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My wife Liat got invited to a fascinating conference about Dark Tourism in Glasgow. It was our first visit to Scotland, and we were both very excited about it. As always, on our trips, while Liat was locked up for most of the daytime, I explored the city. And what a great city to explore! With Beautiful buildings everywhere, friendly people, fascinating museums (in most of them, the visit is for free), lots of street art, and the great River Clyde split the city into two – Glasgow is an ideal city for vacation. All these provide an excellent and very satisfying cultural experience. With 600K citizens, Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and the 4th largest city in the UK. The most respected celebrity of the city and a name you must know when visiting Glasgow is the architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928). His works – Buildings and Furniture he designed, can be found in several places around the city. Unfortunately, his masterwork - the Glasgow School of Art's Library-was burned in 2014 and is now being restored. However, you can still visit some other significant buildings designed by Macintosh: The Lighthouse, Mackintosh House in the Hunterian Museum, Mackintosh Queen's Cross, and more. You can check all Mackintosh buildings and exhibitions on their website. However, unless you are an architecture or Mackintosh fan, I would suggest skipping the Tours at the Glasgow School of Art - I found it a little annoying. During my visit, the annual parade of the Orange Order took place: We stayed in Holiday Inn Express Theatreland hotel in the city center, very close to Buchanan Street and The Buchanan Central station. The hotel is small and very functional. They serve an excellent breakfast, and the customer service was very satisfying. Things you should do when visiting Glasgow: Walk. If you don't have to, skip cars and public transportation - just walk. Glasgow is very flat, vast, and full of beautiful buildings. So even though there is a very efficient subway, it is most recommended to explore the city on foot. Bicycles are also a good choice. I must share that even though it was rainy, I enjoyed walking the town back and forth. Visit the museums. Particularly those who allowed free entrance. They are adorable and fit for all ages. Take an evening walk on the bank of River Clyde. Go to Buchanan Street & Sauchiehall Street, both pedestrian-only streets just in the middle of the City center, with lots of shops, malls, restaurants, pubs, and street performances all day long. Drink Whisky. The Scottish, like their Irish neighbors, are very proud of their Whisky. Try it. Eat Haggis. It is a traditional Scottish dish that contains the inner parts of lamb mixed with onions, oatmeal flour, fat, and spices. Haggis traditionally served with "neeps and tatties" – mashed potatoes and a mash of Rutabaga, a kind of a root vegetable. All dressed with Whisky Sauce. Just make sure you are eating it in a decent place. And if it wasn't clear enough - visit at least one building and one exhibition of Mackintosh's work. Have a nice trip to Glasgow! I missed it already.

The Long Market of Gdansk is probably the main tourist attraction in the city. It was founded in the 13th century as a merchants' road and became the town's main street. The wealthiest residents built their homes here, competing with each other in arts and decorations. It's equivalent to what's called in other places, "the old town." You will find here many restaurants, souvenir shops, museums, and beautiful houses. Some of the main attractions of the city are located here: The Green Gate the royal residence from the 16th century now houses the National Museum in Gdansk. One of the rooms also served the former Polish President and the leader of Solidarity movement Lech Lech Wałęsa (Spelled: Valensa). The Golden Gate Built in the early 17th century at one end of the Long Market. It Destroyed during WWII and was reconstructed in 1957. Neptune's Fountain Located in the middle of the Long Market, Neptune's Fountain opened in 1633. It was renovated several times because of the wars' damages. The last renovation was in 2012. Fahrenheit Monument The scientist Daniel Fahrenheit, who invented the Fahrenheit temperature scale, was born in Gdansk. To his honor, the city represents an antique thermometer in the center of its most famous street. There are more main sites to visit in the Long Market. So I wrote individual posts for them: The Old Town Hall, St. Mary Basilica, the Old Prison (the Amber Museum), and The Amber Sky ferry wheel. There are also lots of street artists playing on the street. I think it's better to visit here at least twice, by daytime and night, to get the whole impression of this beautiful place.

The ferry wheel is located in the Long Market, on the banks of Motlawa River. We saw this attraction in the evening and decided to climb it. It's a pleasant pastime but not essential. There are better views of the city from the nearby towers of St. Mary Basilica and the Old Main Town Hall. The advantage is that it's also open when it's dark.

The Museum of the Second World War is an impressive museum that explores the various aspects of World War II, mainly from the Polish point of view. However, I wonder if the pretense of covering such a broad subject does not make him somewhat flattened. For example: To relate to the general hunger created by the war in the same way as to refer to the deliberate starvation of populations in concentration camps, ghettos, or prison camps seems problematic to me. But after saying that, I think it's a significant museum, and recommend visiting it. You should clear at least three hours exploring the museum exhibitions.

Westerplatte is a peninsula in the Gdansk harbor channel. Between the two World Wars, it was a base of the Polish Army. On September 1st, 1939, the Nazis started the Second World War with a synchronized attack on Westerplatte and the Polish post office in Gdansk. The Polish army fought with great bravery and managed to postpone the Germans for a week, despite their obvious inferiority. Some of the barracks' ruins still stand as an open-air museum, alongside explanation plates and the Monument of the Coast Defenders. We came here with an Uber ride, but it turned out that the app navigated our driver to the other side of the river. So make sure you are going to the Westerplatte memorial site.

