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118 GDYNIA NIGHTLIFE
Bars & Pubs
Cafe Strych O-1, Pl. Kaszubski 7b (entrance from ul.
Żeromskiego), tel. (+48) 58 620 30 38, www.cafestrych.pl.
This fisherman’s cottage is a one in an unique
experience and a soothing relief from the sepia blocks
outside. Full of shambolic charm the interior presents a
cavalcade of antique trinkets and oddities, including muskets,
grandfather clocks and dolls with scary glass eyes. On
the colder nights the cast-iron stove generates a warming
glow which only serves to heighten the atmosphere. One
of our favourite places in Gdynia. QOpen 14:00 - 01:00.
PYAUEGBW
Coco O-1, ul. Waszyngtona 21, tel. (+48) 58 661 62
00, www.coco.net.pl. Way sexy, Coco lines drinkers up
along a narrow bar, where the bartenders are deft in their
mixology and the results can lead to clumsy conclusions.
Fans include dressy pre-club characters, so do ponder a
change of pants before stepping in. QOpen 12:00 - 24:00.
PYAUGBW
Contrast Cafe O-2, Bulwar Nadmorski, tel. (+48)
503 51 64 01, www.contrastcafe.pl. A seaside cabin
decked out to resemble an old ship. It’s been done before
in Gdynia, but few venues carry it off like Contrast. Each
evening this place runs to the clink of the glass and the
raucous backing vocals of locals joining in with sea shanty
sing-alongs. QOpen 10:00 - 02:00, Fri, Sat 10:00 - 03:00.
AEBXW
Cyganeria N-1, ul. 3 Maja 27, tel. (+48) 58 620 77
22. Gdynia’s number one ‘bar noir’ has a heady reputation
going back to the days when student revolutionaries
would plot the overthrow of the government in here. Now
it’s the kino crowd who congregate, enjoying the warm
Gemini Centre
Centrum Gemini
(Gemini Centre)
O-1, ul. Waszyngtona
21, Gdynia, tel. (+48)
58 727 99 09, www.
geminicentrum.pl.
While Świętojańska is
recognised as the city’s
main street most of the
action in Gdynia can be found around Skwer Kościuszki
down towards the water. At the heart of that is the Gemini
centre which acts as the city’s entertainment hub with
a 8-screen MultiKino cinema complex and some of the
better eating and drinking options in the city. A plus about
Polish cinema is that foreign films are shown in original
language with subtitles unless specifically designed for
children, such as Shrek, in which case they are dubbed.
Regular events such as concerts, fashion shows, exhibitions
and kids’ entertainment keep the place humming.
And while Łódź is seen as the home of Polish cinema,
Gdynia is home to Poland’s biggest film festival which
takes place each year at the start of June. For these
few days Gdynia turns into the capital of Polish film and
the red carpet is rolled out for the great and the good of
Polish and International film who arrive to find out who is
to receive the year’s Golden Lions. Along with regular film
premieres Gemini is also home to a couple of the city’s
best clubs in Boolvar and Elypse. QOpen 10:00 - 24:00,
Fri, Sat 10:00 - 01:00.
ochre tones, sofas and art exhibits; think of this as a step
above a university common room. QOpen 10:00 - 00:30,
Mon 10:00 - 24:00, Fri, Sat 10:00 - 01:30, Sun 15:00 -
00:30. AGW
Degustatornia Dom Piwa N-2, ul. Świętojańska
130, tel. (+48) 888 34 56 78, www.degustatornia.
pl. Hard to find (side alley, down some stairs), but that just
adds appeal to this cellar bar - if Aladdin was alcoholic he’d
choose this as his cave. Stocking about four million beers,
this place has the most comprehensive collection of lager
in Poland, with bottles ranging from Spitfire to Satan. It’s a
laddish bar this, with decorations consisting of beer mats
and benches, with our personal highlight being a hardcore
Belgian lager called Delirium Tremens: you’ll either puke or
be nuked. QOpen 15:00 - 24:00, Fri, Sat 15:00 - 01:00, Sun
15:00 - 22:00. PYGB
Dragon O-1, Al. Jana Pawła II, Gdynia (Nabrzeże Prezydenta),
tel. (+48) 507 96 91 83, www.dragon-dragon.
pl. The Dragon, a mock pirate boat, can be found anchored
along the Dar Pomorza. An on-board bar and grill restaurant
let you dine at sea without going anywhere. During the summer
months both a smaller boat and the Dragon (when in the
bay) offer 50 minute cruises of the bay for up to 200 people.
