Poland Album

To visit and take in Poland was the original goal of the trip. Based in Darlowo on the Baltic coast we put 1000 miles on the rental car traveling the countryside and visiting cities and sites. History is everywhere, the good, the bad and the extremely ugly. Every where you go there is a reminder of conflicts that touched the land and people. Conflicts of many ages, some 100's of years ago , some decades ago , and some in just the past few years. Taking it all in puts perspective to our existance.

Darłówko

In the nineteenth century, and the German emperor - Wilhelm I - spent his holidays in the seaside resort of Darłówko. He liked his stay in the Spa House "Friedrichsbad" (today's Apollo Hotel) so much that the emperor came back to Darlowo and a couple of times over the next years. Yet, it is George Büttner who is thought to be the official founder of the resort and the discoverer of the local values ​​of the climate. I founded one of the oldest Polish bathing areas on the eastern side of the harbor in 1814.
Today, Darlowo, which is a seaside district of Darlowo - boasts a unique microclimate, with a high content of therapeutic iodine, wide, sandy beaches and charming harbor. The port is a place for harmoniously developing fisheries and tourist functions such as fishing, sailing and active water tourism.

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Darłowo

Darłowo has nearly 14-thousand inhabitants and is situated in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, in the Valley of the rivers Wieprza and Grabowa. Regarded as a tourist capital of the Slawno district, it is a major seaport located on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea. More than one kilometer wide, sandy beaches, exceptional microclimate with high levels of iodine and unique neighborhood of two Baltic lakes - this is what makes Darlowo have a unique atmosphere and a resort valued by Tourists.

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Slawno

Sławno is a town on the Wieprza river in Middle Pomerania region, north-western Poland, with 13,322 inhabitants (2006).

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Malbork

Malbork [ˈmalbɔrk] (German: Marienburg is a town in northern Poland in the Żuławy region (Vistula delta), with 38,478 inhabitants (2006).
Founded in the 13th century by the Knights of the Teutonic Order, the town is noted for its medieval Malbork Castle, built in the 13th Century as the Order's headquarters and of what later became known as Royal Prussia.
The town of Marienburg grew in the vicinity of the castle. The river Nogat and flat terrain allowed easy access for barges a hundred kilometers from the sea. During Prussia's government by the Teutonic Knights, the Order collected tolls on river traffic and imposed a monopoly on the amber trade.

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Gdansk - Old Town

Gdańsk (German: Danzig) is a Polish city on the Baltic coast. It is the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland's principal seaport and the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area. Gdańsk itself has a population of 460,427 (December 2012), making it the largest city in the Pomerania region of Northern Poland.
The first written record thought to refer to Gdańsk is the vita of Saint Adalbert. Written in 999, it describes how in 997 Saint Adalbert of Prague baptised the inhabitants of urbs Gyddannyzc, "which separated the great realm of the duke [i.e. Boleslaw the Brave of Poland] from the sea." No further written sources exist for the 10th and 11th centuries. Based on the date in Adalbert's vita, the city celebrated its millennial anniversary in 1997

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Koszalin

Koslin is a town in West Pomeranian Voivodeship , the second largest city in western Pomerania . The largest city of the Middle Pomerania region (Middle-Pomerania). Located on the Koszalin River, on the Dzierżęcinki River, on the lakes: Jamno and Lubiatowo North . The seat of the Koszalin district , the district court, the department of the local Marshal's Office and the delegation of the voivodship office.
According to data from June 30, 2015, the city had 108,576 inhabitants.

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Szczecin

Szczecin is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major seaport and Poland's seventh-largest city. As of June 2011, the population was 407,811.
The city's recorded history began in the 8th century as a Slavic Pomeranian stronghold, built at the site of the Ducal castle. In the 12th century, when Szczecin had become one of Pomerania's main urban centres, it lost its independence to Piast Poland, the Duchy of Saxony, the Holy Roman Empire and Denmark. At the same time, the House of Griffins established themselves as local rulers and the population was Christianized. After the Treaty of Stettin in 1630, the town came under the control of the Swedish Empire and remained a Swedish-controlled fortress until 1720, when it was acquired by the Kingdom of Prussia and then the German Empire. Following World War II, in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement, Stettin became part of Poland.

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Crowns ? Stacked Hay Stacked Hay PA180026
Potatoes? Potatoes? PA180031 PA180032
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IMG 0362 IMG 0363 Potato Monument  Monument of the Potato by Wiesław Adamski in Biesiekerz, IIRC 1980 or so. To commemorate the new variety of Potato, planted in Experimental Plantation of Potato in Biesiekierz. Probably the largest monument of the potato in the world Thatched Roof
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