Sopot is a seaside resort town north of Gdańsk, full of tourist attractions, restaurants, pubs, and clubs. Liat read about it and told me we must go there. So, we did. It turns out to be a nice place, but nothing more. I might have changed my mind if I spent more time there or coming for recreation. But I'm not interested in holidays, but in trips and discovering new places. The town indeed has a cute 4.5 km sandy beaches and a beautiful main street full of activity. And there is the longest wooden pier in Europe (entrance fee needed). However, I'm not sure that it justifies leaving Gdańsk. Maybe there are some better out-of-the-city options. Just saying… Sopot Beach Sopot Health Square The Crazy House in Sopot Sopot Pier Sopot Main Street

St. Mary is a Roman-Catholic church in the old Long Market in Gdansk, constructed in the 14th century. It is one of the largest brick churches in the world. Before the Second World War, it serves as a Lutheran church. In fact, I was pretty disappointed. The building makes a great impression from the outside. However, the interior of the church isn't fancy and decorated like many other churches in Poland. However, it is possible to climb (for a small entry fee) more than 400 stairs to the top of the tower for magnificent city views. I barely managed to climb it all, but I forgot all about it when I reached the top. Climbing the Tower Views From the Tower of St. Mary Basilica

A beautiful 16th-century building used to be the office of the City Council. It serves as a museum, with a few magnificent decorated halls (especially the red hall) and several floors of permanent and temporary exhibitions. I skipped the tower since I already climbed to the top of St. Mary Basilica. Old Main Town Hall Museum

Right from the beginning of Hitler's regime, the Nazis founded a massive network of concentration camps for various purposes. It started with the persecutions of opposition forces, Union leaders, and intellectuals inside Germany. After the invasion of Poland, the network of camps expanded and was used mainly for the extermination of Jews, forced labor, and the imprisonment of dissidents and prisoners of war. The Stutthof Concentration Camp was established right with the invasion of Poland, in what was East Prussia before the Second World War, and nowadays Northern Poland. More than 110 thousand people were in prison there. Among them, about 85 thousand were murdered. Until 1943 it served mainly as a concentration camp, with horrible conditions and forced labor. But then it became an extermination camp with mass killings by gas chambers. Before the camp's liberation, thousands of Jews were forced to take part in Death March – they were forced to walk into the frozen Baltic Sea and got shot. Others drowned while the Nazis tried to send them by boats to Germany. Finally, the Soviets liberated the prisoners of Stutthof on May 9, 1945. It was the last camp to be released. Today there is a Polish national museum in the camp and a massive monument for the victims. There are also exhibitions (some of them in English, but not all) in the barracks. It is also possible to see the gas chamber and the Crematorium. The entrance is free. I got to the camp by Bus I took from Gdansk Central Station, approximately 80 minutes drive. It's not close and not so comfortable to go there. But I think every man and woman must visit at least one Concentration camp like it. We must not forget the abyss to which mankind came in that war, and every such visit is a warning sign to all of us. Very important. The Gas Chambers and the Crematorium The Barracks and Exhibitions The Stutthof Monument

The Prison Tower was built at the end of the 16th century and the fortification from the 14th century. It hosted the court, the torture chambers and served as the city's prison. Today the building hosts the Amber Museum, with exhibitions about the origins of amber, its forms, and the art made of amber. As Gdansk Plays a significant role in the Amber industry, it became a kind of symbol of the city. Besides the Amber exhibitions, there is also a small exhibition on tortures of the middle ages. Amber Museum

The European Solidarity Center is the most impressive museum I've been in ever. Although the visitors walk alone with audio guides, it feels like you are getting a private guide. Moreover, this "private" tour is synchronized with other "private" tours in such a technique that there are no waiting or delays on the route. Instead, you just walk with the audio guide and learn the history of the Solidarity movement that withdrew communism. It's a fascinating story and a must-visit place in Gdansk. The museum is located in the Gdansk Shipyard, a few meters from the impressive monument to the Fallen Shipyard Workers of 1970. A memorial for the workers killed by the army during the bold strikes of 1970. Building the monument was one of the demands of Solidarity in the talks of 1980. The monument is 42 meters high and made from 139 tons of steel. It's the first anti-communist monument founded in a communist country. The talks of 1980 between the 17,000 shipbuilders, led by Lech Wałęsa, and the government, took place in one shipyard's warehouse – Sala BHP. Today the hall is hosting a small free entrance museum with an exhibition of the strikes. The talks led to the legalization of the Solidarity movement and free elections in Poland. The Shipyard Entrance The Monument to the Fallen Shipyard Workers of 1970 Sala BHP The European Solidarity Center Views from the Roof of The European Solidarity Center

Oliwa Park is a lovely garden established in the 15th century, with charming lanes and flocks of ducks, swans, and squirrels. There are also lots of sculptures around. We went there on our last day for a morning walk, and it was very relaxing.