While mist and wind created a gray on gray day, the Endeavour slowly made her way into the inner harbor of Copenhagen, Denmark. Copenhagen means “merchant’s harbor” and tells of a long history as a trade center in Scandinavia since the time of the Vikings. Our morning would be spent on an extensive tour of the inner city, with a visit at noon to view the changing of the guard at the Queen’s Palace!
Today was an auspicious day for everyone onboard the Endeavour. This afternoon we were invited to a welcoming reception to meet Robert MacNeil, well-known journalist and broadcaster, and his wife Donna. They will be traveling with the Endeavour through the Baltic States finishing in Amsterdam. Also arriving aboard the Endeavour were our distinguished Guest Speaker Lech Walesa and his wife Danka. It is Lech Walesa who effectively brought a changing of the guard to Poland in the early 1980’s altering the history of that nation forever.
As we all enjoyed a wonderful buffet presented at the Nimb restaurant in the Tivoli Gardens, Expedition Leader David Barnes stepped forward to formally welcome Lech Walesa, summing up beautifully many of our perceptions as the world watched “an electrician from the Lenin shipyard in Gdansk in the early 1980’s lead a strike that transformed his labor union into ten million member movement Solidarnocz, Solidarity. Through martial law and repeated imprisonment Lech Walesa looked the party machine that ruled his country in the eye and overwhelmed it by the act of will and personal courage. In 1983 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and in 1990 he was elected president of Poland.”
As one of the great history makers of the twentieth century we all have particular memories of Lech Walesa. David Barnes remembers seeing him on the television news nudging security agents out of the way as he climbed into his family van, signing an agreement with the government with his giant Solidarity pen. Another image recalled was Lech Welesa kneeling before his fellow countrymen Pope John Paul II on his visit to the Vatican in 1989.
Today was an auspicious day for everyone onboard the Endeavour. This afternoon we were invited to a welcoming reception to meet Robert MacNeil, well-known journalist and broadcaster, and his wife Donna. They will be traveling with the Endeavour through the Baltic States finishing in Amsterdam. Also arriving aboard the Endeavour were our distinguished Guest Speaker Lech Walesa and his wife Danka. It is Lech Walesa who effectively brought a changing of the guard to Poland in the early 1980’s altering the history of that nation forever.
As we all enjoyed a wonderful buffet presented at the Nimb restaurant in the Tivoli Gardens, Expedition Leader David Barnes stepped forward to formally welcome Lech Walesa, summing up beautifully many of our perceptions as the world watched “an electrician from the Lenin shipyard in Gdansk in the early 1980’s lead a strike that transformed his labor union into ten million member movement Solidarnocz, Solidarity. Through martial law and repeated imprisonment Lech Walesa looked the party machine that ruled his country in the eye and overwhelmed it by the act of will and personal courage. In 1983 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and in 1990 he was elected president of Poland.”
As one of the great history makers of the twentieth century we all have particular memories of Lech Walesa. David Barnes remembers seeing him on the television news nudging security agents out of the way as he climbed into his family van, signing an agreement with the government with his giant Solidarity pen. Another image recalled was Lech Welesa kneeling before his fellow countrymen Pope John Paul II on his visit to the Vatican in 1989.
