Back in Action...walking wounded

4 Extra days in Krakow. It is a really nice city. And the Hotel Copernicus is a wonderful place. But the staff started to know us a little too well and it seemed like we might never leave! As John got his strength back and we prepared to move- I started to feel the symptoms. I am 4 days behind John, I can’t wait for the fever, aching and chills to subside. We scrapped Warsaw altogether and half of our Gdansk itinerary. John knows Gdansk as “Danzig” from his strategic video game. In the first partition of Poland in 1772, Northern Poland became East Prussia. It remained part of Germany until 1945, more or less. In fact, if you book your flight on Luthansa, they will probably still call it Danzig. The train took 5 hours, but it didn’t seem that long at all, a very civilized way to travel. We arrived at 3:15pm, and to our surprise, it was getting dark already. Our main objective was to study the Teutonic Knights and inspect their biggest, most famous castle, Malbork. In all, they built 15 castles in Northern Poland. Our guide explained a lot of things about the Teutonic Order—I can summarize as follows: they were invited to help guard borders by various monarchs, they killed a lot of people, confiscated a lot of loot and became very rich. Some Kings invited them to guard other countries’ borders after they saw them in action. A very surprising thing- for a time, the order switched from Catholicism to Lutheranism…and back. We remembered that we strolled by the current (65th) Grand Master’s house when we were in Vienna. The order has about 1000 members currently—nuns, priests and associates. They are engaged exclusively in charitable work, and their motto remains: Help, Defend, Heal.

Malbork Castle is the largest brick building in Europe and the largest castle in the world in terms of area -- 42 acres.  This section shows the Blessed Virgin Mary Church — Malbork Castle is the largest brick building in Europe and the largest castle in the world in terms of area -- 42 acres. This section shows the Blessed Virgin Mary Church

Gates, towers and administration buildings on the side opposite the Nogat River.

John sits on the throne of the Grand Master in the public confession hall

How do you heat the largest brick castle in the world ?  build some big fires and send hot air in pipes to the various rooms above.  Instead of a thermostat, temperature was regulated by how many pipe caps you remove ! — How do you heat the largest brick castle in the world ? build some big fires and send hot air in pipes to the various rooms above. Instead of a thermostat, temperature was regulated by how many pipe caps you remove !

An inner courtyard of the castle, with strategic well and secret underground tunnels that led to the city center on the other side of the river...probably resulting in more of the serious confessionals, as it is rumored that these were used for visi… — An inner courtyard of the castle, with strategic well and secret underground tunnels that led to the city center on the other side of the river...probably resulting in more of the serious confessionals, as it is rumored that these were used for visits to the taverns.

A simple chapel, renovated in a way that preserves many chapters of its history rather than returning it completely to how they think it looked in its original condition.

This is a picture from 1945, the castle was bombed to pieces.  It took decades to rebuild, and money came from many places to achieve this remarkable renovation.  After Poland entered the EU, they were able to get Norwegian oil money to ma… — This is a picture from 1945, the castle was bombed to pieces. It took decades to rebuild, and money came from many places to achieve this remarkable renovation. After Poland entered the EU, they were able to get Norwegian oil money to make some final restorations that had yet to be completed.