Whether it is morning or evening, a stroll along the embankment of the Motlawa River is a lovely experience. The harbour is a beehive of activities with boats of all shapes and sizes plying up and down. On one side, you can see buildings with bullet holes, a sad and grim reminder of the turbulence and war that the place lived through. But the feeling is soon shaken off by the sight of elaborately decorated vessels docked along the piers, some of which are floating restaurants. Near the beginning of the Royal Route, the banks are dominated by a massive, dark red brick structure called ‘The Crane’. This is the other symbol of Gdansk alongside Neptune Fountain. Considered to be the biggest medieval port crane in Europe, it was built to lift weights of up to five tons using nothing but human power. Visit also the SS Soldek, the first ship built and launched in the country after World War II, which is now a part of National Maritime Museum.