Guest post: Baltic gold: the amber rush

Danuta Ziętala writes:

When you visit the Polish coast you have to take a souvenir: a necklace made of amber, a bracelet made of amber, or other jewellery. Prices depend on size, working, the precious items inside (mosquito!).

I want to encourage you to experience the “amber rush”. Last spring I experienced it while assisting my friend Tomasz in taking some dunes measurements. Spring and autumn are best to look for amber.

I was lucky twice: (a) we reached Jantar village (jantar in old-polish language means amber), (b) last night there was a storm. Early morning Tomasz and I got to the beach and saw local people wandering in the water. They know that storm = new supply of amber. They sell it to tourists and jewellers. Of course you can see amber all over the beach. Small pieces are glittering between sand grains – an incredible and pleasant feeling.

You start collecting one after another and cannot move a meter because there are so many of them. The most interesting for me was that if you want to find a bigger piece, you should check the wooden sticks washed ashore. Why? It turns out that amber is as light as wood and they flow together in the water.

Where is my amber???

There were so many sticks. They even built the shore.

Everybody could find some amber. I found one, and another and another… this was my “amber rush.” I forgot about the world. I forgot my duties. Tomasz was looking at me with understanding and did his work, patiently waiting till I gathered all the amber I could see.

I keep my amber on the window sill. It glitters in the sunny days. Some really small pieces I used to prepare a tincture which is a treatment. I am proud of my amber collection and after Schwarzenegger I can say: “I’ll be back.”

Jantar is a small tourist village located in Pomerania District in Poland. It is so special because of mouth of Wisla River, which brought amber from central Poland. Visit Poland so you can see the beautiful sandy beach and experience the amber rush on your own!

Thanks for this, Danuta - keep up the hunt and Tomasz, keep up the dune-measuring! SIGNATURE

Comments

Theresa Weißenböck (2015-05-22):

Dear Mr. Welland,
I am an Austrian student, studying Geography and Spanish to become a teacher.
Now I give a talk about “The sand ends - the loss of a daily resource.” I want to present the main problems of our consumer behavior and i also like to demonstrate the importance of the resource sand.

Here in Austria, there is hardly literature - almost none. So i was searching for information in the Internet, and many times i read your name and i also visited your home page. It is very interesting and helpful. But i have to consult books and literature.
Now my question is directed to you, could you recommend literature or books, which i can use online?
Or books, that i should buy?
I would be most thankful if you would answer me.
Yours sincerely,

Theresa Weißenböck

Sandglass (2015-05-23):

Thanks for the comment and questions, Theresa - if it’s OK with you, I’ll reply by email as soon as I can.
Michael

gamis modern (2015-06-17):

artikel yang anda bagikan menginspirasi saya agar menjaga alam

kahl (2016-08-02):

The Amber rush, i will put this place on my places to visit list. i want to catch the amber rush too.

Originally published at: https://throughthesandglass.typepad.com/through_the_sandglass/2015/01/guest-post-baltic-gold-the-amber-rush.html