QOpen 11:00 - 22:00. TAEGW
Kandelabry O-1, Al. Jana Pawła II 11, tel. (+48) 509 91
98 84, www.kandelabry.com. Kandelabry is not only a staff
favourite, it’s also the place hostel staff and Gdynians-in-theknow
will send you. The chandelier made of a hodge-podge
of bottles lights the way to a beery wonderland of impressive
imports (the Belgian selection alone has 23 choices) and
deeper pulls from Poland than the typical Zywiec and Tyskie
options available elsewhere. Dig into a bowl of peanuts with
a fresh lager at Kandelabry and you’ll easily feel like a local.
Bonus for trivia buffs: every Thursday the bar hosts a quiz in
English. QOpen 15:00 - 23:00, Fri 15:00 - 02:00, Sat 12:00
- 02:00, Sun 12:00 - 23:00. PAUGBW
Klubokawiarnia N-2, ul. Bema 19. A bit of a hidden
gem this. Head through the gate to the right of ul. Bema 19,
down the steps at the back, give the bell a ring and hopefully
you’ll be ushered inside this cosy crimson bar replete with
its array of peculiarities, many from the People’s Republic of
Poland. Get a drink from the bar before dropping into one of
the mismatched bits of aged furniture to admire the sheer
splendour of this cave-like drinking den. A classier crowd than
found in most bars in Gdynia, late opening hours and some
great music make this place hard to beat. If they let you in that
is. QOpen 19:00 - 01:00, Fri, Sat 19:00 - 05:00. PXW
The Docker’s Inn O-1, ul. Waszyngtona 21, tel.
(+48) 606 10 61 52. Pubs located in malls don’t have to
be tragic; unfortunately, The Dockers Inn does not support
that statement. What is actually the most convincing Brita-like
pub in the tri-city (Rover’s Return interior, a red phone
box, etc.) turns out to be a triumph of style over substance.
The waitress/bartender seemed just as uninterested in
serving us as we were in placing an order in this unhappy
establishment. QOpen 11:30 - 24:00, Fri, Sat 11:30 - 01:00.
PAUGBW
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Clubs
Bollywood Lounge O-1, Al. Jana Pawła II 9-11, tel.
(+48) 58 380 38 39, www.bollywoodlounge.pl. A bar
and a club is what Bollywood is popular for, both here and
in its sister club in Warsaw, and its collection of sheesha
pipes must be the best if not the only in town. There is a
pretty wide selection of Indian dishes on offer as well, but
it is to party that the locals come in their numbers. A laid
back atmosphere, Bollywood films projected onto the wall
and a DJ determined to please mean the parties go on long
into the night. The adjoining beach makes for an excellent
summer chillout zone. QOpen 08:30 - 01:00, Fri, Sat 08:30
- 04:00. AUG
Boolvar Club & Restaurant O-1, ul. Waszyngtona
21, tel. (+48) 58 621 61 61, www.boolvar.pl. Plastic
and orange, and we’re not just talking about the girls who
drink here. Kitted out with a mock 70s look there’s plenty
of bright migraine colours and floral patterns to pre-empt
your hangover, as well as the predictable mix of dance
hits from the last three decades. A renovation that closes
Boolvar through December 25 may change this retro vibe.
The locals love it, and at weekends you can’t move for all the
spiky mullets and hourglass figures. Expect to be charged
an entry fee of 10-30zl on Fridays and Sundays depending
on the kind of event being hosted. QOpen 10:00 - 24:00,
Fri, Sat 10:00 - 04:00. PAUBXW
Elizjum N-1, ul. Świętojańska 41, tel. (+48) 58 620 57
77, www.clubelizjum.pl. Bring atomic tested sunglasses
to survive Elizjum, a multi-coloured nightspot whose design
is sure to raise eyebrows. Decorated with crazy swirls and
illuminated skyscraper pics nothing about this place seems
to make sense, and that includes its popularity - possibly
explained by a number of screens showing football. A strange
place, most definitely. QOpen 13:00 - 24:00, Fri, Sat 13:00
- 03:00, Sun 15:00 - 24:00. ABXW
Elypse O-1, ul. Waszyngtona 21, tel. (+48) 58 669 51
15, www.elypse-club.pl. A sexy design using lots of pink,
purple and violet colours gives Elypse a real vibrancy, and this
has fast assumed status as one of the places to be seen,
while the bar glows like a beacon for Gdynia’s post-teen set.
Bar, club or even restaurant, Elypse has more than one string
to its bow. QOpen 12:00 - 24:00, Fri, Sat 12:00 - 05:00.
