Embedded Files
Tour Day 3 | Dzień Trzeci
Tour Day 3 | Dzień Trzeci
Red Brick & Gingerbread
Red Brick & Gingerbread
We traveled to the world largest castle and world largest pile of bricks in the world: the 13th century Malbork Castle. This UNESCO site is well worth the visit, especially at the end of July when there are several weeks of reenactment to celebrate the overthrow of the knights by the Polish people on July 25, 1457. This 44.57 acre castle is big and in the process of being painstakingly restored after the damage of WWII. As always, our local guide was engaging and brought to life this place. I could hear the Teutonic knights who built it clamoring down the walkways in their armor. The Teutonic knights were a order of Roman Catholic who built the castle to suppress the area after the 1274 conquering of the Great Prussian Uprising and Baltic tribes.
The 44.57 acre Malbork Castle was built in th 13th and 14th centuries by the Teutonic knights and is the largest castle in the world.
Teutonic Knights
From the outer walls to the pour coulis to the inner courtyard, several gates, and hard to navigate stairs and corridors, this fortress has at least 7 layers of defenses to pass through before entering the main inner courtyard.
Above: The 8 meter mural of Mary; Right: A door entering into the inner wall where weights to quickly raise the portcullis are found
Right: Kristen in the courtyard; Bottom left: Diane in the inner courtyard with the crane as a symbol of Christ on top of the well; Bottom Right: Original frescos in the high ceilings
Above: Diane in the inner courtyard. The crane is a symbol of Christ in Poland and found throughout this castle; Right: Our tour group learning about this location's history and its impact on the area's politics, trade, and culture
Above: Original fresco; Right: Kristen in the throne room
One of the restored cahpels
Jesus in Prayer
Lunch & More Vodka | Obiad i wódka
Lunch & More Vodka | Obiad i wódka
A simple but hearty lunch was provided for us after our tour of Malbork Castle and before our continued drive to Toruń. Typical Polish lunches consist of a hearty soup and we had our first experience of savory żurek (sour soup), which is not sour in taste and made of a sour rye starter and sausage while other ingredients vary. Tomasz had a few surprises for us on the road including various, little deserts and a bottle of vodka containing gold flakes (Goldwasser) for bus-wide shots during one of our stops. He had a nice way of balancing out the heaviness of the things we are learning with living in the moment and enjoying life.
Na zdrowie! To health! (nahzdrov−yeh)
Our very kind bus driver even pitched in for pouring vodka.
Toruń
Toruń
Arriving in the Pomeranian town of Toruń In the afternoon, we learned how to make gingerbread at the Living Museum of Gingerbread. While some gingerbread made to eat, the recipe for the decorative version uses 3 times the amount of flour (including rye) and no molasses. Instead, the traditional recipe uses honey and spices as the other ingredients to create gingerbread designed to be given as a gift and displayed and not eaten (the density would break a tooth). We made ours and brought them home as a lovely souvenir.
This is also the town where Nicolaus Copernicus was born. Yes, that Copernicus. As such, you will see references to the father of astronomy throughout the city, even in a Copernicus gingerbread design we saw in a number of shops.
Why we pack light!
The quick moving queue to receive our keys and drop off our luggage before heading off to the gingerbread museum.
The hotel was quite old, but lovingly restored to maintain the original feel with some modern conveniences.
The heated towel racks allowed us to dry our clothes quickly in time for our early morning bus time.
The home of Copernicus
St. Mary's Church
The statue of Copernicus was a place we saw many people stop while on our walk to the gingerbread museum
Above: While Toruń is known for its brick gingerbread style buildings, there are others that retain original facades that are more "modern" as well; Right: I was also able to cross off one of my bucket list images I wanted to capture: a Pomeranian dog in Pomerania.
Entering the gingerbread museum during one of the few times of rain we experienced during this trip.
Above: Diane and Kristen making decorative gingerbread; Below: Diane having a riveting discussion about running the gingerbread business.
The original gingerbread recipe from Toruń. The measurements of each have been a closely guarded secret for hundreds of years.
TRAVEL TIP: Kristen purchased a gingerbread mold in this town to make Christmas gifts. She was smiling while pressing the dough into the Katarzyna (her grandmother's middle name) mold to make gingerbread Christmas ornaments for her co-workers as memories of her time in Poland danced through her mind.
Dinner at a restaurant specializing in potato pancakes ranging from savory to sweet. Delicious and filling, we opted for ones filled with vegetables other than potatoes or cabbage.
Google Sites
Report abuse