Cecilia Boyd

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Visiting Westerplatte

On Wednesday we headed out early to catch city bus 106 to Westerplatte, the site of the Polish troop transport site. The sky was steel and it was cold. There was no hint of the warming sun we'd seen the day before.

Heading out of the city we drove through rural areas trying to become office parks, with port on the left side and forest on the right, and I could almost see soldiers crouching through the trees.

We disembarked at the end of the 106 route and checked the timetable to be sure we understand when we could leave. Assuming this was a big park and museum we decided we'd stay 2.5 hours -- catching the second bus back into town.

As we walked along it became clear that there was really not much left of the garrison buildings. The clandestine fortifications the Poles had made were successful, and protected their troops during the shelling and even the bombing. A bombed building is left which we were able to walk through.

Also a monument has been installed at the highest point right at the water. It's pretty impressive.

There is no museum building on site, though construction seems to be starting on one... it was effin cold and even the bathrooms were closed for the winter. So after a sprint through the grounds, reading every plaque, we hustled back to the stop to catch the first bus back into the city.