PAUBXW
Pokład O-1, Al. Jana Pawła II 11, tel. (+48) 512 12 35
77, www.poklad.pl. Lit with lanterns and candles this pierside
pirate haunt has been built to resemble a galleon, and
the timber interiors include knotted ropes and navigational
charts. It’s nothing edgy, but does at least attract a more
low-key crowd than the neighboring disco-din budget bars
that line this strip. Now detached from its sister bar Tawerna,
Pokład is open for parties or concerts and normally involves
a cover charge (except on Thursdays) of 10 zl after 21:00 on
Wednesdays and Fridays, and 20zl on Saturdays. QOpen
20:00 - 04:00. Closed Mon, Tue, Sun. PAUGW
Irish
Donegal N-1, ul. Zgoda 10, tel. (+48) 58 620 46 23.
Yellowing photographs of Dublin scenes and vintage Guinness
signs hang higgledy-piggledy on the walls, while dusty
bottles perch perilously on wood beamed barrels. If ever
someone was to open an Irish pub abroad they’d do well to
learn from Donegal. But it’s not just the face details that are
right here, but also the brews - surely a true sign of how Irish
an Irish pub really is. QOpen 16:00 - 01:00. PAGW
gdynia.inyourpocket.com
GDYNIA NIGHTLIFE
Blofeld
James Bond; roving womanizer, man of mystery and
secret agent supreme. But what’s he got to do with
Gdynia? Absolutely nothing, to be precise. His nemesis
does, however. Swivelling in his leather armchair,
and never without his trademark Persian pussycat,
the evil Blofeld will need no introduction to fans of
classic Bond. Fictitious he might be, but don’t let
that ruin a good yarn. First appearing in Ian Fleming’s
1964 novel ‘Thunderball’ it is revealed that Blofeld
was born in Gdynia on May 28, 1908 – sharing the
same birth date as his creator. The son of a Polish
father and a Greek mother the young Blofeld attended
the University of Warsaw, studying economics and
political history, before enrolling in Warsaw Polytechnic
to read engineering. He was later employed in the
Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs and dabbled in the
Warsaw Stock Exchange. With WWII looming on the
horizon he sold Polish military secrets to the Nazis,
before destroying all records of his life and fleeing to
Turkey. It was while working for Turkish radio that he
set up his own intelligence service, and proved what
a thoroughly nasty piece of work he was by selling
classified information to the highest bidder. With
Rommel vanquished on the plains of Africa Blofeld
chose to back the Allies, and his sterling work was
recognised in the form of several decorations. With
the war over he founded SPECTRE, a criminal organization
with designs on world domination. Blofeld
failed to appear in Fleming’s follow-up book, The Spy
Who Loved Me, but made a return in ‘On Her Majesty’s
Secret Service’. Here Bond discovers Blofeld living
in Switzerland under the pseudonym of Comte de
Bleuville. His wicked plan to destroy Britain’s agricultural
economy is foiled by Bond, but Blofeld has
the last laugh by murdering the agent’s wife at the
end. ‘You Only Live Twice’ sees 007 reunited with
his arch-enemy, this time in Japan where Blofeld is
plotting a World War. Bond saves the day, and also
takes the ultimate revenge for the death of his spouse
by throttling Blofeld. On the silver screen Blofeld first
materializes in ‘From Russia With Love’, and then
in ‘Thunderball’. His appearance is kept a mystery
however, and viewers are only treated to a shot of
his face in his third cinematic outing, the 1967 flick
‘You Only Live Twice’. Memorably portrayed by Donald
Pleasance the megalomaniac carries a facial scar
attributed to a fencing injury, and boasts a piranha
infested pond used to despatch his enemies. Unlike
the book Blofeld survives the ending, and makes a
return in the 1969 version of ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret
Service’. Played by a sinister looking Telly Savalas
Bond’s arch-enemy mimics his literary exploits by
killing Bond’s missus at the end. He returns two years
later, this time played by the rather benign looking
Charles Gray in ‘Diamonds are Forever’, and then ten
years later in the opening sequence of ‘For Your Eyes
Only’. Played by John Hollis, with a voice supplied by
Robert Rietty, Bond finally finishes off his adversary
by dropping the wheelchair-bound baddie down a
factory chimney. But Blofeld returns, and Bond fans
can see him played by a rather bland Max von Sydow
in ‘Never Say Never Again’, a rather rubbish 1983
remake of ‘Thunderball’. Since then Bond films have
been a dime-a-dozen, with villain and rogues aplenty;
none however come close to achieving the cult status
of Gdynia’s most sinister son.
May - July 2012
119