Enroute to Warsaw, we detoured to Malbork Castle. Mileage wise it was a short trip to the castle, but because of road construction it took longer than expected and several times our “lady in the box”, (aka gps) got totally confused. After a number of wrong instructions, we decided to ignore her U turn instructions and follow the trucks in front of us. That was a wise decision.  

The castle is quite impressive. In miles, or hectares, it’s the largest castle in the world and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. (We’ve been privileged to visit quite a few of them in our travels.) It is also the largest brick building in Europe. It was built in the 13th century by Teutonic Knights.  It’s location on the Nogat river was important for trading. The river and surrounding marsh land also made it impenetrable in the Middle Ages. It fell into Prussian hands when the Teutonic Knights had financial problems and the guards weren’t being paid. A Polish general paid off the guards and the castle was taken over by the King of Poland. 

Photo of destruction in 1945

Over time the castle was neglected and deteriorated. It was renovated in the 1800s. It became a favorite of Hitler and the Nazis, and consequently a target for the Allies,  resulting in the destruction of more than 50% of the castle. Following World War II it again became a part of Poland. It has been beautifully restored both inside and out. The decorative painting on the walls and ceilings shows the careful attention in restoration. We continue to be awed by the restoration efforts we have seen here in Poland.

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Since we still had the majority of the trip to Warsaw before us, we ended our tour and got back on the road. The journey took between 3 and 4 hours on the motorway – the equivalent of the interstates. Other than signs being mostly in Polish and the European license plates, it was hard to tell that we were in Poland and not the US. Since the ride got a little boring, we’ll be looking for audio books to download tonite.

We arrived at our destination without difficulty, and then the “fun” began. We booked through Air BnB. The instructions were to pick up the keys from the security guard at the gate. He found our name without much difficulty, and he handed us the keys. The instructions to the correct parking space and building got a little complicated. (The development is a series of 3 & 4 story buildings.) We spoke no Polish and he spoke no English. We understood how to walk in and out of the gate, but sign language just wasn’t working for getting the car in or for finding our building or assigned parking space. He took pity on us and walked down to show us the correct building and the parking spot.  Halfway there (out of sight of the guard shack) I realized 47 was the parking spot not a code for opening the gate for the car.

We found our way to the correct apartment which happily was only 1 floor up. It was a very comfortable apartment complete with a washer and dryer! We settled in for the night and planned our activities for tomorrow.