Gdansk

In a word, Gdansk is awesome. It is not a Kashubian city, and it wasn't always a Polish city either. But it is the largest and most important city of eastern Pomerania, and it is well worth the time spent exploring it. When the city was under Polish control it was called Gdansk, and when the Germans were in control it was called Danzig. Gdansk retains both its German and Polish heritages, and there will be opportunities to investigate Gdansk's Polish, German, and Kashubian heritages.

Gdansk is entertaining. There is the old Town Hall, and the Dlugi Targ, where Kashubians, Poles, and Germans all did business. Gdansk is full of houses where wealthy Danzigers lived, and it was also the home of the brewer and astronomer Jan Heweliusz. Hevelius, as he is known to the Polish,

More importantly for world history, Gdansk is also where Soviet-style Communism started to die. There were riots in the streets of Gdynia, Sopot and Oliwa. You can stay in the Mercure Stare Miasto and wake up every morning to look out your hotel window and see the Gdansk shipyards. The Gdansk shipyards are where Soviet Communism started to die at a rapid rate. As a proud Polish American and a proud Kashubian American, I can't possibly get tired of looking at the place where Soviet Communism began to die. If we stay in the Mercure Stare Miasto (which I love), make sure you get a view toward the shipyards. The Old City of Gdansk is beautiful, and we will explore it. But it's a wonderful feeling to get out of the shower every morning and look out at where Communism started to die.