Just back from Gdansk, where I was visiting the trade union Solidarnosc. Never been to Poland before, and Gdansk was a very nice place, but I’m knackered, so in lieu of any genuine cultural commentary, here are three things I found half-way funny:

1. The plane we flew in on (once SAS had lost my baggage and nearly lost me in Copenhagen) was the smallest I’ve ever been on (70 seater propeller plane), so I found it quite amusing that it was called “Huge Viking”. Apparently, Huge is an old Nordic name, so he was an ancient Viking hero. The name Huge means (well, duh…) “The big one”.
2. We had lunch in the main square, which was very nice, and just about warm enough (though not enough to tempt anyone else). I chose from the special vegetarian menu: “Vegetarian dumplings with sauerkraut, mushrooms and cottage cheese (with meat)”.
3. Best of all though was the free tourist guide and map I picked up at the hotel. I quote the very first paragraph: “If you’ve arrived by train your journey into the old town in straight forward: sidestep any drunks mumbling to themselves, then put your head down and speed straight through the subway full of women selling cut-price underwear. Then presto, there you are: the historic centre.”

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