Poland 2016 Spring: Tuesday, April 19th 2016

Malbork - Camera Battery Expired From Overuse

No worries, I carry a spare and recharge nightly

Malbork Castle = Incredible

Built in the 13th century as headquarters for the Teutonic Knights.

Identified by white cloaks with black crosses. (Templar Knights had red crosses.)

These two pics are just one set of outer walls

Sophisticated audioguides detected our location, correcting a wrong turn and instructing how to turn a difficult door handle. If confused (often), there was a visual on the screen. Admission and audioguides 60 zts ($15 for two).

Malbork is a large castle complex with outer walls, moats and embankments, High Castle, Middle Castle and Low Castle.

The pic below is Middle Castle- just inside the outer walls.

Great halls for knights to eat, sleep and be merry, but life was regimented. Rules to follow for eating, sleeping. It was their code to sleep together - in one room.

Half-way through we stopped at the castle restaurant. Usually expensive and not very good, this was very good.

The chef spent time talking to us. He's Polish, studied in NYC and just completed his thesis.

Told us food and fabric was important to the Grand Master of Malbork in the 1400s.

In fact only the Grand Master and the Head Cook had private toilets.

The chef studied Malbork's recipe books, daily menus and lists of ingredients, which were recorded with quill on parchment.

He traveled to Iran (Persia) to determine precisely what kind of saffron the Grand Master used in the 14th century.

Fortified by soup and cake we moved on to High Castle through the drawbridge.

Entered an inner courtyard surrounded by Gothic-style windows.

Walked around the upper floors, following our audioguide and opening doors into rooms, just like the knights of old.