My friend dropped me off at the main train station in Gdansk, in order for me to catch my train. I had booked the ticket online from the Polish railroad company's website without knowing that I should have booked in from a closer station within the city of Gdansk. The main station was harder to get to, as there was construction out front. As I got out of the car, my friend received a giant series of angry honks from the city bus behind him. I felt embarrassed I'd made him drive me to that spot.
I chucked my GoLite backpack over my shoulder and scurried around the concrete barriers seeking the temporary entrance to the station, which was not obvious. Finally I got inside and found the main underground concourse from which one accessed the various platform. I had plenty of time to spare before my train, but following my best practices of travel, I located the platform immediately, verified the train number on the ticket on my iPhone, then allowed myself the liberty of exploring the station for twenty minutes before my train's arrival. My backpack was heavy on my shoulder, so I kept my walking to a radius near the stairs to my platform that would be easy to cover if I lost track of time. I am always assuming that I will lose track of time.
Then some kind of miracle happened. I wandered up a long bank of stairs into what was obviously the central bus station of Gdansk. It was much smaller than the train station. When I walked inside, I saw the ticket windows, and above them, under the high ceiling, the map of the Polish bus network. The room was not large. There was only one other person in there. It was dark and dirty, with light streaming through the high windows like the clearstory of cathedral.
When I saw the map above the ticket window I knew immediately. I have been here!
I was there, I knew in 1990, when I last visited Poland. I must have taken the bus out of town that year. Usually I remember so much of my travels, but I had forgotten what I done in Poland, the minute movements, yet here it was, given back to me. It was a recovered memory that I now had, of being in the station. I was one of my favorite moments ever.
