The Photography of Dr. Jeff Harper

My wife and I visited Poland (Kraków and Gdańsk) in the summer of 2014.  This entry is of the three days we spent in Gdańsk, while there is another entry for Kraków HERE.

Gdańsk is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited . . . and as good luck would have it, we visited during a street festival!

The statue to Neptune.

One of many small squares in the city center.  The architectural style was surprisingly . . . . Dutch.

Gdańsk is on the Motlawa River estuary.

An old city filled with wonderful architecture.

The architecture of Gdańsk tells a story:  "Parts of the historic old city of Gdańsk, which had suffered large-scale destruction during the war, were rebuilt during the 1950s and 1960s. The reconstruction was not tied to the city's pre-war appearance, but instead was politically motivated as a means of culturally cleansing and destroying all traces of German influence from the city. Any traces of German tradition were ignored by the communists, suppressed, or regarded as Prussian barbarism only worthy of demolition, while communist and Flemish/Dutch, Italian and French influences were used to replace the historically accurate Germanic architecture which the city was built upon since the 14th century. [Citation]

The Long Street with the old (circa 1327) City Hall towering over it.

Although I would have preferred to stay at an old 'boutique hotel,' we instead stayed at a modern 25 story hotel.  The plus side of the modern hotel were the views over the city.

Gdańsk was reduced to piles of stone and brick during WWII by Allied and Soviet bombers.  Almost all of what you see here was reconstructed during the 1950s and 1960s.

As luck would have it, we arrived in Gdańsk right in the middle of the annual St. Dominic's Fair. With 750 years of successful tradition, the history of the Fair goes back to the year 1260, when it was established by the decree of Pope Alexander IV. 

St. Dominic's Fair brought tourists from all over Poland, Europe, and the Far East.

Every street in the city was set up with stalls selling food and crafts. It was the biggest street food and crafts fair I have ever seen!

In addition to the street stalls, the fair attracted artists . . . 

 . . . buskers . . .

 . . . street performers . . .

 . . . morose balloon salesperson . . .

 . . . historically costumed information givers . . . giving me the Evil Eye! YAR!

 . . . and this guy (wearing a hat that said Crime!) who tried to entice the tourists to wager on his 'snail races.' The street fair was, in many ways, still like its medieval origins.

We enjoyed shopping at the many interesting crafts stalls.

Interesting bags . . .

 . . . very cool hats . . .

 . . . very cool hat and bag!  There were some very unusual arts at the fair.

Many beautiful textiles on sale.  We bought many things at the these stalls to take back home to Scotland with us.  I bought a hat!

These street stalls were so cute: they mimicked the style of the Gdańsk buildings.

The textiles, hats, and bags were nice . . . but the variety of FOOD at the festival was incredible!!!

The breads were fantastic!

The breads were fantastic!

I was in pig heaven for sausage lovers like me!

SAUSAGE!!!!

I loved cured and smoked pork fat as a child . . . a few thin slabs on a piece of peasant bread . . . mmmmmm!  But I resisted! 

Cures and smoked meats . . . a very Eastern European way of eating . . . and so very tasty!

Many of the shops put their fruits and vegetables out on the street.

Temperate climate fruits are a real treat for us.  These kinds of fruit in Bangkok cost a small fortune, so we went crazy living in Europe for a few years.

Lovely fruit.

Whole heads of sunflowers . . . that's the way to sell sunflower seeds!

Fresh, crispy cucumbers!

They had every kind of street food at the fair, including this actual Burrito Truck!  Amazing! (I didn't buy one, and immediately regreted it!)

We bought a lot at the wooden spoon stand to take back home to our cottage in Scotland.

A dealer of art and socks . . .

A woman set up her stool and sold her own crocheted items.  Sweet.

There were many buskers, but this guy was exceptionally good.

The weather varied from bright sunshine to dark clouds and sudden bursts of rain.

We found thee perfect Old Europe restaurant  . . .

We were hungry for lunch and found this charming old restaurant.

Down along the river quay.  A fine medieval dock crane on the far left.

River cruise ship for the tourists . . . 

For me, the lure of Gdańsk was the marvelous array of fascinating architecture.

A few of the old buildings survived the carpet bombing.

Such an odd building . . . all roof and dormers . . .

Narrow alleys, cobbles streets, ancient buildings . . . the charms of old Europe.

Here and there . . . public art . . .

My love of old doors, walls and windows was satisfied in a big way in Gdańsk!

I was told by a shopkeeper that some of these grand old doors and their stone casings were pulled from the rubble after the bombings and restored and reused.  Marvelous.

I marveled at these windows . . . exquisite!

Such lovely symmetry, color, shape . . .

A gate from the time of horse drawn carriages . . .

I loved the whimsical display.

So sweet.

A weathered door . . . and . . .

 . . . and its context.

A fine, formal marble doorway.

High relief stonework.  Nice.

Not all of Gdańsk's doors were as appreciated as I would like to have seen.

The views out over Gdańsk at night from our high rise hotel room were wonderful.

Making this photo blog about this wonderful city has made me very homesick for living in Europe . . . 

I don't know if I will ever return to Gdańsk, but I know I will always have fond memories of it.