 people who were killed when the police opened fire.

6. The former gate to the shipyards. Here the anti-Communist Solidarity movement was born as Polish shipyard workers, led by Lech Walesa, went on strike in 1980.

8. Monument inside the shipyard

10. The strikers’ 21 Points – their demands of the Communist government

11. Pieces of the Berlin Wall and the Gdansk shipyard wall built by police during the strike

12. Uphagen House – a typical medieval merchant’s home. Built deep and narrow, because homes were taxed based on their street frontage.

13. Medieval Gdansk As a member of the Hanseatic League, with a government run by the merchants, Gdansk grew rich on a wide-reaching network of trade

15. Artus Court – meeting hall for the various business guilds of Gdansk

23. Granary Island – still in ruins from WW2

24. Motlawa River, looking towards the Maritime Museum

26. Office of Lech Walesa – leader of Solidarity and Poland’s first president after the fall of Communism

28. A 15th century crane, once used for loading ships.

33. St. Nicholas Church’s Baroque interior

34. St. Mary’s Church – Largest brick church in the world

36. Graves in the floor of St. Mary’s

39. Amber for sale 75% of the world’s amber is mined in Northern Poland

42. Resort town of Sopot – 20 minutes by commuter train from Gdansk

43. An art nouveau lighthouse on the Baltic Sea

45. Sopot’s Pier

49. The Baltic Sea!

54. A last blustery autumn evening in Gdansk