Page 19 - Cape-Camera-January-2025

Cape Camera January 2025

Top: a view of Gdansk from the river.
Above: A mask sculpture in Bialystok.

Above right: a sunset view of the
Gdansk waterfront from the Motlawa
River.
Right: The buildings of Byałistok in
silhouette.

Poland from p18
25,000 people. a hotel and an interesting museum, sides, roughly 50km from the Belarus
Our intended visit to the Maritime featuring artisanal artefacts. border. It is the largest city in north-
Museum, where the history of ship- My wife’s family is from the same eastern Poland and is known for the
ping and sea-faring in Poland is on area, and we also explored the rural forests surrounding it.
display, was unfortunately cancelled area and its agriculture. The route took us through many vil-
due to a heavy downpour. While in this area, we explored lages and we saw some European
Our next stop was the town of Bytów, the beautiful beaches of the Baltic storks, cranes and small deer.
where our ancestors hail from. Coast at Łeba (pronounced Weba) While visiting our son we had a braai
Here we visited the Bytów Castle, and the forests bordering the ex- in their allotment garden, canoed
built in 1398, which is still well kept. pansive dune fields of the Slowinski on a river close by, and did a tour
The Gothic Teutonic castle was a for- Nature Park. of Byałistok, a city lacking the old
mer stronghold of the dukes of the After a day’s drive we reached charm of Gdansk, but nevertheless,
duchy of Pomerania. Today it houses Byałistok, the city where my son re- still interesting. To p20

Cape Town Photographic Society 19