Lech. In Poland you would know that there were two Lechs – some sort of mythical hero founder of the country as well as a ciggie smoking ship builder who led the freeing of the nation, won the Nobel and then made them cringe a little with his rough manners when they made him President. A little confusingly for the 1991 backpacker, it is also a brand of beer.
I like Lech. They were sitting on the Lenin Shipyards’s walls when I was in high school convinced others, Ronnie and Leonyd, were going to find a way to glaze us all. It it were not for Lech, along with the only Pope I will ever know just as “the Pope”, I would not have ended up in Poland, married who I married and had the life that has followed. Lech’s political movement, Solidarity, was officially recognized by the government 25 years ago today. Here’s a pre-posted scene from the 1991 parade for the first national day of celebration of the freeing of Poland. It’s all about good flags:
