As a visual person, mas madali sa akin mag stick yung events of World War 2 if nakikita and napuntahan ko yung places mentioned in the texts. Wow, ang mahal ng learning!

On a more serious note, I guess, pa kaunti kaunti pero mas na nag-grasp ko na ang history nowadays na mas focused and immersed ang pag digest sa content. Instead of before na memorisation for the sake of pumasa ng exam.

And siguro no need to explain myself naman bilang hindi rin naman gamay ng mga mananakop ang Asian history. The question is… gamay ko rin ba?

Westerplatte in Poland… starting point ng World War 2. Back in September 1, 1939, dito lumusong ang German forces. You can say heavily outnumbered ang mga Polish with around 182 soldiers vs 1,500 to 3,500 sa kalaban. And 7 days rin tumagal ang labanan.

Historian yarn?!

What to see?

• There’s a stone monument standing 25 meters tall. Commemoration for the soldiers and those who defended the coastline. It also symbolises their refusal to surrender despite the odds being stacked against them. Nakaka lula but a sight to behold.

• Standing on a hill, kita rin ang harbor ng Gdansk and Baltic Sea. And just based on the location, clear ang strategic importance niya in a war. There’s also a beach and a park. Although based sa translation, sabi, beware at wag lumusong sa tubig. Dami pa rin gumagawa. Risk mo na yun!

• Bunkers, barracks and guardhouse – although sira na, dami pa rin remnants, some barely standing pero clearly evident what used to be there. May text and pictures to help you imagine.

• Sementeryo para sa mga namatay. From what I read, yung mga nadiscover na bangkay after excavations, minove rin dito.

Logistics

From Gdansk city center, pwede mag cab, mag drive or mag bus. So 20 minutes to one hour depende sa piliin.

As a tamad and opt for convenience, nag Uber na lang ako. Around 8-9 EUR or 10 USD ang cost one way. Papunta though, yung driver binaba ako randomly sa parang daungan (which is malapit pa rin pero pang logistics companies yung binagsakan ko) kasi nga the place is still operating as a port. Don’t give up if you face hurdles!

Everything is free. At least lahat ng pinuntahan ko.

Ang ganda ng weather. Most of the area is open space. So watch out lang if umulan!

Worth it ba?

From a learning standpoint, yes. From a value for money, yes. From an ease of organising the trip, yes.

To be honest, no reason not to go (except of course if wala ka naman sa area or wala ka naman interest).