My wife and I visited the Gdansk Ship Yard, formally the Lenin Shipyard. This is the historical location which gave rise to the Solidarity Movement - led by Lech Wałęsa - which was a major contributor to the death of Communism in Eastern Europe.We were taken around by a very animated tour guide who was a worker at the Shipyard and involved in the struggle and the strikes. When I say we, I mean my wife, as he only spoke Polish and I just followed in the distance taking pictures.He now lives around the corner from the Shipyard and is making a living from these unofficial guides.

My visit to Gdansk. Everything was caked in Ice.

One definition of helplessness is being told 10 000 feet in the air that the hunk of metal holding you up is going to land somewhere else. After this announcement, everyone on the plane sinks back into their chairs with a collective sigh and settles into the inescapable fact that we’re mere pawns in Poland’s wintery travel-disrupting chess game. Severe blizzards have frozen Gdansk airport and we are now on our way to Warsaw.

Upon landing I slot myself into a bedraggled queue leading up to a snack kiosk jewelled with unfamiliar looking food and drink items; with the exception of Coca- Cola, of course.

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